Sunday, January 9, 2011

Remembering Grandma ........and some stitching....

After reading Nancy's post about her Grandma - it got me thinking about my paternal Grandma.......she did the most wonderful fine crochet work and even after she had a stroke she would sit up in her hospital bed with a large crochet hook and wool and crochet "granny squares" which she joined to make knee rugs.  On a visit to Dad's house one summer I ventured out into the shed and there covering a piece of machinery was this quilted rug/blanket that Grandma had made many years before..........the base is one side of a woolen coat which gives it a sort of bowed shape......this is the back.........


 You can see one of the coat's buttonholes.......


Some of the fabrics have frayed away almost entirely...others are in good condition - and surprisingly bright given their hard life! I particularly like the orange/red piece......


 I love the random-ness of the pieces.........


this is the front.........

Thanks Nancy for the prompt to bring out this piece to share with everyone....in tough times Grandma managed to create a warm and cheery quilt to help keep the family warm!  I am so pleased I rescued it from Dad's shed! His comment at the time was...."what do you want with that old thing......." LOL

I managed to get into the sewing room today and made three blocks...one for the Civil War club quilt...

and the first two blocks from Barbara Brackman's CIvil War Quilts  - block of the week.  So far I am up to date....wish me luck! LOL.......

Block One....Catch Me If You Can......


...... and Block Two....North Stars


I also cut out another block for the Civil War club quilt......but by that time I had had enough..and it was time to do other things ..........so it can stay on the design board until next time I get a chance to stitch........it looks a bit wonky in the pic but once it is stitched I am sure it will be fine.....

I was pretty happy with my efforts I have to say!  So it really is time to go back to work ..........which meant there was ironing (other than fun patchwork stuff) to do.........


Look at my little helper......clever as she is...ironing isn't one of her strong points. 

It's always good to have a laugh isn't it!  .....and I had one at my own expense yesterday.......read on for proof that I really am a dag/dill....call me what you will................

I was sitting at the computer watching last week's episode of Bed of Roses on IView...and doing a blog post.....sitting on the printer is my Priness tiara...it just sort of lives there......so I picked it up while I was waiting for a couple of pictures to download and put it on.......and then promptly forgot I was wearing it...


Over the past couple of weeks I have been suffering with neck and shoulder pain which has meant concentrating on anything for any length of time has been difficult....after a couple of trips to the physio and almost wearing out the microwave heating up the wheat bag I woke up yesterday and was pain free for the first time in ages......and I was pretty happy with that........so as I was sitting here downloading pics and watching IView my head started to hurt...a much different pain than I had been having......so I said a few choice words...took two pain killers and put the wheat bag in the microwave....I was pretty annoyed at having this head pain.....it really got quite intense and I thought rubbing the affected areas might help......on reaching up to rub my head.....yep......the tiara was still on....and given it is a child's tiara it was cutting into my head.........on removing it the pain went almost immediately......it's times like that when you live alone that you just have to tell yourself out loud what a dill you really are!!  I laughed out loud.......and was pretty happy the pain had gone......so there you have it......I am officially a dill! ....or a dag.....whatever......! 

On that note...time I was finishing this and heading to bed......no sleeping in tomorrow!  I need to hit the ground running.....have a very busy couple of weeks coming up. 

Gratitudes:
time spent in the sewing room
a couple of pain free days (apart from the too tight tiara!)
a job to go back to after a wonderful break


'Til next time.....................Lorraine

19 comments:

Kris said...

Definitely not a dag. Not with that crown on. A dill maybe. Hope you are fast asleep. It's coughing time for me.

Stina Blomgren said...

LOL... This days smile.. when I read your post.. :o))
Will remember that if I ever get me a crown like that..:o))
Have a happy new year.. bless you!! :o)

Suzanne said...

I have never laughed SO hard..thanks for sharing! I don't know what a dag is, but I think you are pretty funny!

AnnieO said...

Wonderful to have your Grandma's work, just scraps though it is. I have my Grandma's sewing things, many of them vintage.

Beautiful blocks!

TTT--that will be your new shortcut for daggy behavior, I guess. Very funny what we do to ourselves...

Chookyblue...... said...

yep Maree and I agree you are definitely a dill..........lol.....LOL......

.....lucky you got some sewing done otherwise I was about to crack the whip.......
Cracking it on Maree at the moment.......

simplestitches said...

A dill? No way....
Love those civil war quilt blocks...
glad you had lovely time off from work,
cheers Julz

Joy said...

So should we address you as "Princess Loz" from now on lol??
Don't feel bad ... that sounds just like something I'd do too, we can both be dags he he he.
Hugs,
Joy :o)

Vivian said...

So many of us have to rescue quilts and other antiques from the men of the family who just don't get it. Maybe it's our nurturing, mothering nature.

Your tiara story is a classic! I won't soon forget it. It's a delightful way to laugh at ourselves, by admitting the silly little things we've done. Thanks for sharing your silliness with us :)

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

Oh Loz....LOL.....you dag....LOL...love your grandmas quilt....and your blocks look amazing, maybe you need to pay your ironing lady a bit more money...

Shay said...

Thank Goodness your pain was Tiara induced Princess. I hear being a royal can be a real pain.

Your Grandma's quilted blanket is really beautiful and something to treasure. Thank Goodness you saved it!

Lynda said...

Hope you have a great first day back at work Princess Lozz - I also have a story involving a tiara and wings. The blocks you made are beautiful.

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

oh my I am sooo glad to hear that someone else can "laugh" at themselves--me is always laughing at something "dumb-silly" I have done!!
Love your blocks--
Have fun (???) at work!!!
Hugs,di

Unknown said...

what a crack up Princess Lozzie..you know you'll never live that down now..lol.is that like getting in the shower with your glasses still on..yep done that..lol
Love your Blocks you have done well to get them done...
Hope work went well today...
cheers

Lady of the Cloth said...

Don't you just love it! It seems when I do stupid things, I always have an audience!

Nancy said...

ROTFLMAO....

How funny..

I can see the headlines now...

Er finds Headache remedy...remove the princess tiara...

Loved the story of the wagga..

Leanne said...

Love the quilt how wonderful is that and the tiara story. At least not having anyone else to see forgotten tiara on your head.... and only us blogland friends knowing about it(we can appreciate it as not an unusual thing to happen). Here if I did that everybody that entered the house would hear about it.

FlourishingPalms said...

Oh how we princesses have to suffer, wearing those too-tight tiaras on our fat heads! Loved your story. Thanks for sharing pictures of your blocks too. But especially the story of grandma's coat-quilt. What a special keepsake.

Katie said...

Oh my! That's just too funny!

Glad you are feeling better. We're still sick here but I have to say my neck/back is better. Thank goodness!

On the subject of grandmothers, when my nana came to live with us my mother tried to find creative things to keep her busy. One of the projects was to make knitted covers for all the wooden hangers. Forty years later I still have a bunch of them and use them every day. :-)

Sue said...

Don't worry Lorraine, you're not alone. My husband was hunting high and low for his reading glasses this day. I was baking and was having trouble reading the recipe with my glasses that I keep on my head for when needed. I joined hubby's search for his glasses. I said, 'well they were by the computer this morning as I had used them to read something'. Oh wait...is this them, reaching for the glasses on my head. Yep, that's them. No wonder I couldn't read the recipe. I had had my husbands' glasses on!!! Whose a dag now!!!. lol. xx Sue