Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Legacy of Encouragement I don’t remember my Grandmother lecturing me about life or what I should do in the face of a problem. What I remember is the absolute certainty of her love for me and the security of her warmth toward me when she saw me or wrote

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Legacy of Responsibility My grandparents raised their food. They kept chickens for eggs and meat. They had cows for milk and butter. They raised lambs for wool which Grandma carded and stuffed into quilts. They raised hogs for meat. They planted and harvested fields of grain and gardens of

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Legacy of Bravery One benefit of growing older is the privilege of perspective it brings. I see the legacy of bravery my grandmother provided our large family which I couldn’t define when I was a child. Life didn’t go according to the pattern my grandmother expected as a small

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Legacy of Love Grandmother’s have a special role whether we recognize it or not. What will our grandchildren remember about us after we are long gone to our reward beyond the veil? What will produce a treasured memory in the hearts of our grandchildren? It might be the smell

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Old letters I had put off opening and reading the boxes of letters in my attic that had been passed down by my parents. A move plus the pandemic combined with the need to free up some space finally nudged me to dive into the chore. By the end

A Work of Art A varied group gathered to paint cookies with icing. We represented four generations of people from little kids, to their mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers. Our skills ran from the scribble-with-crayons stage to those skilled with normal everyday use of writing with a pen or pencil, to those trained to paint

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Grass Edger The hum of the lawn edger was accompanied by the sweet odor of freshly cut grass. While the freshly mowed lawn appeared nice, it looked even spiffier after the edger gave the curb lines a clean-cut look. With no stray roots climbing over the cement sidewalks, the

Mary’s Monday Musing to Quilt Encouragement Yummy and blessed “Jack Sprat would eat no fat, and his wife would eat no lean. And so, betwixt them both, they licked the platter clean.” This is an ancient nursery rhyme that I thoroughly enjoyed as a child. It perfectly explained that people with different food taste could enjoy

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Looking for the Best Interpretation A young couple was walking their dog. In spite of his leash, the dog lunged toward a passing neighbor’s dog also leashed. No one was hurt but the neighbor felt seriously threatened enough to report the not-quite-an-incident to the apartment management. Thereafter, every time

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement Tow truck The car’s battery was dead. Watching from my window, I was fascinated by the process of loading my neighbor’s auto onto a flatbed truck. The first step was securing a hook onto the back of the car which was parked at an angle in a circular parking