Did you know?

 In July of 1839, a group of Africans illegally taken into slavery from Sierra Leone, carried out a mutiny on a Cuban ship called The Amistad. Not knowing where they were headed, the Africans landed on the shores of Long Island where they were imprisoned on charges of murder. The case eventually made it to the United States Supreme Court where former president, John Quincy Adams, defended the Africans' right to liberty, leaning on the words of the Declaration of Independence—that all men are created equal.

Today, I think of my great, great grandfather, who fought in the Civil War on the Union side from start to finish. If you'd like to see his story click on the Civil War link at the top of this page. I'm very proud of our nation. We have fought for injustice since the beginning in 1776. Slavery was abolished and freedom is guaranteed every person no matter their color.

How grandchildren perceive their grandparents

1. I was in the bathroom, putting on my makeup, under the watchful eyes of my young granddaughter, as I'd done many times before. After I applied my lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Grandma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!" I will probably never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye....

2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 72. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"

4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like. "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"

5. My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.

6. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing a story.

"What's it about?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."

7. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I really think you should try to figure out some of these colors yourself!"

8. When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."

9. When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised "Mine says I'm 4 to 6." (WOW! I really like this one -- it says I'm only '38'!)

10. A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting." she said. "How do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

11. Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher. The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently. 'It means carrying a child."

12. A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties.

"They use him to keep crowds back," said one child.

"No," said another. "He's just for good luck."

A third child brought the argument to a close. “They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."

13. A 6-year-old was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and whenever we want her, we just go get her. Then, when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport."

14. Grandpa is the smartest man on earth! He teaches me good things, but I don't get to see him enough to get as smart as him!

15. My Grandparents are funny, when they bend over, you hear gas leaks and they blame their dog.

A recent customer quilt

 This quilt top is from a friend of mine who is also a customer.  She found this top for $15 at the Scrap Exchange!  The Scrap Exchange is a thrift store where any type of leftover materials can be donated.  You might find a microscope, pool noodles, beakers from UNC or anything you can think of!  Businesses, individuals and Colleges donate their leftover scrap/materials and you can buy it for a song. 

A good reminder

 

Definitely!

 

Ode to Sewing Machines #35

 Many of you follow my "Ode to the Sewing Machine" posts.  We've all seen the ads on craigslist, ebay and elsewhere.  The clueless sellers give those of us who sew a belly laugh, or two!  Here's installment #35…

No doubt about it

I studied at Faith Baptist Bible College in the 80's. During my first year, a brilliant man named David Powell was one of my instructors. His class on Old Testament Theory was, by far, my favorite class. He taught in a way that made you think outside the box, to dig deep for the answer. I loved his class. After each test, I found myself striving to get a better grade than the one before.

In 1985, I was 25 years old. 7 years earlier I almost flunked out of high school. I received a 1.42 out of a possible 4.0 grade average. While enrolled at FBBC, I worked 50 hours a week, drove an hour each day to classes, and studied when I could. I worked full-time as the owner of a small business with 5 employees. I also worked part-time as the manager of a 64 unit residential facility. I could only attend FBBC part-time, it was all I could afford at the time.

In David Powell's freshman class, as we studied each book in the Old Testament, one of his assignments was to create a graph of the book. We were to break the book down into events and chart each one as it progressed to the next event. In the evenings, I dove into each graph with gusto. I learned things about the Old Testament I'd never thought of before. I started out the class getting a B, or 80%, but by the end of the semester I received 100%+ on my graphs and tests.

In the middle of the semester, mummering started on campus. At first, I tried to ignore the whispers that reached my ears, as I studied in the campus lounge above the cafeteria. But the whispers became bolder as time went on. Freshman who were in the class with me began to grumble about how hard the class was, Powell was a bad teacher, he did this and he did that...mur-mur-mur-mur. And I began to wonder why am I doing so well if he is such a bad teacher?

Once, I nearly stood up in class to ask them what was going on. Mr. Powell was late to class that morning and the little rebel inside me wanted to ask why someone who nearly flunked out of high school 7 years earlier and worked 50 hours a week was getting A's and they weren't? I chose to remain silent. Instead, I chose to make my sentiments known in Dr. Houghton's presence. 3 decades later I still regret my decision.

As each decade has passed, I've often thought of my time at FBBC. I love my school and pray for the students and teachers to this day. Dr. Walton and Dr. Shipp changed my life through their kind and loving example. They loved us, truly loved each student. It was an honor and privilege to attend FBBC and I look back at my time there with fondness. Today, I look forward to reading the alumni newsletter and always look for people I knew in the pages.

But I'll never forget how gossip took away a brilliant teacher. A few students wanted mediocrity. They wanted an easy road and they received it. He was let go at the end of the semester. He was replaced by someone, I don't remember who they hired. Through the power of gossip, a truly great teacher was sent away.

Gossip destroys. It should be hated by more than just One Person.

Winter is over

 Winter is definitely over in my part of the world.  And the slow period of longarming is over, too!  I have 11 quilt tops to get longarmed over the next 2 weeks.  I love the busy season.

I finished up a table runner I've been working on.  It took awhile to applique the pieces.  I used the invisible applique method with monopoly monofilament thread.  This was a laser cut quilt kit and it was so easy to iron down the precut applique pieces.