Beth Ferrier’s Blog

This precious little boy just turned three. He’s such a good natured little guy, easy going, just like his daddy. His smile and giggle light up the world.

I think he has my eyes. He looks more like his daddy every day. It’s such a gift, isn’t it, how grandchildren spark our memories? A fleeting expression, a word, a touch and I am right back, twenty-five years ago, when Nathan was three.

I loved those days, when the boys were young. I loved the way they revealed themselves to me, glimpses of their character, their talents and strengths. I always felt that it was my job to help them find their best selves, not try to mold them into my expectations.

Having grandchildren is the best antidote for any bits of empty nest syndrome I might have suffered.

Alex and mommy Amanda open birthday gifts. Honestly, we couldn’t have asked for a better mom to our grandchildren. She and Nate make excellent babies!

 Amanda made the adorable Buzz Lightyear cake. This year it’s all about Toy Story.

In addition to the guest of honor, we had baby Nicole doing her best to upstage the star of the day.

Here’s our little redheaded girl. Her big blue eyes are a wonder to this family of squinty-eyed boys. (That comes from their dad’s side. Really.) Just over three months and she’s sitting up like a champ.

This is Amanda’s sister, Jessica. You can plainly see where that red hair came from.

Here’s our little scene-stealer with her other grandparents. I think she looks a lot like her grandpa John. Amanda has a special relationship with her dad, it always touches me to see it.

We had a lovely day for the party. For a few special hours our home was filled with laughter and joy and entirely too much food.

The warm weather takes its own sweet time in getting to us here in Saginaw. Winter is a guest who stays long after its welcome is worn away. Any who dares to plant before mid-May is tempting fate. We’ve had snow as late as Mother’s Day.

As I’m sure you’re tired of hearing, my automotive misadventure has kept me from my usual springtime garden clean up. With my right hand restricted to no use, light use and then careful use, the most I could manage was about forty-five minutes every few days. But last Friday the ortho doc proclaimed me healed. It will take some time yet to have full use or be pain-free, but the broken bone is healed.

So I went to the garden center. Most of my gardens are perennials, but we have planters, urns and hanging baskets that are filled with annuals.

I always wait until I’ve seen what wonders the horticulturists have produced for us before I decide on a color scheme. I love geraniums, they are so old fashioned and so freely blooming. They are usually the backbone of my plan.

After finding a yummy veriegated pink variety, I settled on pink with white and blue accents for the front planters.

As for the back, I decided to go with all white flowers in the planters. My roses are finally established and promise to keep us in color. The white theme in the planters will give a nice, fresh splash, and add a bit of sparkle for evening entertaining.

This is our front porch, off the kitchen. I have yet to dress it up for summer, but the rockers are out. The hanging baskets look a little spare now, but they will fill in quickly.

This is the view from the drive way. The garden is being over run by lily of the valley. The scent is heavenly now, but in another week I will be yanking it out, cursing myself for being so soft hearted about volunteers. Since we do this dance every spring, I’m not worried about pulling too many. Maybe this year I’ll toss some of them into the woods and see if they stick.

 And since I don’t have enough to do, I’ve managed to convince Kent that we need another shot at the garden at the edge of the field. Our first attempt, a vegetable garden, turned out to be a deer buffet.

This year, plan is to plant a cutting garden. Next July (2011), that expanse of yard between my rototilling son, Caleb, and the house will be filled with a tent for his wedding to Elaine. It’s a dream come true to host a wedding here, one I never expected, being the mother of sons. We’ll be putting extra effort into the gardens this year so they can provide the perfect backdrop for Caleb and Elaine’s wedding day.

The Ferrier family welcomed a new member on March 31st. Nicole Lynn arrived by c-section at about 7:45 am, weighing 9lbs 6 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. Of course, we think she is perfect in every way. Daddy (my oldest son, Nathan), big brother Alex and Mommy Amanda give baby Nicole the warm welcome she deserves.

Kent and I were thrilled to make it to the hospital just in time to greet our new granddaughter.

Kent’s usually the one taking the pictures, it’s about time we caught him in front of the camera. I was really happy that she decided to arrive before my trip to Oklahoma, but it was super hard to hand her back to her mom and other grandma while I was off doing what I do!

I must admit, I was more than a little nervous about making my first teaching trip after the accident. I’ve been so sedentary, healing, that I was not sure I’d have the stamina to make it through three lectures and four day-long workshops. Luckily everyone was very understanding about letting me hide out in my hotel room, resting, between jobs. I’m so grateful to all the wonderful quilters who did the heavy lifting for me. Lugging big suitcases and boxes of class supplies are part of the job, and a part that I don’t easily foist onto others.

It was, in the end, very good for me to be back in the classroom. I love to teach. Being with quilters fills me with energy and inspiration. It’s nice to know that even when I’m not at my tip top shape I can still offer a good and fun class. Knowing that sure helps in the dark times when life is handing out lemons.

While not a requirement, it’s handy to have a light box for my Hand Applique by Machine technique class. I’ve seen all sorts of them, store bought and home made. But I almost fell over laughing when Mary demonstrated her “laptop lightbox”.  I’m always impressed by how resourceful quilters can be.

I also need to thank Lerlene Nevaril, president of the Bartlesville, OK quilt guild. My last day of classes fell on my birthday, and Lerlene surprised me with a perfect cake: white cake and frosting and red roses! It was totally unexpected and left me speechless (really!).

This week I have been playing grandma. I’m off to Holland, Mi to help out my daughter in law and cuddle my grandchildren. Alex is nearly three, and he just keeps getting more spectacular. Watching him play takes me right back to when his daddy was little. Can you see the tiger that he’s chasing? Me either, but Alex kept me safe all afternoon, hot on the tail of that mean tiger. He insisted that I sit on the hill at the back of the yard while he chased and chastised that pesky tiger. And just often enough, he would run up the hill to me, to give me a reassuring hug, and to let me know that he’d keep keep that mean tiger away. My heart is full.

Baby sister Nicole just gets more beautiful every day. She’s a good natured baby, nursing well and beginning to stretch out the time between meals. Looks like she’s going to be a red head! I always wanted a red headed child, but it doesn’t run on either side of our family trees. Amanda brought red hair with her, and I’m thrilled to see it. It’s been a bit of a challenge, jumping straight from teaching to grandma-ing, but we’ve all been taking naps when the kids sleep. Naps are underappreciated, I’m thinking about allowing time for one in my classes.

I was really happy to have my cast removed at four weeks after the accident, but not at all happy to find out that my use of the hand was still just as restricted. The brace is so much nicer, especially the part about being able to remove it for showers. But the doc reminded me that the bone was still healing, not healed. No lifting more than a soup can, no yard work (very frustrating as spring is arriving and my gardens are calling to me), still no scissors.

I’ve just had my eight week check up and I’m still in the brace for six more weeks. I am not a happy camper. But I’m trying hard to follow doctor’s orders and keep my mood up. I’m sorry to say that the start of the next block of the month project is going to be delayed until May 15th. I have it started, but no where near ready to post. I’m trying to get back on track, but I’m afraid to say, my applique train was really derailed. Don’t you just hate when real life gets in the way of your quilting?

Once again  I am ignoring the blogosphere, this time due to preparations for Quilt Market. In just over a week I’ll be flying to Houston to teach and demo for the new book. To prep for my class I’m making twenty-seven kits which will include a pieced 14 inch background square and applique shapes ready to trim and glue baste. Oy.

 My mom is in the hospital again. She had surgery yesterday to finally solve the problem that put her in the hospital a couple of months ago. I carried my laptop with me to the waiting room, thinking I might have time to write a couple of blog posts. (I saw the coolest machine at the Troy Fabric warehouse, just wait until you see it!) But instead I had a really good visit with my sister. We’re not as close as we should be, busy lives and a couple of loners, so it was really good to have the time together. Mom is doing well. I’ll be heading down to see her again on Friday.

So, that’s the deal for now. The kit prep is actually kind of fun, piecing the background, and choosing the fabrics for the applique. I can pretend that I’m actually making a big old quilt, with fifty-something flowers and over a hundred leaves. Come to think of it, that’s not so much after all, is it?

My sister Stephanie is sewing for charity. She’s raising money for breast cancer research, making adorable fabric drink coasters. Check out her Etsy shop, here.

Last fall I realized that I almost never chose fabric from my main fat quarter shelf any more. Into a box they went, over four hundred fat quarters. I pawned them off on two of my sisters, Stephanie and Pam and my mom. It was so fun watching them go through the box, trying to be polite on the first pass, finally devouring the lot.

Working only with the fat quarters, Steph was sewing and selling single coasters. I thought she might be able to collect bigger donations if she could put together sets of coasters.  (Sorry, the business/marketing part of my brain kicked in, sometimes I can’t help it.)

So, off went two big boxes, bolt ends left over from kits, batting samples, more fat quarters. Steph thinks I’m being generous, but I’m not, really. She’s doing me a huge favor by taking the stuff off my hands! What good is having a stash if it’s just taking up space? There are so many charities that can put our stash mistakes to good use. Even if we don’t have the time or the interest to sew for charity we can still be helpful by making donations.

For more information on Stephanie’s project (or to make a donation, which would be lovely), go to One of Eight or Steph’s personal page.

A little while ago (okay, so it was more than six months ago) my sweet daughter-in-law asked me to recover a pair of chairs that had been hers as a child. Hey, I can sew right? And I have slip covered or reupholstered chairs in the past. We went shopping right away to choose just the right fabric. The chairs and the roll of fabric have been quite comfy in the corner of my studio, waiting their turn on my to-do list.

Once the book deadline was met it was time to tackle that list. After some serious thought I decided that stripping the chairs down to the frame and reupholstering them would be easier and better than a slip cover. The chairs were a little worse for wear, a little musty and a little water damaged. Better to start fresh.

Because I just don’t have the hand strength (I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands), my hubby, assistant and son were all enlisted to do the hard stuff, like removing the old fabric and staples.

 The frame is made out of oak, very sturdy, and in great shape.

 We replaced the seat fabric with clean canvas and used old batting scraps as padding, cleaning out a nice space in my closet for more, better stuff.

 We numbered each piece of the fabric as it was removed so that we would know what order to recover the sections. The pieces were used as rough patterns to cut the new fabric. I don’t know what I was thinking when we picked out a striped fabric. This is the second chair. I learned a lot while doing the first chair. The stripes on this one are a lot straighter. (Amanda, you can swap them out, if you want!) Once the arms were done all the hard parts were finished.

To finish up the little cushion was repadded with more batting and then covered. I thought turning the strips to vertical on the sides of the cushion would be fun.

And finally, even though the chairs arrived without feet I thought they needed a little something. I found these darling little bun feet at Lowes.

The plan is for one chair to live with Alex and one to live here so Alex can be comfy with us. The first chair was sent off almost the instant it was done, but footless.

They are totally not perfect (the first one is even less perfect than the second), but they are much better than they were. Not bad for a quilter, eh?

Eight days remain before my first draft is due. I must have everything ready and report to the Fedex outlet before five pm one week from tomorrow. I swing between smug confidence that all is going well and abject terror at what I may have grossly overestimated my skills.

 Luckily my family has provided lots of distractions this past week. Living in one’s head for too long is not good for creative work. My sons have graciously stepped up with dramas of their own to get my attention.

 Caleb, who has been suffering with a really bad cold, finally saw the doctor. A chest xray thankfully proved that, while miserable, it was nothing more than a cold. Some really good cough syrup provided the much-needed sleep. My sunny boy has returned.

Jake showed up last Tuesday evening with a nasty infection in his left hand. A small pimple on his index finger on Sunday was now an open wound, red swollen hand and frightening streaks heading up his arm. We packed off to the emergency room.

 Two hours later, after a round of IV antibiotics and a prescription for heavy duty anitibiotics for the next couple of weeks, we left with Jake’s arm in a sling and a diagnosis of MRSA. He’s made four more trips to the family doctor to monitor the condition. He’s made a terrific recovery. While he still needs to remain vigilent for reinfection, for now he has a clean bill of health.

I still can’t show you what I’m working on for the book. Most of it is pretty boring to look at anyway, just words on pages, planning inserts for pictures, unformatting fractions, blah, blah, blah. The quilts aren’t due until December so I’ve delayed most of the fun until after the words are done anyway.

But I can show you how I unwind at the end of the day.

 Knitting is what I do so that I know I’m not working. The first sock was started last Tuesday in the emergency room with Jake. The second sock was started on Saturday night as I watched the old  Alfred Hitchcock movie,Rebecca, with Kent. The pattern, Loksins! can be found here. I made a couple of small changes. I started with an extra repeat of the garter pattern. The heel is stitched out K1, S1 and then purl back instead of just stockinet stitch and grafted the toe instead of gathering. It’s a really pretty pattern and I look forward to making it again.

 What do you do to relax?

Recently we had an opportunity to enjoy a baseball game in grand style. Kent’s office reserved a party room at the Great Lakes Loon’s stadium.  A class A farm team for the Los Angles Dodgers, the Loons offer major league baseball in a fun and friendly setting.

There were enough extra tickets that we could include our entire family.

Nate, Caleb, half of Elaine, the top of Rachel’s head and Jake mugging for the camera as they watch the game from our private balcony seats.

I was distracted by someone much more interesting.

We really didn’t expect such deluxe accomodations. We had cloth covered tables, prime rib on the buffet and lots of room to comfortably enjoy each other and the game.

I’ll have to take the guys’ word for the game, though. Because I have to admit when this little fellow is in the room I hardly have eyes for anyone else.

That’s David, my youngest keeping us company. I didn’t get a good picture of Amanda, (or any of the girls, for that matter) darn it all. She was sitting next to David. We had a lovely visit while every one else was distracted by the game. Silly folks, how could a mere baseball game hold a candle to this precious little guy?

We’ve been working day and night to get ready for baby Alex’s first birthday party. Summer is a busy time for us in general, just trying to stave off the inevitable decline in an old house. Add in a celebration, and the push was on to gussy up the old girl (the house, not me) for the big day.

Alex was his usual precious self, a year old already. The party was fun, lots of family, lots of food and lots of laughter. You can see more pictures on Alex’s web page.

In the days since the party I’ve been regrouping in preparation for diving headlong into finishing the next applique book. I’ve made a terrible mistake in picking up a copy of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Oh my. Steamy and well told, who can write when there’s something like this to read?

I’ve been a Detroit Tigers fan since I was a little girl. I remember sitting with my dad, pulling weeds in the garden and listening to the game on a tinny transistor radio. Living in northern Indiana, Detroit seemed like the Big City, very far away from our quiet life.

This week was my first chance to attend a game at Comerica Park. It’s a beautiful stadium. We were there with some of Kent’s coworkers, and 38 thousand of our closest friends.

They say in Michigan if you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute, it will change. So it was for game day.

The dark skies seemed to be building up and flying by.

As the thunder and lightening grew near the upper decks were cleared. We had great seats under the canopies. We were able to stay put and watch the show Mother Nature provided.

 In just over an hour the storm passed, the tarps were rolled away and the game resumed. We were all kind of hoping for a rain out, we were behind 8-2 when the skies opened up. The Tigers lost, but it was still a good game.

On the way in we passed Elwood’s Grill. What’s a quilter to do, of course I had to snap a picture!

 Wouldn’t that an interesting design for a quilt?