Our Velveteen Rabbit

My Mother-in-Law, Dorothy, turns 95 years old today.

In honor of her birthday, we will drive over to the town where she lives. We will spend the day with her, first taking her out to breakfast. and then just relaxing in her little home, and serving more food and the cherry pie that she asked for. Hopefully, we will come up with some fun conversations to cheer her up, and make her laugh, and remind her why we still want, and need her, in our lives. And of course, we will give her gifts, for in spite of everything, she is still a gift to us.

Getting old has been very hard on her. She hates it. She hates not being able to do what she wants to do, or go where she wants to go. It's all she can do to walk across the room with her walker. All she can do to lift a simple re-heatable dinner into the new countertop microwave that we had to buy because her arm couldn't lift high enough to reach the regular one. For now, others have to come into her home to cook and to clean for her, someone else has to help her lift her feet into the bed at night, bring up the covers and tuck her in....things she once did for others, once did for herself, now has to be done for her.

But her life still has meaning and value...for she is still loved. That love, and all of her changes through time, remind me of the children's book "The Velveteen Rabbit",for in spite of every thing.....Dorothy is still ours to love. She still does the best that she can...even if she hates how she has to do it...now.

She made my youngest daughter the blue and coral quilt in this photo. It took her the last three years to finish her appliqued umbrella girls and just to put the main pieces together. She had her quilting frame setup in her dining room, and using her walker, she inched painfully around it and tied the whole quilt by herself. She couldn't even push the pedal on her sewing machine when she needed to make the back, or the binding and she wouldn't let me do it for her, or even help her when I offered.And I offered over and over, again.

When I wasn't around, she asked her youngest son, my husband, to finish piecing the back, and later to sew on the binding for her. He barely knew how to turn on a sewing machine and never told me about any of this. It was supposed to be their secret.....she wanted to make it and finish it, 'herself'.

She told him how to make the back..."you sew the big piece to the little piece" she said. So, he did. It never occurred to him to use sewing pins and his piecing was as crooked as can be, but he did it with her watching. She told him how to put on the binding. She hated that is was too loose and floppy and the batting didn't extend inside. But they did it together ,and it was hers to do.

For whatever reason, she chose not to criticize him, or tell him how it should have been done. She accepted that's how it is for her now, and was glad that it was done. She presented it to my youngest daughter, right before Christmas.

And to my child, this gift of the last quilt her grandmother will ever make, was a treasure...just as Grandma is...even on her worst and most crabby and falling apart days. For there is a sad part of her Grandma that believes that she is 'ugly' now, though we tell her over and over and over that she is still beautiful. For Dorothy is our own little 'Velveteen Rabbit' and she was, is, and will always be, beautiful to us.....and to anyone who truly knows her.

An excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit:

"That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily,

or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off,

and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby.

But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real

you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

And Dorothy, and her quilt, and every thing she still tries so hard to do for herself, and for us...is beautiful.... and we love her still.

Happy Birthday Mom/Dorothy/Grandma/Greatgrandma/
We love you just the way you are!


In honor of her birthday: a gift for all of you

Free e-Book: The Velveteen Rabbit

Please Donate $1, Today Only

Mark Wilson, who is an editor by day, an an amazing philanthropist by night, launched Philanthroper. Their goal is to offer a daily charity deal through their site with a donation amount of just $1 per person for 24 hours.

And today, Jan.28 only...for 24 hours, Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative is the featured charity.

DONATE HERE: Philanthroper.com - a new venture that encourages big change with pocket change.

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Every stitch in a quilt is important. One stitch, another stitch...and soon you have a beautiful quilt. Thanks to all the Bloggers and AAQI Volunteers who put the word out about the AAQI's feature charity on Philanthroper.com! This is totally a team effort done with love. Donations so far: $132 Thanks!

AAQI Facebook:

With Heart and Hands.....: Please Donate $1, Today Only

with-heart-and-hands.blogspot.com

A Quilting Journey Through the Heart and Soul of a Quilter. I am a creative and seeking spirit,who loves to think, to dream, to share and to do. Along the journey of seeking, thinking, dreaming, sharing and doing...I have learned to quilt!

As Ami Simms says, all she's asking is $1 from everyone reading this. Tell two friends.Put it on Facebook and Twitter.

Visit philanthroper.com!
Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
Liberated Quilting Challenge

Get the latest news about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative on the AAQI BLOG!
For more frequent news follow the AAQI on FaceBook and Twitter.
UPDATE:
Thanks to those who donated. We earned $152, yesterday!
I hope you were one of them and that you did better than I did! I couldn't get my button to connect, even though I tried and tried and then I lost my info page as I typed it all in. I hope I made a donation...me and machines and things that go bump in my night!

Michele Bilyeu quilts for AAQI..the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Won't you please join us? :) 

My Brain, Without Drugs...

I'm one of those people who do a million things at once. It is so complicated on some days, that there is no way I could even show you all of the things I am doing, or try to describe them.

But I had this collage saved from one day last week and it gives you a bit of the idea of the scraps, pieces and projects in my mind, and in my life....and for some reason, I just love doing all of it them at once.....because in the end, it all comes together ....and I really get a lot done in spite of it all!

What it doesn't show is a frozen computer where two automatic updates clashed with a pop up ad that zapped me while I was uploading quilt photos into a database at our Yahoo message board section of my Liberated Challenge...that darn pop-up ad made it through all my anti-virus programs and froze the entire desktop, all of my online photo graphics (in any and all web albums) were instantly and totally missing their photos. After minor cardiac arrest and days and days of trying to find and fix the problems....

I found out that the Windows XP would allow me one click and one click only on the desktop before everything froze. So I figured out if I clicked AVG and ran an anti-virus screen continuously, somehow it opened up the freeze, and I could then use the computer. So, for more than a week that's how I have been getting online.

Once, I managed to get back online, I downloaded IE and Google Chrome for alternatives to my now ruined Firefox, two more free anti-virus programs for more backup... and reset bookmarks and was back in business. I later deleted and downloaded Firefox a couple of more times, and now even it is working again!

It was all silly nonsense and all aggravating, but I wasn't about to pay for another computer clean out or repair. I was determined to figure it out... and do it myself! Don't ask me how I did it..but somehow I did.

I told my husband I was a genius but he was not impressed. After all, he knew I was the one who messed it all up in the first place ;)

Note any pattern here?

I decided I don't need to ever, ever get Alzheimer's disease from my 15 relatives. I make enough mind centered madness on my very own without even calling genetics in to play.

So, what if I froze the computer, lost all online graphics for two weeks, accidentally published a whole bunch of post edits yesterday, and have this much stuff all out and working on at once...it sure is fun!

I am a genuinely happy person and never, ever, ever bored!

One Little Quilt at a Time

When Saturday, January 15th, came, I paused to think how I best wanted to spend my day...the day that my father would have turned 94...one of my many new anniversaries of my heart.

It was a sad day for me, because I missed him so very much and because I have spent so many of his last birthdays in Alaska..I miss being there, and having that time, again.

It was Martin Luther King's birthday as well, and a day when we both celebrate, and honor his life and work, by giving and doing for others....a national "Day of Service."

So, Saturday, as well as the observed holiday of Martin Luther King Day last Monday, I chose to do what I often do....I worked on a quilt for donation to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. My own way of making a difference...one little quilt at a time.

My little quilt, made of some of the bits and pieces from my sewing room, is blue and gold. Blue and gold for my home state of Alaska's state colors...the land of my father's birth on our little Douglas Island home, where I also grew up.

As I was hand sewing on my little quilt, I also phoned 'home' to my mother in Alaska. As my brother handed her the phone, I could hear her saying my name, so I knew it would be a good day and she would be 'clear' for the phone call.

I do what I always do...told her silly stories about my chickens, talked about how she felt, but mostly I just told her that I missed her, and how much I loved her. And I send her lots and lots of love....love from the energies of my heart accompanied by big noisy kisses that always make her laugh out loud.

When I told her that I loved her, she responded: "I love you, too, Michele" and later when I said that I missed her, she added "You can come here anytime." Those are amazing things to hear from someone with advanced Alzheimer's. And each and every time it does happen, it is such a huge gift to me, and to my heart.

Those words turned it from a sad day, to a very, very good day. My mother still knows who I am, knows that she loves me, and most of all knows just how much I love her. And I remember that I am always welcome there, and no matter whether it is a good day, or a challenging one, she is still alive, and still there for me.

It reminds me as does my little quilt, that it doesn't matter what stage an Alzheimer's patient is at. It doesn't matter if they still can hold a phone, or are able to talk to you, or know who you even are any more! Whether they are (or were) kind or irritable, giving or withholding, able to say or show their love back....they are still deserving of being loved, of being touched, of being talked to, and of having their hand lovingly held.

I feel so blessed that my own mother is still happy, that she is not striking out with anger or harshness as some AD patients do. I am blessed to be able to love her, and to be able to visit her, and help be a care giver many times a year. But even if she was one of those who finds a different space within the horrible disease process, and trust me........even the physical challenges are absolutely enormous to a family....you are still able to love them, and visit them, and hold their hands with a soft and loving heart, and open mind as to who they seem to be now. It's very sad and deeply challenging to miss who they used to be. You simply try to accept it and meet them where they are......each and every single day.

Alzheimer's is a slow death by loss of identity and memory, but to me it is still easier than the actual physical death and loss of someone you love. And I never forget that.

I love you so much, Dad, and I will always, always miss you. But I love you so much, too, my sweet mama...and you are still here...and so am I.

And I'm still trying Dad, still trying my dear little mama..trying to be strong, to keep my heart open, to always show my love, and to make a difference in my life, and the life others...one little quilt at a time.

LINKS:

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative: making and donating little quilts

Liberated Quilting Challenge: join our own quilt bloggers Liberated Challenge and have your donated quilts also showcased on an additional page at AAQI.

Liberated Quilting Challenge

Get the latest news about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative on the AAQI BLOG!
For more frequent news follow the AAQI on FaceBook and Twitter.

Michele Bilyeu quilts for AAQI..the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Won't you please join us? :) 

Most Stash: She Won!

Can you imagine going garage sale shopping one day and finding this much stash for sale at someone's house?

That's what happened to Nancy, a quilter on the Quilting Board . The Estate Sale was in Missouri and took place a couple of months ago. Apparently, the quilting wife had passed away, and the husband and/or family members of the estate held this enormous sale to dispose of fabric, quilts and other sewing supplies.

Why anyone would wait two or three months to post this much fun on a message board is beyond me. Maybe the entire group signed a pact to not talk about it until they'd all had a chance to go through it all..... and buy what they wanted, before they told the world ;)

But Nancy commented that each of those flats with the fabric had at least 25 yards each and that while the prices were a bit high for an auction, they were still less than a quilt shop. Each of the flats you can see on these tables sold for around $40-50.

Now, I am assuming it was a dual person garage sale. Because I know, if I died first..... and my husband found this much stuff stashed in the house.....he would have immediately died of shock.

I'm sure she was a lovely woman and she is dearly missed. And my condolences to the family. But. I am a bit jealous......that woman had fun in her life time, that's for sure!! And if you look closely, there are some quilts in the background...... so apparently, she did have time for quilting, as well as shopping.

My thanks to Clare and to Irene for sharing this on our Yahoo message board. And to quilters everywhere..... your futures with your husbands are now secured. If they ever dare to complain about any of your stash, bring up a photo or two from this garage sale.

Heck, I'll probably put the first photo I created ...the one with the added text....on my computer and use it as a desktop screen ;)

SPLAT !

Weapon of Mass Destruction: Bug Swatter
Final Dimension: 8"x 16" with added border patrol
Specifications: Red and Chartreuse
Objective: Elimination by Direct Force
Designer: Michele Bilyeu
Final Comments: Gulliver 1, Lilliputians 0

I Have Become an Unruly Humbug

I have officially become a humbug. A humbug as in 'bah humbug!'


A humbug is a liberated quilter who seeks to use her free piecing abilities in the creation of bahs, humbugs, and !'s.

As Tonya proclaimed in her blog "The Unruly Quilter" today, she needs free pieced letter blocks with the words "Bah Humbug!" that we will contribute to....as a group challenge quilt. She even made a special UnRuly Quilting blog, just for us humbuggers, and I signed up.

I thought, well maybe I could make a bah, or perhaps a humbug....but then she wrote...

"You can make the font fabulous and intricate, or simple and straightforward.One option: incorporate insect fabric into the letters. I can easily see a bug peering out of the middle of the letter a or the point on the exclamation point....Challenge yourself. You can make the words buggy. What would a "bug" font look like? Would it be made of antennae and creepy legs, maybe a wing or two? ......Have you seen the alphabets done using people forming each letter? you know, they hold up their arms up and out a bit and you have a Y. What would it look like with humbugs forming the letters? Can you piece the word HUM so that it looks like a bug?"

I knew then that I was in trouble. Deep, deep, bah humbug! kind of trouble.

Piece letters that look like bugs playing YMCA across a quilt block?
I don't think so!

Piece words into blocks that are less than banner sized and you can see still see them clearly?
I don't think so!

Piece bah, piece humbug, piece the...
oh heck.

I made the !


I know, even Willow thinks it is shooting out fireworks. And if I it doesn't play nicely with bah or humbug, I can use it for a sparkler.

In fact, if I turn it upside down, I can use in a ceremony and sing 'light a little candle.'

Yep, its got a bit of a jolly .and a hint of the holly. and it's expressive, and it keeps Willow happy.

Bah Humbug? I'll just settle for putting the ! into my season for now.

Thanks for letting me into the secret Bah Humbug! Society, Tonya.
I guess I'm a bigger Scrooge than I thought!

grumble, mumble, bumble, fumble, grumble...


This is my assistant...signal flagging for help....

Ok humbuggers!
I've set the bar..it's nowhere but up from here!

I'll be really, really liberated and try a #$% next ;)

Mile a Minute

When I think of a 'Mile a Minute', I think of quilts and speed sewing. But the name actually comes from "Mile a Minute Murphy", a bicyclist from Long Island, NY.

Now, mile a minute quilts have been made since time began, and simply involve the quick quilting of bits and pieces of scraps onto one long strip of fabric after another. And I know there have been some "copyright infringement" complaints against bloggers who use that term when they are sewing similar speed piecing....but really and truly, Mile a Minute Murphy would have to hold the creative commons licensing on that term....and I don't think he's ever said a word ;)

So, I'm sewing a mile a minute today...lower case version...and the table is shaking, the scraps are flying and I think I even got the cuff of my pants stuck in the sewing machine pedal....but it's hard to see with the wind in my eyes, while I'm picking the bugs out of my teeth at the same time!

Mile a Minute Murphy.....the only thing you've got on me is thinner thighs. Sewing has never exactly been called aerobic exercise!

Darn that anyway!!!!

links:
[DOC]Mile-a-Minute Quilting
Crumb Chaos blocks - a photo tutorial

2,500 Free Quilt Patterns
Huge List of Free Quilt Block Patterns

Skating Sue Welcomes January Fun

I had to laugh when my youngest of four brothers confessed that after I left home in '68 to attend college 'in the States'...he inherited my ice skates. That's how it goes when there are five kids in your family...you make do with what you have, and pass it all down the line... one by one.

What made me laugh (and laugh hard!) was that my ice skates...oh, how I loved those ice skates!...were white with a blue lining and had beautiful fluffy white fur ruffs on the tops! I can just picture my burly brother skating along in those....out on our frozen Alaskan lake!

If you want to skate through life, you take what life gives you and make the best of it...and not only that, but you have fun in the doing!

Free Sunbonnet Sue and Sam Patterns

Looking Forward, Looking Back

It was a long, hard, sad, and challenging year. But when I look back at how much I made and how much I gave...it just plain makes my year so much better and happier!

The Year's Sewing in Review:
14 quilts...infant to queen
11 art quilts donated this year to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
15 pillowcases for a local foster care program
20 potholders for a local women's correctional institution quilting fund
25 assorted small items...bibs, bags, diapers, burp cloths donated, plus small items as gifts

And of course, being Jan.1..it's time to check out the quilts for sale or at auction at AAQI:
26 AAQI Quilts View or Bid

200 AAQi Quilts for Sale

Liberated Quilting Challenge

Get the latest news about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative on the AAQI BLOG!
For more frequent news follow the AAQI on FaceBook and Twitter.

Happy New Years 2011 ....

and today is 1-1-11.....how cool is that!

shown above:
most, but not all of my 2010 sewing
Michele Bilyeu quilts for AAQI..the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Won't you please join us? :)