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....this really is getting old fast, Blogger and I just don't see eye to eye very often any more.

A Quilt for Nana & Gabe 45x55

Here is the surprise quilt I made a couple of wks ago, it was given yesterday so I can now post the picture. This quilt is for "Nana and Gabe". My sisters first grandson will arrive within a few short weeks and she NEEDED a quilt just for her to snuggle with that precious new baby boy, Gabriel Andrew, so I made this and sent it as a surprise to be given to her at the baby shower. After all, the new baby boy was getting gifts, the new baby boy's big sister was getting gifts (well, I knew she was getting at least one because I fixed up a surprise for her too!) so it was the only right thing for the new baby boy's Nana to get a surprise too!

This quilt was so fun on so many levels:

• My sister did not expect it ~ had absolutely NO clue
  
• My niece-in-law and I (not the new baby's mom) had a blast planning and keeping this secret
• The fabric is Mary Engelbriet, she is my most favorite of all artist
• I machine quilted this during my most recent trip to the quilting machine shop
• I machine quilted a special message just for my sister onto the quilt

It is fun to surprise my sister, she is the most gracious person I know and deserves to be treated as special as she treats others, if not more so.

While we were talking on the phone Saturday, we shared a common desire that we both want to have more of our mommas' graciousness, her consideration for others, her ability to bring out the best in others, the way she went over the top when doing something for a special event in someone's life etc etc...all those awesome attributes that that define Momma. Last night, after she had recieved her Nana quilt, she gave me the best compliment...she said making and giving her that quilt ~and keeping it a secret~ was something Momma would have done...I will treasure her words, that compliment, the rest of my life. I love you, SOPO!!!

On another note: the Clean Sweep continues. My partner in crime, Diana, has kept me on task and has been a real slave driver to boot!!! She has been my dear, dear friend for 30 years, knows my sewing habits better than I do, is probably the only person in the whole world who knows me well enough to tell me if I am fooling myself about UFO completion, whether or not I will actually use a piece of fabric...if I will ever get back to a certain craft...etc. etc. She is the perfect person to keep me and this project on track and moving along. And BTW...she is also the person who had led me into such areas as paper dollls, lace doilies, button collecting and a few other things over the past 30 years ~ so, I figure half of the stuff in there is HER fault anyway...RIGHT?!?!?

Diana and I in 2003

MCM Clean Sweep Progress thus far:

• 4 lawn and leaf bags of stash to be donated
• 1 lawn and leaf bag plus a smaller bag of stash went home with Diana
• 1 lawn and leaf bag full of craft stuff to be donated
  
• 1 large bag of papers to be shredded
• 2 large bags to be taken to the recycling center
  
• 2 large bags of trash
  
• 50+ quilt books have been sorted and are ready for my eBay lister to pick up
• magazines have been sorted and ready for donation
  
• 10 UFO's are out of my life: Diana took 3, 2 will go to eBay, 5 donated
• some yardage that was purchased for clothing handed over to eBay lister
  
• 8 sets of rolling drawer sets sorted (keep, donate, toss) , 5 now empty and ready for scrapbooking things to be organized into them
  
• Ed has painted a length of pegboard (for some of my tools and notions) which will be hung today
  

Blessings:

• I have not lost my focus/goal of a "less is more" home, and continue to be inspired
  
• my newcutting table top (a gift from a client ~ larger than he orginally told me) the large flat surface is so nice!!
• found a couple of UFO's that were MIA
• found a quilt top that has been MIA
• my children will not have to to deal with what is no longer here, should anything happen to me any time soon! LOL
  
• Diana...she knows I have wanted to do this for years and has been a great cheerleader for me
• Diana is ready to do her CM as well....this is catchy!!!
  

Regrets:

• none

After Diana left last night I cut out and made up a table topper for her as a thank you. It is just a quickie~strippy...St. Patty's Day themed table topper, but it is cute. I will post pics when the binding is finished.