It's back!

I finally got that Laurel Burch horse quilt top http://quiltingthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-is-quilt-top-i-made-for-our.html  to the quilter, and she got it finished and returned it to me at the quilt guild meeting on Monday.   The timing was great, as our son and his family are still here visiting.  I got the binding made today, and will put it on tomorrow, so KayAnn can take it home with her when they leave Friday.  I'm so glad it was done in time for me to give it to her while they're here.

Our little dogs, Molly and Dolly, have been getting used to the family.  They still stick to me like sand burs to socks, but this morning, after Bill, Don, Daniel, and KayAnn took off to go to Goliad for some sightseeing, both of them joined me on the couch, even though Josi and Billy were in the living room with me.  Dolly needed about 20 minutes to decide it was safe to join Molly and me, but then snuggled down for a nap.  They have come a long way over the last 2 weeks.

It's been a while since I've visited here.  I've been getting through the things that needed to be done, working on getting Mom's estate stuff done, which didn't take a long time--she had her ducks in a row, which made it so much easier.  If you don't have a recent will and an executor or -trix that knows where everything is, please do get that done.  Make things simple for your loved ones.

It's been a good news-bad news situation since the last post.  Good news--Bill had his biopsies done, and the bladder cancers are gone for now.  He will have more chemo in a couple of months, and another round 3 months after that, just to make sure.  Then we had to have our elderly Shar Pei put down.  Then Bill had his prostate surgery, which went well.  Then, I was wandering around looking at dogs on PetFinders and spotted these little ladies.  We knew that if we got another dog, it would need to be small, so we would still be able to boost it in the car easily.  We knew we wanted an adult dog, past the chewing stage, and housebroken.  These girls are Toy Fox Terriers, and are supposed to weigh 7 pounds each, but were a bit overweight when we got them.  Brownie the Shar Pei weighed around 45 pounds in her younger days, so we calculated that it would take 6.5 of these little ones to match her weight, LOL.  We're working on getting the ladies down to 7 pounds.  They were very poorly socialized, having come from a breeder who was 91 when she released them to the dog rescue in San Antonio where we got them.  They still aren't entirely sure that Bill isn't going to skin and eat them, since apparently the only men they ever saw would have been a plumber or handyman once in a great while.  They have imprinted on me, and follow me everywhere, which has greatly simplified the leash training.  Molly is the one with the very narrow blaze on her forehead--she has found that Bill is a Giver Of Cheese, so she's thinking he might be okay.  Dolly, with the wide white blaze, is reserving judgement.

I have been selling off my collection of antique and vintage sewing machines, since I can no longer carry them myself, but have begun collecting some Singer Featherweight machines.  They are light enough to not stress my knee unduly. So far, I have a lovely crinkle finish machine from 1939, and am hoping to get a machine from the first batch of Featherweights ever made, in 1933.  I've picked up 3 machines just to work on, and to pass on to other buyers eventually.  I'm thinking of having one painted in some outrageous color, since its paint is damaged anyway.

And I'm beginning to see some progress on getting my studio back into working order.  I am getting the urge to do some quilting again, at last!

A sad day

This morning I got up a little earlier than usual, and took off around 0920 to pick up Mom's clothes at the nursing home so I could do the laundry today.  When I arrived, the nurses met me in the hall, to let me know that Mom had just passed away.  She hadn't wanted to get up for breakfast, and she had turned down her meds, and moments later, she slipped away.  They had been trying to reach me.  My brother arrived soon after, and we sat with Mom until the hospice nurse arrived and called the funeral home.  We had some time before they arrived, to talk with the hospice nurse, and with the nursing staff that took such good care of Mom for the last 10 months of her life.

I have great ambivalence about this.  I'm going to sorely miss having my Mom.  But she has wanted to go for more than two years, and I know she's glad God finally remembered her.  I have this vision in my mind tonight of Mom and Pop, all dressed up and dancing with their buddies that have been gone for a while, maybe to Glen Miller's orchestra, or Benny Goodman.  The last time they danced together was two weeks before Pop passed away, in 2005.

Rest in peace, Mom.  I love you.

So here's why I've not been active here for a while....

This is my Mom, a few years ago when I had just finished this quilt for her bed.  Now, she's 91, has dementia, and is in the nursing home she picked out last April before the dementia had progressed much.  Mom falls every few days, and we're praying she doesn't break a hip. The law forbids using a Posey restraint now, since elderly confused people who don't remember to call for help before getting up have a right to not be restrained, and to break their hips/arms without hindrance. Makes me furious.

I've just not had the heart to visit the blog for a while.

Still waiting to find out whether Bill's chemo was effective--he has an appointment for outpatient surgery on Feb. 17th for biopsies. We're on pins and needles waiting to find out. .

Will be starting PT for my knee tomorrow afternoon, and still dealing with learning that I'm probably never going to be able to carry more than 10 or 15 pounds safely--there goes my hobby of collecting and repairing old sewing machines. Heavy sigh.  The old machines weigh 2 or 3 times that much.

Prayers and positive thoughts for the three of us would be greatly appreciated.

Madeline's quilt

Madeline is my niece Wendy's middle child, and is now going to a college in Memphis, TN.  A few years ago, I made a quilt for each of Wendy's kids.  Maddie likes darker colors, and chose this pattern.  It looks a bit complex, but it's really not.  I made 9 patches, sewed them together with alternating plain blocks into large 9 patches, set them on point, and put them together with alternating plain blocks again.  I like the almost wrought-iron look of the overall lattice.  The green fabric is really darker than it appears in this photo, which was taken in full sunlight.  I had it longarm-quilted, and like the way the design compliments the quilt.

On another note, I'm very pleased to be able to say that my knee is improving.  I will be seeing the ortho doc again on the 16th.  I'm hoping it will heal well without having to have surgery.  I almost think I could do without the walker now, but I don't entirely trust this knee to not crumble under me.

So today I  finally got to see the ortho doctor.  He sent me off for an MRI, and is going on vacation.  Drat.  I won't be able to see him again until January 16th.  We can then discuss the results of the MRI, and talk about arthroscopy.  In addition to ligaments being injured, he's pretty sure I've damaged the meniscus as well (cartilage), so that will need some tidying up.  At any rate, I'm likely to be out of action for a while.  He said to continue using a walker, and gave me two pages of exercises to strengthen the leg muscles.  He said I may not be able to do them all, depending on how much the cartilage bits and pieces bother me.  I intend to do as much as I'm able to--I really need to get this dratted knee working again, and ASAP.

I don't know if I'll be able to demonstrate working on a treadle at our quilt show at the end of January or not, but I hope so.  I've done that in the past, and had a grand time.  Kids are fascinated with the mechanism, and the machine brings back fond memories for lots of people of watching their grandmothers sew on treadles when they were young.  

Several years ago, I received a catalog from Keepsake Quilting that had a pattern for this simple Log Cabin variation.  I thought it would look really nifty made up in Batik fabrics, so sliced up a lot of strips and went at it.  As you can see, I like color, and plenty of it.  :)This ended up going to one of the grandkids.  I quilted it on my Singer 319 treadle sewing machine, using the #20 disc, which makes a pleasant wavy line, very nice for sewing over the seams for simple quilting without having to be super careful to stay  in-the-ditch.  I can think of lots of other variations that would be nice, too, but haven't actually tried any of them out.

Below is a pic of the quilting.

I like that curvy line a lot.

Only 5 more days until I get to see the ortho doc!  :)