fun with betty

my machine has been feeling neglected and why shouldn't she....aside from some hand sewing and a bare few minutes at the machine, she's been idle, waiting patiently.   this morning before zombie meds take over, wanted to play a bit.  during my first hospital stay, a friend brought me this thrift store book.  inside was a very pretty plaid quilt that immediately caught my eye.  with a significant plaid stash, always on the lookout for ideas to use them. i especially love the spiral binding too!

these are a great size for quick paper piecing.  when i returned home for good, traced out a couple of triangles and pretty happy with the result.  this will be a quick project and good for hand quilting.  thinking a flannel back will make it ultra cozy. 

this is my 3rd new start this year, but still hoping to knock off a couple of small finishes before year's end putting the 2018 UFO list in good shape.  my OT kindly put up my folding table as hoping to baste a flimsy this weekend to start quilting in january.  ***  in addition to basting a quilt this weekend, laundry needs to be done and that longed-for, dreamy shower is on the list as well...hoping to eradicate the remaining tape residue from various places and feel more like a person and less like a patient....always good!

november swan song

today was my first day back at the senior center quilting group since october...was great to see mostly all my quilty peeps again and get caught up with them.  i brought along the honeycomb project and got quite a bit done for all the chatting that happened.

i wanted to get the side rows done to see exactly how large this center portion will be and can now fill in with the units left and hopefully get the colors placed evenly.  you can see the navy setting triangles, which are very small, but there is a narrow navy blue border all around, probably 3" finished, and then a wider border all around, which will probably be 6" finished.  not sure if there's anything in my stash large enough for the outer border but then i don't need it today either.  hoping to shop the stash when the time comes.  ***  got to thursday without any daytime naps but really needed it this afternoon.  it has been a busy week with must-do walking, a few fun events, homecare people and visitors.  my first doctor follow up garnered lots of surprises with regard to my progress.  the only one who expected more is, of course, me.  i've been home a couple of weeks now and managing pretty well with dressing, basin baths, meal prep, dishes and picking up, but laundry is starting to accumulate and still waiting for that first, dreamy foray in the shower....tomorrow maybe?   the bookmobile came this week so finally have some good reading on hand.  really itching to sit down at the machine and try some things i've seen online.  and i've a quilt that needs basting to start the quilting.   maybe this weekend will give me some extended time for both.   now that december is here, want to pull out some holiday stuff too.  my gift list is down pat, just hoping to focus on increasing activity level and getting beyond the recovery stage.  everyone tells me it comes eventually! 

sewing drought over!

finally after 36 long days without a needle in my hand or my foot on the pedal, have done both today!  woke early this morning feeling fine so after breakfast, my required walk and a facecloth bath, sat down at the machine and worked some on potholders.  didn't plan on sewing long, just a bit to get back in the sewing swing of things.   then, pulled out this aging UFO to see how much could get done today.

this is another project languishing in a drawer started to use up some cherrywood solid scraps.  it isn't a large quilt per se; borders will be 6" i believe, but colorful and great for hand quilting.  the meds i have to take right now pretty much flatten me, so up until now have just been taking up chair space too much of the time.  at least now the time on forced rest should result in some sewing progress.  and time spent in "toil of the needle", as hawthorne called it, is never wasted.  ***  chilly, sunny and windy today.  still no driving for me but soon and then it's cardiac rehab.  have noticed a bunch of little improvements as a result of my surgery and expect more will come.  but the biggest is just delight and grateful to be alive.....it IS a wonderful life!