Busy But Not Overly Productive

This is how far I have gotten on Gentle Rain.  I have the bottom band (32 rows, a garter stitch band (8 rows) and the beginning of the body of the shell (maybe 2”) of SS knitting.  I will be doing this for about 9” before I get to the beginning of the arm holes.  I am doing  some decreasing to make a fitted waist area (4 rows per decrease).  Anyway, I am on my way up, when I get a chance to work on it.

Monday we took my HQ 16 to be serviced, first time in the 10 years I have had it.  Just prior to my getting sick last Spring it started cutting the thread about every 20 – 30 stitches.  I was 3/4 of the way through a small lap quilt and got pretty frustrated.  About that same time I found that I couldn’t stand for very long so even taking the bobbin out and cleaning the area was difficult.  Then I just found myself spending my days sitting in the living room and eventually in the hospital and bedridden.

Over the past couple of months my strength has begun to come back, I can walk better and I think my standing strength will eventually return.  So I decided I better get that quilting machine up and running as I have some tops that need quilting, some blocks that need putting together and some ideas than need to be showing up in fabric.  And, of course, I have a studio that really needs to be cleaned up, especially the cutting table and ironing board.

Oh, and I forgot that Wednesday I got a call that the HQ was cleaned and oiled and stitching so she was ready to come home.  It is a 180 mile round trip each time but well worth it.  My machine is now back on the rails and all I have to do is plug in the stitch regulator and reattach the bottom of the quilt and I think I will be ready to finish that little quilt.  I do need to thank our son in law who came over both times to help carry the machine from studio to car and then from car to studio.  

In addition to quilting, I hope, I need to find something I can make and finish before the end of the month.  I didn’t finish anything last month and nothing looks like it will be finished this month unless I get to it.  I think I am going to get back to doing some machine embroidery.  I have several shirts that need embellishing, maybe even with applique.  Oh, the ideas that are buzzing around in my head. 

Our weekend will again be graced by our oldest son and his wife.  They have been coming to see us monthly ever since I got sick.  Initially they came to see how I was doing but now I think they come just because they like us.  They arrive on Friday night and leave on Saturday afternoon: they have major responsibilities at their church so they have to be there every Sunday.  And they drive 500+ miles monthly for these visits.  You know that makes us very grateful.  So we will be having a wonderful weekend, how about you?  Gari

Linking with Patchwork Times.

Birthday Month Part 4 & Conclusion

Nov 26:  It is hard to believe that Birthday Month is coming to an end.  Today I got another AU ornament.  Initially I decorated the bedroom with them but on Iron Bowl Saturday Eric used them to decorate our front door to ward off evil Bama spirits.























Nov 27:  My gift on this day was a pair of AU tights for me to wear on my birthday.  I was quite concerned as tights have never been my friends.  However I have lost enough weight that they fit great.

































Nov 28: It’s a new iPad.  I have an old one that has difficulty holding a charge and Eric has been keeping it going for me.  Now it will be easier to charge it and my responsibility.  And I had it up and running before I went to bed (tech savvy).
























And on my birthday we had all four of our children here: first time all together in 27 years.  I felt like crying but I didn’t.  We even had three of the four spouses plus some of the adult children.  There were lots of laughs and a significant amount of AUBURN/alabama trash talk.

























As you can tell from this picture, fun was had by all.  And I spent the whole day smiling, I was so happy.


















Nov 29:  Before I could get up Eric presented me with these owl wind chimes.  The owl is beautiful and the chime is delicate.  I think I will attach it to the bed so I will hear the chime with movement.  I wonder how long that will last. 






















Nov 30:  My last Birthday Month gift is on back order and didn’t make it here.  I guess the good news is that I still have one gift to look forward to.  The bad news is that it leaves this month incomplete.  But it has been a really fun month and I have enjoyed sharing it.





One more thing, I did get these socks done and gifted to my daughter on her birthday (16th).  Because they were started before I got sick and were finished after I finally have begun to feel so much better, they really felt special.



And now we leave Birthday Month and enter the Christmas season.  See you back here next November 1st for another Birthday Month. Meanwhile we will continue with our regularly scheduled knitting and hopefully quilting blog.  Have a great week,    Gari

On My Needles

I was a little more productive in October.  I have been knitting on these socks since May.  Of course I stopped all knitting (and quilting) in June and didn’t pick up anything until September.  So I am very pleased with where I am on these: I am almost ready to begin the heels.  I will be doing the FLK heel on them and, after several viewings of the videos, I assume that I will have no problems with them.  Then just a short leg on each and these should be done, hopefully, by mid-November.

I have other socks on needles.  They are going to be my leftover socks using only leftover yarn from earlier completed socks.  I don’t know how they are going to look but I think they will be fun to knit once the different yarns come into play.  However since I only have the toes done I have quite a ways to go.







I do have 5 finished washcloths which I will consider as one finish.  These are my mindless knitting projects and I really do enjoy making and using them. 











Health Report:  Today I had my monthly oncologist appointment.  Every month I have had to have blood drawn and the lab report is sent to him.  He then determines how I am doing.  So far my blood has told him that both me and the medications are doing well.  However, for the next two months I have to do this every two weeks (bummer).  Each time the doctor has to decide if I continue on the medication based on my blood work.  So far I haven’t had any of the side effects that are listed on 2 pages but I don’t have any control over what my blood tells him.

One more piece of good news is that I am being dropped from Home Health because I am doing so well.  This means no more aides, no more nurses, and only 3 more physical therapy sessions over the next 2 weeks.  I have really appreciated the help I have received from these workers and will miss our talks but I am also looking forward to not having to plan my days around when they are coming.  I know that I will need their assistance again when this disease really takes over so I am going to enjoy this respite for as long as these medicines give me.  And maybe I will be able to get strong enough to be able to get back to quilting.

Speaking of quilting, I have downloaded the instruction sheet for Bonnie Hunter’s mystery that begins on November 27th.  I plan to pull as many of the colors she has chosen from my stash as I can and then see about another fabric shopping trip.  I have done only one of her mysteries but I started the last one and still have everything boxed up hoping that I can get back to it.  This time I am thinking of making a small throw and not a full quilt.  Also this time I am thinking of using the same colors as Bonnie.  I wonder if I can do it, I usually want to take off on my own. 


We had company last weekend, our oldest son and his wife came to check on us.  And for most of the day our puppies were all over them getting as much love and attention as they could.  However all that activity eventually tired out the most energetic of them. 



Sadie was completely worn out and fell asleep on two pieces of furniture.  I guess there wasn’t enough room for her on the footstool so her head had to go onto the table close by.  Poor baby.







And now I had better get busy doing my exercises before the PT person gets here to check on my progress.  Have a great week everybody,  Gari

Family, Progress, and Fun

Lookie, lookie, I finally figured out how to get pictures back on my blog.  It seems that Google/Blogger is not playing well with Microsoft Edge which comes with Windows 10 so I had to add Google Chrome so I could access my photos.  

Anyway, this is one picture of part of our family (see list of names and associations on the last post) after we had finished a great breakfast together.  I am the one sitting.  And this was taken prior to my last surgery.

And this is the other part of the family that was here the day before.  I am the head of hair in the lower right corner.  It truly was a fun filled weekend.

Last weekend our oldest son and his wife were here from Atlanta but we didn't take any pictures.  I had finally begun to feel somewhat steady on my new hip so we took off for breakfast at my favorite fast food place, Whataburger, and then to staples to buy a day planner.  I was beginning to loose track of when different people were coming and decided I needed a place to write it all down.  Between all the home health people and four doctors who want to see me I am a very busy lady.

But guess what! Last Wednesday no one was scheduled to come.  Eric and I looked at one another and decided it was time for us to visit Pensacola.  We ate at a favorite place and then went shoe shopping.  And we did very well for ourselves.

Funny, I didn't get a picture of the 3 pair Eric got for himself.  What I did learn is that 3 hours in the car and both of us were stiff in the joints.  I guess we are out of travel condition (and of course we are getting older).

And last but not least, I spent 4 hours in the studio yesterday.

I had already gotten the appliques on the background but hadn't stitched them down. Now this one is complete.  Unfortunately I am 5 months behind on the two BOMs I was working on and hadn't even started on the new one I for sure want to do.  But I did feel productive so I guess I will be in the studio again this weekend.

And when it came time for a rest I could be found on the deck with our wonderful animals.

Have a great weekend everybody, I know I will.  Gari

The Fun Continues

This area is supposed to contain a picture of the people mentioned in the first paragraph.  I am VERY unhappy with Blogger, which has got to hell since Google took over, as I have been unable to upload any pictures.  But I am leaving the picture information just because I want the family names to be here.

This is not the whole family of visitors we had last weekend but it is a good representation.  I got to be the one sitting down and I am joined by my daughter (Lisa), husband (Eric), son (Todd and Lisa’s twin), grandson (Gus), granddaughter in law (Paige), and grandson (Jamie).  Missing was our son in law (Gary the picture taker), daughter in law (Jessica resting in the car), granddaughter (Elsa confined in the car), grandson (Chris who went home Saturday), granddaughter in law (Michelle who went home with her husband), and great grandson (Ryder who was carried off by his parents).

The party started around noon on Saturday.  I had planned to greet everyone out on the deck but the humidity went up and I went in.  So I greeted them from my hospital bed in the living room.  The nice thing about our family is that they are VERY social so the conversation never lagged and I did not have to keep things going.

Our dogs (three doxies) are not used to a lot of people.  The oldest, who is afraid of strangers and loud noises, spent the day leaning against my husband but she really did alright.  The other two quickly warmed up to the two youngest crawlers.  It was having those babies down on the floor with them.  And, boy the kissing that went on.

The one thing the dogs did not get to join in on was the food.  Our daughter planned the menu and brought all the food.  And our son in law is a great cook.  He brought his grill, set it up under one of our younger oak trees and proceeded to grill steak, shrimp and quail.  We then proceeded to eat, talk, and laugh. Quite a raucous group: it’s a good thing we live out in the country.

On Sunday the group in the picture above met for breakfast.  This is a place by the side of the road where we had never eaten but we will go back.  I haven’t had any appetite for a few months but on this Sunday morning I wanted 2 eggs over easy, hashbrowns, bacon, toast and coffee.  I could only eat half but I toted it home and had it the next day: good the second time around.  Then after breakfast the group broke up and started heading home.  I was still running on a pacemaker high so Eric and I drove 56 miles away so we could eat at my favorite hamburger place, Whataburger, get coffee and a donut at Dunkin, and then good grocery shopping at Publix.  Then it was time to go home and crash.

Health Update:  Tuesday I showed up at 7am to get ready for hip replacement surgery.  I hadn’t slept much the night before so I think I was asleep before they gave me the anesthetic.  I am told that the operation took about 4 hours.  I, again, didn’t have any pain while lying in bed.  However, standing on my poor, cut up leg was a different matter.  I resorted to pain management.  Initially I had Demerol IM but was told that no one was going to come to the house every time I wanted to get up so I better use the pills.  While in the hospital I saw a physical therapist twice a day: interestingly I took a pain pill twice a day.  He gave me leg exercises, walked with me a little and then had me sit in a chair for 30-60 minutes.  On Friday, while I was getting ready for discharge, he told me some of the exercises I could expect to be given when I start physical therapy at home.  I really do plan to try to cooperate with this as I am wanting to get back to quilting as soon as possible.

Today the home health nurse came and we reviewed my needs.  She will be coming twice a week, the aid will be coming twice a week and the physical therapist will come at least twice as week.  This is more of a social life than I am used to. But there was one really funny thing.  She asked to see my medications and I told her to pull open the drawer where I keep them.  The drawer was empty.  I got into my walker and we looked everywhere.  Eric was out so I called him but he didn’t know.  The nurse said she had pulled every drawer open and didn’t see them.  However, when we checked again we found them in the wrong drawer.  I was very glad to see those bottles and find they were not in the hands of others.

Now I hope we will settle down to a more normal schedule.  I think we may have company again next weekend, out oldest son lives in Atlanta and feels the need to come check on us.  It really has been nice to see more of them all, I hope it continues.  Gari

Slow Moving

Except for stitching a few weave blocks together, this is the only thing I have gotten done on the quilting front.  This is Teapot #12 from Rhonda.  I don’t have it fused to the foundation yet but that is the easy part.  I still haven’t found the missing teapot so if it doesn’t show up by the beginning of August, I will have to make another so I can begin to plan this wallhanging.  This has been a fun and pretty easy BOM and I have really enjoyed it a lot.






I find it very easy to distract myself from other pursuits with knitting.  I am 11 rows into my cowl and here is my very first cable, ever.  11 more rows and I get to do another: I think there are 3 in this pattern.  I have made lots of mistakes (I either don’t count very well or I can’t follow a pattern) but when it is all done it will keep my neck warm this winter when I take the dogs out early in the morning. 







We had the opportunity to meet DH’s cousin (1st cousin, once removed, I think).  Anyway, we have a very unusual last name so anyone who has it is most certainly closely related.  With several of us on Facebook there has been the opportunity to at least make connections and even to begin to meet the children and grandchildren of the original family that came to the US from Sweden in the early 1900s.  We had a very nice and interesting visit over some great Mexican food with each of the guys filling in blanks in the family history.

It continues to rain daily: we have already had 3.5” of rain since Monday.  Where some summers we have crunchy grass, this year we have squishy mud.  It is lots of fun to check the Weather Bug before deciding we can take the dogs out.  But we are enjoying the brilliant shades of green all around us.

DH is going to be out of town again this weekend so I will either get a lot of sewing/quilting done or I will catch up on a lot of reading and knitting.  The puppies are voting for the latter. 

What a Wonderful Weekend

Nothing on my design wall this Monday: see some of the reasons below.

If you read my last post, you would know that this weekend had a rough start. But when our DS#3 and DDIL arrived, late Friday evening, the fun began. At almost 9pm we were eating breakfast and catching up.

On Saturday morning we started the day learning about
tech toys. I let them play with both my iPad and Nook. Look how much fun they are having.




I suppose it is not fair to tempt people like that.

I think she tried almost every app I have, which is not a lot, yet.

We did a short tour our little town and then started out for DS#3’s twin sister’s. We, however, had to make a stop on the way. DDIL had never tried boiled

peanuts, a southern favorite,

so we stopped so she could buy some.

And then she ate half the bag. She just might make a good ole Southern gal yet.

As we drove up to DD’s this is what we saw.

Once again our DSonIL and his homemade grill.

We feasted on grilled chicken, yum!!

After dinner we were highly entertained by our great grandson, Skylar. In these pictures he is showing his Aunt Jessica and Uncle Todd how he uses “his” phone (good phone but not activated).

He plays games and takes pictures with it.

This was also when he was FINALLY running down from a high energy afternoon.

As we were leaving we had to have some “our twins” shots.

Some things never change.

And finally my one quilty picture.

Look what I won from Quilter Jan. The jelly roll is called Basic Gray by Moda. It looks like really neat fall fabric. And it came in this neat lunch box. I think I will use the box to hold ongoing applique pieces and the jelly roll will have to tell me what kind of quilt it would like to become. I kind of hope it waits a while since I am started in Christmas projects and need to get them really off and running.

Now go to Judy’s blog to see what others have been working on.

What A Week

Our week started with a visit from our DS#2, DDIL, and DGS#6 (now that took some thinking). Anyway, they live in CO so we don’t see them often and they are currently on a three week tour of family and friends. Only one week out and they look exhausted and it didn’t help that she came down with bronchitis right after leaving home.

Monday saw our SIL coming over to start cooking on his beautiful homemade grill.

Here you see him waiting to turn the chicken and burgers, our DGS#2 wrapping corn for grilling and DH cheering them on. I’ll bet everyone for a mile around was wishing they had an invite to the feast.

Eventually we had two rooms full of family plus DGS#2 brought a friend who is a girl (???). There was lots of laughing and no picture taking cuz I was having a really good time and forgot.

Tuesday morning I got a little sewing done, getting the binding ready for Going Dotty.

I decided to make it a scrappy binding (something new to me) using the quilt fabrics.

Then in the afternoon I went to the school with DH, reading blogs while he taught, and then we went to a little town in AL that boasts being Alabama’s Antique City. Well, not so much but we did find this.

But what happened this afternoon was the best. I had checked for Dotty’s backing fabric at a quilt shop yesterday and found nothing I wanted, well not for the backing. ;-) So I made a plan to tour 3-4 shops in NWFL, looking for backing. However, before making that trip I went to the LQS and look what I found.

Isn’t this just perfect?

Design Wall Monday, again

I had a great time at the embroidery conference but it was three days away from my studio. Then, just as I was getting started in there this morning, our DS#1 and his wife (here for a high school reunion) called and we were off to have a short visit with them before they left town to return home to Atlanta. We got caught up over lunch and then home where I spent most of the afternoon installing computer programs. I finally gave up on getting any sewing done and spent the rest of the afternoon getting caught up on reading blogs.

So, my design wall is exactly the same as it was on Wednesday. But hold on, by this afternoon it will look very different. I have a complete list of things to work on and first on the list is to finish laying out this quilt and to catch up on two BOMs. Then I will feel that I am back in the groove.

Be sure to stop by Judy's blog to see what several others have been working on and I hope everyone has a great quilting week!