A Memorial to my Mother

My mom passed away on Thursday morning, very peaceful and in the home she shared with my younger sister. She was in her pretty little bedroom in San Diego. Hospice came and helped assist us in keeping her as comfortable as possible until her passing. Most of you probably know that she has been sick for a while with congestive heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver. She was also a breast cancer survivor for 34 years and a diabetic. She fought to stay with us a long time and has survived five years after my father's death.

Rosa Torres Reynoso

09-04-1928

08-12-2010

1947

My oldest sister Isabel was with her when she passed. We were taking shifts with her as we knew it was getting close. Isabel came and got the rest of us so that we could tell her one last goodbye, give her one last kiss and hold her hand one last time.

2006

Mom was always asking to have her picture taken but it wasn't until I started getting photos from my sisters for a Memorial slide show that I realized what a glamour gal she was. :o) I love this last photo and I'm going to make one in an 8x10 to frame. I think she's just beautiful in this photograph.

1948

I love you Mom. I will miss you forever and then some!

Finished my glass block

Wooohoooo!! I worked last night until about midnight but finally finished my glass block. As you can see, there was a little piecing that went along with this one so even though the glass was done a week ago, there was some sewing to do this time around.

I went ahead and added it to last months block to the top. I only have one more to go.......

I know my friend Angela LOVES when I use blue painters tape to hold up my blocks and quilts. Adds a touch of class, don't you think? :o) I just pinned the new row next to my existing top and oh, it's so pretty. And it's going to be a pretty good size too. I already have the border fabric. It came with the last kit and it's so sweet AND PINK!! This quilt is so outside my color wheel. :o)

I got my fabric ready for the last block last night. All I have to do now is trace it and I'll be good to go. I will take it with me when I go sit with my mom this weekend. I have been trying to stay busy to not think too much.

We got some bad news about my mom. They started Hospice on Friday and gave her two weeks to two months to live. It has hit us girls pretty hard but it is not so much of a surprise. If you are a regular reader, you probably know she has been battling with a few medical issues since early this year, congestive heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver which have both caused a lot of fluid in her body. Her body is no longer responding to her medications and she is getting very tired. We will cry a LOT and miss her an awful lot but the life she has been living is not much of a life. It is hard to see her like this so we will have to deal with our grief and let her go.

Summer, bags and mom

Whew! Summer finally arrived in So. California in full force. All those people who were complaining about our overcast June and July asking where the sun was....well, it's here!!! Why couldn't they just be happy with 74 degree days? I WAS!!! lol It's supposed to be high 90's today in Fullerton. Other areas are supposed to be much hotter. This picture was my temperature gage at 7:59 a.m. It's not going to be pretty people! Gee, I guess I better stop and get gas on the way home. LOL
At TNT (Thursday Night Therapy), I made two more make-up bags. I posted about the pattern here. I really like the pattern. It's so easy to make and I love that it only takes small pieces of fabric. My buddy Neena is heading to the Stampin' Up! convention in Utah on Tuesday. She has a secret pal and needed some things for her. I was going to 'show her' how to make this bag but she had lots of paper cutting and cards to make for swapping so I just made it. This is some of the fabric she purchased on the So. Cal Quilter's Run a few weeks ago.

I had enough left over from the strips I cut to make two bags. This is the second bag and added twill tape as an accent. I might add a button or something on the ribbon but it was late last night when the girls left so I'll check my button stash tonight.

I took my sister Isabel to San Diego on Monday and we had a visit with our mama. My sis stayed to help take care of mom and to spend some time with her. My mom used to go to Isabel's house a couple of times a year during her vacations from work but due to her health, mom can't travel anymore. She pretty much stays home with a caregiver during the day. It makes us sad but we're trying to get there as often as we can to spend as much time as possible with her. It's hard when you are "working girls". It is sad but it's a reality. We can't do anything about getting older. I realize that with my mom and every morning when I look in the mirror!


I took this picture when we were sitting at the table doing hand work together. It makes me teary eyed when I look at it. Mom was showing Isabel some embroidery patterns she had for "her next dishtowel".


My mom is 82. My dad will be gone five years next month. Boy, I'm feeling pretty melancholy today.

Long drives and back to sewing...

I'm back from San Diego. My sis and I went on Thursday and got back Saturday. Thankfully, the skies were blue and we didn't hit any rain on the drive home. My mom should find out tomorrow if and when she'll have gallbladder surgery. She's doing pretty well and though we were sorry to miss Road to CA, there will be other quilt shows and it was good to take care of our mom.

The blue skies didn't last but it's okay. We need rain in Southern California! My sister drove home on Sunday morning and hit a little bit of rain right before getting home. I took this picture out my front door yesterday, MLK Day. I had the day off, which was nice to play catch up after being gone. It was pouring and the wind was blowing pretty hard. I don't know why that darn old tree in my front yard won't blow down, doggone it! I call it a Dr. Seuss tree. I wouldn't mind it but it doesn't have many leaves. Looks sort of sorry. lol We're due to have more rain tomorrow and a really big storm on Thursday. Should I call Noah? :o)

I sandwiched two quilts yesterday. Well, one quilt and a table runner. I'm working on that UFO list! But I've got a "code in by doze". :o) A stuffy nose and chest congestion so when I felt like I needed to sit down for a bit, I worked on my BOM. This block is from November. I am behind due to the holidays so I'll try to chip away at it a little during tv time in the evenings.

I started stitching on the table runner tonight and got it anchored but didn't take a picture of it. This is the other quilt I got sandwiched.

I think I'll just stitch in the ditch on this one to keep the kaliedoscope effect. It'll have to wait until I'm done with the table runner though. Better go get back to that!

Among the missing...

I know I've neglected my poor bloggy-blog but I have good reason. My mama's been sick. This picture is from her big whoppin' 80th birthday party about a year and a half ago.

She's having trouble with her gallbladder, and infection and ulcers. She's on lots of meds to kill the infection and if all goes well, in about two weeks, they'll do arthroscopic surgery to remove her gallbladder. I went to visit this weekend and stayed with her while my sister Virginia ran errands for groceries and mom's medications. She's doing pretty good right now but she's getting some side effects from the prescriptions. And oh, those prescriptions! Virginia and I did up a schedule of what to take when. It's crazy. It looks like some Special Ops plan for the military!! Boy, it's a toughie when our parents are sick and we are from the "working class".
I will be going back with my older sister to visit this weekend. We're having to cancel out of going to Road to CA, our major huge CA quilt show but missing it because of mom is a pretty good reason.
I hope I will have something quilty to share with you all sometime soon. Til then, keep those machines a hummin'!!!

Machines and Mom

I took two machines for service to try and get them from the storage stage to the 'use' it or 'move' it stage. This first machine is a White from `61 or `62 according to the internet. My nephew had a friend he helped move a couple of years ago and this was in the 'pitch it' pile. He asked me if I wanted it and of course, I couldn't see it get sent to Goodwill. I didn't want to invest any money into this machine, not knowing if it even worked so I just bought a new belt. I brought it home and cleaned it and oiled it according to the manual. It purrs like a kitten now. I dont' think there's much value for this machine but it stitches nice so hopefully one of the girls in the family will want it and if not, one of their friends. We know lots of girls so it shouldn't be too hard to find someone to take this little workhorse.

I did an online search for White machines and there were some pretty cool ones made. Pink, turquoise, silver, you name it!

This next machine belonged to my grandma and then my mom. The cabinet isn't in very good shape and could be refinished. Someday I'll get to that. :o) Since the machine has sentimental value, I paid my service guy to clean this Singer up. I picked it up today and put it back in the cabinet and took it for a spin. It ran really nice. It had a bit of an oil smell but heck, the machine hasn't been run for something like 20 years so I'm surprised it even started!

And this is my mom working on her little Christmas tree. Yeah, I said Christmas tree. I guess it's okay to mention Christmas now. Before Halloween, I think it's kind of taboo but now, I think it's okay.

My mom came for a visit and since I work, I thought this would be a nice project for her to work on while I was gone. The only problem is I gave it to her on Saturday night and she worked on it all day Sunday. It was done "before" the workweek even started!!! But it's so cute. I think I might have to go get myself one. LOL

I got it at Michael's for 40% off $39.99. It comes with a wooden base, the little skirt and all the ornaments. There are about 20 little resin shapes like Santa, an angel, Joseph, toy soldier, etc. There are also big pearl ornaments, little pearl ornaments and candy canes. So darn cute.

And here is my mamacita with her finished tree. Both are kind of cute, eh? :o)