We got a new computer for family use Christmas 1996, a
nice Micron that we could all use for school work, family newsletters and
things… Shortly after my boys, all three
of them, started bugging me to get the internet. Well I knew better, the internet was an evil
thing and there was nothing on the internet that we needed in our home, I said
no way. In April 1997 the evil internet
came to our home, and my whole world changed.
One day before the kids went to school Jonathon sat me
down at the computer and put it on the internet. He told me to type in http (what?) semicolon (two dots or dot and comma?) something else
then Yahoo.com which I did. Then he said
to type in quilt in the empty space at the top of the page and then he ran out
the door to catch the bus. There were
several million choices that came up, and I think I was still sitting there
when they came home from school that afternoon.
One place I found almost that first day (it might have
even been that first day) was a fabric store called Fabric Stash. While looking at the web page and trying to
figure out why in the world someone would buy fabric on line, I noticed on the
left hand side of the page something called CHAT….
I knew better than to reveal any personal information,
and I knew I should not use my “real” name, so I went in as a pet name John had
given me the day we met. I was amazed to
find some very friendly people (or so they seemed) in there who immediately
started asking me personal questions, like where was I from, etc. I didn’t answer any of those questions, so
they stopped asking, and went back to quilt talk. I tried not to say anything, but they asked
me about my quilting, and … and…. well I was hooked.
After a week or so of this chatting thing I started
noticing the same people were in there often, and I kept a log so I would
remember things about each person. T
from NY, Dee was from NY, CraftyLady lived in WI Fab was in Washington, Fas was
in Colorado and many more. Pansey,
Peachy and Wizard, I could go on and on.
One such person was Irishga who I learned was from Yukon, and I admitted
I had no idea where that was. She helped
me open a map (right in line while I was still chatting with her, imagine that)
and showed me where she lived. I asked
her if she was Irish and she said lol and I had to ask what that meant and said
no and explained her name…. sorry I forget what it was now, but her “real” name
was JoAnne. I think she may have been
the first person to actually tell me her “real” name.
I stopped chatting a few years later and started
conversations in some group site, which eventually became Yahoo. Irishga showed up in a couple of the groups I
was in and we continued our on line friendship.
She joined the Mysteries For Relay group and our friendship grew and
grew. Recently JoAnne was sick a lot,
and they discovered what they thought was cancer in her stomach and lungs. Her
battle inspired me to work harder to find the cure, and gave me a whole new way
of thinking about cancer treatments.
In my part of the world people drive to the local cancer
center, get their treatments and drive (or are driven) home. I’ve heard people complain how hard it is,
and have seen the misery in person when my sister-in-law Cheri was fighting
it. JoAnne lived thousands of miles from
her cancer treatment center. She had to
catch a small plane to a larger airport, then get on another plane, arriving at
her cancer center at least 24 hours before her treatment, then had to stay 24
hours or more after the treatments and then flew home, one plane then another
and then the long ride home.
Sadly JoAnne has just lost her battle with cancer. No more long plane rides, no more suffering,
but sadly, no more emails or chats with JoAnne.
I can’t even begin to say how much I will miss her.
I did it,
finished another UFO before the end of the month. That makes three this month. I haven’t started anything new, but at least
I have a few less UFOs on my list. 
A long time ago when I was on my way up to Lancaster I
saw a beautiful quilt hanging on a clothes line as I sped past a small Amish
farm. I actually turned around to go
back and take a picture, but when I got to the driveway, the lady and children
were outside. I asked the lady of the
house of I could take a closer look and she said yes, but it wasn’t for
sale. I thanked her for letting me look,
and we got to talking about the pattern.
She pointed out to me the block and I was truly surprised at the
simplicity. Immediately I knew this had
to be a future project for me. 
Wow, so many people have asked for
my pattern, I'm surprised! The block can
be found here, but if you want the full pattern, I will happily share it with
you for a $5.50 donation to my Relay For Life fundraising efforts. 
As I started dishing up dinner John came in the door and
announced it was coming down hard outside.
I grabbed the camera and opened up the back door and snapped this
picture.. … snowing and blowing pretty hard.
My crock pot is an antique according
to some people but I love it and it cooks better than any other crock pot I’ve
ever used. I bought it at a yard sale in
Plattsburgh NY while I was pregnant with my now 30 year old son. I’m always looking for good crock pot recipes… 
Lastly is Lemon Squeezy,
Piece and quilt a bright throw all in one easy construction step. I LOVE the technique shown, very similar to
my Speedy Strips, but as a quilt-as-you-go technique… I will most certainly be
trying this. I can see this as a perfect
charity quilt project. I actually can’t
wait to get started on one. 
