Spontaneous Overflow of Powerful Emotion

A little bit of background: I've encountered the painting She Will Find What is Lost by Brian Kershisnik (below) several times in the past year, and absolutely love it. In school I've also been reading a lot of poetry and talking about different styles, forms, and constructs (stealing the title for this post from Wordsworth). The other day I got an email about a Poetry Jam in the BYU Museum of Art where some of Kershisnik's art is currently being displayed. Each poem was inspired by a piece of art in the museum. With this in mind, I sat down in my Eternal Families religion class, and spontaneously wrote the following. Why today? It's my Grandma's birthday.

You Will Find I'm Not Alone

Sometimes, afraid to look around

I keep my eyes upon the ground.

Hoping to find there what I lost,

Hoping to avoid the cost

Of losing that which once I had,

Conviction, like my Mom and Dad.

I used to look around and see

Things that simply couldn't be.

Loving hands, long since gone,

Lifting, helping me move on.

My grandma on my mother's side,

I knew her love before she died,

And somehow feel it near me still,

especially when I do His will.

Many others paved the way for me,

Women whose strength I still see.

For, even though their hearts are gone,

Their love remains, and carries on

The work that they came here to do:

To raise the world, and love them too.

So though it seems I walk alone

They surround me, and though I am prone

To wander, searching, Lord I know

 You're there! My Mothers told me so.

Additional references: Alma 56: 47-48, No One is Alone, Brian Kershisnik.

Eternal Blessings

A week ago I was in my car driving up to school with my sister hoping to make it to Provo in time for the Worldwide Devotional with President Nelson, which I first heard about in sacrament meeting before we left. About an hour into our trip she received texts from two different friends asking if we would be there in time for the devotional. That’s when we found out that we weren’t just trying to make it in time to hear the devotional, we were trying to make it in time to be there. I’m not going to say exactly how fast I drove up the I-15 but by 5:45 we were sitting in the Marriot Center ready to listen to an apostle of the Lord. I guess someone up there knew I would be giving a talk today. (side note) Being an English-based major, I have a really nerdy love for words. Mostly other people’s and not so much my own. I love being able to see the teleprompter during devotionals and such so I can tell when they go off script or change the wording. Reviewing this talk in preparation for my own I’ve noticed how purposeful and perfect his words are. It’s a goldmine of Relief Society handouts and Pinterest quotes.

President Nelson left us last week with some advice to help us become true millennials and increase in our discipleship. He challenged us to: “Commence tonight to consecrate a portion of your time each week to studying everything Jesus said and did…Study everything Jesus Christ is by prayerfully and vigorously seeking to understand what each of His various titles and names means personally for you… Get to know him by studying all He continues to teach through His living prophets and apostles… Learn to articulate those truths in your own words.”. Keeping that in mind, let’s talk about the eternal nature of Christ. He is known by many names over the course of human history, but his message is always the same. By studying his teachings to his followers in each of the standard works we can see the consistency of the gospel. Christ works in accordance with divine laws so his teachings must be true, and the blessings he promises have to be real. “God’s truth is really true! What God says is right is right! And what He says is wrong is wrong!”

In this week’s BYU Devotional President Worthen talked about the 2016 Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year, Post-truth, which is defined as “circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. We live in a world that is obsessed with information, but doesn’t always do a good job of spreading true information. It’s no accident that in recent years our Church leaders have been encouraging us to study Christ, to become more familiar with the Restoration of the gospel and the doctrine of the Church. Through the new Sunday school curriculum, re-invigorated seminary and Institute programs, and growth of missionary work throughout the church they are trying to prepare us to be the future leaders of the church. These worldwide Church devotionals and Face to Face events give us the opportunity to see, hear from, and speak to our current leaders more frequently than twice a year at general conference. As President Nelson said, “…there need not be uncertainty in your heart and mind about what is true and what is not. Uncertainty is born of imperfect or unknown information.”   Our information in the church is perfect, it is true, it is eternal, but we have to put in the effort to act on those things that will give us blessings as promised by people who have the authority to make and honor blessings for obedience to divine laws. Going back to President Nelson’s challenge, he promised that if we accept it: our love for God and his laws will grow, our ability to resist sin will increase, we will desire to keep the commandments, our ability to lead and righteously influence others will increase, we will eventually be able to come before the Savior as his true disciple. An apostle of the Lord has promised us these blessings. Additionally, he blessed us to be able to do all we need to make those blessings a reality.

I know that God has the power to bless us individually according to our needs and obedience. I know that He is unchanging in his love for us and desire for us to reach our full potential as His true millennials. I know that our prophets and apostles have been called by him to lead us in these days through revelation, and that he speaks to us individually. I hope that you will take the time to read or listen to President Nelson’s talk again and make those blessings a reality for you. 

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-devotionals/2017/01/prophets-leadership-and-divine-law?lang=eng 

Check out Aunt Wendy's too.

Een Editorial: 2016

The Eens: What an exciting year for the Een Family! We were all together (for the first time in forever) and had an EENchanted Christmas, taking the whole family to visit Disneyland and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We have enjoyed many different musical and theatrical performances this year. All of us have contributed to Family History and took some of our ancestor’s names with us to more than a dozen different temples in Utah, California, Hawaii, and Nevada.

Kim: Kim was singing to the strains of Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name” when a renewing his driver’s license led to the discovery that Kim’s birth certificate was for an “Unnamed Male.” With Alayna to vouch for his identity to a notary and a document submitted to the State of Utah, all was remedied. Kim was called as the High Priest Group Leader in our ward and has given valuable service to the church and community in that capacity. He continues to teach auto-mechanics and manages our increasing fleet of cars.  

Miriam: Miriam had a pretty lame summer. Her recent call to the Young Women’s organization led her to Girl’s Camp where a stumble on uneven terrain while cleaning led to a broken fibula, minor surgery, and a knee-scooter for the rest of the summer. She and David enjoyed another year of singing back-up with Andrea Bocelli as part of the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society. She had a blast in May, taking Eliza and Alayna on a “Welcome Home” trip to several California Temples, beaches, and a performance of Newsies. Miriam heads the effort to make hand-stitched baby quilts for each new addition to her extended family, continuing the maternal family tradition.

Aria, Spencer, and Kimberly: Still in Hawaii while Spencer puts the finishing touches on his degree in Psychology, the Orrs are keeping busy with the family’s vacation rental business. Aria continues to work in the BYU-H online department and is expecting a little girl this spring. Kimberly loves her Aunts, Uncle, and Grandparents (and affixes the name “Alayna” to several of them to the elation of Alayna and the chagrin of others). She thoroughly enjoyed meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Disneyland as well as her favorite Princess, Moana.  

Alayna: Alayna returned from her mission to Spain in late April! She has loved going to the weddings and homecomings of mission friends and companions. The continued contact with Spanish members and friends has been a great blessing in her life. Alayna spent another summer lifeguarding and teaching swimming lessons and returned to BYU in the Fall with the best roommate imaginable— her sister, Eliza. With another semester under her belt, she is half-way done with her Bachelor’s in English and is excited to add a minor in Editing.  She enjoys the extra prestige (and theme song!) of sharing a name with the new Disney (Channel) Princess, “Elena of Avalor.” Alayna loves spending time with her adorable niece and is ready to rejuvenate the #futurebabyalayna campaign with Aria’s new arrival.

Eliza: Eliza is thrilled to have her right-hand-(wo)man back as she and Alayna tackle their undergraduate degrees at BYU. During the summer she returned to the pool with the unique challenge of coaching the dive team—though she’d never dived competitively before. She sported some funky-shaped bruises as evidence of her diving efforts and was an over-all success. She is the cook, the chauffer, the teacher, mechanic to our car (Gideon), jar-opener and all-around domestic master of her college dorm. Eliza is a member of the BYU Women’s Chorus and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to sing with such big names as Gladys Knight and Peter Hollens. Eliza recently declared a minor in music.

David: This year has been a monumental one for our man. He turned 16, went on dates, attended two formal dances, received his driver’s license (look out, world!), became an Eagle Scout, and passed up Michael Jordan in height (6’7 ½” and counting!). David started an a capella group at his high school in addition his school, district, and community choirs. David participated in the Nevada Honor production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” which was one of five selected to perform at the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska this summer. David lettered in Swimming and was a Water Polo coach and swim instructor during the summer. He and Eliza were selected to represent the City of Las Vegas in the Southern Nevada Lifeguard Games and totally crushed it working as a team for their spinal event!   

Melissa: Melissa turned 12, joined Young Women’s, and went to Girl’s Camp! Melissa advanced to the Southern Nevada Regional Science Fair with her aquaponics project. She is developing her great musical talent and participated in an organ festival and a weeklong summer orchestra program playing the cello. Melissa outdid herself this summer, joining ALL of the available aquatic programs (synchro, diving, water polo, and competitive swim team). In November, Melissa became the first Een to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge (write 10,000 words of a novel in the month of November) and is always thinking of new stories to tell.

International Women's Day: How I Learned What a Woman Is

            Developmental psychologists argue whether people develop continuously or in stages. Currently I argue for both, because when presented two options I like to choose all of them. I believe we progress slowly from day to day, and hit achievements of various sizes that mark our progress. We get over mountains and molehills just so we can smile and wave next time we go through something like that again, but with more confidence and go on to achieve something greater.
            During my first stages of life I was surrounded by love and support. I didn't have to doubt myself or my abilities because everyone knew I could do it. I may have been shy and averted to sharing my talents with strangers, but I did it anyway. When something went wrong I knew my Mom and Dad would fix it, and there was always something good at the end of the tunnel, just within sight. With help from my family and teachers I learned to play and sing and challenge myself academically. Sure I felt overwhelmed at times, but it was easier to get through when Mom was there with one arm around me and the other going through our chocolate stash.
             Now I've moved away to college, where love and support is only a phone call away, but that call is more likely to turn on the waterfall of emotions and leave you yearning for the physical comfort that loved ones give. Making friends is hard, especially when everyone else is feeling vulnerable and nobody knows where they're going to end up in a few months. Building relationships that form your structure away from home are mostly made by witnessing others' struggles, weaknesses, and emotional breakdowns and letting them in when you have yours. When you run into other friends (your or your family's) from home you remember how nice it is to see a friendly face and not wonder if a hug would be weird, you just go for it. Eventually your roommates (the family away from home) start to tell how you're feeling; by a shared look, the way you're complaining, what music you're listening to, the show you're watching, or changing into your comfy clothes at 4pm. They can stay up and talk with you until 2am so you can vent your feelings and stress out about school and all the homework you have to do and the sleep you're losing. They are the reason a carton of ice cream only lasts two days and we run out of spoons. Hopefully they'll stop you from making those bad sleep deprived decisions you later regret. Sometime she will refuse your help and insist on doing everything herself- despite a broken leg and having to deal with all kinds of pain.
            That's how I learned that women are strong because they were once weak, and they are bound to be weak again soon. Strong women became who they are by relying on others and helping them in their turn. They are by no means perfect, but they know the value of imperfections. Strong women build each other up instead of tearing each other down because there's strength in numbers. They know not to tear themselves down either, although that is sometimes a bigger trial. In addition to relying on her "sisters" a strong woman must also rely on God. After all, he makes weak things strong and knows everything we could ever want to share with him.
            So now I make decisions -usually by avoiding them or jumping into something big and scary, then fretting about it periodically- using what I have learned by watching the women in my life to help me when things go sideways. Which brings us to today. As a college student my life is full of classes, homework, and midterms (way more than there should be). On top of that, because I don't know any other way to live than keep myself busy, I get to perform with a wonderful group. That means practicing and rehearsals and performances; keeping up with more expectations and having a demanding schedule on top of my poor excuse for a personal life.

Setting: After a weekend of relaxing and barely leaving the apartment, I'm feeling well rested, with only a slight weight on my mind about the midterm I'm planning on taking the next day and when I'll study for it. The day goes mostly as planned, except I discover I have another midterm I wasn't counting on. In the interest of not having to pay to take a test, I decide to take the new midterm the next day. Unfortunately I also have the most classes that day and a performance. The hour I gain from my new midterm professor cancelling class for the day leaves an 1 1/2 hour window of time when I can take the test and still make it everywhere on time. Also, as I get ready for bed I manage to hit myself in the face with a door. Hoping it doesn't bruise too badly for the copious amounts of makeup I'll be wearing anyway, I fall asleep.

And... Action! I wake up a little before 8 so I can get mostly ready for an evening performance that I won't have time to do later (at least I was right about that). I get my hair and makeup done and run around to find breakfast and lunch for the road as I head to class. We're doing a lab that morning to calculate our latitude and longitude from the position of the sun. Like I needed a reminder that time was passing. Then on to Devotional where we learned how to be happy and grateful. (Shout out to all the people that make me who I am if you didn't get that earlier) While I'm getting ready for my next class and pulling out my notes for the midterm later I realize I've forgotten my book at my dorm -for an open book test. To be lucky enough for that opportunity is a responsibility not to squander it. The clock starts once my current class ends. Leaving now isn't a good option, because we're covering new material, and leaving class early would mean missing the attendance quiz. So as a last stitch effort I message my roommates to see if anyone can bring it to me so I don't have to run there and back for my test. Since I don't hear back, it's time to run. Once I make it to the Testing Center, I unwitting enter the slowest line, and most of the attendants leave the counter for some reason or other. As I take my test -all short answer, which is just rude- God finds a way to slow time just for me, since there's no way I actually wrote that fast. As I get to the end I avoid looking at the clock. Turns out the 20 minutes I took to run home comes back around as the 20 minutes I'm late to the next class. Running again, I take my place as we practice for the performance less than 2 hours away. All this running leaves me physically and mentally tired and emotionally overwhelmed. Tears are shed - a real woman always brings tissues- and a loving section leader reassures and soothes. My singing was definitely sub-optimal since I could barely control my breathing. I try to pace myself on the walk home, and stop by the post office to drop off my brother's birthday card so he'll get it in time. I pull out all of the microwavable food I can find so I can eat something before I fix my hair and makeup before I leave again. I listen to loud music and sing like a saucy Spanish senorita. Singing with my girls and dressing up helped me leave my problems behind for a bit. I manage restrain my emotions so that they show and help the music without making me break down again. After the performance I make a beeline for the Creamery and on the way I meet another woman from choir who joins me. As I walk through the buildings savoring ice cream and feeling a chill down my spine when the wind picks up, I fell the most peaceful I have all day. (And of course when I got home I paired my ice cream with the leftover chocolate cake from the day prior, because a woman doesn't let her bakes go to waste.)

The Lesson: So I did something crazy and had a busy day, everyone does once in a while, right? Right, and it prepares us for the next one. It's hard to pull yourself out from the stupor and distress of life. It makes you stronger. And none of it would be possible without the other leading ladies in our lives. After all, you are the hero of your own story, so you need to make sure you get a hero's ending.

            Today I woke up early. I did my hair using countless bobby pins that I may never see again, held together with enough hairspray to asphyxiate a person. I washed, moisturized, spot checked, smeared, and powdered my face. I darkened and shaped my eyelashes and eyebrows. I colored my lips. I dressed up in fancy clothes. And yes, I did it for all the things that I had to do today, but I also did it for me. Some women feel the need to do this every day, and they look fabulous. However, it's not how you get ready for the day that matters, it's what you do. Your journey may take you through unknown places, you may only survive through blood, sweat, and tears, but you make it through.
            Our society is filled with new women's campaigns that try to immortalize, equalize, and dis-categorize how we perceive women. Some of the most notable women of our day get up to their elbows in the politics and publicity of promoting females. There's a market for female role models, starting with princesses and celebrities and going down to your Mothers and adoptive "Moms" that really affect your life. So if you're a feminist (gut reactions aside), a supporter of HeForShe, speaking out in any way that makes you #OwnYourVoice, or sharing your goals through #OneDayIWill; please keep in mind who got you here and how you developed (most of this applies to guys too). Be the person you needed, help others avoid your mistakes, and keep doing what you do. Because the way you learn what a woman is, is by watching what she does. Being a woman means giving love to those who need it most, and not forgetting to love yourself. Being a woman means getting through things you never thought you could.

#TodayIdid

   

Late Nights with Saussure

In case anyone was wondering about the life of  a certain college student and her favorite late night pastimes and endeavors, this is not the post for you. If, however, you enjoy the combination of serious (or seriously confusing literary theory) and sarcastic commentary on a few things I've learned so far. Then you might be in luck. In all actuality though I've written way too much for an assignment and my late night writing self threw in a few hilarious remarks that I would never turn in, but are too good to throw away. So if you have never hear of Ferdinand de Saussure or Gerald Graff, congratulations! If you want to learn more go ahead and Google them since my account will be mostly focused on a topic trying to combine their worlds. A tongue twister before we start: Saussure is the signifier and the signified that symbolizes the sign of stressed sarcastic scholars and students who stay up subsequently to the sun's setting.

Saussure With a Chance of Graff

            Language, the interpretation of collective sounds and signs used to communicate with other humans. In Saussure’s lectures on General Linguistics he describes language, both written and spoken, and the concept of signs. While these are both fixed uses in society they are not of themselves unchangeable. As the world changes, technology advances, and opinions and values change, so do signs and the language that has been developed to communicate them. With this as the basis on which ideas are formed and shared, Saussure argues that is where meaning originates. In order to understand the majority of Saussure’s argument for the smallest units of origin it may help to develop the conversation that Graff credits with his understanding of meaning.

            The sign is created by connecting the signified, a concept, and a signifier, a sound image, which corresponds to each other within language in the form of words. Once a sign is learned you cannot think of the concept without the sound image that corresponds to it. For example, the word “arbor” triggers the concept image of a tree. Although there is nothing inherent about a physical tree that demands for it to be called “arbor” or “tree,” rather was the letters A-R-B-O-R and their collective sounds Ahr-ber that were united with the idea of a tree in the minds of people that shared the same language. Through further development of language the word “arbor” was connected with the word “tree” so that both words produced the same concept image. Saussure points out that the concept image varies by person but may still validates the sign in most general cases. For example when thinking of trees one man might imagine an oak while his neighbor envisions a sycamore and Santa thinks pine. Each tree is justified because it is included in the sign. In addition to alternate words arbor and tree, Saussure addresses words in different languages that relate to the concept image. “The succession of sounds [that] serves as its signifier in French; that it could be represented equally by just any other sequence is proved by differences among languages and by the very existence of different languages.” (Saussure 67-68) When a person gains mastery of a language it becomes easier to learn other languages because instead of assigning a concept and sound image to everything, new words are added to the sign they already understand.

            While all the technical aspects of language and signs and concepts are intriguing and important, it can be easy to get lost in the smallness of individual units. If the development of language had to include a detailed description of how language is possible and all the physical, mental, and natural components, like Saussure compiled thoughts, the human race would’ve been doomed. Thankfully it is only after centuries of development and a very passionate linguist that these actions could be explained in excruciating detail. Once Saussure is partially understood it becomes possible to apply his theory in conversation and textual readings. However if you were to proceed word by word to find meaning in each individual sign, it would overcomplicate the text. Graff in his essay Disliking Books at an Early Age describes his struggle to find meaning in the text, eventually overcoming this by exploring the conversation and debate surrounding the text he struggled with. Criticizing those who he thinks look too deep into the text for meaning Graff says they “have become so obsessed with sophisticated critical theories that they have lost the passion they once had for literature itself.” (Graff 44) While understanding the signs is necessary for basic language and communication both spoken and written, not paying attention to the debate could make you miss the greater meaning. Graff is obnoxious enough to bring Saussure’s attention away from the signs alone and back into the conversation. Graff probably connects the concept image of Saussure to the sound image “sickly fascination with analysis and theory.”

            No theory is completely true and flawless, and all are subject to the opinions of their creators. A reader’s job is to find meaning wherever he can and he is free to pick and choose and combine theories. As a reader I appreciate Saussure’s intricacy and the levels of understanding that exist within his theory. I probably won’t try to find meaning in every sign that I know to exist because it is exhausting and quite often, especially in this world or sarcasm, would lead away from some of the meaning that could otherwise be found in the text. I do believe that this is a useful tool to employ sometimes while reading and make me sound smarter when I talk with linguistic students. By somewhat understanding Saussure I join a community of scholars and students that has grown over the years to appreciate and start to understand him while we roll our eyes at each other and groan.

Now time to edit out all of the things I don't think my professor would appreciate and get some sleep. I have priorities after all...

Mama and Keiki Whale Quilt for Kimberly

I finally have the quilt blocks ready to send for Kimberly's Mama and Keiki Whale quilt (since Aria already has the first Sunbonnet Sue that Mom & I made because it was for her).

I used freezer paper to help cut out the shapes this time.  I thought this would be better to get the shape right.

You can iron around the edge of the freezer paper if you want.  You'll need to clip the area between the body and the tail.  I did that as I was sewing it on.

Make sure you remove the freezer paper BEFORE you applique it on the block!

I have drawn on the outline of the two whales for positioning on the block.

The Keiki (baby) whale goes to the side.

Here is the images I adapted.  We decided not to do the rosy cheek on ours, but if you want to you can see where that is.  Please include the mouth, eyes, blow hole, and bubbles.  I noted how my marking the block for placement was a bit too big and trimmed down my pattern so it should be better and not show over your applique.

I used a coordinating embroidery floss to sew it (one of the Mom's eyes gets sort of lost though).  I marked the eyes, mouth, and blow hole on the freezer paper for help in placement.  I also found that the fin on the keiki whale didn't look quite right.  It's probably better to clip that to make a sharper corner as you are appliqueing it on, probably just clip it on the right side.  I went back and added a couple of top-stitches to make it look more like the fin.  I did lazy-daisy stitch hearts for the bubbles.

What color do you want?  The orange is obviously spoken for.

Overall Bill and Sunbonnet Sue, the way Mom taught me.

Abby with her Sunbonnet Sue quilt

This is how my Mom (Lorene Burton Blackham) taught me to do the Sunbonnet Sue/Overall Bill baby quilts. I started helping Mom make the quilts.  This is the first applique and piecing of quilts I remember doing with Mom.  I used to help Mom mark and quilt tricot quilts for weddings and babies.

Here is Aria's Sunbonnet Sue quilt.
















Here is a detail of one of the Sunbonnet Sue blocks.  We used folded white bias tape for the hand at the end of the sleeve.

Here is my David's Overall Bill quilt.  I found the pattern and adjusted the size so it was the same as our Sunbonnet Sue pattern.  Some of the quilts we made have both Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Bill.  The quilts I made for my David and for Bailey just have Overall Bill.

I sent the pieces cut out with the outline drawn on in a marking pencil for placement of the pieces. The white background is 8.5" x 10.5" for a finished size of 8" x 10".  Aria's is 3 x 4 blocks.  It's a bigger crib size.  I did David and Bailey's 3 x 3 blocks and think that's a better baby quilt size.  There are a lot of methods to applique and you can do it however you want.  Variety adds spice!

 Put the feet and arms on first. 

Place the overalls on it to check placement.

Check to make sure there is enough overlap so the pieces will be covered when you turn up the edges.

Mom taught me to roll it under as you stitch it.  You can, of course fold it and iron it under before you place it.  I find you can "finesse" the fit of the pieces if you turn as you go.  But I haven't tried ironing it first.

I find pinning can help smooth out the rounded edges--especially on the tight turns of the feet and somewhat arms.  You don't kneed to turn the edge of the feet and arms that will be covered by the overalls.

You can just slip the needle along the edge to turn it over as you hold it.

Make sure you start and end with firmly knotted thread.

This is doing the buttonhole stitch on the edge.

Completing a buttonhole stitch.  Make sure you go very close to the folded edge for it to be good and secure.  11/2016 Laurel's quilt label attached itself here and I can't do anything about it.

Once you have sewn the feet and arms you put on the overalls.  Notice I have 2 different blocks here.  On one of them I did the buttonhole stitch on the arms and the other I did a running stitch on the arms and feet and buttonhole stitch on the rest.  I noticed when I pulled out Aria and David's quits out that I had done the whole blocks on a running on the whole thing.  You could machine sew it.  Many options.

If any of the edges don't look very secure you can whip stitch it firmly with some white thread.

With the overalls in place you slip the needle along the edge to turn it under.

Buttonhole stitch on the overalls.

When you get to the leg you need to clip the wedge a little deeper.

Continue stitching up the inside edge of the legs.

When you get to the upper neck edge you need to clip the corners at an angle.

Turn the edges under and stitch.

After you have stitched around the overalls and neck add the hat.

Do a running stitch to give definition to the hat.

Add the pocket.

The first 10 blocks  top row L to R:  Melissa, Abby, Jessie, Nan, Bekah.  Bottom row:  Doris, Me, Aria, Alayna, Eliza.  I can't get this picture to move to where I want it, it randomly popped into this spot.  Here it is, whatever.

Add your initials.  You can do the initials big . . . 

 . . or the initials can be small.







Update:

Eliza, Miriam, Nan, and Abby with the blocks they made.

Jessie with the block she made.

Alayna and the Blocks that she made...

 This is the proposed layout for Baby Ethan's quilt.

Sad for the babies, I am working on a wedding now so they'll be delayed a bit.
Hopefully before the end of the summer!

Aunt Abby holding Baby Ethan's quilt as she took it for Grandma Nan to quilt.

 Detail of Aria's and my blocks for Jessica and Eric's new baby's quilt.  Tip on the hand . . . you fold the bias tape "hot dog and then "hamburger" and sew it in.

Quilting Baby Reed's quilt!

And here is Reed on his baby quilt with lots of love stitched in.

Baby Hayden Hilton with her quilt January 2015

Doris Blackham, Melissa Een, Melissa Hilton, Eliza Een, and Miriam Een pointing to our blocks on Hayden's quilt.

January 2016, the quilt for Roma and baby Enna

November 2015, quilting Kimberly's Mama and Keiki
Whale quilt

This is Laurel's quilt

Anne Hilton with her quilt November 2016

Anne's quilt