I know .....

I know you all have been just waiting to hear what words of wisdom and inspiration I have for today. Got none. Natta. Zero. Zilch.

I do however have a plan for tonight. Dinner with a fellow church member - the final planning meeting for the Womanless Beauty Pagent at Jones Chapel. A fund raiser for Relay for Life. There are older men involved - young married men involved - and a significant contingent of the teenage boys involved. Me - I am the emcee for this wonderful event. Sad part of the story - I gotta keep it PG-13. So no self test boob display. And no testicular cancer self test display. I will be brushing up on my cancer facts and figures. I need funny questions to ask each contestant. There will be serious questions - those are easy. Please help me with the funnies. Pleading for comments that will help here.

Now for some fun -----

The man at my address took me to meet his Grandmother (Mama Norvan) first. (I guess I had to pass that inspection). Fell in love with this wonderful, funny, outspoken, riot of a tiny lady - head over heels, immediately, I loved her. From the very beginning she talked of a quilt - a yoyo quilt - that was made by her Granny Rosa??? In all the years I was around, I had never seen the quilt.

Fast forward many years - many laughs - lots of love - later. Mama Norvan passed away. As the family cleaned out the house, this nasty grungy piece of fabric surfaced from one of the storage areas. It had been stored in a cardboard box that had been wet more than once. Dirty, nasty, mildew gross. It was slated for the dump. It was almost black with grime in places.

I recognized it - it was the quilt. The one so fondly recalled by one of my favorite ladies on the face of the earth. I stuffed it into a garbage bag and took it home.

A phone call to the textile people at UGA and a plan to try and clean this quilt was hatched. I put it in my bathtub with a baby shampoo as a detergent - agitated by hand carefully. Put it on a blanket rolled up to dry most of the water - and support the fibers. Lay it in the sun to dry.

Over and over this process repeated. Each time it became a little brighter and the water less dingy. Many baths and drying later. Another few phone calls and I buy 4 super sized boxes of denture cleaner. One last major bath, dissolve the denture cleaner tablets, add quilt, agitate, roll up, take outside to dry.

Look ......

The colors are vibrant. Some yoyos need repair. One of those someday projects. All different patterns. The yellows are solid and make outlined boxes of the colored prints. I cannot believe this almost black nightmare looks like this.

This is one of my favorite fabrics in the entire quilt. Love it. How about you guys?

Notice ----- in an effort to practice the PG-13 environment, I have left out all of the lauguage bits that were actually used in the handwashing a filthy, vintage yoyo quilt. You however are allowed to insert them in places you feel appropriate for that job.

Have a wonderful day.