Life does go on . . . but I can still cry a few tears in the mean time

I found out last night that my girlfriend's mom passed away last year. Her brother told me so . . . I recently connected with him through the internet. I lost touch with the family several years ago. I sent an invitation to Erv's and my wedding but it came back without a forwarding address. I remember being very sad knowing they would not be there, even if in spirit.

Liz's mom was full of love, joy, and talent galore! She was compassionate and passionate. She was spunky! She had a lovely eye for the details, in life and in her art. I remember how profoundly her talent touched me. She could do anything! I particularly remember a quilt she made for her first grandchild, Katie. She hand appliqued the top with a story-book-like theme and it was stunning (she also wrote a story to go along with it). I also remember thinking at the time: how did she do that? and: gosh, how I'd love to be able to do that, too!

Paul wrote in his e-mail that his mom loved me like a daughter. He was so kind to say those words . . .

I loved her so very much . . . more than she'll ever know!

This Week: Playing Catch-up . . . with RJR

I designed two wall hangings a couple of months ago with the new Susan Branch's "In Love With Nature" fabric by RJR that I will be making into patterns. I got my fabric and measurements out today so I can start cutting & sewing them together. They both have the same applique on the tops (falling leaves and a few bumble bees!) but the patterns themselves are slightly different. One is called: "Picnic In The Glade" and the other is called: "Summer In The Forest". PITG is made using stronger tones from the line and SITF is made using more muted tones. I hope to have them finished soon and they will be available as patterns on my website, hopefully within the next few weeks. I'll post pictures, too.

Next on the agenda was to finish a design using the newest RJR's Everything But The Kitchen Sink fabrics (due in quilt shops this month). I finished it yesterday and made some minor tweaks today. I ordered the fabric and will begin that project, soon. That's another one that began a few months ago but, due to several deadlines, it had to be delayed. The name of this new design is called: Butterscotch Candy and it uses an array of fabrics from this line. I'm excited to get started on it, as I know the fabrics are going to go together quite well and will look so much better in person (I used my EQ6 software to place the fabrics into my design). It is always a bit challenging to design on EQ6 with the 1930's prints because the tones are lighter and aren't very true-to-life. And although this new pattern will have some traditional blocks, I hope the encouragement of using many different fabrics will peak quilter's interests to try it!

There are more things to come with RJR, but for now I can cross a few more things off of my list . . . :)