Blogger’s Quilt Festival-A Letter To My Son

Welcome to the Blogger’s Quilt Festival.  It took me over a year to make this special quilt, and I wanted to share it with the readers from the Bloggers Quilt Festival. The quilt is 25” x 30”, was made and quilted by me, and could be in the art quilt, wall hanging and applique quilt categories.
Those who are regular readers of my blog know that my brother passed away from complications of scleroderma in November, 2010.  In June of last year, I decided I wanted to learn how to make a portrait quilt and took an online class from Marilyn Belford through Quilt University. I had never taken an online class before, but it was a great learning experience, and Marilyn is a great teacher. I selected a picture of my brother as the subject. 

This is the picture I used for the quilt inspiration

The first step in the process was to make a line drawing from a blown up picture

The audition process.  Marilyn was very tactful when she said my facial fabric choices were great if I was going for a “impressionist” look.  I had to change my direction.

The finished quilt

Here’s a close up

My mother wrote a letter to my brother on the first birthday after his passing.  It was a beautiful letter, so I decided to use the letter for the label on the back of the quilt.  I framed the letter with a wood-patterned fabric so it looks like a picture frame. 

I named the quilt “A Letter To My Son”.  We had a party in the nursing home for mom on her 79th birthday in May, and I gave her the quilt. She loved it.  She is currently with hospice, and has loves looking at it hanging on her wall.

For those who would like to read the letter, I’ve reproduced it below.  Be warned, however, that there might be some tears involved.

A Letter to My Son

Written by Judith Reid on July 18, 2011

Tribute to Mark Reid

July 18, 1956 --November 30, 2010

Dear Mark,
So…how is it? Eternal Life – so far, I mean. Are you surprised to be there as we are for you to be there? Not that we are surprised you are in heaven, mind you, but surprised, shocked, and saddened that you are there so soon. It doesn’t make sense to us who are left on this side of life. Does it make sense to you from there? You had too much life yet to live, and in the midst of our disappointment, your earthly life was cut too short. There were too many family photos yet to take with you in them; too many conversations yet to have; too much life to still enjoy. You were multi-talented being a carpenter, building a house, which together with Ruth, was made into a loving home. Also, you were a mechanic and a gardener which you so much enjoyed doing. How much you both enjoyed and followed NASCAR and boating with friends. Your move to Ft. Myers, Florida was so enjoyable with meeting new friends and visits with old neighbors from Michigan, which was short-lived due to your illness.
What wonderful life lessons you taught your children to carry into adulthood and how proud they were of their Dad and how much they loved you. They are forever grateful for the delightful and precious relationships they had with you. You and Ruth have raised them very well with a wonderful married relationship. What a great gift you gave us and yourself by packing so much life into so little time. We were so proud when your first born daughter Amanda became our first grandchild and Grandma & Grandpa Reid had their first great grandchild.
Please allow us some time, and some space, to cry, grieve and mourn in our loss. For you were vital and full of life for your family, your friends, and your community. That which you gave was reciprocated, as evidenced by the outpouring of love and care of others during your celebration of life. You were a wonderful loving son who was deeply loved and you will be in our hearts forever. We miss you, especially your phone calls, your smile and that tinkle in your eye.
Love Always,
Mom & Dad

Hope you enjoyed the quilt show.  Thank you Amy for hosting the Blogger’s Quilt Festival.  Check out all the beautiful quilts in the Festival.

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A Letter To My Son

It took me over a year, but I’ve finally finished a special quilt that I’ve been working on.  It was a present for my mother. If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been for the past 7 months, I’ve been immersed in caring for both of my parents.  But, that’s another story for another day...

Those who are regular readers of my blog know that my brother passed away from complications of scleroderma in November, 2010.  In June of last year, I decided I wanted to learn how to make a portrait quilt and took an online class from Marilyn Belford through Quilt University. I had never taken an online class before, but it was a great learning experience, and Marilyn is a great teacher. I selected a picture of my brother as the subject, intending to finish it for Christmas and give it to my mother then.  Then my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in September, and I ended up in the hospital for Christmas (I’m fine now). I blew through the Christmas deadline.  The next deadline was my mother’s birthday in May, and I’m glad to say I finished it (enough).  Enough…you know…not completely done but done “enough” to give to her for her birthday and then take it back to finish it.  I’m glad to say that I have actually finished it.

This is the picture I used for the quilt inspiration

The first step in the process was to make a line drawing from a blown up picture

The audition process.  Marilyn was very tactful when she said my facial fabric choices were great if I was going for a “impressionist” look.  I had to change my direction.

The finished quilt

Here’s a close up

My mother wrote a letter to my brother on the first birthday after his passing.  It was a beautiful letter, so I decided to use the letter for the label on the back of the quilt.  I framed the letter with a wood-patterned fabric so it looks like a picture frame. 

I named the quilt “A Letter To My Son”.  We had a party in the nursing home for mom on her 79th birthday in May, and I gave her the quilt. She loved it..

For those who would like to read the letter, I’ve reproduced it below.  Be warned, however, that there might be some tears involved.

A Letter to My Son

Written by Judith Reid on July 18, 2011

Tribute to Mark Reid

July 18, 1956--November 30, 2010

Dear Mark,
So…how is it? Eternal Life – so far, I mean. Are you surprised to be there as we are for you to be there? Not that we are surprised you are in heaven, mind you, but surprised, shocked, and saddened that you are there so soon. It doesn’t make sense to us who are left on this side of life. Does it make sense to you from there? You had too much life yet to live, and in the midst of our disappointment, your earthly life was cut too short. There were too many family photos yet to take with you in them; too many conversations yet to have; too much life to still enjoy. You were multi-talented being a carpenter, building a house, which together with Ruth, was made into a loving home. Also, you were a mechanic and a gardener which you so much enjoyed doing. How much you both enjoyed and followed NASCAR and boating with friends. Your move to Ft. Myers, Florida was so enjoyable with meeting new friends and visits with old neighbors from Michigan, which was short-lived due to your illness.

What wonderful life lessons you taught your children to carry into adulthood and how proud they were of their Dad and how much they loved you. They are forever grateful for the delightful and precious relationships they had with you. You and Ruth have raised them very well with a wonderful married relationship. What a great gift you gave us and yourself by packing so much life into so little time. We were so proud when your first born daughter Amanda became our first grandchild and Grandma & Grandpa Reid had their first great grandchild.

Please allow us some time, and some space, to cry, grieve and mourn in our loss. For you were vital and full of life for your family, your friends, and your community. That which you gave was reciprocated, as evidenced by the outpouring of love and care of others during your celebration of life. You were a wonderful loving son who was deeply loved and you will be in our hearts forever. We miss you, especially your phone calls, your smile and that tinkle in your eye.

Love Always,
Mom and Dad

Hope you enjoyed the quilt show.  Take care.

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Progress Update

If you read my last post, you know I was at the hospital headed for surgery.  The surgery went well with no complications.  The pelvic mass was a cyst and there is no evidence of cancer.  The other mass was attached to my stomach, and was completely removed.  No evidence of cancer around the GIST tumor.  However, because of its' size and the fact that these tumors have a tendency to turn into cancer, I will have to be monitored and possibly take some medicine for a while.

Recovery has been a bit slow.  I thought I was headed home on Thursday.  I was slowly eating again after no food for a week.  They removed a small portion of my stomach, and it has caused a bit of a problem in keeping any food down. So, it's Christmas Eve and I'm still here at the hospital.  Today was a good day.  I think they've got the meds figured out and my body is starting to work as it should.  If all goes well, I should be able to go home tomorrow.  I know it will be a slow recovery, but I'll be happy to be at home with DH and my fur "boys".

Thank you for all your kind words, well wishes and prayers.  I think they worked!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.
Karen

Life is Tough Sometimes

It's been a while since I've posted, partly because I just didn't feel like posting. Perhaps there was a bit of depression with my brother's death.  Then, it was a pretty busy year at work as our company changed hands (again) and we had some major work to do from the acquisition.  Then, life got in the way.  This is not a quilty or fun post, and it goes from bad to worse, so if you want to skip the rest of this post, I understand.  I do feel as if I've made many blog friends however, and felt I needed to update my friends on what is happening.

In September, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.  I've kind of taken charge of the situation, making sure that I try to make it to the important Dr. appointments and that she is not alone for chemo treatments.  I had no idea the kind of time and effort that goes into cancer treatment.  My mom had a short set of radiation treatments, 3 chemo treatments, and many more consultations and blood draws than I can count.  Her health was compromised with lung disease to begin with.  The pain that drove her to seek medical attention has mostly subsided, so I think the treatment has been effective.  We are hoping that 2-3 more chemo treatments will do the trick and then it will be a watch and wait situation.  She and my father did manage to make a trip to Florida at Thanksgiving time to see her grandson graduate from firefighter school, and to meet her new great grandson.  They had a good time, so I'm glad she got to do that.

Fast forward to this week.  I was having lunch on Wednesday and felt really full after I ate.  As the day wore on, I got more uncomfortable, and I certainly didn't feel like eating dinner.  After an uncomfortable night, I had my DH take me to the emergency room.  After several tests, it was determined that I have a rather large tumor pressing on my stomach.  I haven't been able to eat anything since Wednesday and it is rather painful.  The tumor could be benign or malignant.  Rather than delay things with additional testing when the outcome is that I'll have to have the tumor removed anyway, it was decided to go ahead and schedule surgery to remove it.  In addition, I also have an enlarged ovary that they want to check at the same time.  They won't know anything about these 2 masses until the surgery is done.  So, tomorrow I will be in surgery.  I will try to update my friends on the outcome when I feel well enough to do so.  I've delegated care of my mom over to my siblings as I have to take care of myself now.  DH has been a big help and a great comfort.

So, that's why you haven't heard a lot from me this year.  Prayers right now would be helpful and appreciated.  Thank you to all my blog friends.  I feel like I've gotten to know many of you through your blogs and facebook, and I really appreciate all of my friends.
Take care,
Karen

Happy Easter!

It’s been a while since I fell off the face of the earth.  I haven’t felt like blogging or anything else for some time.  Work has been consuming my life for the past several months since the company I worked for changed hands.   I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the good news is that so far, I still have a job.  That is always a concern when your company changes owners, something I’ve been through 4 times already with this company.

Had a bit of a scare a few months ago with DH, who ended up in the hospital for a few days with chest pains and shortness of breath.  After 2 urgent care visits, 2 ambulance rides, 2 emergency room visits, admittance to 2 hospitals, and many tests, it was determined that he had a 30% blockage in one artery.  The doctors were not concerned about the blockage.  The doctors felt that the chest pains were the result of a prolonged flu virus, and that his heart muscle had some stiffness due to sleep apnea.  I finally convinced him that if the flu can put him in that kind of tailspin, then perhaps it was time to start getting a flu shot (which he got).  Using his CPAP machine for the sleep apnea is another struggle he is trying to work through.

I did manage to get to some quilt shows over the last few weekends.  I’ve got pics, but they are still on my camera so I’ll get those unloaded for a later post.  But here’s a pic that always brings a smile to my face as it looks like my cat Lumpy, who lived with us for over 16 years until we had to put her down 5 years ago this month.




It has been a long winter, and spring is having a hard time settling in.  I am grateful that we’ve managed to avoid those tornadoes that seem to be popping up across the south and mid west.  I feel bad for those areas that have been hit hard over and over again with bad weather.  I did enjoy the beautiful, sunny day we had yesterday (finally!).   I’ve been missing my brother and his family as we have a quiet Easter at home today.

I’m saw this awesome performance the other night, which I thought was appropriate for this day.  She has such a powerful voice, and I love the guitar playing by Vince Gill.

And last, but not least, I saw this on Facebook today and had to share this with you.

All I need to know I learned from the Easter Bunny!

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

• Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

• There's no such thing as too much candy.

• All work & no play can make you a basket case.

• A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.

• Everyone's entitled to a bad hare day.

• Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

• Some body parts should be floppy.

• Happy Easter everyone!

Merry Christmas

Spending a nice quiet day at home after a crazy week.  I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday with family and friends.  I love this video.  Enjoy!

It was a bad and good day

We laid my brother to rest today.  Mother nature chose to honor us with our first measurable snow, with just enough to make the roads a bit messy while heading to the cemetery.   For a cold, snowy day, there were a surprising number of people who showed up for the graveside service.  My former sister in law was there with her son, my nephew.  I hadn’t seen her in many years since her divorce from my younger brother.  But at times like these, as we stood there and hugged in the cold, I found that there is no “ex” family.  She was there to see my mom & dad and comfort them over the loss of their son.

As I helped my mother to the where the service was held, her hands were cold as ice.  As people sometimes do at these times, she forgot her gloves at home.  I gave her my gloves and held her hand as we said goodbye.  My father seemed a bit dazed and confused.  It was a somber affair.  And then just like that, it was quickly over.  His last 6 months from diagnosis to death—it  just happened too fast for me.  We headed to the VFW hall where his friends put together a lovely lunch.

It was great to see all of my family together again, nieces, nephews and other family members who had moved away and hadn’t been seen in a while.  Lots of hugs, and I got to meet my 6 month old niece, Clara.  I watched as Clara was passed around from person to person, such a sweet baby who kept looking at everyone with big brown eyes.  Babies are wonderful at times like these.  It’s funny.  I remember Clara’s mother, Amanda at my grandparents funeral 33 years ago.


At most memorials or funerals, there comes a time when everyone has a good laugh as they share a memory of a loved one.  Today was no exception.  My niece, Amanda, provided the perfect way to celebrate her father’s life.  My brother loved to party with his friends, and he loved his beer.  Amanda brought in a life size cut out of her father, with a can of beer attached to his hand with velcro.


Looks real, doesn’t it?  Mark’s many friends gathered around him and posed for one last picture as we all giggled and laughed.  Yes, it was a good day to celebrate life.

Thank you for your prayers and comments over this past week.

Reflections

I thought he was a pain in the butt when I was growing up.  The older brother just close enough in age to taunt and tease me through my teenage years.  The brother whose act I had to follow in high school (I was Miss Goody Two Shoes), when his former teachers were expecting me to be a trouble maker like my two older brothers.  The older brother who got his own room when I still had to share a room with my younger sister.

He married his high school sweetheart Ruth Ann just barely out of high school, and little  Amanda was at my wedding a year later when I married my high school sweetheart.  Alisha and Andy rounded out the family, and before long, they all grew up and started on the next generation with three sweet grand babies, Amelia, Violet and Clara.  As families do, we got together at holidays,  birthdays, picnics and special celebrations.   Then, like many others, my brother and his wife had to sell their house last year and moved to Florida (away from family and friends) in search of employment.  Last year was the first Christmas without my brother, his wife and family in more than 34 years. I always appreciated the fact that my sister in law always hosted the family Christmas for many years, but I think I took our family gatherings a  little for granted and thought the family would always be together.

My brother Mark lost his battle with scleroderma today.  It happened way too early for his 54 years on this earth. This past spring, he was diagnosed with scleroderma.  Scleroderma is a skin condition where the body produces too much collagen.  This makes the skin rock hard, which then makes it difficult and painful to move the joints. You can imagine what it does to your internal organs.  Mark was in and out of the hospital 5 or 6 times since September, suffered kidney failure, and was put on dialysis a month ago.  The irony is that there are no specialists in this disease in Florida, yet there were specialists at the University of Michigan, not far from where he lived for most of his life.  His family tried to get him moved up here to Michigan for treatment, but at that point, he was too sick to be moved.

I had to go to my parent’s house on Saturday, to be there to support them when my sister in law called with the news that he was failing, unconscious, and would probably not be with us for too much longer.  Unfortunately, due to health issues, neither of my parents were able to fly to be by his side.  His wife and children were by his side as he peacefully slipped away at home.

He is survived by his wife of almost 35 years, 3 children, 2 son-in-laws, and 3 grand kids.  We are grateful that his kids got to spend time with him in the week before Thanksgiving before he went into the hospital for the last time.  My heart is aching for my sister-in-law, who has a tough road ahead in Florida without her family and friends close by for a support system.

This is a picture of their family, taken when they were all together just before Thanksgiving.   He loved being a Grandpa.


I’m glad that he is no longer in pain.  He was too young to go. I will miss him, and pray for his family as they suffer through this difficult time. May he rest in peace. 

Mark Reid 1956-2010.

Comin’ up for air

I decided to take vacation day so I could have a long weekend.  Work has been as busy as I predicted, and a bit stressful as well.  This weekend has given me a much needed break to relax, recharge my batteries, and catch up on the blogs.  Sounds like many of you have been busy as well.

I am moving along with my French braid quilt, and decided to tackle the backing this weekend.  The instructions in the book had us cut way too many strips for the quilt.  So, I wanted to  use up those strips for the back.  I got out my EQ and designed my first quilt.  This is the plan.

  
Because I’m just learning EQ, it’s not exactly how the quilt will look.  But it’s close enough to what I envisioned in my mind.  The background will be plain white fabric, and you’ll probably see a bit more of a white border than what the picture is showing.  The binding is the red stripe fabric that I used on the front of the quilt, which I will cut on the bias so the stripes are at a 45 degree angle.

I got the 2 strip sets done this weekend.  Other than the plain white fabric, which I purchased, everything else will be scraps from the front of the quilt.

Well, I’m off to make some Finnish pasties, which I love to make and put lots of extras in the freezer for those nights when I just don’t feel like cooking.  I will be taking next Wednesday off so that I can have a long 5 day holiday weekend.  Can’t wait for that!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Thanks for stopping by.

Catchin’ Up

Life has been a bit crazy lately.  The company I work for has changed owners (for the 5th time in 15 years).  Things are getting busy as we change focus, systems and procedures from a public company back to a private company.  I had a quick business trip to Chicago  last week, and the next 3 months are going to be quite busy.  Not complaining.  Change keeps things interesting, and I’m grateful to have a job.  Let’s hope I can survive any corporate downsizing.

On the quilty front, I’ve been doing quite a bit of quilting over the last 3 months.   Was pleased to get my Halloween quilt done (thanks for all the lovely comments and to all that voted for me), and am getting back to work on my French Braid quilt.  I’ve also been to a few quilt shows in the past month.  Here are some pictures from the Grand Rapids quilt show last month.

I thought this double wedding ring was so unique with their choice of background fabric.  You usually don’t see a large print like on this particular quilt.  Aren’t the colors gorgeous?

I love picture quilts.

I love this fall quilt.

This was a whole cloth quilt that was later filled in with colored pencils.  The quilting is stunning.

I love the colors on this one…

 

Another gorgeous use of color…

Love this hankie quilt, and great quilting.

And, of course, a cat quilt to make me smile

Hope you enjoyed the show.  I may be a bit scarce over the next few months.  I do try to catch up with everyone’s blogs on the weekends.  Even if I’m not commenting, I still enjoy reading your blogs.  Take care. 

Halloween Quilt Finished!!

I am so happy to report that after 2 years of trying to complete my Halloween quilt in time to be shown for Halloween that it’s done!!  The last few weekends have found me finishing the FMQ that I’ve been struggling with, completing the binding, and adding the leaves to make it look like a pumpkin.

Here is the full size quilt:

I entered my quilt into the Quilt Gallery contest to win a fat quarter bundle.  So if you like my quilt, can you take a minute to please vote for my quilt?  Here’s the link: http://quiltinggallery.com/2010/10/29/trick-or-treat-halloween-quilts/

Thanks for stopping by, and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

My Commute

Over 30 years ago, my husband and I decided we wanted to “live in the country”.  So we moved to a small town that was a half-hour to an hour drive from several large suburbs.  This was the start of my career in commuting.  On a good day, my commute is 45 minutes one-way, about 35 miles.  On a typical day, it is about an hour.  We don’t even want to talk about what happens when it snows…

Generally, on a federal holiday as we had yesterday, the commute is pretty light.  I was about 10 minutes into my commute yesterday when traffic came to a complete stop.  We then proceeded to crawl along for another 10 minutes before I could see some flashing lights ahead.  I crawled along for another 5 minutes before I saw a state police car in the middle of three lanes.  The car was pulled sideways, blocking the lane so we had to move to either shoulder to pass.

As I got closer to the police car, I could see something on the ground on the other side of the car.  There were no other mangled cars in the area.  As I went around the car, I looked and saw a dog that looked like a yellow lab laying on his side.  I also saw a Michigan State Trooper sitting cross-legged on the pavement stroking the dog. 


That image of the trooper sitting on the ground stayed in my head for quite a while.  It was so sad.  All day long I wondered if the poor dog was ok.  Today, the local paper had the story.  The dog was darting in and out of traffic, and people were swerving.  The trooper managed to block the highway and get close enough to the dog to attach a hitch to his collar.  The dog was scared, tired, and his paws were bleeding and hurt from the pavement.  A passer-by stopped to help with a blanket.  The dog is being treated by a local vet and will be ok.  The word is going out to find the owners, but if they are not found, others have offered to take the dog.

HAPPY ENDING!!   Thank you, Michigan State Police Trooper Deanne Oswald-DeBottis.

Pioneer Days

Today was one of those fall days that one remembers fondly when we’re in the middle of winter with snowstorm after snowstorm.  It has been a long time since we’ve had such a beautiful, crisp and clear sunny day.  The fall colors were in full display as we took a little drive to enjoy the day.  I had seen a notice for Pioneer Days at a historical village. 


Now, this place is in the middle of a very rural area, and we were amazed as we drove up and saw how many cars and people were there.  They have over 150 volunteers for this annual event, which benefits the historical society that preserves this lovely farm. 

 

There were lots of people in Civil War period costume demonstrating the various crafts and tasks from that era.

They had a quilt set up for a quilting bee…

A little spinning…

A little weaving…

Some beer making… (see the beautiful trees and lovely blue sky?)

This little crib was in the kitchen of the historical house.

These goats were awfully cute. The kids were having lots of fun!

Cute lambs…

 
They had lots of produce, pies, jams, pumpkins, and other assorted food as well as crafts for sale.  These had a tag that said these were snake cucumbers.  I’ve never heard of them!

A little music…

I bought some wool for my Halloween pumpkin quilt.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I wish my Canadian friends a blessed, Happy Thanksgiving.

Fall has arrived

Brrrrr! Yesterday, we had a high temp of 87 (20 degrees higher than normal) with wind gusts of 40 mph and today, we’re down to a high temp of 56 degrees.  Strange weather we’ve had all summer long, and now the weird weather seems to be stretching into fall.  No gradual lowering of the temperature.  Nope, we went from hot summer right to cool fall.  Oh, well, it’s time to celebrate fall so I redecorated my blog.

You haven’t heard from me for a while because I’ve actually been quilting for a change.  The French Braid class I took did what I wanted it to do, which was to give me a deadline to work towards each week as I got closer to the class date.  I used the class as an excuse to take some days off work.  I do think my mind may have been elsewhere while I was quilting. In the picture below, the squares at the top of the picture are all supposed to look the same—the middle strip was sewn correctly (right sides together).  

Did you ever wonder how you can sew two pieces of fabric wrong sides together, take it to the ironing board to iron, take it to the rotary mat and cross cut it into several strips, sew it to the quilt and only then figure out that something wasn’t quite right? (But my points matched!!!)



I got most of the quilt done, and only need to cut and attach the final border.  I did manage to master a mitered border on this one.


I generally avoid mitered borders, but the striped border I chose just begged for mitering.  Since I was in a class, I took advantage of the teacher’s help to show me how to do this.  The method the teacher used was so simple that I don’t know why I had such a fear of it prior to this.

This is one of the lovely ladies I met in class.  Her quilt had several beautiful batiks in lovely magenta shades.  The purple quilt on the wall was the class sample.


This was another class quilt in progress.  I love the colors that were used in this quilt.

I don’t have any pictures of my quilt yet, but when I do, I’ll get them posted.  I have managed to keep up with reading everyone’s blogs, even though I haven’t been commenting too much.  Thanks to everyone for visiting and I do appreciate all of your comments!!