This is the first time I’ve attached a Pom Pom to one of my hats. Luckily, it wasn’t too difficult and the Pom Pom came pre-made with the yarn – Caron Cupcake
While I was working on hats, I wove the ends in on this stranded design. Not something I’d do again but I might try one with slip stitches. I just don’t like the loose strands on the inside. It’s a little small for the hat head so it’s kind of stretched out.
This would be a better post if I hadn’t already complained to Keith and my sister about how difficult my drive was today … I need to be grateful that the first two hours of it was perfect – the Blue Ridge mountains and the sunrise with lots of beautiful scenery as I drove south.
Mom and I were pleased to see that we hadn’t missed all the colors of fall as we passed through North Carolina and Virginia yesterday and I saw more today as I drove back along the same route. Overall the leaves are past their peak but there is still a lot of beauty.
I stopped in at the North Carolina Welcome Center on I-77 … how could I not think of Mom … a cardinal and passing through the state where she was born and raised! I know she’s glad to be home and I’m looking forward to getting back to work on my projects but I’ll miss working alongside her and I’m grateful for the time we had together.
I did make it to Savannah today and by tomorrow afternoon I will be home with Keith and Finn!
Two days and I haven’t taken one photo! Mom and I left Tampa Wednesday morning and arrived in VA this afternoon. I’m going to try and get a good night sleep and then I’m going to head home in the morning – The plan is to drive to Savannah – about 10 hours including stops – and spend the night leaving about 5-6 hours of driving on Saturday.
Sarah from LoveCrafts.com invited me to participate in their Blog Personality of the Year Contest by blogging about Why I Make.
For me, the answer to that question is that it’s Caring put into action.
Although I haven’t worked as an RN for a number of years, the reason I chose my career is that I wanted to physically care for people in need. I wanted to make a difference.
In my post nursing life, I still feel the need to make a difference and I do that by focusing my creative life on making items that are beautiful, functional and provide warmth.
I design and make quilts, knit hats, scarves, and baby blankets and crochet blankets all with the purpose of donating them to people in need, those going through difficult times, or as a thank you to veterans who have served our country.
I share my creative activities here on the blog and through my MaryQuilts.com website, I provide brief instructions for my quilts and am always thrilled to hear that individuals and groups are using them to make quilts for donation. It feels great to know that I am contributing on a larger scale by inspiring and providing the free instructions for other quilters.
Many of my crochet and knit items are made from free patterns I’ve found on Ravelry – you can see my projects and find the patterns I’ve used for them at this link.
We’re spending today packing up for the trip back to VA and it’s a good thing we planned to drive back! I did ship a couple boxes home to Mom when she was here in January but we’ve got even more to take back this time.
Not only do we have the bins and suitcases shown above but we have lots of finished quilts. I know I’ve shown these as we’ve completed them but I had Keith hold up all but the queen size one for photos and thought I’d put them in a gallery all together – clicking on any photo will bring up a slideshow with larger photos.
Not bad for a few weeks work and in addition we’ve got lots of projects started/kitted up for her to work on (that’s what’s in the bins along with some supplies).
Oct/Nov projects done during Mom’s visit
We’ve really enjoyed our time together visiting and sewing and when I get home I’ll be ready to get back to work on my projects next week!
We’re all enjoying our time with Mo … I have a photo of her sitting with Keith too but it’s on HIS phone and he’s already sleeping 💤
Yep, we have visitors again! This was Chris and Mo at the Florida welcome center this afternoon. They arrived here in Tampa just in time for dinner.
