Lynn Carson Harris

Heirloom Coverlet

I love old quilts and especially love this coverlet my grandmother gave me when I was in high school.

It was started by her mother and lacked several blocks from being complete. She shared it with me and asked if I would like her to finish it for me. 

Of course I wanted her to finish it for me! 

It's a simple block but just look at those fabrics!


I love this old searsucker print, isn't it interesting?

Can you tell which blocks my grandmother added? 

Those 1970s fabrics have quite a different look.

Numb - quilt 3 in my Domestic Abuse quilt series.

Numb - finished size 16" by "16. This quilt was made from one piece of beautiful fabric hand dyed by my friend, Karen Coulter. 

After being abused over time, victims can become emotionally numb. In order to cope with the constant abuse they withdraw and are unable to have any sort of emotional response, either happy or sad. The numbness protects him (or her) from experiencing too much pain.  

Sadly, the numbness also means that the victim does not experience joy.

Numb can apply not only to the immediate abuse victim but also to the family and friends of the victim, which makes the circle of victims that much larger. Family and friends can reach a point where they feel numb and feel that they can't process any more rejection or hurt.

 

If you have a friend or family member who is experiencing abuse here are some things you can do to help. The most important thing to remember is that the choice to leave or not is theirs. You can't make them leave a bad situation but you can be supportive and helpful in their choice. They will need someone they can count on when/if they do decide to end or leave the abusive relationship.

Domestic Violence knows no boundaries when it comes to race/gender/sexuality/age/socioeconomic status/geographic location/culture.  

 

Remember, domestic abuse affects ten million people in the US every year.  If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, please know that the folks at the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1 800 799 SAFE or thehotline.org) are ready to listen and support you, as well as refer you to a local program or organization. If you observe someone being abused, you can also call the hotline.  A good samaritan call can save a life!

 

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All of the quilts in the Domestic Abuse series so far can be viewed here.

Spring Break - Part 4 coming home

Our last stop in New Mexico was at Capulin Volcano National Monument. We arrived just as they were locking the gate for the evening so we could not drive to the top. We were, however, permitted to walk up. 

Walking the road is ONLY allowed after the gate is closed so that worked out very well. 

There were big, wide views in every direction as we circled the extinct volcano. You can see several other extinct volcanos in the same area. 

Below is a view inside the crater. 

Our last significant stop was at the Tallgrass Prairie Nationsl Preserve. P was thrilled to see Bison from the walking path. In addition to these two that were close, we saw a herd running away over a hill elsewhere on the path. 

There were several prescribed burns going on in the area and the air was filled with smoke. Still, it was a beautiful visit.

Miss P was excited to get many new stamps in her national park passport this trip. 

 

Spring Break - part 3 New Mexico

After three fun filled days with my sister, we left Carlsbad and headed to Albuquerque to see my nephew. On the way we stopped at Salinas National Monument and visited the Gran Quivira Ruins

and the Quarai Ruins.

From Albuquerque, we journeyed to Bandelier National Monument to see the ancient cliff dwellings.

There were a few caves there that you could enter to see what it was like. P enjoyed that. 

The wall shown below had many petroglyphs just above the level of the upper post holes.

Here is a carving of a parrot.

Next, we vistited the ruins of Fort Union, which had quite a spectacular location. It is way in the distance of the photo below.

Visiting Old Quilts

One of the bonuses of visiting family is seeing quilts that I forgot I made for them. This is a cowboy quilt I made for my niece in her horse crazy younger years. 

Who am I kidding? She may still be in her horse crazy years,  she will be applying to vet schools in a year.
In our hurry to get on the road to see all the wonderful places around Carlsbad I didn't snap a photo of the backing fabric which has large wild horses galloping on it.

Here's another blast from the past, a stack-n-whack quilt from a bright chili pepper print. 

It's so fun to see some of these old treasures. 

 

Spring Break - part 2 - Carlsbad

We enjoyed getting out and seeing the sights around Carlsbad, NM. My brother-in-law took us to his secret pecos diamond hunting spot which thrilled P, our budding geologist. 

On the hottest day of our visit we toured the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The view below was from the parking lot at the caverns. 

On our last day my brother-in-law took us to more great spots with big views. The first stop was Sitting Bull Falls where miss P and her cousins played in the water.

We had our picnic lunch there.

The next stop was Dark Canyon. We were amused that my great niece read the sign as "Dark Canyon, LOOKOUT!" 

We hiked to Cottonwood Cave, a much less visited cave than the caverns. 

My brother-in-law knows all the best places to hike.

We finished the day with a sunset view from "the rim" and late night star viewing from dark canyon.  

This really was a trip of big views. 

 

Spring Break - part 1 - traveling to New Mexico

Last week was P's spring break from school. We extended break by one day so that we could drive to New Mexico and visit my sister and her family. On the way there we stopped at the southern tip of Illinois and visited Heron Pond. 

In addition to the state champion Cherrybark Oak shown below, we saw a thousand year old tupelo tree and the state champion Cypress tree. We were on our way to visit the nation's longest covered bridge but, sadly, that road was closed due to high water. 

The next day we enjoyed the wide open spaces in Oklahoma at the Washita River Battlefield. We welcomed the big, blue, clear skies.

We also visted the Abilates Flint Quarries on our way to see my niece in Canyon, Texas. There was a beautiful camping area in the park. That's B up on top of the hill checking out the view.

Miss P enjoyed looking for fossils, and cacti.

We soaked up the big views.