Veteran's Day Has Taken on a New Meaning Since Losing Our Beloved Soldier

We Love you Chris...

We Miss  you...

We thank you for your ultimate sacrifice!

Tory putting up Chris' plaque at Ft Campbell at his Eagle Ceremony on Wednesday

It's been a rough week on T-Bug (Tory's nickname)

Being back at base with all her memories of Chris.

She told me this ceremony was so much harder on her than

the funeral in Dundee NY.

I think at his funeral she was in shock.

Now...reality has set in.

His parents and brothers are here in town.

I showed them our quilt project 

and his mom was really touched.

Dear Madam Samm over at
Sew I Quilt 
did a touching thing for Tory.


She started 
Project Compassion for Tory
which resulted in this:

A Portrait of Chris for his Parents

and this:

A Portrait of Chris for Tory

The artist is Kaziah Hancock


She is president of Project Compassion


She paints with a spatula and her work is amazing.

Because of Samm's connection with her,
she sat aside 400 other orders
to paint these.
She has several artists that work with her,
but on hearing of Samm's plea
she painted these herself.


Please take the time on this Veteran's Day
to check out her work.


Samm...
thank you from the bottom of my heart.
For your generosity of spirit...
for your help in my grieving...
and for taking the time
to help ease a little girl's pain.
We love you!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers.

It means the world to us.

My heart is given to all our military
this day...

Working on 'Her Lost Soldier Boy Project'

I thought I'd paint a picture

of the scene around here

the other evening

while we worked on this project.
(For those of you coming to my blog for the first time...
our daughter lost her fiance in Afghanistan on Sept 3rd.
People have sent in quilt blocks from all over the 
world for me to make quilts for Tory and other family members of Chris' (the soldier) family)

I set the guys up to serenade us while we worked...

Set the girls and grand girls up at a table to work on the scrapbook we are making to go along with the quilts...of all the letters and cards that were sent in with each block...

The Grand Girls helping out with the project...

I went to the kitchen to make Dutch Babies for everyone...

So easy and quick...and everyone LOVES them!

Here is the recipe:

Dutch Babies with Lemon and Sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Put 2 Tbsps of Butter in Iron Skillet and set in preheated oven

while you put the batter together.

(Once it is melted pull it out and brush up the sides of the pan)

In a blender mix:

4 large eggs

1/2 cup of half and half

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

(until well blended)

Pour into warm buttered skillet.

Set in oven for 18-25 minutes.

Take out and sprinkle with freshly squeezed lemon juice

(I use about 1/2 of a lemon)

and powdered sugar

Serve immediately

Yum! Yum!

(Recipe taken from the book: A Homemade Life

by Molly Wizenberg...a really fun read!)

Then it was time to work on the quilts...

I decided to let the little girls help.

I took the time to tell them how delicate these blocks were...

and how they had come from all over the world, 

so we needed to be really careful with them.

At first I wasn't going to let them touch the blocks...

but then I thought to myself...

I want these kids to remember this project...

I want them to become interested in quilting...

the traditions...

I want them to have memories of quilting with grandma....

quilting in grief over our lost soldier boy...

So you all tell me...

Did I make the right decision?

Each night I am trying to take some time to sew these blocks together.

Hopefully I will have something to show you later this week.

I've thought of you all

in the process.

And how this wouldn't be happening without all of you taking

time out of your busy lives to help me.

You are the cream of the crop, my quilting friends!



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Happy Stitchin' this week...