Long time no see

Some of you may be wondering what ever happend to my Aloha Album quilt, its still around, simmering on a back burner. I managed to get two blocks done while in New Mexico. I wanted to finish at least one so Mom could see it with her own eyes. This is the first of the two. She was surprised by how big the blocks are. I guess I never included anything to indicate scale, so the 18 inch plus block surprised her. It is going to be finished to 18 inches, but right now its untrimmed and is probably 20 inches square give or take a half inch. I think the orchids turned out very nice. I am half tempted to ink some spots on the orchids, but hesitate because the only fix if I mess up is to pull it off and redo it with a new piece of fabric. So I think I will err on the side of caution just now. My plate is full and I do not want to create more work for myself. I have been in the habit in recent months of taking on new projects before finishing the old ones...as a result I have four unfinished quilt projects two of which have completion deadlines. So I have dropped the two that have no deadline in favor of the two that do...well sort of dropped them. One is so close to being finished that I hate to ignore it altogether, so I spend a little time on it now and then hoping to keep it moving toward the finish line. When its finally done I will take up the Aloha Album again. But as Bob as my witless I will not take on another quilt project until the ones I have started are done!

Back at my blog

Well, I am finally back at my blog. I think just about everybody who reads it knows I was in NM for a month helping get Mom moved down to Roswell after her stroke. As strokes go, it was a big one though you would never guess it by looking at Mom. She is a little unsteady on her feet, a little at a loss for words some times, and her hand will not always do as its told, but she could easily fool the casual observer. It was hard even for me sometimes to remember that she was in recovery because she seemed so much her old self at times. The move to Roswell was remarkable in that it was utterly unremarkable. Things fell into place so seamlessly that it hardly felt like the major upheaval that it was. It has been my experience that things generally go that way when God is left in charge. I can't speak for Mom or Jamie, but I know I only had a fleeting moment of sorrow saying goodbye to 921 W. Plaza. The things on the horizon were exciting enough to hold my gaze and keep me from looking back too much. Maybe my life as a military dependent; always recovering from or gearing up for a move made it a natural thing for me. Whatever the reason, it felt like as the old prayer book said "a meet and right thing to do" I hope it was that way for everybody. Saying goodbye to friends was the hardest part, but as big as NM is, its a small state when it comes to staying connected. Out there its not at all uncommon to drive 3 or 4 hours to get to some place worth going and Roswell is only 2 hours from Clovis so I know Mom will see all her friends from time to time especially after we move back home!