Pieces in the Garden - Bachelor - Block #3

 

“Bride’s Quilt”

Once upon a time, there was a little girl, who wore a bow in her hair.  When she grew up, she began a friendship with a young bachelor.  As the hours and days passed, they began to look at each other with stars in their eyes, and as their love grew, they thought about taking steps to the altar.  So, the young girl got out her spools of thread and made clothes to get ready for their wedding ring day.

After they are married, some of their times together will be bright as noon and others will be dark as night.  But they will try to share their happiness, their miseries and their chores – she grabbing a wrench to help with household repairs and he grabbing a towel to help with the dishes.  Sometimes they will have broken dishes, but they will try to remember that “things” can be replaced, whereas harsh words, possibly spoken about the broken dishes, could chip away love.  They will try to follow the Golden Rule as they are learning to communicate openly with each other.

They will also try to keep in mind the symbolism of Jacob’s ladder – “steps of communication” between themselves on earth and God in heaven.

*****************

Please join me (and Grandma & Grandpa) for a cup of tea as Forrest Teegarden tells me of his childhood...  The block is, after all, Bachelor. (You will notice that he was a man of few words, with his short and concise answers to the questions.)

Grandpa, tell me about when and where you were born.

I was born August 9, 1912, at 828 Western Avenue in Trinidad, Colorado.  

Do you know why you were given the name you have?

I was named after Forrest Mayes who was a very good friend of the family's.

What events happened the year you were born?

The Titanic sank in April, 1912 and Arizona and New Mexico became states.

A few other noteworthy events ~ 

    •    Alaska organized as a US territory

    •    Congress authorized the Parcel Post System

    •    Jim Thorpe won Olympic golds in the decathlon and pentathlon

    •    The Progressive (Bull Moose) Party nominated Teddy Roosevelt for President.  It was called the Bull Moose Party because they stated that he was "fit as a bull moose."

    •    3,000 cherry trees were given to the US from Japan

    •    Perry Como, Gene Kelly and Art Linkletter were all born in 1912

    •    The US President was William Howard Taft and the Vice President was James S. Sherman

    •    The Boston Red Sox won the World Series over the NY Giants 

Grandpa, tell me about your parents and your siblings.

W.D & Lala Teegarden

My Dad's full name was David William Teegarden.  He was known as William David.  He was born on April 14, 1868 in Ray County, Missouri.  This was about 5 miles south of Polo.  He grew up in Ray County.  My Dad worked for the Santa Fe Freight Office for 35 years.  He was retired longer than he worked.  After he retired he had a flower garden.  He raised violas and sunflowers.  The sunflowers grew to be about 6 feet tall.  Once my nephew, David Weller, tried to climb one and it broke off.

My Mama's name was Atchafalya Davis.  She was known as Lala.  She was born on October 14, 1876 in Ray County, Missouri.  Lala bore the lovely Indian first name that her family shortened to Lala.  Mama was a seamstress in town (Trinidad, CO).  She also cooked meals at the Christian Church once a week.  They served complete dinners there for 35¢.  I would help Mrs. Hendrick serve the ice cream.

Ladies Aide Society - Christian Church

Trinidad, CO

Lala is on the far left of the photo

I had three siblings, two sisters and one brother, all older than me.  Luna (1894), Viola (1896), Donovan (1904).  My brother and I shared a room, and later, I shared a room with my nephew, William David (Luna's son), from 1932 until I got married.

Side Note: Grandpa's sisters were quite a bit older than he was.  When he began talking he couldn't pronounce Viola's name correctly and when he tried, it would come out sounding something similar to Bob or like the spelling of B-O-B and was then forever know by the rest of the family as "Auntie Bob."  Auntie Bob was married to Ollie Russell, the son of Marion Sloan Russell who was the focus of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail sew along.

C. 1916 - Photo by Luna (Teegarden) Weller in Missouri
Forrest - 2nd from right, front row
WD Teegarden - 2nd from right back row
Lala standing 3rd from left & her mother on her left

Mother and I went by train to where the Grandparents Davis lived when I was about 13 or 14 years old.  I complained that the train seat was not long enough for me to lay down.  Grandma served oatmeal without salt and I didn't like it.  

The kids went swimming in the river.  I was the only one with a store-bought swimming suit.  They all thought we were rich because of  that.  The girls wore overalls for swimming and I was surprised and they showed too much of the girls.

What do you remember about your childhood home and neighborhood?

Helen Tennyson was a next-door neighbor, and we would play out on the sidewalk.  I would give her rides up and down the sidewalk in a wheelbarrow.  At 800 Western Avenue, the Floyds lived next door.  Clay was younger, Alan was the oldest.  They had a younger sister, Margaret Mae.  

Alan Floyd was a genius at flying kites.  We would have to make them because you didn't buy them back then.  We would use a brown kraft paper to make them.  They would fly so high they would barely be seen from the ground.

I played kick the can, Run, Sheep, Run, and hide & seek.  As I got older I played dominos and cribbage.  I would play with Ma, but she always beat me because she could make 15 out of anything.

Forrest Teegarden 
6 years old and ready for school
c. 1918

Did you ever ride a bike?  

I never had a bike, but I had a little tricycle.  I wore the tires right off of that tricycle.

Who were your best friends in school?

Russell Morris, Clay Floyd and Camby Newcomb.  We used to do everything together.  I used to go to Newcomb's ranch after I got into high school, especially during round-up time.  We had a cook wagon.  The grub wasn't bad to begin with, but it was all full of sand by the end of it.  

This one time we were rounding up horses that had been out all winter.  They needed to go through a gap in the wall that wasn't very wide.  I went to open the gate and before I got out of the way all the horses had gone past me and I wasn't ever touched.

What was your favorite summer activity?

We would go to Stonewall to live all summer.  I would stay cool by swimming in the lake.  I would sane for fish with Uncle Ollie.  The water lapping up over the edge of the boat and sunk the boat.  I had on hip waders and they filled with water, but I soon discovered that I could stand.  Uncle Ollie was laughing.

We would celebrate Independence Day each year.  We didn't have much money to spend on fireworks, but we would buy some lady fingers.  We would put carbide under a coffee can, pour a little water in the can.  We would light the carbide and it would blow the can about 15 feet in the air.  Nobody ever got hurt that I knew of.

Did you have a favorite pet?  Tell me about them.

My favorite pet was a cat.  All I ever had was cats.  I don't remember names.  This one cat I had though... Lee (Viola & Ollie's son) and I were playing with this cat, and we were called to lunch.  there was a barrel there and Lee was afraid that the cat would get away, so he put the cat in the barrel (with a lid on it).  It didn't end well for the cat and I don't remember ever getting a cat after that. 

Did you ever hunt? 

I would go with Uncle Ollie (Viola's husband) on his turkey hunts and when he went deer hunting.  I had to watch his gun at turkey shoots so that no one would tamper with the sights.  He used to win the turkeys and then keep them in the basement where it was cold until we used them - usually for Thanksgiving.

I imagine that there was home-made ice cream served often during the summers in Stonewall.  Forrest loved ice cream!  And, I'm pretty sure he was willing to help the Christian Aide Ladies serve lunches, helping to serve the ice cream, because he was allowed to have a bowl (or an extra serving) when the meal was done.  I don't think he ever met an ice cream flavor he didn't like.

So, before you leave to get your pattern... in honor of Forrest ~ the "Bachelor" ~ leave me a comment...

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Do you like it in a dish?  Or on a cone?

Toppings?  No toppings?

I, like Grandpa, like just about any flavor.  but I like vanilla because it is versatile and can have toppings of any sort added without a clash in flavors!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

Be sure you come back to link up your finished blocks for a chance to win a 1-ounce selection of tea from Corner Stone Tea Company!  I encourage you to check out her tea selection and use ICECREAM in the promotion box to get a 15% discount for all teas through March April 27th.  

Follow me on facebook at Melva Loves Scraps or on instagram @MelvaLovesScraps and use these hashtags so that everyone can see our gardens grow!  

#PiecesInTheGarden #Piecesinthegardensewalong #Piecesinthegardenrowquilt #TeaTimeWithTT

Linking with:

BOMs Away at What A Hoot Quilts

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

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Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

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Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

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Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

This & That at Days Filled with Joy

Flashback Friday

I thought that since I am currently traveling, I would revisit with you a story from 2 years ago recounting our visit to Galveston, TX... the place of entrance to the United States for Phillip & Katie Schleich... and if all of our plans work out correctly, we will be on that island exploring again!

In Texas-sized Trip II I shared all of the pictures and details of our adventures as well as the research that I was able to do while there.  Having the chance to retrace the footsteps of my grandparents was meaningful and I hope to continue with our trip this year with a visit to the train station that they would have gone to after passing the health inspections on Pelican Island.  They were bound for Kansas... I also want to see the movie, Galveston – Gateway on the Gulf. "This film gives a history of Galveston as a port of entry for more than 133,000 immigrants."

If you have an interest in the details of what I shared then, you can follow the link above.

At the time, I was freshly immersed in the Pieces From the Past Sew Along so the details were fascinating to me!  

I read a touching story in February about a pilot that was known as the "Candy Bomber".  It was a story of a US pilot being kind to the children of Berlin... children that had suffered and lost so much. 

In 1948, when he was a young U.S. Air Force pilot ferrying humanitarian aid in the Berlin airlift, Gail Halvorsen encountered a group of German children standing by the runway at Tempelhof Airport.

© Lee Benson, Deseret News 

Gail Halvorsen, the Berlin Candy Bomber, 

poses for a photo in the backyard of his Provo home 

days before his 100th birthday on Oct. 10, 2020

As the kids peppered him with questions, he reached in his pocket and found two sticks of gum, which he broke into pieces and passed around the crowd. But it wasn’t nearly enough. Looking at the faces of all the kids who had been left out, he had a brainstorm. Tomorrow when he flew in his load of cargo, he promised the children, he would drop small handkerchief parachutes filled with candy and gum on his approach.

“How will we know it’s you?” they asked.

“I’ll wiggle my wings,” said Halvorsen.

The legend of the Berlin Candy Bomber was born.

Gail S. “Hal” Halvorsen died Wednesday night at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo after a brief illness, according to the Gail S. Halvorsen Aviation Education Foundation. He was 101.

Halvorsen leaves behind a legacy of giving and generosity that goes far beyond the 21 tons of candy he and his fellow pilots collectively dropped to the children of Berlin in 1948 and 1949. Spurred by that event, he continued to participate in humanitarian causes throughout his life, including candy and toy drops across America and countries around the world. He took part in relief efforts in Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Japan, Guam, Iraq and the Micronesian islands.

He steadfastly attributed his lifetime of service to “those two sticks of gum.”

A Utah native, Halvorsen was born Oct. 10, 1920, in the farm town of Garland in northern Utah. Growing up during the Great Depression in the 1930s, he worked in his father’s fields, hoeing sugar beets while gazing skyward every time the commercial airplane flew overhead on its route between Salt Lake City and Malad, Idaho. Mesmerized, the teenager daydreamed about what it would feel like to fly.

When he was 19, his dream materialized when he won a scholarship from what is now the Federal Aviation Administration to study for, and receive, a pilot’s license at the Brigham City airport. Two years later, in May of 1942, five months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and America entered World War II, Halvorsen joined the United States Army Air Corps as an aviator. During the war he flew C-54 cargo planes in the South Atlantic, stationed in Natal, Brazil.

After the war ended in 1945, Halvorsen remained in the service, choosing to make the U.S. Air Force (the Army Air Corps’ successor) his career. His proficiency flying the C-54 resulted in his being assigned to the yearlong Berlin airlift that began in July of 1948 in a divided Germany. Halvorsen was one of dozens of pilots assigned to transport food, clothing and other necessities from air bases in West Germany to citizens living in the western sector of Berlin who had been cut off from outside support by the Soviet Union, the overseer of East Germany.

At first, Halvorsen made his candy drops surreptitiously, not sure if his extracurricular missions of mercy would be officially allowed. But when his commanders learned of what he was doing, he was not only encouraged, but given official approval. The effort was called “Operation Little Vittles,” to differentiate it from the name given to the overall Berlin airlift of “Operation Vittles.”

When news of the Berlin Candy Bomber filtered back to America, the story met with considerable interest and attention. Halvorsen and his squadmates were flooded with cards and letters of support. National candy companies contributed candy and other confections that were collected in Massachusetts and sent to Germany.

Following his duties with the airlift, Halvorsen obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and worked in research and development at various bases in the U.S. and abroad from 1952 to 1970.

At that point the U.S. Air Force assigned him to be commander of Tempelhof Central Airport in Berlin — a place Halvorsen knew well. He spent four years in Berlin, where he was reunited with many of the kids (now adults) he once dropped candy to, before retiring from the service in 1974.

In 1976 he returned to Utah and became assistant dean of student life at Brigham Young University, a position he held until he retired from academia in 1986.

Halvorsen married fellow Utahn Alta Jolley in 1949 and together they had five children. Alta died in 1999, just months short of their 50th wedding anniversary. Later, Halvorsen married Lorraine Pace.

So-called retirement did not slow Halvorsen down a step. After he left BYU he worked on his farm in Spanish Fork and concentrated on the myriad opportunities afforded him as a result of “those two sticks of gum.”

In and around missions he and Alta served for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England and Russia, he participated in any number of candy drops and candy drop reenactments.

In 2002, author Margot Raven published “Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot,” based on Halvorsen’s relationship with one of the German girls who caught candy he dropped during the airlift. The book was used in elementary school classrooms across America to educate students about the Cold War. As often as he could, Halvorsen would comply with requests to come to schools and let the children hear stories from the Berlin Candy Bomber himself.

In 1998, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, Halvorsen took part in a 69-day tour sponsored by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation that crisscrossed Europe and the U.K. in a vintage C-54 cargo plane.

For his accomplishments at improving American-German relations and inspiring countless others to humanitarian service, Halvorsen received numerous honors and awards. The U.S. Air Force bestowed on him its Cheney Award, for outstanding humanitarian work, and its Legion of Merit, for exceptional meritorious conduct, while also creating the Col. Gail Halvorsen Award, for outstanding air transportation support.

In addition, the Air Force named the Halvorsen Loader (an aircraft loading device) and the Halvorsen C-17 Aircrew Training Center in Charleston, S.C., after him. In Germany, the Gail S. Halvorsen School in Berlin and the Gail S. Halvorsen Elementary School at Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt bear his name.

The German government awarded Halvorsen its Service Cross to the Order of Merit, bestowed upon him in 1974.

In 2001 Halvorsen was inducted into the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2014 he received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award the U.S. Congress can give to a civilian. In 2015 the FAA chose him to receive its Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. In 2017 the Utah Legislature passed a resolution honoring Halvorsen for “unselfish acts that brought honor to himself, his family, the United States military, the citizens of the state of Utah, and the citizens of the United States.”

In 2012, shortly after he turned 92, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (now the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square) adopted Halvorsen’s candy bomber story as the theme for its Christmas concert, “Christmas From Heaven,” which was narrated by Tom Brokaw and later turned into a book. A number of other books have been written about the Berlin candy drop, including Halvorsen’s own quasi-autobiography, “The Berlin Candy Bomber,” first published in 2010.

“In man’s search for fulfillment and happiness, material rewards pale compared to the importance of gratitude, integrity and service before self,” Halvorsen wrote on his website before his death.

"Service to others before self … is the only true recipe by which full fulfillment may be attained in this life. 

It is one of the core values of the United States Air Force. Today the Air Mobility Command, in the Airlift tradition, launches a mission of mercy every 90 seconds somewhere around the world. The American flag on the aircraft tail is the symbol of hope to those in deep despair from whatever the source of oppression.”

Given the current state of the world, we need to hear of more stories like this one.  Stories of individuals showing love and compassion and random acts of kindness...

Be Kind and Keep Piecing,

Melva

Making Memories

 Still gone...

But you can count on the fact that I am planning out the blocks that will be added to our Camping Journal quilt!

Teatime with TT and Kim

Welcome to Teatime with TT... Tressie Teegarden.  Today my cousin, Kim, is stopping by to share some of her most special memories...  Grab a cup of tea and join us!

Kim is the second born grand-child, and first grand-daughter, to Tressie & Forrest Teegarden...

When I was 12, I spent 2 weeks during the summer in Tucson, Arizona with Grandma and Grandpa Teegarden. The trip prepared me to be away from home for a longer period of time than just 1 week and being out of state. Grandpa had built Grandma a large doll house and had built the house with electricity in most all of the rooms and the porch light. Grandma started collecting miniatures for the doll house. 

Twice during my visit, we went to a store that had a whole huge wall full of miniatures. I was able to pick out what I thought the doll house needed on both trips. It was really exciting to get home and open the things and figure out where the new additions would go. We went to a place that sold all sorts of dolls and accessories too. 

Tressie always loved her dolls
c. 1917

Grandma painted several dolls faces and collected the doll arms and legs. She completed so many dolls with the clothes and all in her life. So many of them had plastic that completely covered them, so we did not play with them. I have a few of them and so do both my daughters. 

A sampling of some of the pieces and dolls painted by TT

Tressie's China cabinet
Trinidad 2003 - Kelvin & Carol

She painted so many pieces of porcelain China and never sold any of them. She gave my family and everyone who knew her several pieces. My Mom and Dad have at least 2 hutches full of China that she did. We use the flower vases she did lots more than any of the pieces. I have a whole hutch full of the China that she painted. 

I have a huge vase she painted with a large parrot on it with many flowers. I use it in my living room all the time. I mostly put plastic flowers in it while decorating for the holidays, so my cat does not get to eating real flowers and tip it over accidently. I have several paintings she did of all kinds of birds and Grandpa made the frames for them. They are all hanging in my bedroom. A few pieces of china and a few paintings she did are down in the cabin at the property west of Trinidad. 

She painted a set of China with hummingbirds on them with red trim for my wedding present. She told me that the color red was the hardest color to get to be a true red. 

Through the years my family and I would drive down to Tucson once a year to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Both my girls got to know them really well. We always went to the same Mexican restaurant ~ Club 21 ~ while we visited. We also camped with them lots on the property (near Trinidad) too.

Grandma was able to get to see and watch our 1st granddaughter play during one visit when Brad and I brought her with us to the property. We were all helping to move grandma to her assisted living home. Kaitlynn was 4 I believe. We have pictures but Kaitlynn does not remember her. 

As Kim and I sent emails back and forth about these memories, we laughed and marveled about how our minds work and how our memories are so different.  Kim's sister, Karri, remembered about always going to Club 21, but their sister, Kodi, did not recall it at all!  

I had mentioned to Kim that I didn't remember the doll house from my teen years, but after I was married.  Each person's memories are varied depending on what they view as important... and as time passes by and other things fight for space in the grey matter, things can be a little skewed.  It doesn't mean that I'm right, or that she is right... It just means that we viewed things differently. 😊 She did then mention that it could have been on one of her visits to Tucson with her husband and daughters that they went to the miniatures store. 

Kim and TT, both chocolate lovers, would have enjoyed a piece (or two) of my Chocolate Zucchini Brownies... 

Or maybe they would enjoy the Chocolate Chai tea from Cornerstone Tea Company as much as me!  If you use the discount code FRIENDSHIP on an order of herbal tea, you will receive a 15% discount.  Show some love her way. 😍

Thanks for joining us for a trip down memory lane!   

Keep Piecing,

Melva

How are you doing with your friendship stars?  

Have you linked them up yet?  I'd love to hear how you are doing and see how your garden is growing...

Faith, Hope and Love

Remember when I shared my story of the orphan whose adoption was recently finalized?  No?  You can read the story that accompanied the quilt top finish of my Orphan Quilt...  my Little Anna Bailey?  The Bailey family lives in Romania and has been working closely with a mission team in Kyiv, Ukraine.  Below is a beautiful story of how a family that fled for safety but left behind something very important, and the joy found in a simple, but well-loved need.

One story from our very busy days... BIG miracle for a little person

The little green bag from Kyiv... This bag doesn't look like much, but its probably one of the most important things we have been a part of. There is a mother with her 3 girls who fled from Kyiv very quickly, with very little at the start of the war. Her husband, the girls father, had to stay behind. They are staying with good friends of ours here in town, so we have been getting to know them and helping them get the things they need. We found out that in their rush to leave, the 4yr old girls special blanket got left behind... again... they fled from a war, their father had to stay behind and the 4 yr old's special blanket, which she cries for every night got left in Kyiv... This is the story of over 1.5 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in the last two weeks. They have left everything, including the ones they love... not knowing if they will ever see them again.   BUT our God who sees the little ones and the broken hearted is the God of miracles! Her dad, managed to get this little green bag with this most valuable item in it to a YWAM base in Ukraine about 6 hours away from Kyiv. We got to play the tiny part of connecting the dots and getting it all the way here to Sighisoara. Her dad, risked his life to get her blanket back in her arms so she could feel safe, warm and loved. And today while they were playing at our house it arrived! I'm not sure I have ever held such a valuable item in my life outside of another human being! This family, like so many others doesn't know if they will ever see their dad or husband again... but this 4 year old will always have this now most extra special blanket.  Needles to say the delivery was first met with shock and then 30 minutes of squealing, laughing, rolling around with and snuggling her blanket. She buried herself in it. It was perfect. I'm sure it was everything her dad hoped it would be.  Please pray for this family and the so many others in this same heartbreaking situation. Pray for this war to end.

Sorry this is quick and un edited, but I wanted to share this big, little miracle with all of you! :-) Thank you for being a part of what God has called us to here in Romania, and especially now in this time of crisis for so many!  Lots of love, Tim, Caroline and Kids Hold your loved ones close and keep praying! Melva

Marching on Through March

Time marches on... and it seems to be going at a much faster pace!  Maybe it is just me since we are trying to get things done and "in order" so that we can drive away with all of our responsibilities taken care of and/or covered and we can be worry free for a few weeks. Ahhhh.... I can feel it already!

✔ The instagram quilt fest posts are getting there.  I currently have through Day 29 - These WILL be done before we leave!  Just two more to go!  I'm grateful for the technology that allows me to participate even though I will be off playing, camping and relaxing.

✔ Patterns for blocks #3 & 4 of the Pieces in the Garden Sew Along are written and tested.  DONE!  Photos are done too!  The .pdf files are created linked to my payhip store, ready for release.  Watch for the link for pattern for the third block and story to be released March 31st.

✔ Blocks #5 & 6 ✔pieced, written and tested and then photographed, again, so that the .pdf files can be done.

I didn't get to #6 because I stopped to make some mittens... Yep, I had a squirrel project.  (But it's okay, because I am way ahead of the game now.) 

You see my friend, Jamie, had given me a really nice wool sweater last year.  It was a shooters sweater with the leather area on the right shoulder (like a trap/skeet shooter would wear... and Jamie used to be the ladies TX Champion).  It was a sweater she had saved for years, it no longer fit and thought I would like it.  It really was a very nice sweater and it looked good on me.  But it was 100% wool... and itchy (and because of that I had to wear a shirt underneath it... and it wasn't "personal summer" friendly.  😂  

Dave had suggested that I make two pairs of mittens with the sweater, one for her one for me.  I've had the pattern and supplies for them on the cutting table for weeks... Saturday was the day I decided to get them done.  I love them!  They are ready for delivery on Thursday... but shhhhh!  Don't tell, I want them to be a surprise. Did you see that I used that padded leather area on one mitten?  It is one of my favorite features!  I do hope that she doesn't mind that I repurposed the sweater. 🙏

I have many things on my to-do list for the next few days, but none of them are quilty related and they are minor details (but some vital ones.... like pay bills and schedule payments) so I won't bore you with them.

I'll be signing off for now... I may check in here and there as service is available.  But for the most part, I will be AWOL until nearly April!  At least here on the blog.  I may have more of a "real" presence on fb and IG.  Technology and artificial intelligence has got it handled!  

Did you hear that email subscription is available again?  Last year when the feedburner email subscription quit working I didn't know how to "fix" it.  I finally did it last week... Or you can follow me on social media - facebook and instagram - though I don't always announce a new story on them.  Bloglovin' is an option as well...

Are you one of my regular readers?  Sign up today!  And tell me how you follow me and, if you remember, how long have you been joining me here at Melva Loves Scraps?

Piece Out!

Melva

Linking with:

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
This & That at Days Filled with Joy

To Do Tuesday at Texas Quilt Gal

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch

Thankful Thursday 3/10/2022

We are to be thankful in all circumstances... not thankful FOR all things/circumstances.  It's an attitude of gratitude and trusting that ALL things will work out.  And as Roseanne at Home Sewn By Us reminds me each week... “From the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another.” John 1:16

I am thankful for the moisture that is coming with the latest storm... but I don't need to be happy about the cold temps.  Right?  Ok, ok... enough of the whining. 

Among other things I am grateful for is technology.  Yeah... I was griping about technology a few weeks ago when our computer crashed.  BUT, thanks to technology I am able to get my #IGQuiltFest2022 posts scheduled for the remainder of the month.

And with a little patience with technology, I have been able to update the side bar of the blog with an email subscription sign-up.  If you don't want to miss a pattern release or any other riveting or exciting posts (like this one!), simply go over to the right side and type in your email address and click the subscribe button.  

Last year when feedburner's email subscription quick working, I... well, I ignored it.  I did look into options, but it was all so confusing.  I followed along with a few other bloggers that were trying to figure it out as well and then set the issue aside.  

But when the simple request from a reader for another option besides bloglovin', pushed me to look again.  And...woohoo!  I found an option and had it up in less than an hour.  So... go sign up!  You'll never miss another story/article.

Honestly?  Right now, I feel like I could conquer some of the most challenging of life's mountains.  Not that I really want to... We've had enough of that for the past month.  I feel as though the cloud has lifted and we are ready to move forward!

I am marking things off of my To-Do list left and right and getting ready for our trip.   Patterns are being written and tested... and a photoshoot is going to happen today!  

Did you see the Bow Blocks that have been linked up?  Well done Karen & Kathy!

I know that Linda has her blocks started.  And a few others (sorry, I can't remember all of you) have started theirs as well.  (Aren't they pretty???)  I am a visual person and have a better memory recall if I see the blocks on a blog or on social media.  Be sure to tag me or use the hashtags so that I can follow your progress. :) #PiecesInTheGarden #Piecesinthegardensewalong #Piecesinthegardenrowquilt #TeaTimeWithTT

Bows by Karen

Bows by Kathy

Bows in progress by Linda

I am excited to have a new project in the future... a new memory quilt for a soon-to-be high school graduate.  This Mom has been planning for such a quilt for about 16 years!  She has shirts from the little guy's preschool days as well as a few from HS events.  She even had the forethought to save the gown that she wore in the hospital for his birth!  How cool is that???  But that all will sit in its bin under my cutting table until we return.

I'll continue working with technology to get several stories scheduled to publish while we are off playing and relaxing... did I tell you how thankful I am for that?  LOL

What are you thankful for today?  

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Count Your Blessings,

Melva

Linking with:

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts