Friday, July 28, 2006



My Mom called me yesterday to tell me my aunt Helen from Las Vegas passed away. She was my Mom's last remaining sibling, and 5 years younger than Mom. It hit me harder, I think. I'm an only child, and so are both of my cousins. So I don't have a lot of family. Mom said that my aunt had been reclusive for so long, living out west, that it didn't hurt so bad. That makes me so sad. I just wanted to note her passing. She leaves behind one son, my cousin Gary, who is 5 years older than me. He was married for a while but no kids. I'm going to try to maintain contact with him. My one other cousin, Tom, lives in NC and doesn't talk to any family at all. Mike says I'm lucky, and I know I am, to have him and our kids. They are MY family. I also have his family(he's one of six)-and we're a big, loud Irish American family. So I'll count my blessings.
On a happier note, a friend of mine opened a new quilt shop in North Chelmsford, MA. It's called Mill Girl Quilts. She and her sister took over the business from another lady. If you get a chance, they do have an online shop too.
The 2 photos are of a BOM I participated in a couple of years ago. I did 5 blocks and got bored out of my mind. So a friend of mine finished the piecing for me in exchange for me quilting one of her tops. Then I quilted and bound it. I have to say, I love the Baptist Fan and it goes so good with almost everything. I'm putting it in our local show at the end of September. That's the quilt that started me thinking that I don't want to just follow along anymore. Of course I got sucked into another BOM this year by the same friend. And she has offered to finish the Harvest Spice quilt for me. Think she wants to barter again? I've decided that Harvest Spice is going to be a wedding gift for my son and his fiancee. So I'm going to do the whole thing myself. And I swear, I won't buy any more kits. I still have 3 Jinny Beyer kits I bought at her studio/shop 4 years ago. One is a tote bag, so I should at least do that one. The rest I may just put into my stash.
Dang, this got so long, I'd better stop.
Melanie asked about my longarm. I'll talk about that in another post.
Even though this forum is basically anonymous(we don't really know each other) it's still a way to reach out and I feel better. Thanks.

11 comments:

Linda C said...

My sympathies on the loss of your aunt, Eileen.

The Baptist Fans look lovely on your collaborative quilt--sounds like a fair trade to me especially if your friend loves to piece and you love to quilt.

QuiltingFitzy said...

Hugs!

Melanie said...

It's never easy losing family members. I know what you mean about keeping in touch. Relationships take effort, and it's not always easy if you are the one making all the effort. I love it when you talk about your family. I'm going to write an entire post on BOM quilts. I'm pretty much on your side when it comes to them.

Your baptist fan quilting is beautiful. My grandmother was a quilter---a hand quilter--- and it was one of her favortie patterns. I often wonder how she would have marvelled at the long arms of today.

Enough rambling--- thanks for visiting my blog. I enjoy your comments.
Melanie

Kim West said...

That is a great quilt - the fans do look great!

My deepest sympathies on the loss of a loved one.

Cynthia said...

My sympathies on your loss, Eileen.

The baptist fan quilting is lovely. It's something i would like to have a go at quilting some day.

Sweet P said...

Hugs on your loss. It's always hard losing a family member.

I've been to Mill Girl Quilts twice. The previous owners participated in a spring time shop around. When we were there in May they told us the business had been sold. Next time I go I'll be sure to say hello.

Mary Johnson said...

I also come from a large family with 6 kids and family is so important to us - I'm sorry for your loss.

I love the Baptist fans. What did you use to quilt them? I also have a longarm and have looked at the Circle Lord and the Quilt EZ templates but I only quilt for myself and family so I haven't purchased anything yet but I'm strongly considering one of the two.

Debby Brown said...

Eileen,

I'm so sorry about your aunt.

I do love your baptist fans. We'll have to catch up soon.

Debby

The Calico Cat said...

first - welcome.
second - my mother grew up in Chelmsford
third - I live close to Jinny's shop, so I too have a couple of her kits...

Susan said...

You're up early! My sympathies, too. When my dad was the last of his siblings, he took it very hard, just because he wasn't the youngest one. I can tell you are a family-oriented person, and each loss is personal to you.

I like the quilt, and the Baptist Fans look great! I'm not much of a kit buyer. I've bought a few, and they are still sitting there, so I pretty much don't any more. Luckily, they were small kits for a BOM. =)

Welcome to the ring. We joined at about the same time. =)

Cher said...

always hard to lose a family member-sorry to hear your news. we do get to know each other on this ring-the more we post and comment-so welcome aboard stash quilts!
I love how Baptist fans look! lovely quilting.