first quilt of the year.

I LOVE my sewing machine.

I finally got my mom's birthday gift finished...three weeks late. But I did it and I love how it turned out. Especially since I did no measuring, at all.

Its not for a bed, but for cuddling up on the couch reading a book or, in my Mom's case, watching FOX News or CNN. Mom, I hope you like it.
I picked out the fabric just for you.

This isn't my first project on my new machine, but I can't post the other one yet.

I have found a love for stippling. I think I'll be doing it on most of my quilts I make. I hope to make one a month, at least.

******

on another note.

Sunday, we went out to visit Olivia. It had been the first sunny day we have had in weeks (it only lasted two days). We hadn't been out there in a while because of the snow. (Its kinda hard to haul a 5 year old and a car seat through 3 feet of snow.) When we got out there, they had plowed clear out by where Olivia is buried. They had had a funeral there sometime last week. I will just note that I am greatful for the chimes that hang on a hook just above her. They had plowed the snow right up to her, even moving the rocks we placed out of the way. I think they would have plowed right over her had it not been for the chimes. My baby has a large amount of snow sitting right on top of her grave. If the headstone had been placed, I think they would have destroyed it.

It made me a little frustrated. Matt wasn't as concerned about it as I was. What if we had spent time beautifying her little place and they had ruined it. I feel as if it is sacred ground.

When you grieve the loss of a loved one, emotions come and go at really odd times. It has been over 14 months since Olivia's death. I find that I will start crying and not sure what has set it off. This past Sunday was Stake Conference. The Stake President told a story of a gift that was given to his son's family at Christmas time. The gift was a cookbook from an 8 year old neighbor friend of their son. When they opened it they weren't sure why he had given it to them, until they read the dedication page...

a few months before Christmas, this family experienced a miscarriage. Written on the dedication page was a note from this boy, "To the Pitchers, because they lost a baby and they need a gift." (I hope I got most of the story right)

Both Matt and I were in tears, I don't know if it effected anyone else the way it did us. For an 8 year old neighbor boy to remember what this family was grieving was just sweet.

I hope that people don't forget my daughter or what she meant to us. That another baby doesn't replace the one that was lost. Everyday I look at Sarah, she reminds me of what we would have been doing last year with Olivia. I think about the complaints I made while I was at the end of my pregnancy with Sarah, and regret wanting to be done, because that was all I had with Olivia.

I would write more, but I am headed down to the hospital for photos this afternoon.