Sweet Hearts

Happy Valentines Day!

A Tisket, A Tasket

This time of year, I think about making a living Easter basket. The problem is I filled mine with ceramic figures and colorful candies like the scenes inside those sugar eggs we had as kids. 

Three weeks before Easter we planted grass seed in an old wicker basket. Within days, the tender shoots sprout and continued flourishing with sunshine and watering. In fact, by Easter it was ready for a trim!

Isn't it sweet? 

Instructions HERE.

This basket quilt was made using blocks I won in a guild raffle. The pattern is from Fons and Porter’s Classic Basket Patterns, 1984 (out of print).

In any sort of block exchange, sizes can vary. I used the smaller ones to make a pillow...

 

and label for the back of the quilt.

Raffle Baskets

36" x 51”

Stover Quality Quilting

April Fool

The Party’s Over: Confessions of a Control Freak on Thanksgiving Day

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was quiet and casual. My husband did all the cooking and William and his girlfriend joined us for dinner.

I had a different blog post prepared about the challenge of balancing MS symptoms with my perfectionist tendencies, about wanting to control things I have no control over and having a hard time relinquishing control to those who don’t take control quite the way I want them to. You know, a typical family holiday scenario.

My husband said that if I wanted to focus on the negative, I deserved to feel miserable. So, instead of whining and griping ad nauseam, I've summed up my frustration with a single photo.

This was our guest's view from her seat at the Thanksgiving table. Apparently, I was the only person bothered by this mess, since no one thought to hide it before dinner.

CLICK PHOTO for the festive details.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Veteran's Day

PFC Edward Haeger

I usually call my dad on Veteran’s Day to thank him for his military service. This year, his dementia is too advanced to sustain much of a conversation on the phone, but if I could be with him, I’d try to prompt a few memories.

In the early 1950’s, Dad and his buddies volunteered in the Army reserves at Chicago’s Navy Pier. They enlisted and went to basic training together at Fort Riley, Kansas. Dad completed his Army stint at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico.

I used to tease Dad that he spent the Korean War stateside, defending America’s southern borders from marauding Communists. Joking aside, he's very proud of his military service.

A couple years ago, the assisted living facility where Dad lived, honored its veterans with a brief ceremony and certificate of thanks. Dad was brought to tears by the acknowledgement, so I called the director to tell her how much the gesture had meant to him. She said his reaction was not uncommon. A person’s military service, no matter how long ago it occurred, played a significant role in his or her life.

I don’t know how much Dad remembers of his Army experience from sixty years ago. I do know that something deep inside him would still salute the American flag, rise with hand on heart for the National Anthem, and beam with pride at a firm handshake of thanks.

Happy Veteran’s Day, Dad!

Trick or Treat

Liberated Sawtooth doll quilt

16” x 23”

machine pieced, machine quilted

Diane Burdin, 2003

Happy Holidays

Passover greetings and Easter blessings!

Skipping Christmas

I promised to “be back soon” with the final reveal of the wedding quilt, but it felt weird skipping Christmas without a mention. The “kids” were “home” for the holiday, so we had lots of family time together.


William spent three months in Russia this fall, studying at the Moscow Arts Theatre. It was the trip of a lifetime, but he was happy to get back to his girlfriend and American food. He made Anna her first Christmas stocking.

At least someone is using my sewing machine.

James and Rachel brought along two additions to their family, our grand kitties, Gandalf and Carrot.

We intentionally kept the décor simple to minimize kitty mischief. Hanging a couple red and green quilts made the house look festive.

We even managed to host a party for 25 friends. It’s an annual gathering that I usually have to miss when it's held at someone else’s home. But with the kids here to help and everyone bringing an appetizer or dessert, all went smoothly and we had a great time.

I hope this holiday season sets the tone for 2012 and that the coming year will offer plenty of opportunities for fellowship with family and friends. Happy New Year!

Christmas Preparations

How are your holiday preparations coming along? Is your Christmas shopping done? (Ours isn‘t) Got your tree up? (Nope) How about those exterior lights and flashy yard ornaments? (Never have, never will) Is your holiday menu planned? (Kind of) Are your Christmas cards in the mail? (Just)

No wonder my Santa has an anxious look on his face. He’s in panic mode!

Actually, our family is celebrating Christmas simply this year, with minimal decorating, minimal gift giving, minimal hassle, but maximum love! It just feels right.

As far as I’m concerned, this antique quilt is the only decoration we need to give the house a festive look. It dates from the mid 1800’s and is in pristine condition. You can still see faint pencil lines used to mark the quilting pattern, which in no way detracts from the tiny stitches, 12 to the inch.

The quilt maker chose solid colored fabrics in classic red and green for her seemingly simple star design. But look closer... 

The star blocks are quilted with parallel lines and a grid within each green square. Alternate muslin blocks are heavily quilted with a double clamshell design, showing the maker had amazing prowess with a needle.

I'd like to display this in our living room for Christmas. Does anyone have experience hanging a quilt from picture molding that's already attached to the wall?

Christmas blessings to you for the coming year.

As I count my blessings today,

know that you are among them.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Fondly, Diane

Celebrate!

Celebrate the miracles of this season~

Blessed Christmas

and

Joyous Hanukkah!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

One Christmas, we created a special memory for our son, but in the end,  it was sheer happenstance that made it magical!

We’d borrowed my dad’s business car on Christmas Eve, for our traditional tour of Christmas lights. We’d arranged with Grandpa to call his car phone about 15 minutes into our drive. Of course, we had set the situation up by telling James to “be on the lookout for Santa! Watch the sky for signs of his sleigh and reindeer!”

When the car phone rang, we could hardly contain our laughter. Santa had his chat with James via speakerphone. Grandpa’s “Ho-ho-ho” was convincing and we were all giddy with pulling off the surprise.

And then we turned the corner. Standing at the curb was a magnificently dressed Santa, reaching inside his car trunk for a sack full of gifts (or finishing a cigarette. I can’t quite recall which). We adults were dumbstruck, but little James simply pointed and called out, “Santa.”

Once I caught my breath, I rolled down the car window and shouted like some lunatic Santa groupy, “Hey Santa, we’ve been driving all over town looking for you. We have a little boy here who’d love to say ‘hello.’”

Santa was nice enough to stick his head in the car window and say all the requisite things: “How old are you, James? Have you been a good boy this year? Now go home and get to bed so I can deliver your presents.” Meanwhile, the guy who was waiting for Santa’s grand entrance to his Christmas party, could do nothing but stand there holding his front door open.

It all happened so fast, there was barely time to thank him, let alone slip Santa a tip for his efforts. The party host may have been annoyed but we were ecstatic with our unforeseen Santa sighting. It was pure magic!

This is the quilt I always associate with that Christmas. I'd just finished it for James’ third birthday. 

On the back is a quote from Charles Dickens: “ ... it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas when its mighty Founder was a child himself.” 

It was certainly good to be James that Christmas!

Scared of Santa

Tis a week before Christmas and the last thing you have time for is looking at other people’s Santa snaps. But bear with me; it’s worth it.

Here I am again (on the right), my 1961 self, waiting demurely for my turn to sit on Santa’s lap and reveal my innermost dreams and desires ~ eeewww, CREEPY! The two kids on the left look just as befuddled and clueless as they did at Halloween. And judging by the smiles and glances exchanged between Santa and the girl on his lap, I’m guessing he just might be her dad. My mischievous brother (second from right), is no doubt preparing to ask Santa for something of which our parents disapprove.

For the past couple years, the Chicago Tribune has run a holiday photo contest asking readers to submit their family’s bad Santa photos. Editors Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins have compiled 250 snapshots of squirming, shrieking, traumatized tots into a new book, SCARED OF SANTA: Scenes of Terror in Toyland.
Take a few minutes to scroll through these pictures. Quick as a wink, you'll be laughing like the jolly old elf himself!

BOO!

Click for a good laugh!

Well, our weather’s turned out great for trick-or-treating ~ 70 degrees and sunny. We no longer get the caravan of kids we once did. Our neighborhood is maturing and most of the kids are in high school or college now. Nevertheless, we’re armed with 200 pieces of candy. One way or another, I’m sure they will disappear.

This is one of my favorite childhood pictures. It was 1961; I was five years old, dressed as a ghost in a white bed sheet. I remember always wanting a store-bought costume, but Mom made us do with whatever we could scrounge up at home. Maybe it’s just the memories it conjures up, but there’s something about this photograph that seems so indicative of that era. It's like watching an episode of "Mad Men."

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Memorial Day

Shiloh Battlefield, Tennessee

1995

To all our men and women in uniform,

Thank you for your service and sacrifice!

Snow Bunnies

Yesterday morning, I woke to icy snowflakes pelting the windows. By noon, the snow plow had made two trips down our street. And even though the “Winter Storm Warning” was canceled later that evening, the plows made one final pass, dropping a precautionary load of sand and salt on our icy roads.


The Easter bunny may wish he was a snowshoe hare when he delivers treats to our neck of the woods. Such is Spring in Chicagoland.

Happy Easter!

From My Heart to Yours

I've gathered up hearts from around my home to wish you

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Christmas That Never Was

Belated holiday greetings to you all! Unfortunately, I missed the festive season this year by spending the entire month of December in hospital/rehab. The closest I got to celebrating was seeing holiday lights out the rear window of an ambulance!

I had a debilitating reaction to an MS medication I’ve taken routinely for years. For some reason, it started giving me high fevers and muscle spasms so severe, they nearly did me in.

Christmas was long over by the time I got home, but we kept a few decorations out to make up for what I missed. With its cheerful colors and folk art charm, this Christmas Tree is always a favorite! It’s a Gwen Marston pattern from the Nov/1993 issue of Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts Magazine.

William’s Christmas Tree

16” x 22”

 Diane Burdin, 1999

To make my quilt more personal, I swapped Gwen’s tree with one our son, William, doodled when he was six. I also changed the colors to match the funky Japanese fabric I used on the back.

Here’s Gwen’s version. It looks like I copied her quilting to a T.

*Incidentally, I’m on a new medication now and physical therapy is helping restore my strength and ability to walk. Nevertheless, prayers for my continued improvement are welcome. They may be the intangible factor that makes all the difference. Thanks!