Little lessons

Some of my mom's greatest pleasures were her flowers and vegetables, and she most definitely had a green thumb.  When she passed away 13 years ago, I was determined to keep her flowers alive.  I have so many things of hers still thriving in my yard.  I have divided and shared with many of my friends over the years.  Here is a picture of her clematis .....

I worked hard on my flower beds the summer after she passed on to make room for all her things.  The following spring I was working in my flower beds and her peonies were really growing.  I noticed some ants on the buds and mentioned to my 6-year-old daughter, who was out helping me, that I needed to run to Lowe's and get some insect spray or dust to get rid of the ants on Mamaw's peonies.  She told me that the peony buds were covered with wax and the ants needed to eat that off or the peonies would not bloom.  I asked her how she knew that and she said her Mamaw had told her once when she was helping her with her flower beds.  I could just visualize my sweet mom taking the time to explain to Hayley about those ants on the peonies.  I remember that conversation every year about this time ....

Do your job little ants, I want to see my mom's beautiful peonies bloom.

Letter to my son

I wrote this letter to my son two weeks ago on his birthday, April 5 ...

To Connor Steven McCormick: 
My middle child would be 20 today. While I carried him inside me, his daddy picked his first name and I picked his middle name, after my mom's maiden name, Stevens. He came into our lives for a few brief moments but quickly made the journey back to his heavenly home. I had the privilege of knowing him for nine short months. I knew when he slept, when he was awake, when he had hiccups, when he was stretching, and when he turned over. Sweet baby Connor --- would you have dark hair like your big brother or red hair like your little sister? Would you have your daddy's green eyes or your mommy's blue eyes? Would you have played football? What would you have chosen to do in college? Would you have a girlfriend and would I love her also? 20 years later and the ache is present. I have two children with me but I am the mom of three. Moments in our arms, forever in our hearts. We love and miss you still………

First quilt I ever pieced

I am in the process of giving my blog a makeover, so please pardon me as I work on it as time allows.  Just two weeks ago I finished a quilt that just happens to be the very first one I ever pieced, years ago.  This was actually some of the first quilt shop fabric I ever bought.  I had never heard of Moda, Thimbleberries, Marcus, Red Rooster .... you quilters know what I am talking about.  Once you feel the quality of the good stuff, especially when you iron it or feel it moving under your fingers while sewing, well, I was hooked.  I fell in love with this Kansas Troubles fabric from Moda.  I has been pieced for so long and I do not have any selvages to look at, but I think it is Seeds of Time.  I have had it on my UFO list for "a while now", embarrassed to say how long.  I know I have quilting ADD, but I think once I got this pieced I wanted to try to quilt something smaller, such as a potholder or placemat, before I quilted something this size.  By that time I had the quilting bug and started stash building.  Anyway, back to this quilt, I finally quilted it with a simple stitch-in-the-ditch and put the binding on.  I just could smack myself for waiting so long because I love it.  It is a generous lap size, 60 x 60, and fits so nicely on the back of my couch or on my deacon's bench. 

I am really, really working on busting out my UFO pile this year along with turning out new quilts.  Hang in there with me as I get my blog back in order.