And finally, a little "us" time

While Lucas was participating in a mission trip with the youth from our church, we decided to take a few days for ourselves and follow him to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Although we were technically in the same area (though Lucas could never tell us where he was), we didn't ever see him (didn't even really talk to him), and were only able to communicate with him via text messaging on our cell phones. When we finally accepted the fact that he didn't "need" us, we relaxed and completely enjoyed ourselves.

We really didn't DO anything, and that's hard for us. Gordon sat on the deck overlooking one of the majestic scenes in the Great Smokey Mountains and caught up on some reading while I spread out several layers of beautiful batik fabrics and cut, cut, cut. It rained a lot, but the wet weather didn't damped our spirits at all. Relaxing in a log cabin atop a mountain in the Smokeys and listening to the rain hit the metal roof is my idea of "heaven on earth." We did make one short trip to a fabric store where I was able to find pink and brown fabrics for the new granddaughter's "Welcome Home Quilt", and we attended a craft show at the convention center in Gatlinburg. Aside from that we did no shopping or sightseeing and just enjoyed our own company.

When I checked my email after returning home, there was a photo from David showing the curtains I made hanging in Lindley Marie's bedroom. I am so pleased! I can't wait for her arrival!

Projects, Projects, Projects

Cody's Quilt
The graduation quilt I made for my nephew Cody who lives in California was named "Guitar Hero". I chose the name "Guitar Hero" because he plays guitar and because he is a real "hero" in my book. He has struggled to overcome some learning difficulties and has conquered! He's a very special young man and I hope all his dreams come true.

The original quilt design just included the stars moving in all directions, and then I appliqued the musical symbols in a black batik cotton on top of the stars. It's symbolic of harmony in the universe, which is my hope for his future.

It has been the season of many graduations and new beginnings. My friend Diane's youngest son Mark graduated from high school in June and will be attending the University of Alabama in the fall. This is the quilt I made for him:

This quilt was made from Ellenor Burns newest book, "Day and Night". It was lots of fun to make and resulted in enough leftover blocks to make 2 more exciting quilts that look completely different! I love surprises like that!

In addition to quilting and graduations, we've celebrated our son David's Commissioning at Methodist Conference in Greenville, NC, in June. He graduated from Duke Divinity School in May and has been appointed to Concord United Methodist Church in Eli Whitney, NC. It is a wonderful, generous, loving congregation and he and Kim and very blessed to be there.

And we continue to await the birth of our newest granddaughter, Lindley Marie Rose, who is due in September. Baby showers galore, knitting, quilting, sewing, painting, hanging of curtains, decorating the nursery...what fun we are all having, preparing to welcome another special child into this world and our family.

These photos were taken at my house at the first baby shower.

Here are some photos taken yesterday at the home of Ashley's "bff" in Clayton, NC:


I hope to post again before the baby comes, but I'm not making any promises. You can bet that I'll be posting lots of photos of Lindley when she arrives.