Michelle's quilt

This is another picture of Michelle's quilt

December 3, 2008

Phil is home and feeling well. He has had a lot of visitors and it has been nice. He continues to work on his quilts and has gotten some tree pictures, offers of live trees and two large fake trees showed up in our small bedroom when we returned. All have made us smile and laugh. However we still have not completely solved our mural for the bedroom wall, but people are coming up with possible places we could get it done. I anticipate will have it solved by the end of the week.

Here are some more quilt pictures and a picture taken today of Phil with a friend and his new Amvets hat. He is now a member of the Sturgeon Bay group of veterans.

Phil and Rich Woldt

My cousin's quilt

Phil's brother's

A Christmas Quilt

My niece (Friendship Star)

My nephew (pinwheel)

Milky Way for my son-in-law Mark

More quilt pictures

These are some pictures of the queen size quilt that my dad and mom made for me. They gave it to me for my birthday last year. The inscription reads "Door County Wild Flowers will shine on you Forever. Dad + Mom 2007". It is beautiful, and I love it.

Quilt pictures

Part of Muriel's Double Irish Chain



Block for friends Pete and Pat: Friendship



Muriel's Twin Bed Quilt: Double Irish Chain



John's Flag Quilt



Rhys's Twin Bed Theme Quilt: Sand, Marsh, Loons and Sky



Michael's Queen Bed Quilt: Light Houses



Mary's Quilt: Cultivate Kindness



Kyle's Twin Bed Quilt: Silly Safari



For a friend, Sue (all hand done): Indiana Rose

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks

I feel fortunate that there are so many people to thank recently.

I'll start with those that helped in my search for suspenders for my dad.  Thank you to Roberta and Anna for getting suspenders to my dad.  Thanks to Renee and Margaret for suggestions on where to get them.  Below is a picture of my dad wearing a pair of smiley face ones.

Many of you already know of the annual camping trip each July to Peninsula.  This year the trip went as scheduled, but definitely NOT without a hitch.  The pop-up mechanism broke on my parents' pop-up camper.  So, my thanks goes out to all those who helped my mom with the broken pop-up camper: including John, Ritch, Mark, Rhys, Brian, Rick and Muriel.  (Please let me know if I forgot someone since I wasn't there for the set up or take down.)  Thanks also to everyone who made food for my parents during the Peninsula trip including Nancy, Mary and John.  Finally, I'd like to thank all those who visited with my dad on his campsite. Many times my dad was too weak to walk around and visit with his family and friends.  Several times I stopped by his site to find my dad busy chatting with one or more drop-in guests often while working on one of his quilting projects.

In the picture above my dad is quilting, too.  I mentioned back in the fall that my dad was taking a quilting class with my daughter Muriel and that he had done quilting in the past.  Then, in November my parents gave me a handmade queen size quilt with a Door County wildflower theme for my birthday gift.  What a surprise!  I was so overwhelmed with emotion initially that I didn't tell anyone about it.

I had known for some time that he was working on a quilt, but I never dreamed that he and my mom were making such a large one for me.  There were times I saw him go to the Wilson Park Senior Center to work on a quilt when he was very sick and nauseated.  (Remember, this was when the depression was bad and before any stents were put in.)  At the time, I was angry with him.  I knew he was working on a special project that I wasn't supposed to know about.  But, I didn't think anything could be that important that he should go when he felt so sick even if it was a surprise for me.  (I always assumed the surprise was for the whole family.  I never dreamed it was just for me.)  When I received the quilt, I felt embarrassed that my dad had put so much time into something for me when he felt so ill.

Of course, later my dad and mom also finished a quilt for my brother in time for Christmas.  Michael's is also a queen size quilt.  For his brother-in-law John, my dad made a wall hanging.  And my dad has made several small wall hangings for family and friends that my parents have visited since my dad was diagnosed.  (I don't know whether or not my mom did work on the wall hangings.)  Currently, he's finishing a twin size quilt he and my mom made for my son Kyle's birthday gift.  He still has several projects that he's hoping he'll be able to finish.  Fatigue is getting the better of him more and more.

So, my biggest thank you is saved for last.  Although it isn't very timely, it is important nonetheless.  Thanks to my parents for the quilt they made me.  It is very special.

Hopefully, I'll someday get photos of some of the quilts up on the blog. We'll see.

Time in Door County

My parents are enjoying their time at home in Door County. They have had a couple of dinners with friends and went golfing. They continue to work on a variety of projects inside and outside the house there.

Next month marks 13 years my parents have owned the land in Door County. One of the first projects they undertook was building a series of short hiking trails through the 15 acres. They have cleared trees and moved rocks. Maintenance on these trails is an ongoing project that my parents have enjoyed tackling all these years. In a recent storm several trees fell over the hiking trails. My dad cut the trees and my mom moved them off the trail. Rhys enjoyed watching and helping Grandpa with this work so much that my parents got him his own set of earplugs!

Muriel and my dad finished up their quilting class as scheduled last Thursday. The quilt was recovered by our friend Kim. She drove four hours up to Door County with her three small children to get the quilt. That got it as far as Oshkosh (a little more than half way). My family and I drove to Oshkosh to get it. While in Oshkosh, Kim treated us all to a homecooked dinner, too! Many, many thanks to Kim for helping. Also, thanks to her kids for an extra measure of patience to sit for four hours in the car.

Muriel enjoyed picking out fabrics for the quilt including a navy fabric that sparkles with lots of glitter. She also liked piecing the quilt together, but doesn't enjoy quilting all the layers. The quilt she is working on is a checkerboard (complete with checkers).

Home again (almost)

Today my dad will be sprung from the hospital. He'll have a chemotherapy treatment tomorrow. After tomorrow, he'll finally be able to get back home to Door County.

Muriel and my dad were scheduled to take the last of their two part "Me and My Adult" quilting class tomorrow, but the quilt was mistakenly left in Door County. Hopefully, we'll get this problem worked out without too much trouble. When the quilt is finished, I hope to get a picture of it up on the blog.

Muriel is using our sewing machine to put her quilt together. My dad took a quilting class in Indianapolis when he was working there. That class was about ten years ago; the same time Muriel was born. The quilt he did was a wall hanging sampler done completely by hand! It now hangs in the dining room in Door County.

Below I have included a recent picture of my dad. This photo was taken in the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair.

The kids and I have gone to the fair for many years with my parents. We enjoy seeing the animals and the craft entries. My dad especially likes to see the prize winning animals and the prices those animals sold for. Admiring the cake decorating, quilting, knitting, sewing, and other craft entries is one of our favorite parts of the fair. Of course, there are also plenty of displays and activities of interest to us in the DNR exhibit.