Waiting

I seem to waiting for my new 'normal' to 'arrive'.  I know that what I'm doing right now is not my normal.. besides losing my husband in June and dealing with COVID-19 rules, my carpal tunnel has reared it's ugly head for the first time in months.. my left pinkie finger feels numb along with the side of my hand that connects to it.  It's making typing and other 'ordinary' things a bit of a challenge. ( I have an appt. with my g.p. today to get a referral to a specialist).

The other day I did sit down and tried to do SOMETHING sewing related... 

I made two pair of key fobs.... better than nothing ... and I was using what I already had.

Here's the pic of the quilt that's been on Mo'e way too long... I started quilting it, but, believe it or not, I got bored.  As simple as that... my legs weren't hurting nor was my back.  I was able to do this without 'interference' from the 'numb' pinkie finger... I just got bored.

Hopefully soon, I'll find my new 'normal' and will get back to my quilting... there's SO MUCH waiting to be done. 

ttyl
take care.....
Stay safe.......

Heavenly Stars quilt

is finally finished.  

Before I finished it, I was busy making masks ( no photos) for our granddaughter and her family in Georgia and her brother and his family in Texas.  She requested the masks ( even offered to pay for them - of course, I said "no") but he didn't so when they arrive today, he'll be surprised.

Then, I made some 'cool ties' for our next door neighbor who mows our lawn and shovels the snow from our porch and drive when needed.  I saw her sweating while mowing our lawn one day and I surprised her with a ready to wear now 'cool tie'.  She and I were talking just after the holiday weekend and she mentioned how well the tie works and was upset with herself for accidentally leaving it at the cabin up north... so, I went and made her five more ( she mentioned that the grandson really liked it - and so did her dogs).

While all this sewing was going on, I was working away at the Heavenly Stars quilt off and on.  I had to do it gradually since my knees had been hurting when standing for more than a couple of minutes, but I had cortisone shots in both knees on June 30th and it took a few days to notice the difference.  Each day it was a little bit easier to stand at Mo'e - not completely pain free yet, but enough that I can do things I want/need to do.

The quilt came off the frame on Saturday and I was able to put the label and binding on yesterday.  The photo above is where I have laid it across the frame so I could take the pic.. my human quilt hanger/model is no longer here and so I had to improvise.

What is next I'm not sure.  I found a quilt pattern yesterday that I think could be pretty quick and easy to do.. BUT I still have so many  others either waiting for the top to be finished or to be quilted that I'm hesitating about starting another one.  BUT it would  rescue/use up 8 fat quarters from my stash along with some yardage... so, we'll see.

In the meantime, I'm reading other quilters' blogs and working on getting things done the best I can.

take care...
STAY SAFE...
ttyl...

Quilting has been put on hold

for several weeks now ... and I don't see it happening in the very near future.
On June 12th, I lost my husband of 26+ years.  It was sudden and very hard on our kids and grandkids as well as myself.

I will return to quilting - it's been my source of sanity for several years now and I can't see not seeking it out again once my heart can handle it.  I'm at peace with his passing because I know he's no longer in constant pain, but finding that I'm a little lost as to how to function without him.  I was the one who made sure he ate the 'good' foods, took his meds, got him to the dr appts, accompanied him to gospel concerts which gave him such pleasure.  Now, I don't need to worry about diabetic testing, limiting junk foods and that he had clothes that fit ( he lost over 100 lbs in the year or so before his passing... 27 lbs of it in the last month) and that he took the dog for walks ( which was good for both him and the dog), so what do I do besides walk the dog?  Time will tell...

Heavenly Stars in progress

I started this quilt about 15 years ago... cut out all the pieces required plus another 5 of each of the two blocks because I wanted to make it queen size instead of twin as a wedding gift for our newly engaged grandson and his fiance'.  

Well, ten blocks were made... far from perfect on the matching... and I think I put it aside in frustration.  And it's sat here ever since.

I got it out of the bag it's been residing in and started to sort everything out with the intention of finishing the queen size top.... then I realized that I was dreading doing it so put all the pieces aside and put the finished blocks up on my design wall... hey! with using only nine blocks and a wide border, this could finish at about 60" x 60" my new preferred size.

Last Sunday, I grabbed a bunch of batting leftovers and started stitching them together and finally got a big enough piece to use for this quilt.  It wasn't all that easy... while I had enough length, I was short on the width, so added another row of batting only to find out that I sewed it onto the length and not the width... so had to add yet another to the side.

Yesterday, when I laid out the batting onto the backing that I bought on Saturday, I realized that the batting was still not wide enough.  Back to the sewing room.

Finally!

This isn't a great photo but it gives you a little idea of what I've done so far.

As I sat down in front of Mo'e, I happened to glance up and what do I see???  One of the star points is pointed in the wrong direction..  almost the middle of the quilt.  Since I've already started quilting, I'm NOT taking it out and correcting it... it is what it is and, hopefully, people will notice the quilting and not the OPPS! ..

We're still dealing with hubby's health issues... he spent five days in the local hospital and has been in inpatient rehab ever since.  He's due to be released on Thursday, so there probably won't be a lot of quilting being done until he gets home.  I've been very slowly doing a bit of housework each day as my body allows.
Once we get him back home, there will be many appointments with many doctors.  I recently purchased supplies to try Sashiko quilting and I'm going to have that ready to take with us for all those appointments.  I'm not even sure they will let me go in with him, so I can sit in lobby or car and stitch while I wait.
Ok, enough stalling.. housework awaits ..... sigh....

take care...
STAY SAFE....
ttyl........

AWOL

I've been AWOL from posting blogs for a week or so.  My husband was taken to E.R. a week ago this past Monday and admitted to the hospital (not COVID-19) later that day, then on Friday, he was released from the hospital and moved to in-patient rehabilitation nearby.  So, you can understand I'm sure, that my mind has not been on quilting very much.  I couldn't be with him through any of this... we can talk through his window but still have to use the phone so that we can hear each other.  We tried this a couple of times so that he could see our dog, Buddy, too, but it's just been too hot lately for me to be standing outside where there's no shade so I'm calling him early every morning and then again around 7 in the evening.

The morning he went to the hospital, I did send off a couple of quilts.. one to our grandson who lives in Wyoming

and one to the other grandmother of one of our other grandsons who only lives an hour away. 

She was supposed to receive her's two days later, but because of the dams breaking and rivers overflowing in the middle of the state, her area was also affected and UPS couldn't get the pkg to her until yesterday.  With this quilt I did a simple large meander but when I got to the bottom of the quilt, I decided it wasn't enough quilting so I started going in reverse back up to the top of the quilt so that the second row of stitching would make it looks like ribbon curling here and there... and it turned out great! nice and cuddly.

I had the grandson in Wyoming's package sent to the car dealership where he works as a salesman and I was able to track it.  That's how I noticed that it was left on the 'dock' and I was afraid that some one from the parts department would get it and open it without looking at the address label with my grandson's name on it.  I sent him a PM and told him about the pkg being on the dock and he immediately wanted to know how I knew about the dock lol.  Then he went back and retrieved it.
Once he got home that evening he found where he wanted to hang it and sent me a photo :).

I almost forgot that I did finish another quilt five days ago....  it was simply done with I don't know what you call them... I call them ladybug in the attic... similar to continuous curves, I think... in the borders and echoing close to the edges of the birds, the wires and the flowers & leaves.  The background is a newspaper print fabric so I simply did straight lines here and there by tracing the lines of the 'articles'.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I pieced batting scraps together for another quilt top on Sunday but haven't done another thing quilting wise since.  

I got the news yesterday that they are planning on releasing hubby next Thursday with p.t. and nurse scheduled to come to the house to work with him after that.  So, I'm busy ( slow but busy) walking the dog, trying to get some  house cleaning done, re-arranging doctor appointments for hubby, and taking much needed naps.  Quilting will have to wait until we get him back home and into a routine again. 

And, on that note, I'm off to do 'SOMETHING'... 

take care...

stay safe...

ttyl .......

Oldies continued

 Here's the completed Bora Bora top... just waiting for the 'perfect' backing....

Next up was a quilt that I started for my oldest grandson and his then fiance' ( now, ex wife) about 10 years ago.  The pattern was for a twin size, but I figured it wouldn't be that hard to upsize it to a queen.  This was before I had my 1/4" foot for my DM and before I knew a lot about what I was doing.

I was supposed to make 20 of each block... I managed to make a combined total of 10, but have almost every piece required cut out ( I don't do that any more - I cut as I need).  I have no desire to make a queen size quilt so I think what I'm going to do is make two quilts, each about 60" x 60" with borders.

Last night, I loaded this quilt onto Mo'e with the intention of getting up and getting started first thing this morning.  Well, that didn't happen.  We had a massive thunder storm go through last night and, after my 3 a.m. potty run, I had trouble getting back to sleep.  It was 10:00 when I finally woke up and got up... 1:00 before I could start on the quilting.

I knew I wanted to do something simple so went with large meandering, but found when I got to the bottom of the quilt, it just wasn't 'enough' so I went back and stitched again, making it look more like ribbons.  It's so soft and cuddly... I LOVE IT.

I came within FIVE INCHES of having the binding completed when I ran out of bobbin thread.. and, of course, didn't realize it until I came to the end of the stitching.  Oh well.

Here's my sweet hubby holding up the completed quilt 

and here's the backing.  

Found out today that my daughter down in Tx is requesting some masks for herself and her husband so it looks like I'll be making more tomorrow.  Then maybe I'll get back to working on the current 'oldie'.

take care....

Stay Home Stay Safe

ttyl.....

Bringing Out the Oldies

This past Friday, I decided it was time to get down to business and make a quilt top using a printed panel that I had purchased probably over three years ago.  A month or so ago, I came across some fabric that I thought would be great for sashing, but there was only two yards and I wasn't sure it would be enough ( I wasn't using a pattern - was just winging it) and went online looking for it.  I lucked out and found a supplier who had nine yds left, so I ordered two more.

I just realized that I had posted some of this story the other day.  

Once I finished the solid fabric borders around each print block, it was on to the sashing....and having second thoughts about using this fabric for it... not too crazy about it at this point....

Went on and added outer borders yesterday morning... and I'm back to liking it again. 

 

BONUS (maybe)... I only cut from the original 2 yds for the sashing and borders and still have about a third of a yard left - not counting the strips that I either cut too many of or were the wrong width - I never had to use the 2 yds that I ordered online.  I'm thinking that I might use it on the backing if I can find something else to use with it.  Oh, and it came out exactly 60" x 60" - PERFECT!

Yesterday afternoon, I pulled out this kit that I purchased in Nov. of 2014!!  I know the date because I kept it in the cardboard envelope that it was shipped in.

I had made a correction in the pattern concerning the size to make cuts, but wasn't sure why I did it, so I had to take time out to watch the youtube video where Eleanor Burns is making the quilt top.  It was a typo that she corrected on the video, so I knew I was good to go.

Just look at these beautiful colors!

By the time I stopped to make a late dinner ( leftovers), this is what I had done... had a couple of miss-cuts which I had to fix, but I got this part done.

I don't think my legs will let me work on it today... I did too much climbing up and down on that ladder to get the pieces down and then back up yesterday.  I'll see what I can do later today, but it will probably be tomorrow before I can get back to it.  I can use the time to decide what to do next :)

Until then, I have to make a run over to Walmart to pick up prescriptions and razor blades for hubby and pee pads for the cats and a cafe curtain rod for grandson's quilted wallhanging birthday gift that I need to get in the mail this week.

take care...
Stay safe...
ttyl.......