What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Some of the kids were home over the weekend. Buck’s family came, Kalissa’s family came, Kelli’s family came, and Karl did too. The weekend started with a football game for Carver. Rick didn’t go. The other kids were coming later that day, and he had homework. If you look, Carver is number 20 in the …

Weekend at the Kramers Read More »

…and it’s not a quilt.

I love to quilt, almost to the exclusion of everything else, but not quite so. I have other interests that I enjoy. On Tuesday evening, it was a spelling bee.

I may not be a good quilter, but I am a good speller. My father taught me to read when I was 18 months old, and I read everything I could get my hands on. Reading consumed me in my earliest years until I learned how to craft. But reading is still a great love of mine and I believe all the reading I ...

If you missed it, check out my previous post about our vacation that we took this summer. The kids are finally old enough to go do something fun and actually get something out of it, but at an age where they are pretty content with just a new change of scenery. One of the places …

The Hankens Leave the House–Day Two Read More »

Thanks for the comments. Yes—I believe 100% that even though I am deleting, I may still need to do one more step to make Google recognize that I have deleted stuff. What is that step? I must investigate. And I have turned OFF photo backup on my phone. So that is NOT adding to the problem. 

Life sure has an interesting way of bringing you down to your knees and making you face reality! I was out walking two of the dogs yesterday when my phone rang. It was not even 8 AM, and NO ONE calls me in ...

…or, time to take inventory, and make adjustments.

Kelli worked on Friday for the overnight shift, so she needed to sleep on Saturday so she was ready for the Saturday night overnight shift. She asked if Rick and I would watch the kids. We did. We started by going to Carver’s football game. He’s number 20 with the ball. At flag football age, …

Saturday Grandma Duty Read More »

I'm seeing signs that the autumn season is starting to take hold. The leaves are starting to turn and fall. It's been single digits overnight lately and staying cooler during the days. I like this time between the seasons and wish it would last longer here. 

 I transplanted two Japanese Anemone bushes to the right of the front path. This season they have really taken off. I didn't know they would spread like this! They have taken over the whole space but it is a plus that the bees love them.

And ...

Yippeee!  Since my last post here we learned we are to be first-time grandparents this autumn!  That means I’ve been sewing and knitting like a crazy lady (which of course I proudly am). These projects are so fast and easy:  two rectangles, sew together, turn, topstitch, done!   The link to the free PDF is at the end, before the last two photos.

First, here’s a quick 2 minute overview of the entire project!  I used Time-Lapse photography and a few stills so there is no audio;  it is also stored on my itty bitty YouTube channel .  I hope ...

Today I was up early and got my laundry started. I made toast and then headed up to Olympia to see Patrick. 

Had to stop at Colleen's to get a couple quilts and give her fabric to work on pillowcases. She's getting the pillowcases ready for sewing on our sewing day. That's the next project for sew days. We won't have it started till October. 

I headed to Olympia. Patrick was a little snitty. It took a little bit and then he was better. He needed his pain killers. I stay for a bit. Mom called ...

Good morning, my friends. It was a busy kitchen day yesterday, but there was still some time for sewing. No actual sewing...just finishing and prepping, but it's all good.

My first stop was to finish the embroidery for Block 1 of the Quilter's Retweet. There was only a little ways to go with this.

Mike helped me with this. I cored most of ...

Good morning, my friends. It was a busy kitchen day yesterday, but there was still some time for sewing. No actual sewing...just finishing and prepping, but it's all good.

My first stop was to finish the embroidery for Block 1 of the Quilter's Retweet. There was only a little ways to go with this.

Mike helped me with this. I cored most of ...

 Today was a lazy Sunday at home, and after I had dealt with a few chores, I settled down with some slow stitching.  It's been a while since I worked on my teddy bear cushion covers.  It was nice to sit down and do some big stitch quilting around the bear, with a cuppa at hand.  Luckily Gemma didn't want to jump up on my lap, there wouldn't have been much room for her as well.  But she was quite happy having a nice comfy snoozy nap on the sofa.  That cat certainly knows how to while ...

Good morning, my friends. Well, I said it would be a good day, and it was. It was one of those days when I could have taken thousands of pictures, but I restrained myself. I'll show you what I have. This part of Portland comprises several of its most beautiful and beloved public spaces. Clustered together, one can find the Hoyt Arboretum, Washington Park, Pittock Mansion, Oregon Zoo, International Rose Test Garden, and Portland Japanese Garden. Matthew and I were there to see the Japanese Garden. As it turns out, the place was way busier than expected on a ...

Good morning, my friends. Well, I said it would be a good day, and it was. It was one of those days when I could have taken thousands of pictures, but I restrained myself. I'll show you what I have. This part of Portland comprises several of its most beautiful and beloved public spaces. Clustered together, one can find the Hoyt Arboretum, Washington Park, Pittock Mansion, Oregon Zoo, International Rose Test Garden, and Portland Japanese Garden. Matthew and I were there to see the Japanese Garden. As it turns out, the place was way busier than expected on a ...

Summer is ending…school is starting. My daughter Kelli had promised her kids one more sleepover at our house before school started. We squeezed that in on last Thursday into Friday. I was pooped from all the running from vacation and the couple days after getting Rick settled with school and getting my medicine replaced that …

A Hanken Visit…from Eli. Read More »

That escalated quickly. 

Since that last post, I’ve had a whole lot of distractions that, of course, keep me from quilting. They’re not all bad. Several of those distractions were times with family (yay!) and friends (yay!) due to a bunch of birthdays in one week. That’s good. But other distractions are happening due to friends and family experiencing a myriad of health and life issues, and that’s not good. 

Photo of fabrics that wanted to be in the Mod Owls Revival quilt sent to cheer a friend

I have to admit that I have a problem when things go wrong in the house, such as appliances, or the computer.  Yes, I do tend to panic, probably because after many years of Robin tending to these sorts of blokey things, it now all falls on me.  What to do, who to call?  On Sunday I noticed a big puddle of water under the tub and washing machine,  after I had done a load of laundry earlier in the morning.  So out came a couple of towels  to mop it all up, and I wondered if the washing machine ...

Good morning, my friends. It was a lovely day for a walk with Matthew yesterday. There was almost no time for sewing. But you know me...no day can start without a little slow-stitching and yesterday was no different. I took the first stitches on this final block for Le Jardin.

There ...

Good morning, my friends. It was a lovely day for a walk with Matthew yesterday. There was almost no time for sewing. But you know me...no day can start without a little slow-stitching and yesterday was no different. I took the first stitches on this final block for Le Jardin.

There ...

Day 3 - I get confused on the days because I was counting the days of travel. But on day 2 we decided to rest and get ready for the hike the next day to the top of the mountain. That was an interesting trip - I will tell you tomorrow about that. 

We were enjoying the view and swimming in the afternoon. It was trip to find some shopping. I wanted a dress and a shirt. So, we took a ride and stopped at the beach for photos, then to the shopping. This photo is our bungalow pic. We were on ...