Mending Broken Hearts

I cannot express in words how difficult the last two days have been for both me and Mr. Painted Quilt.  If it weren’t for the wonderfully fond memories that we have of Mac and the belief that he is now having a grand old time while waiting for us just this side of the Rainbow Bridge, I think that our hearts would have been broken forever.

We had never heard of the Rainbow Bridge and I would like to thank both Lisa and Judy for sharing their knowledge of it with me.  I can’t begin to tell you how much peace it has brought us in dealing with Mac’s passing.

Huge hugs to all of you who took the time to leave a comment and to express your condolences.  You’ve all touched our hearts immensely.  And for those of you who have lost a pet, may this bring you the same peace that it has for us…

 

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

A kinder, devoted and more loveable dog you’ll never meet.  He was our constant companion and we took him with us everywhere we went.

He didn’t have a mean bone in his body and touched the heart of everyone who had the good fortune to make his acquaintance.

He loved the outdoors, as long as we were there to share it with him.

Whenever we were in the kitchen, if it wasn’t by the fire during the winter months, you could find him snoozing in his ‘house’.

He loved to chase squirrels but never caught one and even if he did, I know that he never would have caused it any harm.

He was always a spiffy dude right after his appointment at the doggie beauty shop. 

It was not one of his favorite outings and tolerated it just to please us.  But being the typical male that he was, his spiffiness lasted only until his first roll in the grass…usually within ten minutes after returning home.

Although he was a little apprehensive about our moving to Nova Scotia, that didn’t last very long.  Here he is taking a break while supervising helping the movers unload.

He was always there to help, like when we were unpacking.

He settled in very quickly and loved his new home.

Exploring the property was one of his favorite pastimes.  Even as he wandered about, he always made sure that we were in his sight. 

Mac loved it here and his final resting place is not too far from where stands in this photo.

We miss you, little guy…more than you’ll ever know.

Adieu, My Friend

Mac

September 1, 1998 – April 26, 2012

You made our lives so much better.  Rest in peace, little guy.

Long Lost Friends

An old friend that I had lost track of reappeared while I was organizing my studio last week.

Tucked away amongst the boxes and bins in the storage area under the dormer window, I caught sight of this old basket.  My heart started to beat just a little bit faster.

I couldn’t wait to open the lid to catch a glimpse of what was inside.

How wonderful to see you again!  I had forgotten how pretty you are.

It’s time we spend a little quality time together again, don’t you think?

We have so much catching up to do.

It should be so easy to pick up right where we left off over two years ago.

Let me fix a pot of tea and I’ll invite my antique Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt to join us.  After all, she was my original inspiration.

I’ll just carry on stitching as we catch up on all the news.

Whew, it’s done!

A place for everything and everything in it’s place.  That’s my new motto and I’m sticking to it!

After spending what seems to be an eternity de-cluttering and reorganizing my studio and fabric stash, I can finally say that as of late yesterday afternoon, it’s done!  Whew!

Before I reveal my ‘new and improved’ studio, let me show you our bedroom with the fresh and clean Dresden plate quilt on the bed. 

Measuring 108” x 108”, it covers our queen size bed quite nicely allowing for ample drop on either side.

Because I hung it on the clothesline to dry, the aroma of the fresh outdoors that permeates our bedroom is heavenly…and Frankie thinks so too!

Now, back to the studio.

Look what I ‘found’ in the last bin I opened…5 yards of white Kona cotton…exactly what I ran out of a couple of weeks ago when I was making my granny squares quilt which prompted a 65 mile drive to my not-so-local quilt shop.  This bin was the last one that I pulled out of the closet and it’s actually the one that contained most of my ‘favorite-but-forgot-I-had’ fabric including…

all this authentic turkey red fabric.  How could I have forgotten about these?

No more chaos or disorganization.  I did a lot of de-cluttering which makes the room appear so much larger.  Frankie thinks so too!

The Hoosier cupboard is not only home to a lot of my quilting supplies but it also provides me with additional space to display some of my collectibles.

My Dad made this wooden shelf for me over twenty years ago and I now use it to display many of the pincushions that have been gifted to me since I started blogging.  Look closely because you’ll probably see one of yours there!

Below the shelf are more pincushions and ‘some’ of my scissors collection.

More of my favorite things in the corner next to the Hoosier cupboard.

On this wall is a shelving unit where I keep my quilting books, magazines and patterns.  To the right of it are the crates holding some of my most recent fabric purchases, folded neatly and grouped together by color family.

The little shelf above the pine desk has a lot of antique and vintage sewing memorabilia that I’ve collected over the years.  The white bin on the desk is home to my needle case obsession collection.  I’m feeling the need to make another one in the near future because in addition to pincushions, one can never have too many needle cases…right?  * wink*

The cart on wheels is the new home to my fat quarter stash and behind the green curtains is where the bins containing my newly folded and organized fabric stash reside. 

I now know what I fabric have and where it is because each bin is properly sorted, folded and labeled.

Mac and I are absolutely thrilled that this huge undertaking is over and that we can finally move on to what we love best and that is designing and creating.

A short week ago I felt completely overwhelmed with the task at hand.  Today I feel both liberated and exhilarated…not to mention exhausted.

All I can say is that if you’ve been thinking about doing some organizing and de-cluttering of your own, I recommend that you take the plunge.  I feel like an immense burden has been lifted from my shoulders and I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time in my studio…now that I know what’s in there and where I can find it!

I’m drowning in fabric!

This is what my studio looks like at the moment…organized chaos with bins everywhere!  Help!

A couple of days ago I decided that enough was enough and that it was time to take the bull fabric by the horns selvage and to do something about the disorganization that existed in my fabric bins.

I’ve done a lot so far and this is what I accomplished yesterday.

A sort while ago my friend Mary from Quilt Hollow gifted me with a wonderful collection of homespuns, both new yardage and some off cuts from her own stash.  At that time I just placed them as they were into a bin of their own and in no semblance of order. 

After sorting and folding each and every piece, I can now see and appreciate all the gorgeous homespun fabric at a glance which will make my choices so much easier when it comes time to use them.

Next up was an eclectic array of larger pieces of yardage.  It’s easy to see the two fabrics that are on top of the pile but what lies below remains a mystery.  Because there is an assortment of different fabrics stored in this bin, I would have to take everything out just to see what was in there.

After folding and sorting, I can now see at a glance the treasures that can be found inside.

Aaah!  Frankie’s favorite…Civil War and reproduction fabric…so naturally he had to be there to supervise.

First the fat quarters that were just languishing at the bottom of the container, buried by the yardage on top.  I folded and sorted them by color…

and found a new home for them as well as most of my other miscellaneous fat quarters.  The cart was gathering dust in the storage area under one of the dormer windows, just waiting to be put to good use.

Then I folded and stacked the yardage…

and labeled the bin appropriately.

Just recently I made a granny squares quilt using 1930’s feedsack fabric from my stash that was stored in this bin.  This is how it looked after tearing it apart while looking for ‘just the right’ fabrics for the quilt.

And here it is now with the yardage on the bottom and the fat quarters on top.  Because the bins that I use are clear, all the contents are clearly visible, especially now that everything is folded and organized.

I had enough of folding and organizing and desperately needed a break.   I just couldn’t face the four remaining bins, so Mr. Painted Quilt and I headed up the road to a coin laundry to wash my Dresden plate quilt, simply because it’s too large to fit into our standard size washer.

I made this quilt in 2008 and had only been quilting for about a year and a half at the time.  I was so naiive when I decided that I wanted to make a large quilt and hand quilt it.

Well, at 108” x 108”, it is definitely large…

and I did complete all the quilting by hand. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience but now have all my large quilts machine quilted.  One was enough!

It was such a beautiful day here in the Annapolis Valley so when we got home, I hung it outside on the line to dry.

Moral of the story…

• Stay organized…so I don’t have to do this again.
• Shop entirely from my stash until at least the end of the year…unless I run out of something during a project in progress.
• Donate fabric that I know I will never use in this lifetime.
• Keep on having fun!