REMEMBERING MY SWEET SISTER

Elsie with Susan, Joe and Linda

Elsie and I at one of her craft shows

Elsie passed away in her sleep on December 26, 2017

These were two pictures I decided to put on this blog.  The top one was when Elsie's children brought her to Sequim one time. Susan is in the maroon top, Joe (Linda's husband) is next to Susan and Linda is to the far left. The bottom picture is one of her craft shows we went to. A reminder of better times.

On December 14, 2017 Elsie was in the hospital and Donna took me to Everett to see her.  

I will be forever thankful that she did that.  It was the last time I would see her.  We stayed over three hours and had such a nice visit talking about so many things in our lives.

Elsie was very weak when we saw her.  I just was hoping she would make it longer but she had so many problems. Also her eye sight was so bad I would have to sit close to her so she could see my face,  She was too weak to go back to her apartment from the hospital so she went to a rehab to try to get her strength back but she died in her sleep after a couple of days in rehab.

I miss her but I know she is in a better place now.  She loved letters and we had been writing letters back and forth since I got married and moved away from Everett. 

SNOW FOR CHRISTMAS

Snow for Christmas

It snowed some more during the night.  I just wanted to post this so we will remember that there was snow on Christmas in Sequim.  The temperature was up to 36 degrees by afternoon so I think the snow will not last.  The snow is pretty as long as I can just watch it through the window.

SNOW AND DINNER ON THE EVE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

SNOW VIEW FROM DOWNSTAIRS

SNOW PICTURE FROM UPSTAIRS

Leif and Donna had invited a few people to dinner.  It started snowing just as we were ready to start eating.

The Sister Missionaries and one of the other Sisters from the ward and her granddaughter had to leave early because they wanted to get home because they both lived on hills.

Everyone had a good time.  We had a gift exchange and everyone visited a lot.

MACHINE EMBROIDERY QUILT PROJECT

Two blocks from the Big Blossom quilt I am making.

My newest machine embroidery project.

I saw the pattern for this quilt in the December All Access magazine we subscribe to and immediately fell in love with it.

The blocks are nine inch squares and as you can see there is a lot of embroidery on each.  I am making a queen size quilt so I need to make 63 squares plus embroidered strips between the rows.

This is the most ambitious project I have attempted to do so far. This will probably take me between two and three months to do.  I am excited about doing it and it will look so nice on my bed.  I chose the maroon background because this will match my electric blanket and my bed skirt.

WINTER PROJECT

Covered Bridge Wall Hanging--Not finished yet but you can see the beautiful Fall colors

Yesterday was the first day of Winter.  The weather is chilly. I hope we can get through the Winter without snow.

My machine embroidery helps me get through this winter weather.  I keep trying to think of something positive about Winter but haven't really come up with a good idea yet.

MACHINE EMBROIDERY PROJECTS

Matching squares from covered bridge wall hanging. These are not sewn together yet.
Just wanted to show how they will look. I have done seven squares and have five more to do.

I am excited about starting on my quilt.  The fabric is a little darker than this photo shows. The material is a maroon.  I chose this material because it matches with my electric blanket and the skirt on my mattress.

The quilt will be a long term project.  I do have the squares picked out that I want to do.  I still have to decide on the colors for the flowers.  Each flower square is a different design.  I will have to decide on colors for each square.  Some of the colors suggested will not go well with my fabric so I am going to have to lay out my threads and make decisions on what looks the best.

Donna picked out this fabric for me because she and Laif had gone to Portland and she was able to go to Fabric Depot. This is a large warehouse filled with all kinds of fabric. Donna texted pictures to me and the camera showed the  colors were pretty close. This fabric is one of the more expensive ones but she had a coupon for 50% off. I got a little over six yards for $41.00. Donna got the stabilizer I needed at Joanne's $21.00.  I really have not invested that much for a queen size bed.  I should have plenty of thread.  

I may have to take breaks from the quilt if some exciting pattern comes up in our All Access Magazines that come out every month.  Each magazine has a disc for all the patterns in that magazine. Our subscription is up July 2018.  Donna and I split the cost. These are expensive magazines but Anita Goodesign patterns are very unique and give you step by step instructions.

Fabric for my quilt