Sheep Parade 2021-- An outing!!!

 

Grandma Quilts

 My Grandma Autrey was a quilter extraordinaire!  Even now, my Dad still claims she is quilting away. (Go figure--Grandma would be 126 years old by now. . . and Dad does have a bit of dementia.)  Other than her biscuits, which I loved, and crossword puzzles (which she loved), quilting was her "thing."  Well, that's not true. She also crocheted. And kept a garden. Never drove. (I'm not exactly sure on that one. . .perhaps she did drive earlier in life).  She kept chickens, grew pecans, had a chamber pot under her bed (!) and spent a lot of time in her older years in her rocking chair.  Grooves in the hardwood floor attest to that.

The quilting frame she had was the kind that could sit up against a wall and the ends rolled onto a frame, kind of into an "L" shape. Grandma was very good about keeping the scraps she was given very organized.  If my mom, Marilyn Autrey, sent scraps from sewing projects she'd made, Grandma kept those separate from scraps that Aunt Flo or anyone else might have sent her. That meant, generally, when Grandma got around to piecing a quilt, she used pieces of fabric that were part of OUR lives. My old favorite dress, the doll blanket I had for years that Mom made me and that I still have!, Mom's favorite shift, our kitchen curtains, etc.  They all became a part of that pieced quilt top. 

Sadly, not many of the quilts she made still survive in our family. When she gave them to us, they were used, and used well.  I took one with me to college and wore it out. Its only surviving pieces are in the form of my kids' Christmas stockings I manufactured from the remaining parts of the quilt.

However, there are many quilt BLOCKS that remain!  My mother kept them in her cedar chest for years, hoping that in her retirement and twilight years she would be able to complete the quilts.  She hasn't. So when my folks downsized through the years, she passed on her cedar chest, along with the quilt blocks that Grandma Autrey made -- to me!  I couldn't be more thrilled.

Some of the blocks were already made into a nearly-completed quilt top and that one was completed by my daughter-in-law, Kaylee Liebhardt. She has access to a machine quilter and did a great job quilting and binding one of them. It's in my "quilt cabinet" (AKA gun case).

The rest are still in the form of blocks, awaiting their turn to become an heirloom quilt.

I had the opportunity this week of starting to work on one of them. The ones I started with were very unusual. They are very bold colors and thick, because they are made of two layers of fabric, not just one. The piece-work was done in a form of "tube quilting."  Or something like that.  What that means to is that the back of the quilt is almost as interesting as the front!

 But first, here are some of the blocks that we have from Grandma Autrey (Agnes Johanna Wetz, 1885-1978)

A nine-patch pile of blocks, above. All lightweight cotton fabrics and very soft colors, for the most part.

This is a star pattern, above. All of the centers are a black pattern print. All are lightweight cotton.

This is another star pattern of a different kind. I 'm not sure of the name. But again, lightweight and cotton.

THIS (above) is what I worked on this week. I didn't add any sashing, but just sewed the four-square blocks together. The photo above was taken before I'd finished piecing all of them, so a lot of them are just laying on the carpet. But one can see how bold the colors are! Nothing pastel, soft, or lightweight about this. 

This is a photo (above) of the back side of the pieces after I sewed them all together. This is the part that is as interesting as the front. The back has been made from all kinds of things:  Old house dresses or aprons, a work shirt, a sack holding a Virginia ham, feed sacks, old white cotton sheets, embroidered pillow cases or doilies. It was amazing to see how well-used the items were. Pockets had been removed from shirts. There are a variety of fabrics, but mostly sturdy cottons that would hold their shape as other fabrics were stitched to them.

Above, even one of the house dresses or shirts had been MENDED. There's a pathched hole in this one. Remember, this is the back-side of the quilt squares.

I think this one looks like a house dress I remember Grandma wearing. Or it could have been a man's shirt or cotton pajamas.

Above: These clearly look and feel like feed sacks to me. We had lots of these. This is the "wrong" side of the fabric, so she pieced the upper part of the quilt square on top of the right side. But it didn't matter, because it's not going to be seen by anyone but me.

Above: Here is a piece of cotton Ham bag. Another square has a bit of cooking instructions for the ham.

Above: This blue plaid looks like one of my Dad's shirts.  Or any mans' shirt from the 60's. Or 50's.

And in the spirit of "Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without," I sewed some of these blocks together using cotton thread, well-preserved and sturdy still, but from a WOODEN spool. Do you know how long it's been since thread was sold on wooden spools?  A long time. I've had this spool of thread a very long time.

ABOVE and BELOW:  These coursely-woven cotton/rayon-type blend in different pinks reminded me of Jackie Kennedy's pink suit with pill box hat. That was the time frame and I'm sure these pieces were from a woman's suit. Maybe Grandma's, maybe not. There were also woolen fabrics that were most likely suit material.

Above is an example of how the individual 6 inch squares (7 inches before being pieced) were put together layer upon layer on top of that under piece to hold it all.

And SOME of the 4-Squares were ALL pieced into a pin-wheel kind of pattern. I tried to keep those alternated in the center of the quilt.

I found of backing in my fabric stash that is actually some Coleman Fabric.  Coleman Co. had a sleeping bag and tent manufacturing place in Cedar City for many years. They would let folks come and pick through the left-over "ends" of fabrics, the rejects, extras, etc. for free. Many a fabric collection in Cedar City was founded on Coleman fabric from years gone by.  Well, my mother-in-law happened to have a lot of back and white hounds tooth check flannel fabric that I'll be using for the back of this quilt. I've pieced it together (the back), the top is all done and pressed, I've purchased a lightweight batting. Now all I need to to is get some quilting frames and yarn. It does seem a bit un-true to NOT hand quilt something of Grandma's, since that's all I ever knew her to do with her quilts. This one will be tied, however, with yarn. It appears to me to be more of a "rough and tumble" kind of quilt or blanket, rather than an delicate one.  (However, some of those fabrics may prove to be more delicate than they look). Wish me luck!  I'll add the photo if and when it's ever completed. ;-)

Tomatoes, continued

This is a lame attempt at "Food Blogging". 

Really, it's just Before, During, and After pictures of roasting tomatoes.

The finished ones (below)  are slightly darker than I  wanted them, but that's okay. They don't taste burnt. I think they are better described as"dried"rather than roasted. 

I like to keep these in my freezer. I can slice/dice them to add to pasta, sauces, soups, salads, veggies, stir fry,  etc. They add a big ZIP of flavor to whatever. Cool. I like 'em. And it's a good thing because a have a few boxes of green tomatoes on my garage, ripening. 

It froze last night, so yesterday I picked and saved some of the green tomatoes , and FILLED my trash can with the vines and rest of the green tomatoes off my ten 🍅 tomato plants. (Sure do hate to waste so much food.) 

So long, Summer! Welcome Fall. 

Power in Pink, October 9, 2021

 This was a first for me this morning. They have been doing this for 9 years now.

 I went to the canyon park and gathered with others in support of Breast Cancer Awareness  and support for those going through treatment. There are many. There are many who did not survive, so we walked in honor and memory for them, too. I happened to meet up with a friend from campus, so we walked the canyon trail together. I think we did a couple of miles. Running or walking a 5 K was an option, but it's best that I not push too hard on these old hips of mine. I did okay, but did need to slow down the last little while.

There was a program and speeches before, the walk, treats and prizes after. Fun group. Good cause. Glad I went.

Thanks, Camille (or, Dean Thomas), for being my walking buddy and sharing travel stories, LISTENING to my travel tales and educating me on how to better breathe as a runner. Because, maybe someday  I will get back in shape and be able to run! ( Said the old fat lady as she waddled down the walking path...)

Lots of signs were placed along the start of our trail to honor those who have fought or are fighting breast cancer. 

It really was beautiful morning. Cold. Wet from rain the day and night before. We even had hail at 2 am that woke me up!

Note the sweatshirt? It's the pink Alaska sweatshirt that Laura bought when we all were there for Dad's 80th birthday in 2011.  If you are reading my blog and don't know my family, Laura is my sweet sister-in-law who died of metastisized breast cancer last year. David let me have her sweatshirt. I thought it was the perfect PINK thing to wear for this event. (And it was warm!) 

Out participation medals were square metal --aluminum?-- tags on a lanyard. Kind of different. They look like conference badges, but are metal.

This poster has a photo of Gail's dear sweet friend from High School, Christy Perkins. She also did not survive.  She is a noble soul who also left way too soon. She chronicled her cancer journey in a blog I tearfully followed. She was a  very  talented writer.

BUT-- there are many, many of my friends, co-workers and loved ones who HAVE survived a breast cancer diagnosis, and I'm grateful for them all!!

Cousin Christi, neighbor and friend Nancy, co-workers Susan and Marsha and Donna...and so many more.

💕💕💕 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Blooming artichoke

 These grow in a little garden down the road from my house. They are lovely. I wonder if I could grow them?

Tomato oops

Roasting tomatoes. Slow-baked with olive oil, sea salt and garlic. Basically, they caramelize and the flavors intensify. I have done them before successfully. Just not THIS time. Ha.

Sort of what they are supposed to look like. Above.

How they really looked. Guess I need to watch them more closely.

Ahhh... THAT'S more like it. These are grape cherry tomatoes from the Heaton's garden. Slow roasting works best.

 

Fall is in the air

 And we were not paying attention to the weather, and our tomatoes plants were nipped by the frost!!! Boo hoo!. I was not done bottling and drying them and eating them. Luckily, the plants were so thick and tumbled and tangled together that many are under leaves that are not frozen. I hope some will survive enough to ripen a bit more. I'm sure we have plenty of warm sunny days remaining. 

Mom and I have been out "leaf peeping", which is a thing back east, I believe. But ours were not ready yet. This week, we went out on Wednesday and Friday. She had another shot in her back this morning. (Friday) Her blood sugar had soared to over 400 by the time they had dinner tonight!!! Yikes. She seems so un concerned about it, as it is so common. Double yikes!

It's rather nerve-racking that they have active COVID-19 Cases at Our House Assisted Living, formerly known as Brookdale. But I'm so glad they are not shut down. They have merely isolated the infected ones. And everyone who comes in must wear their mask at all times. 

Mom and I also went out on Thursday for a lecture on campus about ecosystems and hawks. It sounds dry, but the speaker was really good and I think we both enjoyed it, and enjoyed a close up look at the screech owl who was there, too.

Friday afternoon, Mike and I went to St George for a few things, one of which was a car show and lunch with our financial advisor's company. It was a fun little out door event. They used to do monthly things, (called "First Friday") but I worked, then the pandemic hit, but this was easy to do today. I love retirement. 😁 We also dropped off some jam for Matt and Eric, but missed Eric at his work. He was at lunch, but also going to a funeral of his friends father who died of COVID(!). And Mike got some shoes. If you would have told us we would be spending so much for ONE pair of tennis shoes, we would never have believed you. But our old feet must be kept happy and apparently that is what it takes!

We looked at Quail Creek reservoir water levels on the way home. Low, low, low. What happens when we turn on our faucet and no water comes out? 'Tis a concern here in the desert.

Here are a few photos of our doings.