Memorial Day

When I was little, my grandmother would take me to the cemetery with her a few days before Memorial Day so that we could tend to the graves of loved ones who had passed on. First, we would gather up the tools needed to clean grave stones and clip grass. Then we would select the best flowers from her garden. The back of her car would be filled with roses, carnations, sweet william, azalea blossoms and many other flowers. Irises were her particular favorite. After the car was packed, Grandma would drive us up to the cemetery so we could decorate the graves of family members and people she knew. My grandmother lived 38 years longer than my grandfather, a ship-builder in World War II. This Memorial Day observance was a yearly vigil for her; one that Stephen and I have continued since her passing in 1998.

I've noticed that there are more stones to clean and decorate as the years go by. This year, there were 10 of them. When we were through, we talked about how much we missed those who had influenced our lives, reflected on lessons learned from each of them, and how we might make our own lives more meaningful. Cleaning grave stones and decorating with flowers may be a small thing, but its become a tradition of honoring our elders and those gone before us.

Patchwork Party 2007

Hurry! You don’t want to be left out when the party ends in just eleven days(!) on May 31st. Don't worry; there’s still a little time for you to join this fun and fabulous program but you will need to act quickly! Most of you already know that the 2007 Spring Edition of Patchwork Party is a series of beautiful quilt blocks designed by Marti Michell using Moda’s Sanctuary line of fabric by 3 Sisters. So far, Spring 2007 has been a great "party" with many, many lovely quilts being made by our customers that are well on their way to completion. We've already seen a few and are full of admiration for the talent our customers possess. But once May 31st is here, these lovely blocks, one for each of the stores participating in this year's party, will be retired. (There's no doubt that those blocks will need the rest from the high-heeled good time they had at this year's party!)

Grandma’s Attic is the only quilt shop exclusively offering the Spring Glenn quilt block. You'll need to visit the other 11 shops to collect their particular quilt blocks.Once you've collected all twelve, you can buy our finishing kit entitled “A Rose by Any Other Name." Our queen size quilt measures 95” square and features beautiful appliqué.If you live close to our store, you’ll want to come in and see it.

If you’ve already purchased your blocks, you just might want to purchase another set and start the fun all over again. The blocks, postage paid, are a real bargain and are an economic way to make a quilt for family and friends.

Our Finishing Kit and all the accessories will continue to be available as long as we have fabric and supplies.

We're really looking forward to ending this year's party just like it started, with a big bang that promises loads of fabric fun!

Time Flies

After we got back from Dannielle's graduation, I was so busy at Grandma's Attic I wasn't able to post until now. It's amazing how quickly time can fly at certain times, and how slowly it can drag on at others.

This is a picture of Stephen and I that photographer Sarah Hillman took for the local newspaper, the Polk County Itemizer-Observer (Look for "Project comes from the Heart"). It accompanied an article that appeared on May 8 about the Virginia Tech Memorial Quilt Project that we have undertaken. I'm holding up the very first block that we received. The block was constructed by Barbara Lewis of Dallas. It is called Virginia Star. Isn't it beautiful? It's only one of many that we have begun to receive. We are currently in the process of identifying each block with the name of the Quilter, the City/State (Country) in which they live, and the name of the quilt block. We're placing them on the walls at Grandma's Attic and will soon be able to post photos of them. Just looking at the quilt blocks we've received is very powerful. I can feel the love and devotion in which they were all made. God bless each and every one of you who has made a block (or more) and sent it to us. We will soon create a page on our website to share them with you.

I hope to write more often now that I'm back from California, over whatever illness had me in its grip for a few days after that, and past the $5 Quilt Club that keeps us hopping the first Friday and Saturday of every month. We really have fun with the $5 Quilt Club and love seeing all our customers.

I'm also hoping to upload a picture of Stephen's baby chicks next time so you can see how much they've grown. They're almost teenagers now! The weather is getting warmer and the hens are laying more eggs. They like to stroll around the barn yard looking for tasty treats. The cats pretend that they are great hunters and stalk the chickens through the tall grass. All it takes to debunk that notion is for one of the hens to rush at a cat. The cats then go running off to the barn. The whole time this is going on, the two little daschunds bark themselves hoarse from the confines of their kennel. Then Edna, the cockateil gets into the act by screeching at the dogs. Have I told you that we have a real pet menagerie at our place? In addition to the pets, we have deer in the pasture (and/or snacking on the rose bushes), the occasional raccoon sneaking into the cat food dish, and a variety of other wildlife out in the fields. It's amazing. The kids have all left home but the animals, both tame and wild, provide us with hours of companionship.