I have two beautiful nieces who are graduating from high school this month.
Boy did those 12 years of school pass by quickly!
So quickly that as graduation announcements came I had to do a double take.
How could this be?
I remember vividly the moments I spent making their baby quilts - and now they are 18 and graduating high school?
Aunt Bonnie went into hyper drive to choose quilts that would suit the personality of each young woman - and thanks to FedEx picking things up at my location, they were on their way to their new destinations.
This is Lucie. She is the daughter of my younger brother David. She lives in Nevada and spends her life with the horses. An amazing young woman of incredible potential, she dreams of spending her life as a horse trainer.
I would say she is well on her way!
Photos from Cowboy Prom!
I love the denim jacket over the prom dress - and yes there were cowboy boots too!
This is Cactus Patch from my book Scraps & Shirttails.
And yes, the triangles are different in each block, going a variety of directions - I was inspired by an antique quilt and I loved the whimsy of them not being so perfect.
I even loved the row of half blocks at the bottom - because the bed was only "that" long.
When Lucie said she liked all colors, but blue the best - I knew that the denim blue of the sashings in this quilt would be just perfect for her.
There are also pieces from her great-grandfather's shirts in here. It just seemed appropriate that this quilt would belong to Lucie.
Congrats on your graduation, Lucie! I know there are many adventures to come as you find your way forward into the world. We love you!
Four Patch & Furrows!
Four Patch & Furrows is found under the Free Patterns Tab at the top of the blog.
Addie said she wanted GREEN!
Here she is with her younger sister Emory along with Koda the mop-dog!.
Addie is into dance (ballroom shown here!) and theatre and wants to pursue a career somewhere in the theater field.
I just know she is going to be marvelous!
When Addie said she loved all colors but was partial to green, I knew this quilt would be perfect for her dorm room at college.
And it is such an easy quilt to make from scraps!
Some of my favorite scraps were used in this quilt - I think there are even leftovers from Addie's baby quilt which make it extra special.
Koda thinks so too!
I have had a hard time writing this post today. I cried myself to sleep last night over the recent school shootings in Uvalde Texas, knowing that there are inconsolable parents and families who will never get to see their children graduate from high school.
Things are so divided in this country - I don't believe there is a way to stop it. I don't believe we will ever come to a workable compromise, let alone a solution to the gun violence that continues.
I have no answers. I only have tears.
In my own family, even Dave and I have come to loggerheads on both sides of the spectrum and I don't like what it does to our relationship.
"It has to stop!" I cry. "But the 2nd amendment guarantees the right" he says. And we go round and round. And I feel sick.
"It's the violent video games!" he says. "Then why isn't it happening in other countries?" I ask. And then he takes it personally and we end up in silence - avoiding all further conversation to protect what peace remains.
"No one talks about the violence in Chicago - " he quips. Chicago is 28th on the list of most violent cities.
And the "Whataboutisms" just do not solve the problem. It's just another knee jerk response to throw into the conversation ring where people are spouting replies, but not really listening.
I have no answers. I feel completely powerless.
And this is when we quilt. This is when I quilt. When words don't work anymore. When I know NOTHING will be done. When I know this will continue because "if you outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns" and nothing will change. Ever.
I am tired. I am angry. I am fearful. I feel lost. I want to be anywhere but where we are now.
If you are new here - it's not always like this in my posts! There ARE fun things going on -
Today is day 3 of Pat Sloan's Tantalizing Table Toppers blog tour. Visit MY STOP on the tour to see my project and enter to win a copy from me. Also - the list of who else to visit is on that post, and you can click the links to go to the previous stops you missed, or the next ones in line so you can see their projects and enter too. There are gorgeous quilts to see!
If you haven't yet - don't forget to enter my Maymont PDF pattern and fabric roll Gift-Away currently going on, drawing to happen SATURDAY. Just a few days left to enter.
Yes, through it all - we keep quilting. Because we are quilters, and this is what we do to hold our sanity together.
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Along with all of the pushing, striving, reaching, and hoping for something better, there are days when you just have to appreciate who you are, where you are right now.
You can see from the photo of this quilt that it is shredded due to hard use in some places.
(It kinds of looks the way my heart feels right now.)
Literally loved to bits, this quilt is still beautiful in its own way, perfectly imperfect, just as it is.
I think that applies to US too, don’t you?
too many people use the 2nd amendment to justify owning and using military style weapons...the founders intended for people to own muskets, not AK-47s...
ReplyDeleteAgreed. For hunting for food. For keeping their families safe. For a well appointed militia to protect us from war from without our own country.
DeleteYes.
DeleteAs a Brit who has been involved with air gun target shooting, this is the part I don't understand. Yes, as part of a 'well regulated militia' perhaps citizens should be taught gun safety, how to shoot and have access to guns kept in secure settings, but how can the gun ownership in this latest atrocity possibly be justified by those frequently overlooked words of the second amendment?
DeleteCongratulations to your beautiful nieces on their graduations! And my household is like yours - I fear for the future of this country. And my husband disagrees.
ReplyDeleteOh, those graduation quilts are wonderful gifts for your lovely nieces! I assure you (and Dave) that we DO talk about the violence in Chicago. Car jackings. Drive-by shootings. Teens mobbing downtown (they learn via social media that others are gathering at a particular place and it's easy to take public transportation to that place). Too many guns are too easily obtainable.
ReplyDelete💔
ReplyDeletemy heart aches and i have no answer, because the right to own weapons does not extend to the whack job who slaughters the innocents of our world. I do not have an answer and while i'm not in tears about my inability to "fix" it -- my soul is heavy with the insanity in our world... from the "small" neighborhood shootings to the big evil in Ukraine... what to do? make quilts and give love and pray for an answer... Cats in Carlsbad CA
ReplyDeleteWell said Cats
DeleteNo words, just sadness! Stitching Blue Blocks and turning off the TV. Lucky Graduates to get Aunt Bonnie's well- loved quilts. Thanks for sharing Pat's new Book.
ReplyDeleteGetting ready to send of the second of the graduation quilts to GRAND nephew and GRAND niece. I did graduation quilts for their moms many years ago. Amazing how the babies that I made quilts for are now young adults. I asked the kids last summer if they would like to have quilts. They both looked a little confused but said yes. I love how the two quilts came out and hope that they love them to pieces.
ReplyDeleteOh, Bonnie, I'm so sorry for your heartbreak and that of those parents who simply sent their children to school. The but-what-abouts miss the point and people on all sides of this argument about the causes of violence and the best solutions are equally frightened and heartbroken. We turn that fear into anger and argue about the causes. I'm so sad and I wish I had an answer. Seems easier for most people to be angry and blaming than to deal with the fear and heartache, so we argue, which only adds to my sadness. Quilting helps me.
ReplyDeletesadly true
DeleteDoing the only things that help praying and keeping my hands busy.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to both your nieces on their graduations and wishing good luck on their future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteThere are no answers and I doubt the violence will end any time soon. It's not just the guns, it's social media, biased (on both sides) news media, craven politicians who will do and say anything to get re-elected and keep their power, the poor state of mental health treatment and the inability of people to rationally and calmly discuss their differences. At 74, I do not hope to see any resolution to this situation.
I heard someone say today that the love of guns in this country far outweighs the will to protect our children. This country is lost when people cannot see the need to have background checks, ban the sale of assault weapons and body armour. One way forward is for the voters to vote out the representatives that do not have the will to institute gun laws after these tragedies. More and more I feel hopeless about the future of our nation.
ReplyDeleteWhat helps is VOTING out politicians who stall on this issue, since 90% of Americans, including 70+% of NRA members, believe that universal background checks are the right answer, or at least a start. We are being held hostage by a radical fringe minority whose utterly ridiculous talking points have permeated a culture of benevolent hunters, sportspeople, and people who take their personal protection seriously. It might seem like you are in a divided world, Bonnie, because of your conversations at home but I assure you, the wider public is not as divided on this issue as you think, and Dave is in a very small minority. Don't let the 2nd amendment lobbyists - and I say this as someone with hunters among my family and friends, and a deep respect for marksmanship - make you lose hope entirely. But sadness is still the right response to the senselessness of these terrorist killings - and outrage. If we lose that, we really have lost.
ReplyDeleteYour quilts are beautiful and the girls will treasure them for a lifetime. Congratulations to them both.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very sad time. War killings and US mass killing of our kids. My heart aches with no answers either. Just want it to all stop. So for me, I will think happy thoughts, love my family and friends and pray a lot.
Finally I am able to comment again. This tragedy will be repeated again along as we don't have tougher gun laws. No other country has those issues. I believe that when our forefathers wrote the constitution, guns as we have them today were not in the picture. They had muskets and a militia. There was no police, etc. We don't need military style weapons on the streets. As long as our elected officials don't have the backbone to introduce or change the law when it comes to certain types of guns, this will umfortunately continue.
ReplyDeleteWe pulled my granddaughter from public school because of all of the bullying that was going on. She received messages telling her that she needed to kill herself like one of the other students did. I found out today that a student that brought 2 guns, a knife and a hit list to her school last year, is going to be allowed back in the same school next year. I don't understand why that would be allowed at all.
ReplyDeleteBonnie, I'm right there with you. So frustrated and ANGRY! As with many things, the 2nd amendment is open for a lot of interpretation, and we aren't going to convince anyone that "our" side is the right side, regardless of which side we are on. What I keep asking is this: Did the founding fathers who wrote this have ANY idea what weapons were going to look like over 200 years later, or how quickly we can move about? Single shot long guns and horses are no longer the norm. Hoping for some peace in our hearts, but cannot imagine where it will be found.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bonnie, for having the courage to discuss this issue. You have hit upon a lot of the same things I've been thinking for the past 24 hours. Such utter sadness and despair. When we will as a country put the value of human life ahead of big money?
ReplyDeleteWell written KitKat! We can do 'small' things that 'collectively' bring some joy and peace. Thank you Bonnie for sharing both your soul and your scrappy quilt enthusiasm...
DeleteMy heart also broke when i heard this awful news. It was said that this is number 262 of mass shooting just this year in the USA! We have not had that many days in the year 2022 yet! When will this insanity end?
ReplyDeleteBonnie, I so agree with you. I'm very, very sad today. Our children should not have to go through this and should not have to be afraid to go to school. Nor should our teachers. Two of my sons are teachers and I worry about them too as well as their students. This doesn't happen in other countries!!! There is no reason that I can think of that anyone other than the military needs an assault weapon. I'm saying prayers for all those parents and families dealing with this right now.
ReplyDeleteLess Guns, More Mental Hospitals
ReplyDeleteI just returned from a prayer vigil at our church run by three female pastors. They went through a litany of the deaths due to gun violence. It was a long litany. I was shocked at how many deaths there were. I don't know what the answer is but personally I want to go back to nothing but rifles used for hunting, not guns whose only purpose is to kill people rapidly. I am so sad.
ReplyDelete"Be the peace you wish to see in the world." The more people who promote peace (starting within each of us) the more it ripples out.
ReplyDeleteAmen !
DeleteWhy do we allow children (18 is still a child) to purchase weapons of war? When they can't even buy a beer? This is a sick society.
ReplyDelete2 perfect quilts for 2 perfect girls. I understand what you are saying - ((hugs)) from England
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to you Bonnie. Your love and kindness has ripple effects that you will never know, in your family, your community and the world. All we can do, although it never seems like it's enough, is "be the change" - and you are!
ReplyDeleteYou use your words perfectly. You express my own feelings. I am so very sick at heart. I also know the *don't say more... Hold what peace you have*... But it is harder every time.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing... You are on the right path... There are ALOT of us who feel the same.
I cry a lot these days and avoid news. Maybe I am a chicken but I just don't like the world now.
ReplyDeleteBoth of those quilts are beautiful as are the recipients! I always love your posts, as it is good to know that we think along the same lines. I personally feel that those politicians love their guns more than children and that they have blood on their hands, hearts and souls. The second amendment is not the Bible, and their jobs are not so important, especially since they are not doing their jobs. They have lost their way and some one needs to wake them up. I hope they lose their jobs and I would love to be able to vote against all of them.
ReplyDeleteIt is a right to drive a car in the US, but one must take instruction and pass a test and get a licence and insurance. There are laws about where you can drive and how fast and what you can drive. A 16 yr old can't drive a 18 wheeler...or a formula 1 race car through the streets. No one says this restricts freedoms. They say it common sense to keep people safe. Why is gun ownership any different...
ReplyDeleteBonnie, thank you for sharing your heart.
ReplyDeleteThak you for discussing a difficult subject today. Going to vote is the way we change the current situation. I wish your 2 nieces a happy graduation day and the 2 quilts will be loved for years to come. I quilt when I need the ache in my heart to find peace and when joy overflows in our family.
ReplyDeleteDear Bonnie, sending you and the quilting friends here my heartfelt condolences over this latest terrible, senseless and needless mass murder in a school. Here, in Australia, we can hardly make sense of it as we have very strict gun control laws - and NO mass murders since those laws came into effect nearly 30 years ago. The only people who can have guns are the military, police, security officers, farmers and a very few registered gun clubs. Who else needs one?? I'm so sorry for you all.
ReplyDeleteI think every gun shop brick and mortar, and online, should donate every AR-15 and ammo to the Ukraine to defend themselves from the Russian invasion and assaults. No one should ever sell that kind of weapon and ammo to anyone under the age off 21, and the request to purchase such weapon should automatically go to the every Law Enforcement agency in that city, county, and State and a period of 7 days before purchase can be completed. Local officials should then verify close scrutiny of the age, and address of the buyer and do whatever needs to be done before the purchase goes through.
ReplyDelete