What a great weekend we have had. On Friday I spent most of the day in the studio working on a Mother’s Day gift: finished it today. I figured if I didn’t get busy on it I would be trying to do it at the last minute and then the problems I had would have seemed much bigger. Of course, again this is something I can’t show until next month but pictures have been taken.


Saturday DH and I went to pick up our two antique clocks that I had taken to be cleaned, repaired and to get new keys.


The first one was my grandpa’s clock. It moved from the Kansas dust bowl to Idaho with my grandparents and five of their seven children. My father had the clock until his death and then my Mother gave it to my sister. I had always wanted it so I asked if I could borrow it but it came with no key. Now it is in my quilting room, ticking away. It has the most lovely “bong” on the hour and half hour and I am loving the sound. And next to it is Grandpa’s bible, well worn, carried to church every Sunday and read every day. Also on this shelf are some of Grandma’s diaries. She was a quilter and quilted for many of her neighbors and church friends.

This clock was purchased several years ago in an antique store.

Again, I love the ticking sound and the chime and since I hadn’t gotten Grandpa’s clock I bought one of my own. However, when we evacuated from Hurricane Ivan the glass was broken and the key was lost. Then man who cleaned it up said he had to “make” a key but it is running great. I didn’t have him get a glass for it as I plan to etch the glass myself and may even try my hand at a little gold leafing.

The last thing I want to share is my entry into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival where we are supposed to display our favorite quilt that we have made: this is mine. This is Flight To Alabama.


I made this in 2006 while we were relocating back to AL from FL. We had moved to FL to finish our work lives and then to retire there. I love FL and was happy there until Hurricanes Erin and Opal came in 1995. We survived well then with only one more evacuation but resettled down to our retirement plans and then along came Ivan in 2004 and then Dennis in 2005. Well, that was enough for me. We lived in a mandatory evacuation zone and I knew that the older I got the harder it was going to be to pack up and leave. At the same time this decision was being made my guild had a quilt challenge and this was my entry. It shows the beaches of NWFL, the hurricanes that drove us out of there and the red clay and trees that we live on and with now. I love my 5 acres in the country and am happy with where I am and I can still get to the beach whenever I want, just not as often or as easily.