Remembering Grandma

I have to apologize for the unintended blog silence, I had grand plans for ending the year on a crafty note. I was (am) making almost all of my Christmas presents this year and thought I'd be sneaky by sharing them here as regular FOs as I went along. I then planned to have a nice wrap up post explaining where everything went and with new photos with their recipients. One word can explain how that all went: ugh.

I mentioned briefly in my last post that my grandma was ill over Thanksgiving. Things ended up taking a turn for the worse the week or so before Christmas and she passed away on the 28th. I am going to miss her so much, but I am so thankful that she went peacefully and painlessly. I compiled a few more recent pictures of her here.

Yellow roses were her favorite flowers, so it was fitting we left some for her

She was not only a source of creative inspiration for me, but as a 'maker' herself, she was always so tickled by anything I made her. I think that's why it seems appropriate to share her passing here. This will obviously change the dynamic of the quilt project my mom and I are working on for her, but we know she loved that we took on this project and remembering her while we continue to work on it will be such a pleasure for us both.

Needless to say crafting (and reporting on said crafting) had to take the back burner while we grieved and began the hectic planning necessary to get all of us to Salt Lake City last week for her funeral. Despite the circumstances, it was lovely to spend some time again in a city of which I have only a child's memories. And being in some snow was a nice unexpected bonus (we went from 75 to 80 degree weather to snow and temperatures in the 20s and 30s!).

It would have been nice to spend some more time there, especially given that I actually know a fair number of people in Salt Lake City, both in person and virtually (hi all!). But a short time with family was all that was in the cards this time around.

This also marked Elliott's first plane trip, which he handled most excellently

As for what's next, I have many things to show here and plan to do a couple themed posts given 2009's Christmas gifts were either sewn, embroidered or knit. So stay tuned!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I am slowly but surely making my way through everyone's holiday blog posts. Its been a lot of fun to see what you were all up to and your 2009 retrospectives!