i may need an introduction . . .

It's been a year.

Technically, it's not even been a half year, but it still feels like a whole, full, 12-month year, and I'm ready to be through with it!  Is that wrong?

My daddy passed away late in January.  

He'd been in hospice care since December of 2021, so it wasn't a complete surprise, but I still wasn't ready for him to be gone.  I'm glad he's no longer suffering.  

He was witty and clear-minded right to the very end, making us laugh with his quick sense of humor.  Such a good dad. I miss him.

Todd was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer late in December.  He started chemo on the last day of January, and has had seven rounds so far.  We're taking a break now, and waiting on PET scan results, hoping that it hasn't spread anywhere else, and he can have surgery. His oncologist is treating to cure, but it's aggressive and grueling for Todd.  I'd take the burden for him, if I could.  

Have I mentioned it's been a year?

All that being said . . . it's been hard to write.  Even now, as I wrote the above paragraphs, it was hard to not shed a few (hundred) tears.  But that doesn't mean there hasn't been good things, happy times, and sweet accomplishments.  We've enjoyed loads of sweet family time and celebrations . . . 

Lots of family gathered for my dad's funeral.  So happy to see my James!

   

My oldest grandson holding my youngest grandson.  Sweet capture!

 

Celebrating my mom's and my sister's February birthdays at a new tea house!

Craft fair with my mom.

 

Ballet recitals in May -- in the books!

End of school year program.

 

Playing in the creek at the Camp!

I've enjoyed sweet time with friends . . .

I've created (and even completed some creations) . . . 

Todd's Alabama quilt!  He's toted it to every chemo treatment he's had so far.

These little "stuffies" were made from a dress that all three girls wore and loved. ♥

Stuffable fabric Easter eggs!

Finished Primitive Blessings, designed by Kathy Schmitz.

This is my most proud accomplishment of the year so far.  My version in wool of the Hospital Sketches BOM that Barbara Brackman offered on her Civil War Quilts blog in 2019.  

And we're making it. God is good.  All the time.

:)

road trippin . . .

Backposted (because how ever many years from now I'd regret not having posted these pictures along with their stories)!

This past weekend was the second annual retreat for our Sassy Sisterhood!  We hit the road on Wednesday morning and shopped and ate along the way . . .

We stayed in the same cabin (that suits us so, so well) as last year, tucked in the Smokey Mountains in Sevierville, TN.  It's really sweet and cozy, and just the right size for three gals stitching away.  (And I just realized I never did a post just on our reteat last year.  This is why I'm going ahead and backposting!  It makes me so sad when I look back on the blog for something and I didn't post about it!)

My intent this year was to finish the teacup stitchery and to finish appliqueing all of the wool blocks from the Hospital Sketches BOM.  I succeeded . . .

Yay!  I love it when a plan comes together!  Finishing my BOM blocks is my goal for January's UFO challenge (in our Stitcher's Etc. group).  I'm glad to have this off my plate!

We also had a group project that we worked on.  Last year it was "Ewenice" (which I did blog about).  This year it was . . .

TAHDAH! Pompom sheep! Aren't they darling?  We used the tempplates from Betz White. Mine is the bottom one.  Lavender.  ♥  She's hanging from my rear view mirror in my car.  She's so CUTE!

We had a light dusting of snow while we were there . . .

Idyllic! We decided that was the perfect day to stay put and have a fire in the fireplace:

And Downton Abbey on the screen. Ha! It was such a sweet, laid back time.  Perfect get-away.  We booked for 2023 before we left!

;)

celebrate on . . .

I may have shared that I give as much time as my birthday wants to be celebrated. A week where you only work two days and have the next five free is as good a time to continue celebrating as any! I gave a whole post to the Tate Farms fun, but I'll condense the remainder of the long weekend here. Mostly.  I think. 

Thursday, the weather continued to be beautiful, and since a wet, cool front was moving in on Friday, our regular boat day, Todd and I decided to go ahead and get our lake action in a day early.  It was another of those days where Todd was really catching them, so I fished, too.  Another fabulous day -- he caught two to my one, but that's pretty exciting to me, especially since our total was 45! And what do you know, algebra does pay off!  2x + x = 36; solve for x.  Hahaha...I caught 12!

What really captured my attention, though, was the late afternoon sun, and the clouds that were starting to pile up in anticipation of the next day's front . . .

I couldn't stop taking pictures! I think partly because my photo never looks quite as spectacular as what I'm seeing, and I want desperately to capture it that way.

I'd never seen a sun dog before ... it was just beautiful! I had to confirm with the meteorologist of Alabama, James Spann, to make sure it was what I thought it was.  If James says so, it is so!

The combination of the sun setting and the clouds amassing made for fabulous effect. My camera roll has no end of these photos.  Just saying. 

The City of Guntersville finally has a developer working on a spot of land on the lake aimed at boaters/tourists.  It's called City Harbor, and it's supposed to be a great spot for dining and entertainment, once they get it all built.

Not the best pic (this was actually taken 10/8).  We were moving at a pretty good clip!

It's really close to the marina ... it's a pretty spot now; just imagine what it will look like when it's all finished!

Friday I did a couple of things.  I visited Patches & Stitches and picked up some pumpkin oranges and greens (and used my birthday discount) . . .

Quite a nice little haul there, don't you think??

And then I traveled on to a new old shop.  It's an old shop that's been bought and is now being run by a new owner.  Southern Charm Quilting!  The new owner is in my stitch group.  She was having a terrific sale, trying to clear out some old inventory and make room for new fabric lines and wool.

I did very well here, too.  Seven yards of fabric for $36!  You can't beat that!!

From there I headed home and spent a little time in the Nook.  Worked on a mock-up of some pumpkin/jack-o-lantern placemats I wanted to make.  I messed up on the width of my strips, so I ended up with this little cutie instead . . .

I'll keep it for me ... at 12" wide it's too small for a placemat and a little too big for a mug rug ... but perfect as a small topper.  So be it.  I big stitched around the edges and down the lines.  It makes me smile!

Saturday was game day.  I made a double crust pizza and prepped the other two trick or treat bags for stitching . . .

I also finished up (finally) the pineapple block for Hospital Sketches in wool.

I've got two more blocks to finish.  The two most involved.  Go figure!  LOL!

As the evening (and the football) went by, I finished up my stitching . . .

I can't wait to gift these to the girls! 

One final photo.  Joc actually took and sent me this one.  In case you're wondering what Edith thinks about her baby brother . . . 

Baaahaaahaaa!!  As is usual, her face clearly says it all.

:)

finishes and a retreat . . .

Back in April I shared a photo and story of a flimsy I'd completed, but it came from blocks I hadn't pieced.  I purchased the blocks (along with all the leftover coordinating fabrics) from an estate sale.  The original quilter, Janet Noever, had made the 9" blocks, but left no indication of how she planned to use them. So I put them together the way I wanted and even used (gasp) borders!  (If you knew how much I dislike using borders, this would make you laugh.)

ANYway, my sweet friend Lois, who is a long arm quilter, was the person I asked to quilt this special piece (because it deserved a little more than my straight line machine quilting).  She knew the backstory, and she said she had "ideas" for quilting.  I was really happy to hear that, since it's not my strong suit!  Anyway, I got it back and got the binding on it zippity quick (because binding *is* my strong suit) and, TAHDAH  . . .

Isn't it beautiful?  She did such a great job! Her quilting couldn't have been any more perfect for the piece!  And, as promised, I also did a couple of fun pieces to coordinate with the quilt, for out on our screened room:

So fun! 

I also zipped on the binding of my mom's quilt (Lois quilted it, too):

Yay!  We had such a fun time taking the class together.  She needed a finished quilt for all her efforts!  Not bad for a first quilt, huh??!

Another important finish is a little less quilty.

The construction of the bathhouse exterior is finished!!  As Todd continues to tell me, the bathhouse is about 75% complete; all it lacks is finishing up.  Ahem.

Our stitcher's group had a fun little retreat up in Bell Buckle, Tennessee! It was a great group of woman (and a really cute house) . . .

Okay, here's a photo where you can actually see our faces . . .

I'm peeking through on the back row, left side!  We had a great common room for quilting.  

I went in with three goals.  Number one was to finish the binding on the Picnic Quilt:

I didn't have anywhere to lay it out there ... I had to come home for that!

Number two was to finish the flimsy for the new baby's quilt:

And number three was to cut all the sashing and cornerstones for my Hospital Sketches in wool, and continue stitching on the wool blocks:

I nailed it!  I'm learning to be more focused at retreats.  I'm really pleased with everything that got accomplished!

:)