Good Bye 2017

Finishing up 2017 with these three blocks.....

I finished quite a few projects this year, but would like to complete more. Right now I don’t feel inclined to make goals...perhaps later. I can say that I want to be better at following through on projects. I also want to start and complete a nice hand appliqué project. Beyond that, I will just approach things as they come.

2017 has undoubtedly been one of the most difficult years of my life. But it has also been filled with moments of great beauty. I pray that 2018 will be simpler, with fewer ups and downs and certainly without such loss. I pray that my family can be happy, make new memories and relish the old. I pray that we can continue to feel the arms of God and dear friends around us. And that we can offer some of the love we have received back to others.

I pray the best for all of you dear friends. Happy New Year!!

Take Care,

Jennie

Yesterday

Yesterday Rob was laid to rest in the red Georgia clay of the family farmland he loved so dearly. It is a resting place he will share with many of us family members in the years to come. And Christi is already working with someone to take this bare site and make it beautiful....just as Rob wanted.

This is a reflection of Christi and their little dog Maya visiting the gravesite this morning. Their farmhouse retreat and lake are to the right. The latest Caring Bridge post is

here.

Ashley gave me the cutest bunny vase for Christmas. I could hardly wait to fill her little ears with flowers!

This is my progress thus far on assembling the Fussy Cut Stars. Four large circles and four half circles to go before I start joining the rows together.

Today was a stay in my jammies kind of day. Lots of piddling around the house....and putting the Christmas decorations away. Tomorrow might just call for some stitching and reading time.

 Take Care,

Jennie

Another Day on Slow Down Mode

The last two days have been relatively slow, giving me an opportunity to prop my feet up, stitch a bit and read a magazine.

Two more Glorious Gardens hexies were added to the stack.

These are on the bright side, but there will be plenty of darker ones to calm them.

Once again, I had a helper...

And a visitor for the day who also enjoyed Mattie’s company.

And the princess, Daisy, just looked on.

Tomorrow we will go to the newly fashioned cemetery at Ebenezer Stone Farm and lay sweet Rob to rest. He will overlook their farmhouse and pond on the land he so loved......land owned by his family for generations in the Meriwether County countryside. We will have a nice family dinner afterwards at the farmhouse and share memories. I have baked his favorite Red Velvet Cake. It will be good and beautiful and bittersweet.

Take Care,

Jennie

A Little Stitching

This afternoon I took the opportunity to step back from the events of the last few weeks, prop my feet up and do a little stitching. My mind and body needed the respite.

I had prepped some hexies for the Glorious Gardens quilt, and that seemed to be the perfect mindless project.

Here’s what I was able to accomplish:

And here is my helper...

Good advice at times like this...

Take Care,

Jennie

Merry Christmas

Sweet family, fun traditions, good food and a beautiful candlelight communion. Hoping each of you were equally blessed.

Take Care,

Jennie

Rob

We never wanted to close our year in this way. In the early morning hours of December 17th, we said our earthly good byes to our sweet Rob. He fought the hard fight....a valiant, uncomplaining warrior for four and one half years. Oh how we will miss him.

One of my favorite photos of him on mission trip to Brazil.

He was a big presence in so many lives, a giant of a man with a heart for his Lord. His suffering is over now and he has won his battle over brain cancer.

Enjoy one of many tributes written about him 

here.

To all of you who have sent well wishes and prayed for us along this journey, I say thank you. You will never know how much that has meant. 

Take Care,

Jennie

A Little Slow Stitching

I am trying to get a little slow stitching done before Glorious Gardens meets again next Saturday. (Go on over and see what everyone else is up to here.)

 I have missed the past couple of months and have fallen behind on my goal to get all 92 hexagons done by the end of the year. That will not happen now, but I would like to finish 10 more before next weekend. A couple a day should easily get it done. I’ve got seven cut out, so I need to get three more cut. And I finished a couple yesterday, so 8 to go. These fabrics are so out of the box for me, but I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them.

Reverting back to my more traditional side, I finished off this top and got the backing and binding prepped, so it is all ready to go off for quilting. The pattern, Bricks and Stepping Stones, is a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter 

here.

This was quick and easy...and I love the way it turned out. Everything came from scrap and stash....I even had a batting the right size!

One of the many reasons I love this cooler weather ..

Time for a big pot of greens and some piping hot cornbread....YUM!!!

Got to love this cute cheerleader😍😍

We celebrated Matt’s birthday here this week..

Words of wisdom ...really need to post this in a very visible place in my home.

Take Care,

Jennie

A Few Things to Share

Thought I would try to share a few things today. I have actually completed more, but haven’t gotten pics of them yet.

I was able to complete the Temecula First Friday blocks for September and October before November’s showed up in my Inbox.

These blocks,so far, have ended up just the right size for all of these months.....until the large log cabin above. It is 1/2” too small. How did that happen?? I thought I was so careful, I starched my fabrics, I sewed carefully. Ugh!! Well, I am not going to remake it yet. I am going to wait and see if I can fudge somehow when the quilt is constructed. If not, it will be back to the drawing board on that one.

Homespun Medallions is coming along slowly. 

It’s a fun, fast project to hook and could be done quickly if I just devoted a bit more time to it.

Scrappy Chickens is a finish....binding and all.

Had a fun time crafting with these gals...

And making these cute little boxes.

It was Grandparents’ Day at Jackson’s school.

Rob is back in the hospital again with yet another cerebrospinal fluid leak and wound infection. He has been pretty miserable, but feels a bit better today. Prayers appreciated for Rob and all of us who love him dearly.

Take Care,

Jennie