HST and the restful Pinwheel

This has to be easy for me to be able for it.  I know that it has bias edges, but I figure that if I butt it against straight of grain and am careful, I will be ok.  It is really the fastest, easiest, most accurate Pinwheels I have made.  Again, my energy demands easy.

I am able to do this quickly because I have a box here chock full of 5" squares cut over the years from leftover projects.

It was the same with the potholders.  I have a basket of food fabric and a bin of pre-cut batting and Insul-brite...all cut for a rainy day.  Guess this is rainy season here.

Remember that there is a budget upstairs and not so much downstairs...These came yesterday...Both lovely. The Shape Workshop book is very very, no-think handy..

This post is brought to you from the downstairs office. 

My mother and me

This morning my husband drove me to visit my mother.  We visited 20 minutes and then I had to go home.  After that adventure, my brain had to sleep for 2 hours...Beth made a comment on my blog that "elderly" is a state of mind...hmm..When I was younger I used to think that and then the joints ached and the colds took longer to get over.  In Miami, I remember a sports figure saying that he had wished that in his youth he had taken better care of his soul because as time went on, his body betrayed him, but his soul did not.  So, I decided to ask my mother.  At 10:15 this morning we found her alone in the far end of the dining room, in her Dr. Seuss bib I made her, eating her breakfast.  She had been there since 8am..The staff was setting up for lunch already.  My mother has Dysphagia, a swallowing disorder from her Parkinson's also problematic in other neurological disorders.  She was spending this morning her usual time eating one poached egg and drinking coffee...It takes her two hours to swallow one poached egg.  When she goes out to lunch with the lunch bunch..(.she loves to ride in her wheelchair in the bus with her friends), my 91 year old mother orders creme brulee for lunch.  Now is that a positive thing or what..It takes her one hour to eat half of it and she brings the rest home and considers the outing a success.


So, today I asked Mom if she thought that "elderly" was a state of mind.  She said yes.  If she says yes with all she struggles through and still can celebrate life...then it is indeed true.  My mother and I had a great chat...she was so clear minded.  Then she looked at me and said that she was wondering why Daddy did not come to visit...but she had figured it out...sigh.

Look at the pinwheels I just made from the $4 shirts I got at Goodwill!!!  How cool is this?  Now, back to shopping:)

 I have found a new site....I cannot believe that this lady can find such unusual fabric that make my heart sing...http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlijeOlifantje..Of course the singing does not continue in the pocketbook, so I did NOT bite!!  I am waiting for fabric.com to give me an empty cart 15% off coupon.  But, oh, no... I guess they have my number as they just gave me one last week...sigh..

You may think that I have nothing else to do but blog.  You would be right..almost.  I also have to rest and then I have to rest again...all while my dear husband cuts the grass, does the grocery shopping and the floor cleaning and buys me ice cream and in general continues to put up with me.  Hugs to my honey and hugs to my mother.

Day 18

My prognosis is 30 to 45 Days.  I of course am planning on 30 days.  Today is day 18.  My husband says that I should plan on 45 plus.  He says I am elderly.  I say, not yet.  Blah blah blah...  What if he is right...OR...what if  just maybe I  made too many POTHOLDERS!!!!  Fyi.. My potholder tutorial is on the sidebar of my blog..but my guess is that you do not need it...so very easy and restful.

Dear Picasso...my potholder period is now over...I am done..almost...

The restful potholder

So here are the latest four potholders...The Russian doll one for the doctor's nurse, the cat one for a Sunrise employee to say thanks...Of course the cupcake secretly mine, but will give away...and the salad one for Himself...but he will not be getting it!!  I made so many potholders that I ran out of white loops and I am too lazy to make them from cloth.  I only have three more to make and they are specific..no hurry..My doctor loves to go on cruises..so when I get to Mary Jo's I will get a little cruise ship fabric piece and there is a worker at Sunrise who needs one.  When I asked him what he likes to do, he said that he loves to go out to eat and to watch TV.  I looked everywhere for a TV block for the center, finally found it today on Fabric.com...not perfect but it will do.

 My sister found this awesome Russian doll fabric at JoAnn's.

 Lunch from my garden....

 And, poor me, the fallen woman...out of M&M's, ice cream and all...But, scrounging around during a good time, I found a bit of homemade chocolate frosting in the freezer that I had saved from Evan's birthday party. oooooo....soooo....good!

Picasso and me...

Picasso had his blue period and his rose period.  O'Quilts has her potholder period:)

I have had the same dentist and receptionist for 19 years.  Never gave them a thing.  Now, I have the first of my holiday presents done.  I used the same colorway which made it all go faster.  We would not want any fighting in the dentist office over choosing a potholder.  Since becoming elderly is sooner than I think, I will not wait till Christmas.  I will give them at my next cleaning...and say Merry Christmas in August...

A-pear-ently

Whew...this day was so much better than the past three...TBTG.  Slept, up, rested, saw one client, rested, did potholder, rested.  So, of course to celebrate...tonight I decided to run an errand.   Five minutes into it, I had to call my husband that I was coming home.  He said he would take me..oh, dear...riding lying down in the car was worse.  In three minutes, I was back home, resting.  But, the very best news of all...I feel better quicker...and it is a-pear-ently....a TWO potholder day!!!!!! Yes!

Braveheart or Chickenheart?

One potholder a day keeps....

All day in jammies doing nothing.  The evening motto:  one potholder a day keeps the doldrums away!

So, fine...I am obsessed.  I checked out my newest favorite link...Michigan state concussion recovery guide.  It says...that recovery is awesome up to age 40.  It says that the elderly have a longer recuperation.  I went immediately to Wikipedia for the definition of elderly...ha ha...It says that in the Western World the generally accepted age defining the elderly is 65.  TBTG  I am only 64 and a half....sigh....so grateful for small things...very small things:)  Dodged that bullet:) ha

The Brain...again

The doctor told me to do nothing for a month..no work, no stress, no nothing.  He does, I know, live in a different world than I do.  Lucky for me, since I run my own business..no work..fine..No money, not so fine(:  I already got my fabric...lol.  No nothing??  The refrigerator broke and I did not want Himself to look for a new one without me.  Off we went.  He drove.  In the first store, I lasted 15 min tops before I had to go to the car and rest... dizzy..After that, any normal person would have said, take me home.  But, not an immortal superhero...no, not me.  We went to a second store.  Such a total mistake that I have not been able to function all weekend..sleeping, dizzy..and doing nothing...hmmmm....Guess there really is no Doctor O'Quilts!!

BTW, never order fabric when you have had a concussion...just FYI..Remember last week when once again   I was whining and feeling sorry for self???  Of course you do NOT.  Anyway, I ordered from here:
Fabric.com $3.95 blowout sale
Sew Me a Song Etsy shop
Equilter--50% off sale
Hancocks of Paducah--50% off sale.
Fabric.com and Sew Me a Song were awesome...I loved the fabric and it came in 48 hours.  Equilter and Hancocks took 6 days.  Equilter's color was off (to me)...and what in the world was I thinking at Paducah...oh, that is right..I had had a concussion...I think that they may have had one too, as they were out of the favorites I had ordered....Not complaining of course...fabric is still a delight.  Today...the bruised brain....is only being trusted with potholders and only now at 8 pm after doing nothing all day!!

 By the way Gunborg...if you are reading this...Did you make this??  I found it in one of the books I was glancing through as I was doing nothing.  It has your initials on it.  You must have sent it to Grandma for Christmas from Sweden when she was still alive.  Since she died 14 years ago at age 99...that must have been awhile...let me know....

The flange issue

The flange is the black metal side piece on the left quarter inch foot.  Since the feet for a Janome machine are relatively inexpensive, I bought a second foot and had the machine mechanic take the flange off of the foot. (I am sure you could do it yourself).

 Tonight I had the energy to try the two feet to see if there was a difference.

 I am Not a precision piecer.  I am a wonky, improvisational, fly by the seat of my pants quilter.  Because I sometimes work on a group quilt, I wanted to be sure that my blocks just might be the same as others...I will not hold my breathe.   So, I made these HSTs with the two different feet to see the difference.  If you are fussy, there may be 1/16th of an inch difference.  If you are not fussy, there is no discernible difference, IMHO.  The HSTs I made are below being auditioned for this medallion quilt. I made them  from this tutorial at Missouri Star

Progress is always a good thing

I finished this quilt this afternoon using my left foot on the peddle as the right one is still swollen.  I also went to the doctor.  The doctor said that I had bruised my brain and it would take 4 to 6 weeks to be myself...wow...He said I was lucky I did not break my neck..TBTG

That is progress....I was able to drive today...small miracles.  I visited my mother.  No, she had not been pining away for her eldest daughter.  In fact, she was preparing to leave on the bus for lunch bunch...Now that is surreal!...I like the way I quilted this..It is.right out of the dryer...channel quilting and then free-motion in the border...all in black...not that I was in a black mood or anything with my concussion thing going on.

The backing has Japanese cats and American dogs!!  Thank u Ruth and thank u Charmaine.

Lordy, is someone jealous or what???

I do not like to keep making the same kind of quilt  over and over...like to try something new.  But, under stress, I like easy..and so the same thing. (This past year there has been just a little bit of stress!!!)..I saw something similar on Red Pepper Quilts this morning.  I love it.  She did not use scraps, however and it is a different look.  Such an easy, easy scrap quilt.

Now I am having issues to share.  I have started hoarding my new Aurifil thread(:  I love it so much, I am trying to use up my old thread first.  Teetering on the edge of sanity...should I just throw the old stuff away...It takes twice the bobbin filling...sigh...I hear that you cannot take this stuff with you.  What a shame...

Getting courage from Rayna

 Rayna has a lot of courage in her life and in quilting.  I am getting courage from her!!  She says in this book that we can do it...we can all do it...She understands that we think sometimes that our fabric is too beautiful to use...oooooo  got that one..She says that there is no point in saving fabric for the great garage sale in the sky...How did she know??? She thinks we can get over it....Ok...

I did it...my new today fabric, I cut a 2" square and used it..not in a prize winning quilt, but in a potholder...gotta start somewhere.  Thank you Rayna!  Sorry, elephants(:

Fabric.com...were you jealous??

Thirty minutes after my treat from Sing Me a Song came in the mail....Fabric. com came by UPS....My husband answered the door.  Now, it is not that I didn't tell him what I had done...but when I saw how big the box was....well anyway...do I need to explain why this picture was taken on the dirty laundry room floor??  All in the wash already...my heart a-beating....a good thing...

 

FYI..the laundry room floor is right near the washing machine???  Yup, it is..I think my dizziness is lifting:)  And, just maybe my husband's bites are better???????

Sew Me a Song.....

Sew Me a Song I love you...you are the first of the four extravaganza's I succumbed to.  I couldn't help it...I had a concussion!!  Yours is the first to arrive and I am thrilled.

 My husband was cutting the grass yesterday and he ran over a Yellow Jacket nest.  He is upstairs on Benadryl trying to work from home, leg up and swollen.  I am downstairs surviving my concussion.  The big thunderstorm turned off our lights twice....but I have Sew Me a Song to brighten my day!!!!!

One hour--glass at a time...

I have timed myself today for progress...and if I am honest, for control.  I am able to stand and work for 15 min before I must sit or lie for dizziness as I recuperated from the effects of the concussion.  That means that I can get something done in those 15 min.  This top is now finished.  Design error...my brain was not working...lattice should have been 2" inch cut and not 1/5 to make quilt less busy with a better place for the eye to rest.  What can I say ..glad I could do it at all.

Marni and I have been friends for 20 plus years.  When she and her mother, with Dementia drove thru Charlotte to visit my mother with her Parkinson's,  I decided to give her a quilt.  She will be 60 in September.  Since my fall, I have once again realized that we are promised nothing.  Living in the day, she chose from four quilts, her birthday quilt.  Now...in the present...yes!  I thought that the Hourglass was very very appropriate.  ( In a less positive vibe, broken dishes could be appropriate too.)

"A man who is of sound mind, is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key", Paul Valery  Hey Paul, this is Diane here....I am trying!!!!

Red and black quilt and red and black eye

My eye and the rest of me is now in its glory.  I am all  red, black and blue.  But TBTG for all the wonderful fudge and M&M's I eat because I am well padded, thus breaking nothing but my pride.  Below is this quilt on my design wall...trying to decide on the size of the cross.  I think that the picture is too close up to judge.

I am a bit discouraged.  I cannot think clearly.  The hospital called for an eval of my visit.  I gave them a glowing report of the ER doctor...But later I realized that the doctor's name was not Abernathy, it was Scarborough...Jeeze.Why would they even call someone who had had a concussion for that info...They should have waited till 2013..My husband drove me to see my mother because I am still a bit dizzy.  We had a nice visit and I am still dizzy..Poor me...Well, the one spot that is not bruised is my typing hand..you know, that one which is so able to press "Order now" on the following:

Fabric.com $3.95 blowout sale

Sew Me a Song Etsy shop

Equilter--50% off sale

Hancocks of Paducah--50% off sale.

I mean really, I could have died and then what????  No more fabric shopping??  Gotta get it done now while I am still here..  Off to bed, again, says the whiner.......

The red block process and the concussion progress

I am feeling better...11:30 at night and well enough to sew these blocks together and put them on the design wall.  For past quilts, I have made so many of these 2.5 or 3 inch blocks attached to 6" strips, that I decided to try something different.  The dizziness has finally gone from my head..TBTG

Every 4th of July, someone knocks on my door to ask if it is ok with us that they use the cul-de-sac for fireworks.  I always say that it is not my cul-de-sac and I am fine with what they want to do.  Three families, I think with lots of children.  They certainly know what they are doing.  They are very safe with water and rules, etc.  AND they must spend at least 3,000$$$ between them all for these fireworks.  Every year my husband and I sit on the outside bench and watch.  City of Charlotte has nothing on these folks!! It was truly wonderful. I did feel sorry for my mother though.  She loves the 4th of July and the flag.  My father was career Air Force.  But, it could not be helped.  I couldn't go there and she couldn't come here.  She sounded so sad.  Maybe she was just worried about me.  Me, a silly goose with a goose egg or two, or three or four!!

The concussion

I cannot believe I did a post last night...I really must be a blogging junkie...OMG  I had a concussion. With the morning light, I have a black eye, a swollen face, a fanny bruise a swollen leg and hands that are sore...I am dead sure you want to know all this!  Anyway I am fine.  My husband was a saint.  He knew all what to do and took great care of me.  I am so afraid that if I walked in on him unconscious at the foot of the stairs, that I would just pass out right on top of him.  My sewing foot works, but I doubt these sore hands, that must have braced myself, will be sewing today...but maybe...Thank you for listening to my sad but lucky tale!

the great day turns yucky

Just back from the ER...guess I am still in shock..so I am posting while my husband frets.  He had just called from the farmer's market on the way home when I decided to put fresh sheets on the bed.  Marni gave me a chair lift for my mother.  She never used it, but for me with my arthritis, it has been a luxury.  Tonight, I grabbed the sheets and up I went.  Of course I did see that it was broken, but why would that bother me????  Wonderful me??  My husband came home from work to find me unconscious on the floor.  I remember nothing of how I got to the floor...l remember nothing of getting into the car to go to the Urgent Care.  When I did not know the date, they called the ambulance to take me downtown to the big place...jeeze...Got xrays and a head Cat scan...Remarkable that they found nothing in my head:)..Doc said I will be totally sore for days...nice...one more statistic...elderly woman falls down stairs and cannot sew for decades.  So that is my big bang for the fourth...Hubby said to bed..I think he is right...you will hear me howling tomorrow...

Tuesday, GW and me

This is all Melissa's fault.  She is a GWG (Goodwill groupie).  When I see what she gets..oh, my heart skips...and today is Tuesday.  Please do not go to GW on Tuesday if you are not a ________.and thus deserve, well earned....a 25% discount.  Because on Tuesdays at GW, there are no parking places, there are lots of people and a bit of pushing going on...not me of course.  And, all the handicap spots are filled.  I hit two of them today, both on Hwy 521.  My catch of the day is below....men...no..men's shirts, not men...believe me.....the shirts were the better catch at the GW today...So, the first one is Fat Albert.  Perfect for me.  Our mother's name is Alice.  When my brother, now 60, was in his adorable and disrespectful adolescence, he would call our Mother, Fat Al.  She had a very small middle aged spread at the time..and he would come up behind her and shake her shoulders and say something like..How is Fat Al today?  Memories....of course I was no better.  I would huff with disgust pontificating that I would never let myself go like she did!!  Ha..payback...not nice..And so this shirt screamed buy me, so I did.

 More on the conservative side, still 100 percent cotton...All shirts are already in the washing machine getting cleaned from GW and ready to be cut up for quilting.

 $3 a shirt and 75 cents for these bats to replace our broken ones for the grands...

Such a wonderful day.   First, I was off to the pool for some exercise, home just in time to work an hour...then lunch while I shopped the  Fabric.com $3.95 blowout sale.  For an hour I put beautiful things in my cart.  It all came to $80 some.  Now upstairs in our home there is an austerity program going on, downstairs not so much.  But, even I know that $80 is too much, so I just closed out the whole thing.  Sometimes Fabric.com will send a coupon the next day for an empty cart...if so then I will rethink things...if not, I had a great time at GW...thank you Melissa.