Catching up

Another month has flown by, super busy.  I'm quilting here and there when I can.  In the sewing room I'm hard at work finishing up the Lovebirds quilt top. 

And, I'm loving the "Scrappy Star Stitch Along" from Repro Quilt Lover (Taryn) on Instagram, info here.   It is not too late to join in!  It is really fun.  I'm not being too fussy about reproducing the blocks super closely - just using what I have.  This reminds me of the "stars in a time warp" project years ago.  Love it so much.  

For the following block I broke out some vintage Japanese indigo: 

And there is also the Susan Smith Mathilde mystery quilt, in Quiltmania magazine.  I'm catching up -  

Again challenging myself to use only stash!   I hope it all fits together nicely in the end.  I guess you never know.  

David went fly fishing for a couple of days in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains - to catch up in terms of contemplation and renewal. 

Look, he saw a barn quilt - what a beautiful setting! 

I've been enjoying reading, and also listening to books as I quilt.   I finished listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (narrated by Meryl Streep).  I'm a big Ann Patchett fan and this novel was just so delightful, funny, poignant, relatable.  

Before that, I had read Lessons in Chemistry which I also highly recommend.  It sort of felt like a companion novel to the Barbie movie!   

And before that, Abraham Verghese's epic The Covenant of Water.  A masterpiece.  I carried it around ALL summer long.  

Do you have any good book recommendations? 

Meanwhile the twins turned one recently - "young" in their development, having been preemies, but catching up!  

xo

Cynthia 

December flying by with family happenings

I am starting to do hand work in the evenings again.  Time is flying by.  I am spending a lot of time helping with the babies and Charlotte, but the babies are sleeping through the night, and I am also making better boundaries for myself.  It's all been a big learning curve. 

I love seeing my quilts used and loved!  At Kaela's, here's Eleanor napping on her nine patch... and the Christmas tree quilt in the background on the couch.  

I finished up Christmas stockings for the twins with simple embroidery - I had made a stash of these stockings while we lived in Tokyo. 

And a similar one for Camille to put next to Tommy's hanging from the mantle.   Starting next year they will be married and can fill each other's stockings;).  

I used a whipped straight stitch which looks more complex than it is.  I see how the fabric puckered but I'm calling good enough good enough. 

Kaela's twins were "blessed" at church last week - it's a special prayer where a baby is blessed and prayed over.  Their names are announced in the prayer, wherein a special blessing is also given.  It is more or less comparable to a baby christening.  Often this blessing is given by the baby's father, and no two blessings are exactly the same.  Joe did a great job (twice!) and there was such a spirit of love in the meeting.  Lots of family came into town for the occasion and we held a big luncheon at Kaela's place afterwards.

The babies are growing by leaps and bounds and we love being their grandparents! 

Meanwhile with a little more free time I'm getting our place in order... 

And David and I decorated for Christmas - this is our first year (in the U.S. anyway) with an artificial tree. Charlotte just loves it.  "What's this?" repeated 100 times, looking at each ornament.  

I've switched around my upstairs.  There are two rooms up there - a guest room and a bonus room (plus a hallway bathroom).  I've decided to combine the guest room and sewing room into one.  

Here's my the guest/sewing room with just about ALL my "stuff" moved into the closet, to make the room ready for company: 

We put three (!) twin beds in the bonus room and we are calling it "the dorm".  I put denim duvet covers on the beds.  They will be durable, and more or less "go" with any quilts I put at the foot of the beds!

My little nephews were so excited to be the first "dorm" occupants.  Here they are at Kaela's, decorating gingerbread cookies: 

Meanwhile, Noelle, my oldest, turned 30 - my how time flies.  I loved making her a cake - like old times - and bringing it over to her place.  We ate sukiyaki, YUM.   

David and I went to see a performance of Handel's Messiah one Sunday in Cary. 

And a Black Nativity performance in Durham last Sunday: 

Both performances absolutely knocked our socks off and got us into the Christmas spirit for sure. 

I'm starting to bake Christmas cookies, which I love to do.   Each year I try at least one new recipe for Christmas time.  Sometimes a new cookie, sometimes a new cake, or even baked donuts one year.  

The other day I tried this Hot Cocoa Mix, from a New York Times Cooking recipe that I simplified slightly (in terms of the proportions of chocolate to powdered sugar - I just used two bars of chocolate and didn't worry about exact measurements) and I really like it a lot!  I'm going to experiment with different chocolate bars.  Next up: raspberry dark chocolate combined with Cadbury milk chocolate.

Hot Cocoa Mix: 

1 C (105 grams)  powdered sugar

scant 3/4 C (90 grams) cocoa powder 

1/4 C (120 grams) dark chocolate (I used a 3.5 ounce (100 grams) Lindt 70% dark chocolate bar)  - chopped 

1/4 C (120 grams)  milk chocolate (I used a 4.4 ounce (125 grams) Lindt milk chocolate bar)- chopped 

3 tsp vanilla bean PASTE 

3 pinches fine sea salt 

Mix all together thoroughly in a blender.    Store in a large mason jar.  

Stir into piping hot milk-  2-3 T or to taste, per cup.  This mix will make about 12 cups of cocoa. 

YUM. 

I hope to post again before the end of the month but if not... 

  xo Merry Christmas to all my quilty blogger friends!  

Cynthia 

Twin grand babies arrived, and we moved

So much has happened in the past six weeks and we haven't come up for air yet!   

Kaela's twins were born at 34 weeks last month, somewhat earlier than expected!  She and Joe are proud happy and very tired parents! 

Amelia Anne, and Eleanor ("Ellie") Marie 

They needed help with breathing and feeding and spent several weeks in the hospital (first in one high level NICU in Chapel Hill, then transferred to another NICU closer to home), which was an education for all of us.  Capable wonderful nurses. Each day brought highs and lows.  They were never in danger, but it was a daunting few weeks, with Kaela and Joe trying to balance time at the hospital with time home with big sister Charlotte.  

When parents are visiting their babies, they are encouraged to handle as much of the babies' care as they'd like to.  I think this helps with the transition home. 

Kaela taking a photo before leaving for the night.  This was a few days before the babies came home! 

Once the babies were breathing and feeding on their own, we knew they'd be coming home soon.  The nurse showed Kaela a good way to give the babies a "swaddle bath" -  They look so much bigger in photos! 

It was all hands on deck for the first couple weeks.  Feeding, washing bottles, burping, changing, laundry, meals.... big sister Charlotte, the two dogs.... it is just such a busy household and Kaela and Joe are doing great.  Joe has a lot of parental leave which is such a blessing. 

Amelia all wrapped up in pink: 

Their neighborhood, together with the Relief Society at church, organized a "meal train" - which was so very much appreciated!  They also got delicious meals from cousins and aunties;).  

Southern hospitality, truly! 

Then, Tommy and his darling girlfriend Camille came in to town from Utah, followed by Joe's Mom.  Meanwhile there were helpful visits from aunties and cousins too. 

During this same time, David and I moved from our rental into our townhome.  If you have ever moved, you know how exhausting it is.  

Before moving in, we had the interior freshly painted, and new carpet put in.  New fridge delivered.  New washer and dryer delivered.  All of these purchases required research, decisions, coordination.  I'm real happy with the paint.  It's the first time that we've had professionals paint rooms. 

It has been a challenge to figure out where to put things in our cozy space.  I have happily brought several boxes to Goodwill, and I have three more ready to go on Monday.  My last frontier is the bonus room upstairs - half of which will be my sewing area!  Did I mention I just have TOO much stuff? 

I will say it's been really fun to open up our sea shipment boxes from Japan!  This pretty much sums it up: 

I was just finishing writing this blog post last night and we lost power!  Remnants of Hurricane Ian.  We got out our portable phone chargers, ate crackers, fruit, and peanut butter by candlelight for dinner.  Listened to a fun Mindy Kaling Audible memoir.  Opened a window for fresh air and slept under three quilts.  This morning, power went back on!  We now have a better idea of what's needed in a hurricane situation.  

Now it's Saturday morning, we have power again, and we are doing a toddler-proof scramble so that Kaela and Joe can bring Charlotte and the babies here (they are still without power). 

Will I ever quilt again?  I hope so.  :)

xo

Cynthia 

p.s.  I have to mention this - my Grandma name was Marmee..... but let's face it, it sounds exactly like Mommy in a toddler's voice.... so.... Gram it is;).  I feel awkward about changing it AGAIN  but it just didn't seem right to continue with Marmee!