Old Stuff

My Maternal Grandmother was born in 1889. This pillow sham was embroidered by her before she was married. Her initials are FG, Florence Germano, her maiden name. What beautiful workmanship.

This piece also belonged to my Grandmother and is a pillow sham but we don't know who made it. We also don't know how my Grandmother got it. The initial are AP or PA and there is no one in our family with any such initials. This piece has embroidery and drawn work. The workmanship on this piece is gorgeous and I don't know of anyone who does handwork like this anymore.

This Belgium lace collar was given to me by my Mother in law. She said it was sent to her by a friend in Europe in 1944. It is really pretty and delicate but it has never been used. Neither my mother in law nor I could ever find the right blouse to put it on.

My Dad was in Bavaria at the end of World War II. He brought back many souvenirs including a box of handkerchiefs. Mom kept them in a box in the drawer and wouldn't ever use them as she thought they were too special. Recently she gave me the box. Some of the hankies are falling apart just because they were made from such a fragile fabric. This curious hanky intrigues me though. The green "blob" is appliqued by hand with very tiny stitches. The flowers are embroidered, also by hand, also very tiny. But I cannot for the life of me figure out just what the heck it's supposed to be.

Gas

The Saturday before hurricane Ike was to maybe hit Florida, I topped off my gas tank just in case. I was over by the 17th Street Causeway, a tourist part of town. The gas at Hess was $3.61 per gallon and the same price at BP. I had made a mental note on Friday, of the gas price at the Hess station near where I work, much further inland. It was $3.69 a gallon, so $3.61 seemed like a good deal.

One week later, the price at the Hess near 17th Street was $3.99 a gallon, while the price at BP was $4.05. On Monday morning I made a point of checking the price at Hess near where I work, and it was still $3.69.

This morning I noticed it went up to $3.75, the first increase in several weeks.

So what's up with that? Why such big increases but only in some places? What does gas cost around your area?

Bonus Squares

I am not feeling very inspired these last few days. I have no idea if I want to make something easy for charity or something a little more intricate for myself. So I've been getting out all the 2 1/2" squares I've been cutting up forever. I had always planned on making them into 4 patches, although I have no idea what to do with them after that. I can't believe how many of these I have hidden all over the place. Amongst all these I came across these pink, white and purple half square triangles. I always cut these too big (otherwise they never come out right). So as you might have guessed I had to trim these all to come out to the right size.

The size of the blocks I am making for Alli's quilt will all be divisible by 2 (no sense in straining my brain). These little beauties will make nice fillers.

Sunday September 21, 2008 is World Alzhiemer's Day.

There are 26.6 million people worldwide with Alzheimer's disease. More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease. And, there are a group of quilters who are trying to do something to find a cure. Visit the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative:<http://www.alzquilts.org/>

I think I have been wrong all along

I have always said that if you add enough colors the quilt will come out all right. But somehow this top has missed the mark. Maybe I used too many colors, maybe not enough. Perhaps the colors are too bland or maybe the fabrics too busy. It could be that there is not enough difference between the light and the darks. Whatever the problem, I think this top is just too dull and boring. This top is headed for the Heartsting project anyway.

I think the next top I make will be for a juvenile and I will use only loud bright colors.

I'm not just sitting around

Really, I have been busy but there is not much to show for it. I have sewn together all the broken dishes (as everyone has suggested) but it now needs some sort of border before I will show it to you. I have started another Bonnie Hunter pattern called Strip Twist. I'm half way through that one so I can't show that to you either.

I have started the September Zizzy-Dot Postcard swap card but I can't show you that one until it has been received by Dotti. I have even chosen the pattern and pulled the fabric for the October Birthday block swap. Obviously I can't show you that.

What I can show you are some more baskets. These are Halloween baskets with some treats in them for my grandchildren. I now only have little scraps of Halloween fabric left. Who would have thought I would find so many uses for that stuff.

Suggestions Please

I have had this stack of squares for ages. Some are 4 inches some are 5. I have picked at the stack for many different projects, removing certain colors or patterns. I just could not stand it any more, so I made all the squares into half square triangle and then into this pattern.

Does anyone know what the name of this block might be? There are 41 of these 6 inch blocks (and I suppose I could make more if needed). What do I do with them. Does anyone have any ideas how to put them together?

I have had this orchid for quite a few years now and it has never bloomed before. It is, in fact, stuck in the corner where it is barely noticeable. It is a beautiful Vanda and I have to enjoy it because I think Ike is going to make a mess of it.

Another String X Quilts

I liked the first one so I made another. I will take me the next two days to take all the paper out of the back. The sun was shining when I went out to take the picture. By the time the quilt was up and hanging (a matter of minutes) the sky clouded up and it started to get dark. The border on this quilt top is actually green but it sure looks like teal in this picture.