Legacy of Love: Mom's Life, in Stitches

Friends, I have been procrastinating writing this blog post, just as I have been postponing calling the probate attorney and the banks and the insurance companies and everyone else you're supposed to notify when someone dies and you've been assigned these responsibilities in their will.  Honestly, I just want to call my mom and complain about how everything sucks right now, but she won't answer.  Her phone is right in front of me in a ziplock bag on my desk, along with her Apple watch, her drivers license, her passport, and her car keys.  All of this is very weird and feels very, very WRONG.

Me and Mom, Naples Zoo, December 28, 2024

My mom, according to the funeral home lady, is "in the lovely blue urn you selected," which makes it sound like she's Barbara Eden in "I Dream of Jeannie" and she will pop out wearing harem pants and granting wishes.  Which is exactly what I would tell my mother if I could call her right now, because that would make her laugh.  My brain understands that my mom is gone and that death came as a blessing to end to her suffering.  However, my heart wants to believe that, if I call her tomorrow, she will answer her phone.  

Last Selfie With Mom, June 4, 2025

This was my last selfie with Mom when I got to Austin late in the afternoon of June 4th.  She had been in bed for three days straight before that, but insisted on getting dressed and moving to the recliner in the living room because I was coming.  I had no idea she only had three days left, two days really because she was unresponsive for most of the day Saturday before she passed.  Her decline over that 72 hour period was just unbelievably fast, even catching the hospice team by surprise -- they did not have the morphine available in the house yet because they had "staged" her as not being close enough to needing it.  Anyway, I don't want to dwell on those few days because that's not how my mom would want to be remembered.  I did write her obituary and it's online here, but there were a few more things I wanted to share here:

The Kangaroo Costume Mom Made for My Son Lars in 2018

That's a kangaroo costume my mom sewed for my son Lars, for one of his high school theatre class projects.  She also sewed some costumes for a middle school production of Legally Blonde that my son Anders was in, dozens of figure skating costumes for my sister Susan...  I wish I had photos of more of mom's projects to share with you.

Decisions for Deco Quilting + Stonefields Quilt "Shirtings"

Hello, quilting friends!  Another page has been ripped off the calendar and we find ourselves in the month of June, in the year 2025, which -- by the way -- remember when that was like a science fiction "way in the future" year?  (Alas, no Jetsons rocket ship cars or, my absolute favorite, the automated conveyor belt closet that gets you showered and dressed for your day while you are still sleeping...)

Okay, so my Tuesday To Do is going to be super light this week.  Mom has declined significantly since we moved her to Austin a month ago.  Her lung cancer has spread to her brain and she is barely eating anything.  Home hospice began May 27th and I'm flying out to see her tomorrow.  If I get any hand stitching prepped today, I'll bring it with me, but it's already 2:30 PM and here I am yet again, writing a blog post instead of actually handling fabric.  Why?  Because I've made some design decisions that I want to record while they are fresh in my mind.

Next On My Long Arm: Deco Quilt for Custom Quilting

Now that I've finished custom quilting that vintage sampler for my friend Marybeth, my long arm frame is open and available for the Deco quilt top I finished in March.  While I'm not in a huge rush to dive into another custom quilting project, I've wasted invested a lot of time over the past week thinking about how I want to quilt it once I'm ready.  

My Deco Quilt Top With My Anna Maria Floral Print Backing Fabric

My Deco needs to be custom quilted because the whole reason I was drawn to the pattern in the first place was that I thought it had great possibilities for custom quilting.  That's what drew me to the Building Blocks Sampler quilt that I (typically) overcomplicated and dragged out over too many years, too.  Once I finally got the Building Blocks/Nanu! Nanu! quilt top finished, I quilted it with an allover meander to just get it done and on the bed already, and now I kind of regret that I didn't set it aside until I had the time and "bandwidth" necessary to see my original vision through to the custom-quilted conclusion.  So, Custom Quilting will happen for Deco, or else no quilting will happen at all.  The quilting will combine digital computerized designs with hand guided ruler work and SID (stitch in the ditch) quilting.

I looked through hundreds of different digital designs before settling on this Jeweled Feathers "Little Sister" design set from Anne Bright.  What I love about Anne Bright's Little Sister sets is that she always has an assortment of related designs for the different shapes and sizes in a real quilt top.  

Anne Bright's Jeweled Feathers Little Sister Design Set

I'll be using the Jeweled Feathers 8W block in all of my full 8" alternate blocks, with Jeweled Feathers Quad in all the side setting triangles and Jeweled Feathers Double for my corner triangles.