Come Stitch With Me

The house is silent. It’s just Sadie and me. It’s been a week since it’s been this quiet, A lot has happened the past few days between my sister-in-law’s passing and funeral, plus company staying with us ahead of an upcoming TR event.

Company left this morning. Sadie & I did our weekly READ at Park Street School. Had a great time, but I opted to head home afterwards rather than go out to lunch. Honestly, I’m peopled out at the moment.

We’re expecting rain, so it’s the perfect opportunity to take an afternoon nap, followed by some sewing time in my studio. Hubby needs a new pillowcase before he leaves on his next outing with TR. Purposeful sewing helps me calm and refocus.

The older I get, the more essential it is to structure “time to breathe” in my schedule.

If you’re looking for a fun activity for your rising 4th grader & up, consider a week of Quilt Camp at the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum. Week 1: June 9-13 and Week 2: July 7-11. Cost ranges from $95-$120, depending on your camper’s experience level. Details and registration may be found on the SQTM website.

I have two students who’ve indicated they’d like to attend camp, but one’s available in June and the other one in July. Each year, I typically volunteer in June and the campers ride with me. Hubs suggested I volunteer for both weeks this year and spend time with each girl on the commute to/from Carrollton each day. That’s a thought.

However, this year there are two major quilt shows also taking place during June’s Quilt Camp: Mountain QuiltFest in Pigeon Forge and the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival. In 2026, I’ll be tied up with the Georgia Celebrates Quilts Show, so I won’t be going anywhere in early June. Decisions, decisions. Each show has classes I’d like to take.

Here’s the thing: I purchased patterns, books, templates and kits at QuiltCon last year for classes that will be taught in both TN and KS this summer. No wonder the class projects appealed to me!

Update: I’m skipping June camp and heading to Mountain QuiltFest in TN. The opportunity to take classes with two popular west coast based instructors who rarely travel to the Southeast is simply too good to pass up. As much as I enjoy taking K to camp with me each June, I’d really regret not taking advantage of this opportunity even more. Besides, K can still go to camp that week – her parents will just have to take her instead.

One year ago, my sister-in-law was given 3-6 months to live. Determined to live life on her own terms, she declined therapeutic chemo and got busy living. A number of bucket list trips were taken with her three adult daughters and assorted grandkids. Last summer, the two of us made the pilgrimage to Missouri Star Quilt Company. My sister-in-law attended her 40th high school reunion in the fall. With that event, she’d crossed off the major things on her bucket list and simply wanted to enjoy her grandkids as much as possible.

Cancer eventually began to take its toll on her body. She was admitted to the hospital over the Christmas holidays. We visited with her in the hospital. She was in good spirits once they had the pain under control, but she was definitely frail. Home hospice services followed her release from the hospital. In mid-February, her hospice nurse advised that my sister-in-law had only a few weeks left. Hubs left Monday to go see her. I’m so glad he did. My sister-in-law passed away last night. Thankfully, she’s no longer in pain.

As the saying goes, life goes on. The sun’s out, the birds are singing and hubs is headed home. My final beginning sewing class is scheduled for Saturday and hubs has a friend flying in from the west coast. Hopefully, we’ll have word on her final arrangements this afternoon. I don’t know how much preplanning was done and one of the daughters and her family live far away, It could be this weekend or early next week. We’ll certainly reschedule what needs to be rescheduled so we can be at her end of life celebration. That’s the important thing.