After Christmas

**********

I received my Sophia ATCs from the PIDSwap group.

by Sarah W.

by Lee H.

by Elena V.

by Debby B.

by Annie L.

~~~~~

This Sarah card is the last one from the December swap:

by Lee H.

~~~~~

My MIL is still hanging on. We took her Christmas gifts to her, but she was too weak to open them, so we opened them for her. She said they were nice, then promptly lost all interest in them. At first she didn't even know it was Christmas. She asked her provider to help her get dressed and get out of bed, which she did. As soon as MIL was in her recliner, she went back to sleep--leaving us sitting there awkwardly. It was a sad visit, especially for my son and DIL.

We did get a phone call from my DS in Iraq. It was so good to hear his voice! He was in good spirits, and said he is doing well. I miss him terribly, and hope his tour of duty will end this spring as scheduled. His children need him.

I also talked to my eldest sister on the phone. She was all alone for Christmas Day, and I think just wanted to hear other voices. We had a good talk, and I was left feeling that no matter the troubles we are having, our lives could be worse.

I got lots of gift cards for Christmas--I will have fun doing a lot of shopping in the days and weeks to come! My DH was so delighted with the garden cart I gave him that he immediately went to work putting it together. He is putting in a large bed of Amaryllids at the local Botanical Gardens, and the cart will certainly come in handy.

**********

Catching up

**********

I haven't posted in awhile. I realized that when I got a card from a cousin (thanks, Kristin!) who follows this blog. I have been so busy with my MIL's illness that I haven't done any quilting or art.

My MIL is in the final stages of Alzheimer's. She doesn't always recognize us; sometimes she is unresponsive. The doctor insisted on seeing her this last week, and even he was shocked by her rapid decline. He saw her a month ago, and she was walking with help, talking, answering appropriately, and appeared alert. This time we wheeled her in, and she could barely stand long enough for the nurse to weigh her. The entire visit she sat in the wheelchair moaning and groaning. She kept saying, "I want to go home." We're no longer sure if she is speaking literally or metaphysically.

This decline has finally made it clear to my DH that his mother is dying. It has hit us hard, especially since he is an only child. He is doing all he can for her, but it really isn't making much difference. All we can do is try to keep her comfortable, and we can't tell whether she is or not.

DH is going through years of paperwork, making final arrangements, and dealing with the providers, all of which is stressful to the extreme. It is amazing the things you can discover about a person you thought you knew well. MIL was always a very private person; if she had her faculties she would be furious at the invasion of her privacy.

MIL liked to go to garage sales, and her favorite item to look for was stuffed toys. She would buy them from kids, and make sure they got the money. She had thousands of them in her garage, all sorted into bins and carefully stored. Many were brand new, with the tags still attached. I have spent the last three weeks going through them one by one, sorting any stained, soiled or ragged ones out to send to Goodwill, and the new and clean ones were donated to a children's charity for their Christmas giveaway. We donated several kitchen trash bags full. Each child was given a chance to talk to Santa, then was allowed to pick their own stuffed toy. We are told that the toys were the main attraction, and that each child went away happy. We also donated some bags to local fire and police stations to give out in domestic situations. I think MIL would be delighted at the distribution.

We also had to remove most of her clothing from her room, to make sure she had the kind of things she can still wear (nightgowns, and a sweatsuit for going to the doctor.) I found bags of beautiful lingerie, much of it still tagged, that will go to my granddaughters after Christmas. They are about the same size as my MIL. She had lots of lacy stuff. We still have about 7 large bins to go through, and haven't even touched the clothes hanging in her closet.

I had been reading Ami Simm's blog (www.amisimms.wordpress.com) dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's struggles, and am saddened by the news of her mother's death. Her story parallels ours in so many ways. We know what is ahead; we just don't know when.

I have to admit to mixed feelings. It is hard seeing her suffer (and I believe she is suffering.) I want her to be at peace. On the other hand, she is the only grandmother my sons have ever known; and although she and I haven't been particularly close, you can't care for someone day in and day out without becoming fond of them. She has been a part of my life for 30 years. Her death will make my own mortality that much more real. I find myself imagining being in her place, aged and confused, and it saddens me immeasurably.

When she does pass away, our lives will be forever changed. My DH wants to move us back to the area where we grew up, which would be wonderful except that it is completely unrecognizable. I know a great adventure awaits us, but I am a little frightened at the prospect. Sort of like the feeling one must get before skydiving, or shooting some rapids, or base jumping. Once you take that first step, there's no going back; the die is cast. You may have a bad experience or a tremendously fabulous experience ahead--no way to be sure until you go for it. It would be so easy to do the safe thing and stay the way we are. But DH has his mind made up, and where he goes, I must follow.

I may not post regularly for awhile, but I will try. Life is just in too much upheaval right now to plan ahead.

**********

ATC Swaps

**********

Below are 4 Sarah ATCs that I received in the November swap at the PaperImageryDesigns Yahoo group. We use a different image each month, but Sarah is one of the prettiest.

by Karen M.

by Dianna M.

by Kim S.

by Brenda S.

**********

This ATC uses Nia and was for the October swap.

by Elena V.

**********

These are Ralph, my cards for January.
(I showed the December cards, using Sophia, in the last post.)

**********

What I am thankful for...

**********

I am thankful that I finished this quilt top this past week. It's the "Fabric Gal" pattern from Eleanor Burns' book, "Still Stripping After 25 Years." The 'peppers' fabric will be the backing for it. I like the color combination, which I took from the border fabric. I also put in a narrow strip of purple faux piping between the blocks and the border. The quilt top is 39" square, and is intended for a tabletopper.

I am also thankful that I finished my next swap ATC's, which use the image called 'Sophia' by PID. You can't see it in the pictures, but they have a wash of glitter on them that makes them seem almost holographic.


My MIL now has a daily provider, and today she got her to eat more than she usually eats in a week. My MIL is happy with her, and as long as this progress continues, we will feel a lot less stress over her condition. That really is something to be thankful for. DH admits that we should have done this a long time ago.

My Eastern Star chapter is having their annual rummage sale this next weekend, and I have cleaned out my clothes closet for things to donate. My sons and I were Trekkies during their teenage years, and I had all the TV episodes from the original series, as well as TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise on VHS. I no longer have any interest in them, my older DS doesn't want them either, and my younger DS has them on DVD; so they are all going into the rummage sale as well. These are home-taped videos, not production videos--but some trekkie might like to have them. We'll see! At least I've freed up a lot of space in my video cabinets! More to be thankful for!

The weather has been cool and rainy the last few days, and it has felt really good. I've been staying at home as much as possible, because my heel spurs have been acting up again, making it very painful to walk for more than a few feet. I have been taking lots of ibuprofen, which helps some. Not so thankful for the pain, but hurray for meds!

We had planned to get take-out meals for Thanksgiving this year, but the expense will be too much; I'm going to my fall-back plan--deli-sliced turkey with all the fixings. I simply don't have enough room in my tiny galley kitchen to deal with a turkey or ham. We'll cook the fixings here, then take them over to my MIL's house for the meal. Thanks be for deli turkey!

We have been teaching Copper to talk. To get any table scraps he has to say, "I want it!" or as close as his little doggy voice can get. He tries really hard, sometimes having a whole conversation with us before he gets something out that sounds anywhere close to "I want it!"
But he has gotten the idea, and DH thinks we have created a monster. When he tries to eat his morning donut, Copper asks for continual bites and it comes out perfectly clear. DH wonders if he will get to eat any of his own donut from now on! Copper also loves ice cream, which he proclaims is "nummi-nummi-num!" I think so too, Copper. I am so thankful that we found you at the shelter--you were worth every penny we spent, and so much more.

I am also thankful for my DH's continued remission from his cancer; for friends and family; for continued good health except for my feet; and for a roof (however leaky) over our heads. I am thankful for my DS in Iraq staying safe, and my DS here for his help and support.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

**********

Great Giveaway!

**********

These three quilts are being given away on the Old Red Barn Co. blogsite! Aren't they great? I just love the old-fashioned look. These are all designer quilts, fully quilted and finished.
Be sure to get over there pronto to enter for a chance to win one of these quilts or one of two patterns! See the box in my sidebar.

**********

Cold, cold, go away!

**********

I've been fighting my cold for almost a month now, and I finally have it down to just a nagging cough. I've been sick enough that I didn't feel like doing much. I did try out the quilt pattern that my sister gave me, although I just wanted to make a table topper with it. This is a very simple pattern that looks complicated (don't you just love those?) The pattern calls for nine-patches made out of 4" squares (I used 3" squares.) The center square is white, the corner squares are a feature fabric, and the rest are a coordinating print. Then you cut the blocks in half vertically and horizontally, and turn the upper right and lower left pieces 180 degrees, then sew the pieces back together. My quilt used 16 blocks, 4 across and 4 down. It finished 28" square, just what I wanted.


Here's the back, which uses the leftover feature print fabric bordered with strips of the purple print. I bound it with a strip of kelly green, although it looks teal here.


I quilted only the squares of feature print, and wrote my name in quilting on the center bottom two squares. (It says "Made by Marcia Gilbreath" with "2008" in the upper right corner.)


I'm very pleased with the way it turned out, especially since it's the first time I've really quilted anything on my sewing machine. It's not perfect, but it'll do.

**********

I'm Baaack!!

**********

We're back from our big trip,and we had a blast! We drove twelve hours straight to get to Stillwater, OK, where we had a great afternoon reunion with some of DH's 1960 classmates. We also spent time with his Dad and step-mother, who we had not seen for nearly 10 years. We had dinner at Joseppi's, where I had the best potato soup I have ever tasted! DH also went to a tree-growing seminar at OSU. I made the decision to go shopping while he was gone, but of course he had the car. So I walked to a nearby shopping center that had a Hobby-Lobby in it, then ate at a Mexican restaurant. The walking caused my heel spurs to act up, and I had sore feet the rest of the trip.

We then drove to Fayetteville, AR where we stayed with my sister and her husband. All six of my siblings were there, as were many of my nieces and nephews. We are a rare family in that we always get along--no fights or major disagreements. We also enjoyed visiting with my DDIL and two granddaughters and grandson. We are glad they have gotten to know us better, especially my GS who we had not seen since he was a baby.

We also had a brief afternoon reunion with the few aunts and uncles I have left at a beautiful lodge at Lake Wedington (below.)

We then drove to Tyler , TX and spent the night, then toured the Tyler Rose Garden. It was gorgeous! The roses were in full form, although I think DH enjoyed talking with the gardeners in the Idea Garden more than anything else. That's DH, below.


Then back to Corpus, where my DS and DDIL had been taking care of everything for us. We could not have gone if they had not been here to visit my MIL every day, take care of Copper, and water the plants.

~~~~~

Back to creating! The PID Swap Yahoo group is doing a swap of ATC's of Sarah, the lovely image shown below. These are my contributions, done on wood blanks, with an old Texas map torn up for backgrounds, rubbed with Tim Holtz Distress Inks to dull them down, then Sarah was applied, then map-based transparencies were laid over all.

~~~~~

These are the NIA swaps I got back so far (one still to come!) Upper left is by Sarah W. from Australia; upper right is by Elena V. Lower left is from Gabriele H. and lower right by Debbie L.
I think they are all wonderful!

~~~~~

And now the Halloween ATCs I got back. This one is by Kim S. and uses an encaustic wax coating, very cool!

These two are both by Dianna M. who also hosted this swap.


Lower left is by Lorraine R. and lower right by Elena V.


Lower left by Eileen B., and lower right by Shelly W.


Aren't they all great? Boy, am I in a Halloween mood!

~~~~~

I finished this pillow, which took longer to gather the materials for than it took to make! It is from a pattern in BH&G Holiday Crafts 2005.

~~~~~

This birdhouse was made by my Secret Angel to replace the one I never received in the earlier swap. I've shown front and back views here. Thank you so much, Angel!

~~~~~

I have had a bad cold since our return (actually, it first showed up in Tyler.) I haven't felt much like creating this week. I do have everything I need to make my Christmas cards this year, but it's a little early to start on them. I still have grocery bags to work on, too. And my sister showed us an easy quilt pattern that I'd like to try soon, so stay tuned for more pics, I hope!

**********

News from afar

**********

We sent my DS in Iraq a package on the 22nd--it arrived on the 29th! Seven days is not bad at all for halfway around the world. He sent me an e-mail to let me know how much he appreciated everything we sent. My DDIL also called me to tell me he had received the box. It was wonderful to hear from both of them.

I will get to see DDIL and my grandchildren in another 10 days. They will be at the family reunion that DH and I are attending in northwest Arkansas. I can hardly wait! I don't know what is more exciting, seeing my siblings or my DDIL and grandkids. It will be a looooong trip, but well worth it to both of us.

~~~~~

I have been trying to get some projects finished before we go. I made five of these ornaments from a pattern by Nancy Taylor called "Comfort and Joy." The fabric looks the same on the back, but the 'bead and button soup' is only on the front sides. They look a little lumpy right now, but will even out as the fiberfill settles. I only need to sew on some ribbon to hang them by. They are made with four patches, and I intend them for Christmas use, but in these colors I think they would look good year-round. They look especially Easter-ish to me. I have 36 bird ornaments cut out and ready to stuff in the same colors.

~~~~~

This wall-hanging is from the 2003 issue of BH&G Holiday Crafts. I used wool pieces from the skirts and jacket that I cut up. It looks off-square but that is just how it is pinned onto the back of my couch. It is about 14" x 18".

~~~~~

I also have a couple of small kits to take along on the trip--a cross-stitch bookmark that is half-finished, and some templates and hexagons for one flower for a Grandmother's Flower Garden block. I will take the bird ornaments as well if I can get them far enough along to sew the wings on and attach the bead eyes. They are supposed to have strings of seed beads to hang from, but I'm not sure I want to try working with seed beads in a moving car! That will have to wait until we get home, I think.

Copper has become very attached to us, crying when we leave him at home, and following us around from room to room. Although my younger DS and DDIL will be here taking care of him, I worry about our absence being too traumatic. After all, he was a rescue from a shelter, so he has already been abandoned once. I'm sure he will get lots of attention while we're gone, though.

DS and DDIL will also have to take care of my MIL while we are gone--that entails visiting her home every day and bringing her something to eat, and giving her the medicinal patch every day. So far she seems to be okay with our leaving her, so I hope she will give them no problems. Changes in routine tend to upset her. She is looking more frail these days--she is not eating as well as she should. Her appetite has improved but she insists on eating fast food, even though I have bought microwave meals for her. She has an appointment with the neurologist shortly after we return from the trip, and I am anxious about what he will say. I hope that he will see the same changes we have been seeing, because I feel she needs 24 hour supervision. We shall see.

**********

Ready for Halloween

**********

This is the last of the leaves from the swap. This one is by Ange H.

~~~~~

Halloween is my favorite time of year, and I started making decorations early. I figure if I make a few each year and buy a couple of nice ones as well, I will soon have all I need to decorate the house.

I made these from potato chip cans. I'm not crazy about the skull, but the other two turned out just like I wanted them to. I love the old-fashioned looking decorations.

These ATCs are for a Halloween swap on the Paper Imagery Designs yahoo swap group.

This guy is about 30" tall. I just love him--once I carved the foam pumpkin, the rest took only an afternoon to gather together the supplies and construct him. He will sit in the living room until a few days before Halloween, when he will go outside the front door in the flowerbed with other pumpkins. His base is a sand pail with a FQ of fabric tied around it. His head is lined with black felt and stuffed with plastic grocery bags. The raven is attached with clothespins. The head is attached to the pail with heavy duty craft adhesive.

I have some fall pillows in the planning stages. I have been shopping the thrift stores for wool skirts to felt, plus a few other fabrics that will work well with the wool. I picked up a lovely grape colored skirt today, and a red plaid that will work for Christmas pillows. Wool clothing isn't very easy to find around south Texas. I bought several skirts and a beautiful pumpkin colored jacket last week that are now washed and taken apart for the fabric, so I hope to get started on one of the pillows this week.

**********

More backgrounds

**********

One of the techniques this past week being taught on the Paper Imagery Designs blog on Yahoo groups is paper towel painting. I had done some before for the amulet swap, but this time it is just to make backgrounds to use in your art. The ones above I painted with cheap craft acrylics. The second one from the left is metallic, although the photo doesn't show that. I really like how the texture of the paper towel pops out, and they are made sturdier by the paint so they will stand up to being used in ATCs or collages. The one below I did with Cat's Eye Pigment Pads by ColorBox. The paper towels are a local chain brand, but other brands give very different textural effects.

~~~~~

Remember the felt leaves I did for the FiberArtTraders yahoo group? Here are the ones I have received in trade--I still have one more to arrive. Some also included extra goodies!

By Flicsha A.

by Morning Dove

by Barb E.

by N.J. B.

by Linda W. (The beads in the center are made of Tyvek!)


~~~~~
Some ATCs from the PID yahoo group:

The ATC on the left is by Kim S.
The one on the right is by Wanda H.--I may have shown it before, but it rates a second look!

Both of these are by Pam B. All four are tiny masterpieces!

~~~~~

I made the wooden ATC above for the September ATC Jackpot on PID, in which we were to use gold in some way. I used a wrapper from a Rolo candy for the background, then a piece of punchinella (sequin waste) with a gold spiral button, an image from PID which I then lightly sanded, and a small balsa chip.


This one was made using the background sheet below, done with music sheets and Tim Holtz' Distress Inks. Little Ralph looked like the perfect PID image for a Tenderfoot. I gave him a hat, a cow skull on the wall, and a coil of white twine stamped with Distress Ink to resemble old rope.

The background sheets look kind of messy until you cut them to size--these are 8.5" x 11" sheets of cardstock. I had an old book of cowboy songs in my stash; I used some of the pages for this project. Paste them to the cardstock, cover with smears of Distress Inks, and let dry. I then rolled them with a brayer to flatten them. Very easy!

~~~~~

I hope to make more ATCs over the next few days. Copper goes for a haircut tomorrow, and DH will be at his Master Gardener class in the AM. I will have time to play if I work it just right!

Hurricane Ike passed Corpus Christi by completely--not even any rain until the next day! The elderly and disabled were evacuated, but we stayed here expecting high winds and lots of rain. I think we got a half inch when it finally did rain.

I'm putting together a care package for my son. He's a Dallas Cowboys fan, so I bought him a jersey and made a throw that he can use as either a blanket or a wall decoration. I don't know how cold the nights get in Iraq, but it's a lightweight fleece with the team logo on it. I've got lots of candy and personal care products in there, as well as a couple of Halloween surprises that he'll get a kick out of. I should get the box filled in the next couple of days. DS #2 promised to download some music for him as well. I hope to start the next box as soon as I get this one mailed.

**********