My kids don't complain about being bored... much. By the time they finish their chores and schoolwork for the day they are so happy to have some free time that they usually have no problem finding something to do. They've learned that if they tell me they're bored I'll find them something to do that they really don't want to do! But then, my kids are older, and this is something they've grown into. Here's an idea that worked pretty well when they were younger.
Make up a list of all the possible things around your house that kids can do. Include all their games and play-sets, special by-permission-only activities, and even a few random chores that are not on their every day lists. With a little thinking it should be a very long list! Type up your list with a space between each item and then cut up the list so you have each activity listed on a separate slip of paper. Fold the little slips in half and put them in a jar. When the kids get bored they can take a slip of paper. You can either tell them they have to do whatever is on the first slip they draw... or you can let them keep drawing until they find one they like.
"Laura brought her Dove-in-the-Window quilt that she had pieced as a little girl while Mary pieced a nine-patch. It had been kept carefully all the years since then." --These Happy Golden Years
I grew up with quilts. Not necessarily the lovely works of art that you see at fairs and exhibits these days, but practical, made-from-leftover-fabric-scraps, use-every-day quilts. Since the theme this week for the "I Remember Laura" blog-a-thon is quilts, I wanted to show you some of the quilts I have that have special memories for me.
This first quilt was made for me by one of my great-grandmothers. "Mother Shumaker" was my mother's maternal grandmother. She loved to make things for all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and sent us little hand-made Christmas gifts every year... perhaps an apron or a pot-holder or a handkerchief. Then one year she made quilt tops for my siblings and me. This was in the 1970s when double-knit polyester was the fabric of choice... so my quilt is "nice" and heavy. Not exactly what you're looking for in a "vintage" quilt, but at least the pattern and colors are pretty, and I treasure it because Mother Shumaker made it for me.
This is a picture of my bedroom, circa 1979, right after my quilt was finished. Here is a picture of the same quilt that I just took this week. It has been retired from use, as the seams are coming apart. (I am persuaded that the fabric will last forever!) I do intend to repair it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Does anyone know what the name of this pattern is? As far as I know, it's just a Six Point Star.
I have another special polyester double-knit quilt, too! This one makes no claims whatsoever to being pretty. When I was in high school my mother's paternal grandmother came and stayed with us for several weeks. "Granny" was in her 90s by then and blind. She could still piece quilts, but only simple squares and someone else had to cut the blocks and arrange the colors for her. Oh, and thread her needles! She also worked best with heavy fabrics, so even though polyester was on it's way out by this time (early 1980s), Mother decided this would be the perfect use for her leftover sewing scraps. So we cut squares for Granny and thread needles by the dozen, and she stitched happily away while my siblings and I were in school. She made each of us a quilt top during that visit. No. It's not beautiful. However, I have always enjoyed and appreciated it because of the memories and love stitched into it. I do still have it, and it has proved to be very warm and serviceable over the years, but I'll spare you having to look at it again by not posting a current picture! LOL!
Mother Shumaker passed away at age 90 when I was 16. It was the year before I graduated from high school and she was in the process of making a Friendship quilt for my graduation when she got sick. She had finished the blocks but hadn't set them together yet. Several years later my grandmother (Mother Shumaker's daughter) finished it. Rather than putting the names of my classmates on it, since it was several years after my graduation, we put the names of Grandmother's grandchildren on it. I've haven't stayed in touch with my classmates, but I do stay in touch with my cousins, so that makes it more meaningful to me. I had been married several years by the time I finally got this quilt, so it hasn't been used as much as some of the others.My favorite quilt pattern is the Wedding Ring, so that's what Grandmother made me for graduation. I loved this quilt and used it for a bedspread when I went away to college. It has been well-used over the years, and the fabric hasn't held up as well as the never-wear-out polyester, so this one has also been retired from use. I usually just keep it on my quilt rack to look at.Each of the quilts I've shown you so far were made for me. But the prettiest quilt I have actually doesn't have quite as much sentimental value as my other quilts. It's older and is made of the old flour sack vintage fabrics, which I love looking at. I "inherited" it after Lyle's grandpa died, but no one seems to know who made it. I thought perhaps Grandpa's wife (Lyle's step-grandma) made it, but no, they say she didn't make quilts. So my theory is that probably someone made it for her, or passed it on to her, when she was young. Maybe her mother, or a sister, or aunt?In any case, I think it's beautiful. Such exquisite stitching and in the Wedding Ring pattern that I love.
I have other quilts... even some I've made myself, but these are the ones I treasure the most.
The first Monday of the month is Marriage Monday at Chrysalis. Since June is the most popular month for weddings, the topic this month is Our Wedding Day... even for those of us who didn't get married in June! The guidelines asked us to share anything we wanted about our wedding day, so I am choosing to share the lyrics of a song we had at our wedding. I am happy to say, 22-and-a-half years later, that God has honored our prayer!
The Wedding Prayer
Heavenly Father, hear us as we pray, here at Thine altar on our wedding day. Show us the path that thou would'st have us take Help us to follow Thee and sin forsake.
In thy sight, O God, today we've come to pledge our love in unity. Bless the sacred vows we take and keep us one through all eternity.
Give us strength in sorrow, want or pain, always steadfast to remain. And when clouds shall fill our skies of blue, help our love to see us through.
Oh God, until we reach life's ebbing tide may we in perfect Love and Peace abide and when life's sun shall set beyond the hill, may we go hand in hand together still.
It's Show & Tell Friday over at Kelli's House, so I decided to show you the type case I have hanging in my kitchen (right below my clothesline).
My husband is a printer. His dad was a printer, and Lyle grew up in the print shop. Two of his brothers are also printers, so it is somewhat of a family tradition. When we first got married Lyle worked for one of his brothers who owns a print shop. They were cleaning out and selling some of the old equipment, and my brother-in-law gave me this type case drawer. I wanted it for a miniature shelf. Not that I had many miniatures, but I thought it would be fun to collect little odds and ends that would fit in the tiny cubbyholes.
A few years later my mother-in-law gave me the type letters in the biggest font they had, to spell out our names. So why are are they arranged backwards on my shelf? Well, because type was set backwards! When it pressed onto the paper it made a mirror image, so it had to be backwards.
This is the first time I've had my type case up since we moved to Idaho 10 years ago, I think. Therefore, I haven't been adding to my miniature collection much. The little Coca-Cola pieces are actually tiny Christmas tree ornaments that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. I have other Coke collectibles in my kitchen, so I decided the type case would be neat in there, too.
I still need some really tiny things to go in the smallest cubbyholes in the bottom two rows. Any suggestions?
