settling in

it's been another busy and somewhat harrowing week post move and surgery...leg swelling almost gone, two more weeks of home RN, more boxes gone and more things found!  i think i had a total of 62 boxes in all...down to 8-9...most containing sewing stuff and fabric.  the down time gave me a chance to decide where things go and how to maximize storage and ease of use.  

fortunately my apartment next to trash room so just sneak next door to shed these as they get emptied.  and what did get accomplished?

books and CDs got their new home...easy to access and neatly stacked.  the tall shelves they were on has been repurposed to kitchen for pans and small appliances....no more diving into lower cabinets trying to find things.  bedroom will be sewing annex with these, treadle and fabric stash.  

my slow motion status partly due to slashing my caffeine intake....cardioman said to cut in half, which i've done, but not without annoying loss of energy.  worth it to keep off blood thinner.  

lastly, in the 'never rain but pours' department, my dear sis has been hospitalized with a serious event...she is our family's youngest and has had many trials--like me--so if you are a praying person, please remember her today. 

as promised....

this is a quilty post!  it's been just about 3 weeks since discharge and slowly on the mend with my leg.  grossly underestimated recovery and magnitude of surgery itself...home RN and PT on board....might be independent again by May 1st...but i digress....

doesn't everyone move only 3 days after getting out of the hospital?  yep, have traded mid-maryland for eastern closer to my daughter and son-in-law.  not the best time but couldn't be helped.  my angel sister-in-law came for a week to help and ply her nursing skills.  so at present things are in a mostly disorganized state....

space is configured a bit different and living room smaller but it'll work eventually....this is the studio corner....stash is still in the bedroom, most in boxes yet...

was shocked to see how many finished things i had....boxes of them!  this is just one pile of quilts and wall quilts.  bottom shelf of stash also contains finished items...

with one good leg and leg care it'll be a couple of weeks before all the boxes are gone, tolerable by me.  am blessed to have a comfortable and safe place with plenty of natural light, close to all my regular haunts and to airport for trips to maine....which, by the way, got postponed.  

so, boring Easter for me this year...thankfully services are online and get to worship even with a bum leg. that's the important thing anyway....hoping to get sewing machine set up this week.  have a wall quilt ready to bind if peg leg cooperates....

No fun here....

Once again a guest of local -- and excellent -- medical facility due to yet another complication of new status as lifelong cardiac patient.... For those of you oblivious, a hematoma is a blood clot in tissue, not venous system...somehow I've developed several in lots of places, most pesky is my leg.  They do self destruct but very slowly, hence this!!!

A week plus now and things are improving and my exercise has paid off handsomely once again.  That plus expert boy surgeon...had to be under 30....are putting me right as rain...

Apologies if you are grossed out but promise will return to guilty stuff next post....

national quilting day

not too much of that going on here...it's been a confusing sort of week around here and sitting at the machine didn't happen, but some needlework done.

this prayer in cross stitch got started when ?  cannot recall but time to finish.  stitching while TV watching is great for disarming dilemmas and if it gets done, that's a win/win.  two possible places to go when finished, so that's always a motivator.  

another semi-hidden project got unearthed.  in that galaxy far, far away, background pieces were cut for this block....tons of muslin in little baggies just waiting for me....

the reason interest waned is because originally cut ALL the pieces the wrong size, for this 5" block, which was not the original plan.  so they got tucked away but now there is a destination for these blocks so back on the active list.  deadline is summer so plenty of time, and clearing this drawer will make me smile.  

another tuscan starburst was sewn and quilting on kaffe's lozenges was completed, just needs binding so watch for a finish next week some time.

this year for St. Patrick's Day indulged in a smidgen of corned beef, something i've avoided until now, but just a few bites along with the regular veg and some homemade soda bread made for a celebratory treat.  

spring arrives monday but it's been cooler, such that exploding blooms belie the fact.  biting winds hang on to everyone's dismay.  winter came and went with no snow which is just fine with me, but won't be so happy come july and august.  hoping don't have to wear my winter coat to maine in a few weeks!

one photo this week

lots of other diversions this week but did manage to finish all 13 of the star blocks in part 1 of the Quiltmania mystery.  just starting the applique blocks that might be done by weekend's finish....we'll see.

color's not exact but close enough to get the idea.  Part 2 is now out and consists of 3 small birdie blocks and some flower applique blocks....not sure how many....will have to look closer when i get my issue.  

good news in the health dept...won't bore you with details but happy to say improvement continues albeit with some function totally normal and some that simply won't ever be...doesn't disable me exactly but my walking and standing endurance is affected.  i had a wee cry over it but then off to the gym swapping that negative for a positive.  my living situation has contributed, unfortunately, with corporate scum who dropped the ball on their so-called mission statement of "residents first."  oh yeah?  well i've got a bridge for sale too...

it's been a sorta of wintry day here with a few flakes this morning that quickly turned over to rain--damp, gray, chilly and gloomy--but chicken soup on the stove for me and my soul!  good thing it's only 18 days to my maine trip...just hoping no snowstorms while i'm there!

short post

my weekend was busy doing lots of things but not much sewing or fabric-related stuff.  mostly i finished kitting up "alaska" blocks...

doesn't sound or look like much but it was a big, time-consuming task....12 different blocks....each baggie contained pieces for 4 blocks....each block had max 12-14 pieces....you do the math.  all cut by hand with scissors, templates traced on fabric after ironing....yeah a big job.  

in addition, did quite a bit of hand quilting on the lozenge wall quilt--you've seen that.  and more prep on the quiltmania mystery part 1--you've seen those as well.  the remaining 7 star blocks had to be cut and the circles on the 4 applique blocks had to be prepped.  

all the above plus laundry, cooking, exercising and other such boring stuff.  anyway, hoping this week will reap some finishes and moving projects forward.  the weather is dynamite at high 50s.  only a couple appointments this week too.  next weekend is daylight savings....bring it on!

sunday report

so many bloggers have posted photos of beautiful flowers that inspired me to send this to my mom for her birthday.....it bloomed 2 days after but beautiful nonetheless....called 'apple blossom'...if only the sun were out when the photo was taken....across the street is construction of a new police station so all the residents get to be sidewalk engineers...LOL!

it was a busy sewing sunday.....finished placemats....

and blue lanterns got some progress....

thinking maybe 20 blocks in all for this wall piece or 30 at most, will see.  these sew up so very quickly....finished all these in about an hour. 

then caved for another new start...my absolute last for now.  first i need to apologize to a zoom quilty pal.  i sort of agreed to sew a quilt with her--"make it blue" by natalie bird--but bailed as i already had a blue piece in progress--"alaska".  didn't feel i could commit to another large quilt project.  but now the Quiltmania mystery has called to me, reasoning i wasn't committed beyond what i wanted to do.  and what color is it?  blue with yellow....so that's 3 blue projects....here's what got done today.  in the nick of time since the next issue/step comes out march...

 

a respectable start and step 1 might be done before too long into march--only 7 stars to go.  Miss Sunny is a machine of a "certain age" so without many bells and whistles of newer machines.  she does, however, come with attachments.  pulled out the single needle throat plate, making piecing of small units much easier...had never used before but will leave it on for the time being.

 

another week with few must do items.  might have to resort to house chores...😕

winding down

the week, that is.  summer was here yesterday, nearly 80 and quite enjoyable.  a pesky medication glitch interrupted but didn't detour...gave me time to decide.   

for the Quiltmania mystery...i know, i know, plenty of UFOs and such but i can only resist temptation so long....thinking about what was on hand and what combo would work.  i purchased this solid yellow some time ago for some sort of yellow quilt.  i can get more if need be.  i can bail at any point as well.  so yellow background and blues it is.  i've lots of them in different fabric styles--batik, repro, kaffe etc.  so an eclectic collection.  weekend start it is....camera is subpar in color representation.

and in the moving things along department....

2 more starbursts cut and ready for hand sewing.  thinking should make them all before hunting background pieces...and another golden print is needed as well.  

the lozenge/shuttle wall quilt is half quilted so probably won't be a february finish, no doubt soon after.  plenty of diversions for the weekend and upcoming week with no appointments except my old pal Gym...LOL!

in the interest of keeping the quilting community informed, publishing this page to some FREE Kim Diehl patterns...I am not responsible for any or all you choose to download and/or drool over.  http://quiltinspiration.blogspot.com/2023/02/free-pattern-day-kim-diehl-quilts.html

have a good day!

midweek sewing

one of those days....up early and usual tasks done before 7 am...time to sew!  the first thing on my list was to baste the spider web wall quilt....done!  then, since i was basting, pulled out these to get them done as well....

the lighting is horrid but you get the idea.  my stash santa gifted me a whole bunch of christmas-theme squares....a couple of stockings were made and then these 2 placemats.  not only got them basted but busted a couple of ho-hum red prints besides...

once machine quilted, will bind in a pretty holiday red and off to the thrift!  next?  

the 'blue lanterns' wall quilt UFO, barely started.  now fully committed since i cut up the entire piece of background into strips.  when they're all used, it'll be done.  *** and in the 'blame it on bonnie' department....have you seen her solids quilt 'butterfly kisses'?  well i was hooked immediately but have tried to ignore in favor of my UFO list....but no longer.  the stash santa also gifted me a bunch of hand dyes in various rich colors...

they are corralled in a square container and just had to try one square....

oh yeah, these will go together fairly quick.  no size determined as of yet but these are 8" unfinished.  speaking of temptation, quilty muse drawn to the 2023 Quiltmania mystery.  now i mostly NEVER do mystery quilts but seen so many awesome blocks so far so went ahead and downloaded step 1...

thinking about colors/prints/style so not definitely in yet, but i fear it's a matter of time!  next?  i'll be cutting binding strips for the spider web and placemats.  the spider web wall piece is UFO #5 for this year and #6 is the shuttles/lozenges in the hoop.  *** aside from sewing and gym visits not much doing.  bookmobile comes today so have to go thru my kaffe books once more and copy what i want before returning.  ***  in closing, another cardio test earlier this week came back with good result...ejection fraction, which measures how efficient the heart is functioning, is now 60-65% with normal being 55-70%....it was 45% just before surgery, so color me very delighted.  firmly believe the exercise has made the biggest difference--great motivation to continue!

the finish

the twisted star wall piece is now done and another UFO crossed off...

only 22" square and busting just under a yard, even so....one less UFO lying around in wait..besides, i like it a lot.  what else?  this became a flimsy just this morning...

i like this one too but gotta say Miss Sunny is not terribly fond of the corners with so much bulk.  we came to a truce and got it done.  thinking machine quilting on the featherweight will finish it up.  another small one at 24" square so another yard and skosh will be used when finished.  *** UFO #5 is in the hoop, the kaffe lozenges or shuttles; 2 rows quilted with 8 to go.  done before march?  could be...

no new starts yet this year but may cave soon with bonnie hunter's luscious solids quilt "butterfly kisses"....mine won't be bed size and have already drafted an 8" finished block.  a stack of hand dyed fabrics gifted to me are ideal to use.  

friday night zoom with the chookshed gals played with another UFO.  it's "Alaska" by Edyta Sitar.  Had pulled fabrics--all from stash except one--and now kitting up blocks for traveling. 

pieces for 12 different blocks, 4 of each, are cut and put into baggies with directions to tuck into carryon bag for airplane waiting and family visiting.  this is a no rush project but perhaps a flimsy by year's end...

that's about it...another day with no plans, like most of my weeks.  aside from gym and one lab visit, my week's wide open.  thought about trekking to lancaster but weather is going to be unsettled most of week so postponed.  we are on the cusp of spring here with flowers up and budded, just waiting for the signal from Mother Nature that winter is truly over.  have a blessed day!