50 years of marriage - the story quilt - A Wicked Raven Designs Tale

Last June, my parents and two sets of my dads siblings celebrated their 50th year of marriage!  Three sets of family members all celebrating a 50th anniversary in the same year!  It was amazing! My dad has 10 siblings living still out of 11.  Its a big Christmas party or Anniversary party! 

One of the other families children were able to finish a quilt for their parents in time to present it on their actual anniversary!  I however am not quite that organized, and please keep in mind that I do most of my quilting in 15 minute increments!  So as we went through the year, I thought about the best way to develop a quilt that a lot of people could participate in, and that would be unique and unusual while still maintaining the status of "Anniversary Quilt".

This is the story quilt developed for my parents to honor their 50 years together.  The above photo shows my folks displaying it in their yard where they host other weddings.  The quilt tells the story of their life together in fabric and blocks.  I chose blocks that spoke to where they met and where they were from, and some of their life together (I still have to design a pattern called "cookie fight").

If you start at my mothers right hand (the top one) and go down the quilt toward her feet you can follow the story.  Below is the label that gives all the information and was applied to the back of the quilt.  It reads like this:

50 years of marriage – a story quilt: 

Doug and Florene Carney

June  , 1963 to June 29, 2013

50 years ago the Ohio Star (Overstreets) became Best Friends (Larissa Cummings)

With the Southern Belle (Patricia Parker) and took the Steps To The Altar (Kim Carney)

As the Wheel Of Time (Nan Williams) went by, and a few moments of Contrary Wife (Alicia McRoberts)

The Tru Blue (Karen Carney) Union (Cynthia Buzby) built the Snowfire Gardens (Char Pine)

With Wind Art (Janelle and Rachael) Double Pinwheel (Shirley Washut)

And Cups and Saucers (Linda Thomas) held together by an Irish Chain (Humphreys)

The italics indicate the maker of that particular block.  My dad is from Ohio and my mom is originally from the Southwest, she collects teacups and he designs wind art.  Their home is called Snowfire Gardens, you get the gist.

A different member of our family did each of the blocks that are using the fireweed fabric (fireweed is big here in Alaska), and I made the Irish Chain blocks.  It was machine quilted by Carol Hill - the only person to work on the quilt who is not a family member, but we love her anyway! 

It came together really well even if it was presented on their 51st (ish) anniversary.  Some folks who saw the quilt before it was presented spoke of the time invested in the making of the quilt and I could never fathom how they could even think about the time invested in the quilt itself when the marriage has been going on for more than 50 years!  I am not yet 50 years old so I cannot possible imagine what 50 years feels like but it feels wonderful to know that it is possible to make things work for that long!  

Be happy and be creative and Be Blessed!

I'm so blue and I love it!

We have started to harvest here at Wicked Raven and it has been so much fun so far!  Check out these potatoes!  The blue ones are ones that Reed planted in the rows where he had corn last year and we just hilled up the dirt and planted these - left over from the high school seed that we didnt have room for there.  I cant wait for the kids at the high school to see their produce now that I have seen these!  They are dark blue/purple inside and out and the flavor is great

The above photo shows just part of the potatoes we harvested here recently.  We made red, white and blue potato salad for a potluck and we made red white and blue potato chips for home!  The blues are a little less dense in texture than the reds and whites so they cook faster.  We have noted that for next time we are cooking them.  Flavor is fantastic for all of them though!

Above shows a few of the other varieties we planted with the blues and all of them are good.  We will definitely add these to our regular lineup and Reed is already planning one whole bin of blues for next year.

I believe these are called "All Blue" aka "Purple Marker" potatoes and the small yellow are called "Gold Finger", we also have some Yukon Gold and I wasn't able to get the name of the red ones - the paper bag the seed was in got wet and the name was badly smeared.  Definitely worth giving a try.

I was also recently given some "Magic Myrna" potatoes that were developed locally and they are marvelous!  Stay tuned - I will profile those in a future blog!  Yes More potatoes coming up and I will also be updating you on the high school project soon - our grant period is coming to an end so we are starting harvest there as well!  Happy Fall!

Put it on the list - Take care of yourself!

“Reading is my inhale, and writing is my exhale.  If I am not reading and writing regularly, I begin to suffocate and tend to climb the nearest person like a frantic cat, clawing at the persons eyeballs and perching on his head, desperate to find a breath of air.”  Glennon Doyle Melton – Carry On Warrior.

That is totally me!  I feel that way often and while Glennon’s husband appears to have “got it”, my husband is made crazy by the crazy frenetic cat lady, or the crazy writer scribbling in any number of notebooks, scraps of paper, or back of envelope/receipt/bank statement/business card.  He has stopped asking me why Im writing things down or what Im writing down – to be honest some of the things that have inspired me have been seriously weird after he mentioned it to me and I thought about it.  But eventually it will all come together and turn into a great blog or at the very least a great chapter in a novel!

Why do we have to have other people “understand” why we do things?  Why can’t we do them because they make us feel alive, whole, ok, healthy, safe, etc….. any number of things that can be cured by simply taking some time for ourselves.  That really is what I get out of reading and writing.  It is for me – time to do something that I like to do, and taking a break from my whack-a-doodle life for a few minutes to jot down an idea, or read about something I am interested in!  I spend so much time – and I know all moms do- dealing with other peoples things, dreams, interests, crises, etc… that often I don’t do any self care nor do I spend any time in my own head.  Some days I have no idea what is going on up there!

I also jot down lists of things that I would like to get done.  Sometimes these lists amount to pages and pages of “to do’s” and its gets quite overwhelming.  I have to spend a little time with myself and pare down the list to the things that REALLY have to be done.  Or I make a list of things that I need to do outside and inside so Im not feeling like a bad weather day is wrecking my whole list or my whole day.  If the weather is nice I do outside stuff and if it’s not I do the indoor stuff!

(Above photo is the lists currently in my planner on top of my calendar!  I do not recommend this).

Since I had a hysterectomy a few years ago my memory is not great – especially if I run out of the hormone replacements (it’s a whole other blog and someday Ill do that one) so writing things down is a saving grace so I don’t forget to do the basics even!  Sometimes the writing down of my lists gets me writing (inspired) and I spend 15 minutes writing something I want to write – besides the list!  Usually one of the things on my list is “write for 15 minutes”.  

The point is – take time to do things for yourself – whether other people understand why you do them or not!  Even 15 minutes a day will make a difference for you and probably for your family!

Be inspired and Be Blessed!