Long Time No Post

March 15, 2024March 15, 2024 Wild Rose Quilter8 Comments

Wow, a little over 4 years has passed since I have blogged. Life has been busy, and between Facebook and Instagram, I just let this slip away to the side. I’m going to try to get back in a more regular posting groove and see if anyone is still out there that cares to follow along with me. A lot has happened in the past 4 years. Lots of time spent enjoying my grandsons, as I kept them during the week days, either full or partial days depending on their school enrollment. Time so well spent! What a gift life gave me in allowing me to be a “stay at home grandmother”. My longarm quilting business has steadily been getting busier, as well, and now that all the boys are in school full time, I have more time to devote to my business and personal quilting, as well. I look forward to sharing more with you all again, and catching up with those of you that are still blogging that I used to follow along with, and hoping to find new blogging friends, too! The quilt below is one I made in 2009, quilted in January 2010, and shared here on the blog at that time. That was just shortly before my mom was diagnosed with lymphoma, and we began her treatment journey, and shortly after the conclusion of that, my late husband was diagnosed with his brain tumor. Every project I was working on at the time was just set aside, and I have so many UFO’s to finish from that time period. It is one of my goals to get them all completed. I am currently working on the hand stitching of the binding on this one. I will get this done! If you are reading this, thanks for the visit, and I hope you will come back!

Family, Past and Present

July 30, 2016 Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

Today, we get ready to watch my oldest “step”-grandson (from my marriage to my late husband) marry his sweetheart this evening. It will be a fun wedding, cowboy style, in the pasture with reception dinner and dancing to follow. These moments and days are bittersweet. These are the days when my past life and present life collide a bit more, and emotions tend to be more unpredictable. It’s now five years post loss. Greg’s absence is always more “acute” at events such as this. This is his first grandchild getting married. I know that my stepdaughter will very deeply miss her father’s presence at the wedding. Tonight, my new husband will accompany me, and sit on the front “family” row, as the place by my side now belongs to him. I am so thankful that he has been welcomed into the family with open arms, and that I continue to be a loved and special part of my late husband’s family. And, that he also has welcomed them into his life. Our blended family is quite complex. On both sides. I am so blessed and thankful for this new love and this precious man to share my life with. There was a day when I couldn’t imagine it, and now I cannot imagine not having him in my life. I believe he and Greg were just both meant to have a place in this journey that is my life and in my heart. Thankfully, there are no limits to love and no limits on how much or many our hearts can hold.

daily life · quilting · quilts

Finally Friday

July 29, 2016 Wild Rose QuilterLeave a comment

It’s been a busy, busy week for me, but that pretty much seems to be the norm anymore. I was out of town from early Sunday morning until late Tuesday evening for a work conference with my job in criminal justice. I’m thankful that I now have Fridays off from that work, as I am also now the full time office administrator for mine and my husband’s new oilfield related business. I worked on that job all morning here in my home office. Now, laundry is washing as I sit on the sofa and happily do a bit of hand stitching on Baby C’s quilt binding. I’m on the downhill curve to a finish! Yay!

It’s a perfect day for it, too. The view from the sofa is rain on the windows with the sound of softly rolling thunder serenading me in the background. It’s nice to slow down for a few moments. Have a blessed Friday!

daily life · longarm quilting · quilting

Bird Watching and Quilting

July 20, 2016July 20, 2016 Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

It looks like the little bird will be ready to try out his wings soon.

It has done well in my makeshift, substitute nest. Mama is continuing to watch over from above.

I finally finished the quilting on Baby C’s quilt. Baby C will be 2 in September. 🙄 Anyone want to start a pool on whether I get the binding finished before he is 3? I had better because grandbaby boy #3 is due to arrive in October!

I finished all the freehand quilting in the blocks this weekend. When I had my A1 upgraded 2 years ago, I also added the computerized Quilt Butler system. It’s a little embarrassing to confess that I have not taken time to play around with it and learn how to use it. The past couple of evenings I watched some instructional videos on the YouTube site and felt ready to give it a shot. So after work tonight, I started small, just putting a simple design in the diamond shapes. It went very smoothly and I was tickled to death with how they turned out. I finished all the diamonds in no time at all. I’m excited to learn more and use it more. It can’t do as much as some of the more elaborate systems, but it’s more than I had and will add some more options to my quilting. Another tool in the sewing box.

daily life · quilt top · quilting

Crazy Week

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015 Wild Rose Quilter3 Comments

This past few days have been hectic around here, ups and downs. The downs were related to my parents and my father’s progressing Alzheimer’s. They are an hour away from me and that is too far under the circumstances. Moving day to get them up here will be here soon. My little mom is so ready So are the rest of us. As soon as their new house is ready, the moving will begin! Lots of progress is being made.

My guest room is filling up with stuff for the wedding. Hobby lobby had wedding stuff 1/2 price. Yay! Lots of bows to be fluffed and pressed. Guest book, invitations, and various other items.

Little tea light candle holders were 1/2 price, as well. I got 100 of them!

I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to wedding planning, and honestly, ours is going to be a bit hodge-podgy, lol. The caterer has been hired, the photographer booked. Invitations arrived and will start mailing those this weekend. I ordered some Mexican papel picado banners and little flags for the reception, to bring in more of Efren’s culture. I hope they turn out right and get here on time. They look so cute on the website.

In between all this and my day job, too, I did make a couple more blocks for baby Chase’s quilt. I will stitch down the edges of the center “windows” after all the blocks are made. I think I will top stitch them by machine in matching thread rather than hand stitch.

I was going to make at least a couple more this evening, but my son just texted that Chase’s big brother, Caleb, wants to come over to Mammy’s house. Thus, I best get off here and get ready to play with a precious four year old boy! Later!

daily life · dogs · food

Mmmmm…Pumpkin Empanadas

December 29, 2014 Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

So, I’m taking some vacation time til after the first. Efren, aka “mi Papi”😊, is also taking a few days off , and we are enjoying a week long visit with his 15 yr old son, Christian. He lives roughly ten hours away with his mom, so visits are precious time. I caught an upper respiratory thing from Efren had last week and have felt pretty blah the last two days.

I played it up for all it was worth, though (JK😂) and let this crew do all the cooking last night.
My son Derek, Efren and Christian. Derek’s family was still at his inlaws, so it was just me and the boys.

Once I started feeling better this afternoon, I decided to try out a pumpkin empanada recipe I found on the web. I love a good pumpkin empanada. I love pumpkins, in general. One of my favorite things for some reason. They are just so darn cute. Anyway, this recipe was easy and I’m quite pleased with how they turned out. I expected more difficulty, because ya know….that whole dough making part. These were truly a piece of cake to put together.

I can’t make a thing without making a huge mess along with, it seems.

You make these cute little dough balls and roll them out. Then you put this yummy, as in so good I wanted to get a big spoon and sit down and eat it right out of the bowl just like it was kind of yummy, filling in the center of your flattened dough ball.

Then moisten the edge, seal them up, and bake!

Pretty dang good!

You can find the recipe here.

I guess that was just too much success for one day, because immediately after that I broke the only really nice crystal vase I owned. Oopsie.

But, that’s a small loss in the grand scheme. Totally inconsequential, actually. Replaceable. My biggest concern was keeping Miss Bella out of it with her big paws and nosy nose while I was cleaning it up.

I missed Christmas blogging, so tonight I will leave you with a cute pic of her under the tree before the holiday season is long gone and the decorations packed away for another year. Would have been nice if she hadn’t rearranged the tree skirt before striking an accidental pose that I couldn’t resist snapping a pic of right fast. Oh well! Just adds to the charm, right?! 😄

daily life · meningioma

April 16th…has been a pretty good day

April 16, 2011January 21, 2012 Wild Rose Quilter13 Comments

I am still home. Lea headed off to Lubbock this morning to spend the weekend with Greg. I kept Catey (Lea’s 6 yo. daughter) today, while Brian and Brayton (Lea’s husband and oldest son) worked to clean up the mess at our shop. 70 mph straight winds ripped off a good portion of our roof, and it’s quite a mess.

The first report from Lubbock today came from Terry May, who has been staying with Greg this week. What a great friend. He headed home today, and before he left he told Greg he was leaving, and Greg opened his eyes, and Terry told him he would see him when he comes home. He said he thought he nodded at him, but he wasn’t completely sure.

Well, when Lea got there, she confirmed that he is nodding a little now, in response to questions. She said it’s a little dip of the chin. He was really moving both of his arms around again today. She said he is using his right arm a lot, and even rubbing at this eyes and the corner of his mouth with it, and scratching at his nose. She said once, he even had both index fingers stuck in his ears. We aren’t sure what that was about. She said it appears that he is trying to use his shoulders some, to readjust himself.

Lea was saying a prayer with him, and when she said Amen, one of the pulmonologists said “amen” with her, and nearly scared her to death. She hadn’t even realized he had come in. He said he is breathing totally on his own, just a little pressure support from vent, and said he is looking better every day. When he left the room, he raised his hand up and said “we’ll keep the prayers going”!

The nephrologist came by later, and they started the IV fluids this evening. He said if his numbers continue to decrease (creatinine, BUN), that he may get to go to a Tues/Thurs dialysis instead of Mon/Wed/Fri. Will just have to wait and see what the labs look like on Monday.

Back to my day here, Catey and I enjoyed our time together. This afternoon, I decided that I would see if she wanted to work on some quilt blocks with me, and she did. She loves crafty things. I have been trying to squeeze in my blocks every month, for my guild’s Block of the Month challenge, and so far have managed to get them done, even though I haven’t been to a meeting since January. I did the cutting and the “steering”, while Catey pushed the “gas pedal” for the sewing machine. She loved working on these with me. I may have a new quilter in the making. 🙂

Here is a pic of the rest of the blocks I have completed, thus far.

Today sure has seemed like it was more good news than bad, and for right now, I will be thankful for that, and keep hoping and praying for more of it!

daily life · family · longarm quilting · machine quilting

Been Busy, Busy…and Sick

April 16, 2010 Wild Rose Quilter22 Comments

Meant to get another blog post up before now, but life had other plans. Of course, there was district golf, and traveling for that. I happily and proudly present the 2010 District Champs!

The first one on the left is MY golfer. Hopefully, I will be on the road to Lubbock Sunday, for the regional tournament, Monday and Tuesday. I say hopefully, because I have been down for the count since Wednesday evening with some nasty flu. I managed to get out of bed around 11:00 this morning. I was up and down all night with a horrid headache. I tried ice, I tried hot bath water…nothing would ease what felt like a vice squeezing my brain. And the nausea. Yuk. My poor DH has even been home with it since mid-afternoon Wednesday. I am praying that Derek does not get it. At least not til AFTER regionals. That would not be good.

I finished the quilting for the guild’s donation quilt. The pattern is Lucky Stars, by Terry Atkinson, with an added applique border. I think the guild members were happy with it. I used Quilter’s Dream blend batting, Superior’s Rainbows thread on top, and Superior’s So Fine thread on back. The top is all batiks, and the backing is a wide batik backing from Sew Batik. It was wonderful to quilt. I was worried about using a fussier thread with all those batiks, but I didn’t have any troubles. I started out with a larger needle…a size 20 titanium from Groz-Beckert, and that seemed to work very well. I had fantastic tension, top and bottom. I was very happy with the way the quilting looks on the back.

Here are some block close-ups so you can see how lovely this Rainbows variegated thread looked on this. I was using the color Rain Forest, in the stars and borders, and Sand Castle in the background. The Rain Forest blended so nicely with all the different colors in this quilt. I love it! The Sand Castle was a perfect match for the range of colors in the batik background fabric.

The ladies at the guild did a great job putting this together and it was a pleasure to work on it. I fell totally in love with it, and it sure was hard to give it back! Just a couple more…

It will be a lucky person that gets to take this Lucky Stars home with them!

On a final note, thanks to everyone that took time to vote in the Circle Lord Challenge contest, whether you voted for my quilt or not! And thanks to those that have sent me good wishes and words of encouragement, and did vote for mine. Now, we just have to wait til the winners are announced.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. Think I will go lay back down for awhile.

daily life · family

We won!

March 13, 2010March 13, 2010 Wild Rose Quilter8 Comments

The Perryton Rangers won first place! And my baby boy won 1st place individual. In fact, it was a medal sweep with the Rangers taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th individual, as well as 1st place team.

Finishing out with a birdie putt to finish with an even par score of 72.

I must mention that it is his last tournament on his home course as a high school golfer. Mama was a little teary eyed. What a great day!

daily life · nature · quilting · toads · trees

And then the blasted hail came :-(

July 21, 2009July 21, 2009 Wild Rose Quilter5 Comments

Last night, a storm blew in with a vengeance. I was about to drift off to sleep when the hail started pounding the house. It was fairly small, mostly marble size, but relentless. I stood watching out the patio door, helplessly wondering about the baby doves and my favorite toad, Zapper. He had not come to the patio last night, which he does about every other night, to eat his fill of June bugs and other insects, underneath the patio light. This has been his (or her) routine for the past three summers. I’ve grown very fond of this toad. I had seen him last, laying underneath the iris leaves, in the southwest corner of our yard, one of his favorite hangouts. When the hail finally let up, I threw on a rain jacket over my jammies, slipped on a pair of flip flops, grabbed a flashlight, and went to check on him. It was after midnight. It was raining. I know, most sane people would’ve gone to bed. It’s a TOAD. But, I couldn’t. I had to look. When I rounded the corner of the house, and the light hit “his spot”, I was so afraid of what I would find. The hail had completely covered his little corner, like a snow drift. I began to dig it away, and sure enough under about two inches of a solid pile of round hail stones, was Zapper. As I got more moved away, he wiggled his leg. I got him pulled out and he was so freezing cold. I went straight back to the patio with him, where I could get a better look at him. He looked ok, and once he got warmed up, he ate a couple of June bugs on the patio. Then he hopped off. I haven’t seen him today, so I hope he didn’t have internal injuries.

And sadly, at least one of the little doves is dead. I’m not sure about the other one. I *may* have seen it this morning as I was leaving for work, still alive, but I couldn’t be sure. I haven’t found it’s body, so hopefully it made it.

The yard is littered with leaves from our trees. This was the view of the backyard this morning.

And this is the little hole where Zapper was. He was literally buried in hail.

This is the front yard debris and a picture of the roof, where the doves used to be, covered with Mimosa tree leaves.

Poor little things didn’t stand a chance, it hit so hard & fast. But other than that, all is well. It could’ve been much worse. I know that. And I am thankful that it wasn’t. It’s all part of the circle of life, the natural order of things. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be a little sad for a little bird (or a toad) for a few moments, does it?

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