Be careful what you blog about . . . .

A little while ago,

I mentioned on my blog that I had offered

in the past to help my mother complete the Sunbonnet Sue quilts

she is making for her granddaughters.

She didn't take me seriously at that time!

I guess she was ready for the help,

because the next time I saw her she gave me

an embroidery square . . .

then another,

then another,

another,

Yes, and another,

another,

And finally the last one.

 You know?

I didn't realize I had done this many

until I just posted all these pictures.

If she had handed them all to me at once 

I would have looked at her bUg EyEd!!

"By an inch it's a cinch, by the yard it's hard!"

as the saying goes.

I really enjoyed doing these.
I hadn't embroidered for YEARS!

Mom loved the help, (competition)

and was able to complete this quilt

a year earlier than planned!

This one is for posterity

I've been giving my mom piano lessons.  She has been working on one of my favorites she played when she was a kid.  I decided to get up the courage to ask her if I could record her playing it.  It'd be a shame to have her in my home, playing this song, and not have a video!!!  She agreed and was immediately nervous!  It is hard to perform, even for a camera!!

After many "takes" of the video, and laughing together hysterically, I told her "just play!!! it's not going to be perfect!"  It's not perfect (hardly anyone plays perfectly). . . .and I love it!  She has such a great way a making the piano come alive.  So for my siblings, my children and anyone who wants to watch . . . . . here is my mom playing "Swaying Daffodils."

Yay Mom! . . . . . . I think it is great you are polishing up your skills!

Humbled and . . . . . Honored

Today something kinda-a weird is happening to me.

My mom is starting to take piano lessons from me.  . . . . . from me.

This is the woman who inspired me to take lessons and stick with it.  This is the woman who paid for my lessons for years.  This is the woman that I listened to while she taught other kids lessons in our home.  She taught me herself for 4 years and then passed me on to other teachers for the remaining 10 years that I had lessons.  She had a couple of pieces of piano music that I would beg her to play for me.  I loved them, and it was my goal to be able to play them.  I don't think I've ever played them as well as she did.

Why is she taking lessons?  Through the years she has let her talent wain a little bit, well, a lot of bit!  In recent years she has been working to get her talent back.  She has made a ton of progress and is now ready to focus and be accountable to someone so she she will work even harder.  She has started teaching piano again and has been serving in the church as a pianist again. 

Can you believe she asked how much I charged?  After paying for 10 years of my lessons there is no way in Hades I'd let her pay me.  :)

Humbled and Honored.   Yes.

This is one of the pieces my mom played that I loved. I couldn't find a video that even gives it even a little of the justice my mom can make this piece sound like . . . . . She makes it sing and come alive!!!

Flashback Friday

Journal Jar question:  "Did your mother or grandmother sew, quilt, knit or crochet?  Tell about some of the things she made."

The answer to this one, is yes, yes and YES!  Some of the most cherished possessions that I have were handmade for me or my family by my mother, my grandmother(s), my sister or Lincoln's grandmother.  We have been the recipients of a bountiful array of quilts, baby blankets and afghans.  (and no, afghans are not people from Afghanistan, they are crocheted blankets!!!)  One of my treasured quilts is one that my mom made out my old dresses and clothes.  It is like a time capsule.  I can look at it and it takes me back to my childhood.

Mom and I quilting one of her "Sun Bonnet Sue" quilts for one of her grand-
daughters.   Mom . . . . Let me know when you put on another one of them!!!



My mom  has always handmade the bulk of her gifts to us and our kids.  She is in the process of making quilts for all the grandkids.  It has taken her several years to get through them all, but she is getting to it!!!  She made all her grandsons Levi quilts which she knocked out pretty fast, but for the granddaughters she is making "Sun Bonnet Sue" quilts, which require her to hand embroidery each square on the quilt.  I've helped her quilt 2 of them.  It was a pretty ambitious project for her!  (she's got 14 grandchildren!! 7 boys and 7 girls)  In addition to what she makes for her family, she has either crocheted, cross stitched or sewn something for each new baby that arrives in the ward she lives in.  She's done this for as long as I can remember!

Just recently, Lincoln and I decided to tackle our crawl space and make some tough decisions.  We lived here 12 years and our crawl space has become packed with stuff that we have emotional attachments to.  Things that people have made or given to us are some of the hardest to get rid of.  We had to take a good look at some of the stuff  we were keeping.  We decided that we would keep a few things, at least one for each person in the family.  Even though some of the items were threadbare and falling apart and stained it was hard to stuff them in a bag and take them out to the trash.  OH SO HARD! 

I, personally, kept the "memory" blanket my mom made for me, oh so many years ago, the one made out of my clothes when I was a child.  It is tattered and torn from the loving use I've given it.  Someone besides me is going to have to dispose of it, and they will wonder why I was keeping such a rag. 

 

I've often felt a little sad because I haven't been able to make blankets and quilts for my kids.  I didn't make any because we have so many.  No need for more.  But really, I need to count my blessings and be happy and thankful for the shower of blessing others have given to us!  I AM thankful!!!

My Yesterday

You know the saying TGIF???  Thank God It's Friday???  Well mine is TGIT, My week ends on Thursday. Why Thursday?  Because I teach 30 piano students from Mon-Thursday, and although I love teaching with a passion, Friday is a glorious day.  Here is what I did with mine . . . . .

~An hour of puttering about the yard, picking up yet MORE leaves and branches that had fallen from the trees!

~An hour of P90X (My 3rd week and I'm gaining weight, JOY!)

~Another humid day . . . . another day for me to wear my curls freely (the grays are coming in straight, ARGHHH)

~Delivery of a pool spool, my dad is a genius!

~Lunch with my mom and dad and McKay

~Christmas Tree Shop with my reluctant dad, excited mom and a "I'll do whatever grandpa does" McKay (what a place!, I didn't buy a single thing, woo hoo)

~McKay offering to play grandma and grandpa his piano recital songs (I didn't even prompt or bribe him, Holy cow!)

~A piano lesson (I know, I know, this is supposed to be my day off!  I was pressured!)

~An episode of "Hoarders"  (GROSS!  but I'm enthralled, is there a hoarder hiding in all of us?)

~Finishing a book called "The Enchanted April"  on my new ebook reader (thanks Georgia for the suggestion, I liked it!)

~Practicing the piano

~Reading blogs and e-mail

~A Netflix Movie . . . "Adam"  (pretty good chick-flick)

~Family prayer over speaker-phone with Lincoln (we do this every night at 10:00 p.m. sharp, no matter where Lincoln is . . . . at home . . . . or away)

A perfect day!