~A Caligraphy Lesson from the Civil War~

Monday was a marvelous mail day for me - I had a package from a dear 'Cousinette' in Wisconsin.  We call each other 'cousinette' but really I guess we would be second cousins?  Anyway, she is dear to me, and I have learned an endearing lesson from a book she sent me.  It is called "Faithful and Devoted: To My Adelaide ~ A Quilted Love Story."   It is a quilting book, but also a great piece of history, as it chronicles a love affair and courtship between a civil war soldier, Charles,  and a young lady named Adelaide. 

I was soon transported in time back to 1861 and proper etiquette overpowered me.  I wanted to write with a 'fountain pen', a real caligraphy pen.  I couldn't get to an office supply store fast enough.  After securing  my writing instrument and ink, I tried to write like I always do, but talk about a mess!  It took 3 dips of the pen into the ink to get my name on paper, let alone a sentence!  It must have taken HOURS for one to pen a love letter during the civil war era!  Correspondence was truly a labor of love!  And today, sometimes e-mail, tweeting, texting, or FaceBook isn't fast enough for us!  Oh, where is the felicity in bringing back the love letters and everyday correspondence?  This soldier and his sweetheart even had to wait weeks and/or months to receive a response.... the agony!  To receive a two page handwritten piece of parchment in the mail would be so endearing and show a fondness from the sender to the recipient. 

This book goes on to chronicle the growing relationship between Charles and Adelaide, with photos of them and photos depicting the civil war.  I do not doubt that they would never had guessed that their love story would be the center of a quilting book 150 years in the future, but it is, and a great love story at that!

 

Such a treasured gift from my cousinette!  Life was so much slower then, but look at what we are missing!  I keep a journal, and even to write in that faithfully with a working ball point pen takes effort.  I can't imagine using a caligraphy pen, but I should try.  What a legacy of faith I would be leaving my posterity.  They don't even teach penmanship in schools anymore, but how beautiful the writing was even 50 years ago.  

In then end, Charlie and Adelaide were never married, as he died before the war was over.  Kind of reminds me of the Hallmark Movie "Love Letters".  If you haven't seen that movie, you should.  And then write a love letter with a caligraphy pen to a dear one ~ it may be in a book someday!

Regards from yours faithfully, 

Shanda

 

~Tis Everyday Life Snippets~

We are back from the beautiful mountains of Idaho, a wonderful quilting retreat weekend, and inspiration.  Now to use these gleaned experiences in our everyday life.  Sarah and I were blessed with wildlife and beautiful scenery, and I spent time down memory lane as this is where I grew up.  There is beauty that I had forgotten about in my childhood, both physical beauty and beautiful memories.  We happened upon some elk resting by the Salmon River and snapped their photo. 

The rest of the weekend we worked (played) at getting our projects done.  This is a quilt that I taught at the retreat - I so enjoyed all the ladies and their interactions!

My daughter literally camped out at the sewing machine hoping to get her diaper bag done, and she did!  Now I have to brag a bit - Sarah refuses to follow sewing pattern directions and has very little sewing experience.  All of a sudden, she has blossomed and made all sorts of things, but as her mother I am most impressed with her diaper bag - 8 ROWS OF RUFFLES ON THAT BABY!!!!!  She did GREAT!

And the side pocket was her invention - all the pockets were on the inside, but she had to add one on both the outer sided for keys and bottles.  Way to go, Sarah!

 A while ago, I finished my very own 'grandma' receiving blanket.  It is so old fashioned - I love it!  I cannot wait to hold little baby Emma in it.  I crocheted all the way around the edges and it is double thickness, so grandma and granddaughter can cuddle together in warmth and comfort. 

And lastly, our son, David!  He is off track right now from BYU-Idaho working in the Florida Keys until the end of August for the Boy Scouts of America doing everything from teaching Merit Badges on snorkeling, scuba diving, and sailing, to taking inventory in the kitchen and scout store.  Anyway, during last Winter Term, he attended the "Jane Austen Yule Ball".   You guessed it. This is an annual  '18th Century, wear period costume, know how to dance the dances, use your proper manners and do lots of curtsies' kind of affair at the college.  He came home one weekend and told me he had been asked, and I had a little less than 48 hours to make a costume.  He said "Mom, I know you can make me look good!"  Uugghhh!  What is a mother to do?  This is not something you can go rent from a tuxedo rental store.  So I pulled an all-nighter, sewed him up some period duds, and he made it to the dance.  I HAD to put something together.  I would rather be up all night sewing him a Mr. Darcy outfit than be up all night getting him out of jail.  It thrilled me to the fingertips that he even wanted to go.  I can sacrifice sleep for that!

And his date!  Oh, so perfect!  Both of them made the other look great.  This photo was taken in her apartment before they left for the dance and sent to us via cell phone.  I love technology at times like this!

This is all for now.  I have to admit, that while I was at the quilting retreat, I was inspired to pick up my cross stitch again and finish some projects.  I was inspired to work on being a better person, and I was impressed to enjoy nature a bit more.  Beauty is all around, especially in our everyday moments!  Be 'in the moment' with your loved ones!

Shanda

~Emma Grace is coming to our home!~

 
Yes, there is going to be a BABY in our home - Emma Grace, our first grandchild.  Our daughter Sarah is expecting, and while her first choice was to place the baby for adoption, the birth father will not relinquish his rights, which is his choice.  So Sarah will be a mother, and our first grandchild is on her way to us!  Some dear friends gave our daughter a shower last Saturday here at our home, and oh my, how beautiful!  We had a brunch of quiche, blueberry buckle, hashbrown casserole, fruit, and juices.  Here are a few photos:

A diaper cake:

Stephanie, Sarah, and Sandy:

A very sweet heirloom made by my cherished friend Pam:

Also a shower gift favorite- Sandy's crocheted baby booties!  

A little Bling:

And of course I had to make her  a 'tag quilt':

Emma will be here in about a month.  So much to do before then........ But this weekend Sarah and I are off to a quilting retreat in the middle of Idaho - will post about that next time.  I am truly a blessed individual and looking forward to being a 'grandma'!

Hold your families ever so close!

Shanda

~Tis a Season of Slowing Down~

Today it is snowing here in the Pacific Northwest - so much that I am relieved.  No reason to drive anywhere, no reason to expend any unnecessary energy, and certainly a day to be wearing my slippers all day long.  Dinner is in the crock pot, I have a fire to keep warm, and all is quiet out on the street that runs along the front of our home.  The snow is coming in sideways, piling high against the windows, and all is sacred.  However, because all is cozy within, I am blessed to spend my entire day in my sewing room.  I have my cup of herbal lemon tea, the wind is raging outside, and my Bernina is a humming.  Life is good.  Life has indeed slowed down.

Create your own sort of slowness this day and be glad in it!

~Shanda~

~Visiting~

Our daughter Sarah and I are going 'Visiting'.  We will make our morning visiting calls, stay at home to greet visitors, and visit quilt shops, historic places, antique shops, and lots of family.  We will be visiting a pumpkin festival where the courthouse lawn is filled with ornately carved and decorated pumpkins and the town of Sycamore has a Pumpkin Parade which is second to none.  We will be visiting a corn maze.  We will visit the corn and soybean fields of my Uncle Ken.  We will more than likely visit Panda Express, Sarah's favorite restaurant.  We will be visiting cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, and friends.  We will visit while we have a girls craft night, and visit while we do some yard work.  We will be visiting with trick-or-treaters as they make their way around town. We will visit with family on the drive to and from the airport.  We are going home to Illinois for a couple of weeks to 'Visit'.  Visiting is pure comfort, rejuvenating, and soul satisfying. 

Going from Idaho to Illinois is a journey.  We have our projects planned to take with us on the airplane that leaves at 'O Dark-Thirty' in the morning, and we have the Anticipation thing going on for the next few days before we leave.  We will even 'visit' the airplane window beside us frequently as we fly, looking below at all the beautiful fall colors across the many wooded areas, fields, and states we fly over.

Go 'Visiting' today.  You may lift spirits, even your own.

Happy Fall Harvest!

Shanda

~Tis a Lesson on Anticipation.......~

Why did I wait so long?

I picked my settee up from the Upholstery Shop the other day and it wasn't love at first sight.......  it was 'why did I wait so long to have this done?  It was Anticipation.  I was getting up courage to re-upholster this myself, but just couldn't bring myself to it - scared I would make a mistake, not enough self esteem to undertake the challenge, on and on.  So then began the Anticipation.  Once I made up my mind to have someone else do it, it still was Anticipation.  When I took it to the upholstery shop and he said it would be 8-10 weeks, the Anticipation really began.  Every photo I saw in a magazine of furniture that had this fabric, every dream at night, and all the visions of what it was going to look like haunted me because I had taken so long to make the decision to get it professionally done.  But Anticipation is half the fun.  The settee is done, and I am so happy with it!  Can you see it peeking through the doors at you?

 As a reminder - here is the 'Before':

And here is the 'After':

I am very pleased with the results.  Anticipation is worth it. 

Summer is coming to an end, but Fall is right around the corner.  Again - Anticipation!  Tonight is my first Finish-It-Friday Night with the girlfriends after the long summer months of not having our sewing group meet, and I think everyone is gearing up for Christmas and planning some gifts.  I will be working on some needlework/sewing kits, pincushions, a family cookbook, and learning to crochet some edging on flour sack dish towels.  Anticipation...... which project to start with?

I am almost done with canning, and have been busy quilting on customer quilts, but the second biggest piece of news is that I finished quilting my first of many class models for my Living History Civil War Quilting Class that starts this Fall.  My first class is October 22.  Anticipation.  Won't you join me?  I think this quilted up well and the top and bottom border reminds me of Clara Barton and the American Red Cross.

  And the back so you can see the feathers:

I did take a quick photo of my Fowl Rack that I made last month.  It isn't 'decorated' completely yet because our son who is home for a week yet before going back to college is staying in that room.  I have so many things to get done once he vacates 'the spare bedroom', but this one I am not in a rush for.  It can wait this last week while we spend a wee bit more time together before he leaves - I am sure you know what I am talking about! This is what I call 'Bittersweet Anticipation...........'

Hope you enjoy this last official weekend of the summer.  I haven't seen my first leaf fall, but then again, there is that 'Anticipation' thing going on.  Blessings on your late summer days, and

GO BOISE STATE BRONCOS!!!!!!

Blessings on your Anticipations!

Shanda