April is DONE! WHOO-HOO!!

Thanks to a wonderful day camp for my daughter, I was able to finish up my April Journal quilt. YIPPEE!!! I ended up machine needle felting a large spiral on the piece that I hadn't originally planned on;but, it needed something more and I have a Baby Lock Embellisher that I hardly use and I love spirals...so there you go. It has a spiral...kinda goes with the baby theme...big spiral into little spiral...little spiral into big spiral....

There is a song by Regina Spektor that I love and can't remember the name of except for I sing the verse about putting the love you made into someone else's heart, pumping someone else's blood and walking arm in arm you hope it don't get hard if even if it does you would do it all again...OK, now that I'm signing it in my head I think the name is "On the Radio";but, I thought about that song while felting the spirals.

I think about my sweet Claire and my sweet little yet to be born Charlie and how they have our hearts in their hearts pumping their blood...and I think about my little lovely that was only around for a few weeks when I miscarried in September and how I'd still do it all again... And how I was hoping so much to be able to have another baby since about 2005 and was not really wanting to jump in and get my heart broken;but, I was willing to be open to the possibility. And how when I came home from my aunt's funeral in 2006 and told my husband I wanted more babies, he said he didn't think that after Katrina and my grandma's and aunt's death was really a good time to make a major life decision. And how he was right and I didn't even know I had a brain tumor at the time. And how years later when my brain tumor doctor asked if I was prepared to possibly not have any more children ever again, I started to weep. And how my daughter started praying each night to be a big sister because she asked me for a baby and I told her that she needed to talk to God about it because I couldn't do anything about it and so she did... each night faithfully praying out loud to be a big sister and it would make my heart hurt because I really didn't think it would happen. And how my cycle finally returned after 5 years and by then my husband was willing to take a chance and leave it up to God and just how blessed I really am....and how really little faith I have;but, God comes through anyway and how His timing is really perfect....And how, as my daughter Claire says, "my belly is getting bigger and Charlie is getting stronger" and how in just a few weeks I'll get to meet him! YEA!

Love, Grandma Betty

Grandma Betty-Katrina Block
Originally uploaded by bybethstudio

This block is in memory of my grandmother, Elizabeth Lay Eastwood MacConnell, a long time resident of the French Quarter who died while evacuated in Texas on September 29, 2005 exactly one month from Katrina’s landfall.

The main photograph of my grandma was taken by a photographer in 2005 at The Quarter Scene Restaurant where she ate breakfast daily. It really captures the essence of my grandmother. The smaller picture is one of the four generations (Grandma, Mom, myself and my daughter) that was published in the Times-Picayune shortly after my daughter’s birth in 2003. The excerpt is from a collection of letters written to me by my grandmother. It states, “It was nice to have Beth and Claire here for a visit-We enjoyed showing off 4 generations of girls at our favorite restaurant. We didn’t tell them-they figured it out by themselves-I guess there must be a resemblance between us.”

I used cat fabrics for both the front and back of the block as my grandmother was a “cat lady”. The beads are an old pair of glass Mardi Gras beads which remind me of the necklaces that my grandmother would wear regularly and they also represent her love of New Orleans.

One of the blessings of the evacuation (although, we didn’t see it as a blessing at the time ) was that my mother, my father, my husband, my daughter and myself were able to spend every day for a month together before Grandma got sick and died peacefully. My grandmother told my mother earlier that she dreamt that she would go to a small town and die there. Although she missed New Orleans terribly during the evacuation, small town Lampasas, TX reminded grandma in many ways of her small town childhood home, Owego, NY.

Quilt for a Hero

Well my latest project is a quilt for my father-in-law. He's a true American hero having served in the Army in the 60's and doing at least 2 (perhaps 3) tours in Vietnam. He's having prostate cancer surgery tomorrow and I hope to have his lap quilt done within the week to send to him. Here's a picture of the layout of the blocks. I'll start sewing them together later toady. Still might play around with the placement though...

The pattern is "Blue Bamboo" out of the book "9-patch Pizzazz" by Judy Sisneros.

It is a little smaller than I thought but will work as a lap quilt or even a wall hanging. I will probably make a throw pillow to go with it out of the leftover scraps and another Army panel.

Thanks Phil for your service and sacrifice for our country, USA!