"One Who Sleeps Under A Quilt Is Covered With Love"

 While going through Mom's things, I was told I had to take all the sewing items since I was the only one who sewed anymore.  I ended up with 5 totes of fabric scraps. For the last year, I have gone through those fabric scraps several times and tried to whittle them down. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I did it. Mom had always said she wanted to make a quilt out of the fabric, so I decided that was what I needed to do. I went through the fabric again, picked out what I wanted, and cut out enough squares to make two quilts for the beds in the campervan. The fabric was from the 60's, 70's and 80's. It brings back so many memories of the clothes mom made for us and the clothes I sewed for myself. 

I am sharing some photos of myself and my sisters wearing some of the clothes that mom made and the leftover fabric that is now in my quilt. 

Mom always lined us up on the stairs for pictures. 

My first communion dress.

Easter coats

I believe this picture was taken at my Grandma Becker's home. It is me in green and several of my cousins. I am pretty sure we are all wearing clothing our moms sewed for us. 

The era of Holly Hobby 

I was in 5th grade when I made this dress. It was always one of my favorites. 

The halter tops of the 70's. And to think we did not wear a bra! Such scandal at the time. 

Matching Easter dresses

Mom made me this dress in just a couple of days when I needed it for a play I was in at school. The play was the musical Oklahoma. In 1979 or 1980

I love this picture of Diane trying to get me unstuck from the highchair. I also love the fabric of Dianne's outfit. I believe I had a dress in the same fabric, but I could not find a picture. 

I made the above outfit for 4-H. I made it in the court of honor with that outfit. 

A couple more pictures of me and my cousins at the 4-H dress review in outfits we all made. 

 

You can see a lot of the above fabrics in the quilts and pillow shams I made. 

I had never made a quilt before,  so there was a learning curve. Mistakes were made, and the quilts may be a little crooked 😂 But I love them. So many memories come flooding back every time I look at them.  

I have them in the camper, waiting for our next adventure. Now, I feel like I am taking Mom with us everywhere we go. 

 I am going to change the subject at the end of my blog. I love writing my blog; it is a way to express what is on my mind and share my life. I started blogging in 2007 and have written hundreds of posts.  My posts range from fun and silly to meaningful and sad. I try to be honest and heartfelt in everything I write. 

When I joined social media, I stopped blogging as much. It was easier to write a few words or post a photo on Facebook or Instagram.  It was a great way to connect with people and not put much effort into it. But I missed blogging and have come back to it. At the same time, I have come to really dislike social media. The good things that drew me to do it are becoming less and less. There is so much hate and misinformation on it. And the Meta machine is just too much for me. I have deleted my Instagram account, and I am going to deactivate my Facebook account shortly. I will likely be deleting that, too. 

This is the last time I will be linking my blog on Facebook. If you enjoy reading it, you will have to bookmark it and come over and see if I have posted anything new. If you want to contact me, you will have to call, text, or email me.

So, thank you to whoever has enjoyed reading my blogs, and I hope you continue to do so. 

Until next time

Sharon

“She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, 'why?,' and she said, 'Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.” ― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

 Oh, 2024, you brought me so much happiness and sadness. You let me have some adventures and brought some life-changing events. So here we go, the year in pictures...

I started the year out in January with a tooth breaking off. That was not how I wanted the year to start...After a lot of swearing and then a few tears, I took this awful photo 😂 It had to have a bridge put in, and it was all fixed within a week. 

January got better with a sleepover party with the grandkids and visiting three state parks in a day to do the hiking club trails. 

February brought brunch with some of my favorite people. 

February had me going way out of my comfort zone by taking a pottery class... It was a lot of fun, but I found out I have no talent in pottery-making 😆

March was a lot of nothingness, it was good to have nothing time...

All the grandkids on Easter Sunday. 

April brought the MN State Archery Tournament. And another brunch with more of my favorite people.  

   

May was a big month. We had our first camping trip of the year, and I retired!  

June came with two more camping trips and a lot of rain! And Rick shooting the MSAA State Target shoot. 

In July, we added a new member to our family, a kitten named Rainy. We went to Hines for a family reunion and then went camping at Itasca State Park, where we got a little lost and went for a 13-mile hike.   

In August, we competed in the MN Senior Games. Rick shot in archery, and I ran a 5K. We went camping with the family at Lebanon Hills County Park. Larina and Nash came for a 5-day visit and enjoyed fishing and shooting archery. -

 

        

In September, I ran a 4-mile fun run, and we had our annual apple pie-making day, went camping one more time, and ran the Nearstrand Big Woods 5K. It was Josie's first-ever race.  

  October was so rewarding and so, so hard. In October, my Dad died, it was and still is hard. I took a Fall flower arranging class with Christa. I ran a 5K with Amy, Carey, and Jese the next day, I ran my first 10K race with Carey and cheered on Amy and Jese as they ran the half marathon. Rick and I did some hiking in the local parks. I also finished my 2024 miles in 2024 goal on Oct. 30. 

     November brought a spur-of-the-moment trip to Grand Marais with Christa, just what I needed to reflect on a hard October. We hosted Thanksgiving and ran another 5k. 

And finally, we are onto December. We went to a John Denver tribute concert with the MN Orchestra, it made me cry because John Denver makes me think of my Dad, but it was so good. We celebrated Christmas with the kids and Rick and I did a winter hike on Christmas day. 

So that is my year in a nutshell. If you made it through all those pictures, congratulations. Believe it or not, I actually eliminated some photos 😆

2024 was a hard year for me. We had a lot of things to be joyful about, but my Dad was always on my mind. I spent way more time with him this year than I had in a long time. Alzheimer's stole so much from him. He missed Mom so much and did not understand why she left him behind. He was so ready to go and be with her, but I was not ready to let him go. So when he died, I was happy for him because he could be with his one true love again. I still can't believe that I lost both my Mom and Dad in less than a year. So, I think of all the joy I've had this year and all the love that surrounds me. 

2025 will be a great year.

Sharon