Weekend Joys

The boy is 14...unbelievable...entering 9th grade...

The dog and I, reading on the porch...ice on the knee, of course.

Love the peace of my backyard

The card from Linda that made me cry.

So often we feel alone in our trauma...most people want to hear we are fine.

ALS caregiver survivors often have PTSD

Thank you Linda

Four place mat tops for CMQG outreach

We are shooting for 600 by November so each person who receives meals on wheels,

can have a pretty new place mat for the holidays

This is my favorite outreach ever...It is so much fun to play with scraps.

Place mats are 12.5 x 16.5  or so..

One layer of batting...quilted with a backing.

Kids are at the beach with their mother.

Sooo excited to have a beach trip each summer...lucky them.

I am happy for my week alone.

Still, I miss them already.

As the World Turns at my House

Sending love to a friend with her favorite  Kaffe.

Inside of the card.

How cool is this??  A scrap pocket for crutches!!

Kaffe to the rescue

Sooo happy to see a picture of the quilt with dear Sterling

Thank you Caitlin!!! xo

This book of VFW costs $39.99

After one month wait at the library, it is mine for two weeks...Happy..

Stumbling down to breakfast with my sore knee, I found my seat occupied already.

Lynsey said that Samantha got there first!

Summer reading enthusiasm..

Remember Meadowland...?? 

I was all excited to do this with my daughter....looks like that will not happen.

As she is on to the making of clothes.

I am losing interest...I have four blocks made...this is the same designer of my mustard star.

The quilt is so big...Maybe I will just use these four and make a lap quilt...or

make 8 more for a smaller one..

Trying to decide.

Today is exactly 4 weeks with my new knee.

It is my best day ever.

 Around the house I no longer need my cane.

I did my PT..I took the darlings to the grocery store and I did not get dizzy.

We made waffles for dinner

We did an outside reading time.

The two children brought in all the groceries and put them away.

Then they wrapped Evan's presents..!!!!

It is a Happy Birthday to our Evan...He is now officially 14.

Party tomorrow.  Then they are off to the beach with their mother and family.

I am looking forward to a week free..

However,.the minute they leave, I miss them so.

Turning Corners

Made with love for Sterling Masters...arrived..

Only in Portland....Rosie's first visit to a fabric store.

Dylan sewing....Lynsey was on my big machine...exploring,  when I had to set up

another machine so Dylan could sew too.

Lynsey wanted me to leave her alone to explore scraps and do her own thing..

Voila...This was the first time ever that I sat outside reading a book with two children alone on the sewing machines....wow...a corner for sure.

Three weeks, four days...I am turning another corner after my knee surgery. TBTG

Thank you Linda for driving me to MQG last night.......way too much fun.

The presentation on color, was by the The Quilters Gallery Cindy Cline.

This quilt below shows a different way  of using up blocks you no longer like.

An awesome stack and wack using Kaffe fabric.

Below is a round robin....I think it is wonderful

Cindy with a few other friends...

Tonight I walked with my cane and Evan half way down my street.

I have not been able to do that in a year and a half.

Pain is mostly under control.

A miracle.

Thank you all for your vote of confidence.

Blowing in and out just like the Weather.

Yesterday

The best time ever sharing scraps with Mary Lou and Linda.

Laughing, looking, touching and sharing.

Cheering the night..preparing the iron on cross-stitch for my grands.

on a linen table cloth of my grandma.

Today, I cried throughout physical therapy, but did it anyway.

I cried all through my post op check up with the Ortho PA

Especially when she said that the x-rays pf other two joints...show bad deterioration.

Ugh...4 down..2 to go...no no no Diane...one joint at a time!!!

The good news is that the four replacements are doing sooo well...

I am thrilled.  It is just the pain now...end of week three.

The PA thinks that my pain reflects all the crises in my life the past 6 years and

the 5 surgeries in the past 3 years...

  PTSD.....I just want to sleep

My son has learning differences...He is struggling figuring out his banking...

Today, he told the bank officer the humble truth...she helped him and took off the fines.

Honesty usually works.

He takes good care of me.  Of course that means that he cannot do the small jobs for people, that he wants to do...

Respite is in sight...I should be able to drive and go to the pool in two weeks.

Then he may be able to work some more...He is a great worker.

Memories....Emily kindergarten quilt for her teacher  30 some years ago

Eamon....pre-school  quilt for his teacher...30 some years ago

This mother...here...that would be me..took into the school... muslin squares with fabric pens

Each child drew his square for me to put together at home.

Amazing I had that energy once upon a time.

How do we define "energy"??

What in the world is that???

A big thank you for our Jackie for two dinners....love you Jackie

xo

A Sunshiny Day

Today is a good day...I thought I would share.

I had enough energy to work on Sterling's quilt for a bit...

Below, father's day fun in the yard.

I went out of the house for the first time in 2.5 weeks to PT.

Just leaving the house into Charlotte's sunshiny day was therapy enough.

A really wonderful PT.thanks to Carol ...

Best thing about it, the PT thinks there is hope for  me...

Reminder to self....Thanks to Norie's great painting of my favorite flower

I can have sunshine whenever I want to.

(Sorry Norie for my lack of focus)

Reading outside under a tree...of course the grands help so much

They carry things for me,  they adjust my cushions and help me up.

they get my ice..they are just wonderful.

Carpe Diem....for tomorrow is not promised..

Sheila brought dinner tonight...a big thank you, Sheila...with our dear Stephanie unable to work because of her heart attack..and me recovering from my operation, we are a bit shorthanded.

Though, I must share that Lynsey is googling recipes that she can make for our family herself. 

Adorable cards are coming in..and other treats

I cannot drive yet...but next week I just might be able for lunch.

I will have to see. The PT today told me to accept the slow progress.

Two weeks was a ridiculous goal to not have pain....

.Friends I love you.

I am very happy to report a good day.

xo

The Dreamer

Potluck bowl covers

Dylan helping his grandmother thread elastic through the casing.

How the story goes...
In anticipation of my knee replacement surgery, I cut out a number of potluck bowl covers..
See tute link above.  Right sides together I made the casing.  All at the guild Sit and Sew

I took them to the hospital...where, on day three   I turned them inside out and threaded the elastic.
Yesterday, Dylan came home from his mother's house.
Right away, he started to help me...secure the elastic and the opening...
Now they are all ready for gifting...

The dreamer here...was soooo excited that today would be week 2 and I would be so much better.
The end of the dream was when yesterday was better than today...ugh
This two steps forward, one step back business..is so not for me.
I slept most of today and still needed the ice.
Getting up and down are the most painful parts
Had to make myself walk.
Wheee go the mood swings.
And, I really had thought I had aged out of impatience.

This morning...I missed the pancake party...not sad...let me just say..
The children were thrilled that their father did this breakfast with them.

O'Quilts family news:
Me...getting better. sloooooowly
My son and his cars...all broken and disappointing...which means that
he walks around with a sour face and I walk around with a cry-baby face, for pain.
Lynsey and Dylan are quite happy to see each other..they played nicely all day.

Evan is home for the first time in 2 weeks.
He spent 3 days volunteering at the J..Camp Soar for adults with developmental delays.
Tonight he made frozen pizza for his siblings.for dinner.
I am grateful that it all worked out..

Last night....more drama, as the nanny, our Stephanie... had a heart attack...Jeeze louize.
She is in the hospital.
She had a stint put in this morning. She is alive...TBTG
This one makes me...yes, even me...speechless.

I am trying to maintain hope
But, my lifeboat is adrift.

Just a Matter of Time

Just posting cuz I miss you all.

Just posting cuz I can.

Outside in the beautiful breeze..reading, and drinking H2O

My company...Stitch and Zoe

Gardenias from our bushes de Great Aunt Carl in Greenville, Alabama.

My daughter trying some new top patterns

An adorable label she found online...I want some of these too!!

Of course, if I ever finish anything..

The family picture of all pictures..

Emily, age 6...piano recital on stage at University of Miami.

Parent child duet.

This is when, in disgust with her father, my girl walked off the stage

because he played an extra note and embarrassed her...OMG

She will never out live this picture...

My girl still has no patience for a wrong or extra note!!!!

My news...I am still on Hydrocodone every 4 hours....but today, instead

of crying, I walked four times on 

the wheelchair ramp. It is easier for me to get up and to sit down.

.

Still in pain, but folks, you can now open your windows again.

My screaming is just a whisper!!!!!

I cannot leave the house or drive....but...

Now....now...I am going to sew...

Tuesday, Tuesday...

Stitch says.....Bye, bye Emily.....bye, bye..

My girl left this morning.

I feel just like Stitch..only no one took my picture..

Last night was a horrific night for knee pain.

I woke both my children with my crying...terrible...

I know Emily was conflicted about having to leave.

Lynsey was helping me with this blogpost...

She said she wanted this song included...cuz, it was how she felt.

with Aunt Emily leaving. and....about granddaddy leaving..xoxo Lynsey

Why Did You Have to Go

Today was a better pain day

Things to make us happier....

All...by herself!!!!! Lynsey made a free edge applique, two sided

mug rug for me.  She had the best time just sewing things she found

in my scrap basket to an already cut piece of batting.

She did not use insul-brite..which made  the piece flatter for a  mug rug.

It sits right next to my recliner and ice bag..to make my day so much happier

The PT came today to rule out infection and blood clots.

I am clear. He actually said I was getting better..

He said to hold off on the vino tinto....but...

eat as much chocolate ice cream, cheese cake, Oreos, etc

What ever it takes to bring peace in my garden..

Now that is my kind of PT..

A leg lift, an Oreo....a leg bend, some ice cream!!!!!

Lynsey and I are the only ones here for a bit.

We found, squirreled away...candy from Linda..

Yum...

And because my girl loves me....Joe-Joe's from Trader Joe's

Flowers my girl planted in the back yard.

Emily teaching the children how to make Pickled Onions.

Meantime, my son holds down the fort with things that do not shine in pictures.

Cleaning the deck, cutting the grass, playing with Lynsey, waiting on me.

So it goes, my friends....so it goes...

Day 11...

Day Ten...Still Kicking...Still Hurting......

Grandma O'Quilts resting in her big chair, with her walker and her book and her quilt

This quilt was embellished with embroidery from my grandmother's tea towels.

So cozy..

Below...our finished tailor hams.  Much prettier than those we could buy.

The front is Japanese linen/cotton blend, the back side is wool.

I had a few wool pieces left over from a quilter estate sale a few years ago.

Perfect....

As in the instructions...this is really an outside project...

OMG...the mess of the sawdust stuffing..

The wool side is for pressing with low heat

The cotton side for pressing with high heat..

Tailor ham tutorial

This is the first sewing project I have been able to work on since my new knee...

and only because my girl is still here.

She is in a sewing group in Portland that is making clothes..

Lynsey helped Emily stuff them, I hand stitched them shut.

We love how they turned  out.

When I stop trying to take it easy, I hurt, I get dizzy and I get furious.

Then, I get emotional incontinence and cry...OMG

Everyone's favorite patient

The third day in the hospital post-op, the physical therapist bent my knee too far back

causing some seepage at the incision...It is very red, but not hot and no longer seeping.

The new PTs check it every time they come...

Of course...everyone's favorite patient has already catastrophized......

My children have taken the best care of me...I am so grateful.

Tomorrow morning, Emily leaves to go home.

I will be taking some of my favorite fabric...some Kaffe and Tula

and heading to bed with my hydrocodone..and ice..

Head under the pillow missing her so.

It is the leaving that is so hard....There is no one like my girl.

Back to obsessing...I keep reading the same articles online as to when this awful pain subsides..

Supposed to be 2 weeks....It will be 2 weeks this Friday...

Stay tuned..

I found another Maggie Hope mystery to calm myself..

Still holding tight to my friends...and...

barely to my sanity!!!

xoxo