Finally--I am Sewing Again!

IIf you are interested in quilting skip this long paragraph about my health!  My health has not been good since last April or May.  I had dental work done and got an infection under my new permanent bridge.  It was pure hell for awhile there and then I finally went in for a second opinion about MS because I had so many symptoms (and have three relatives with it).  Turns out I do not have MS (thank you for that) but I do have a B12 deficiency which actually mimics MS to the point of ridiculousness.  It was so bad that between checking for MS the first time and then seeking a second opinion a little over a year later I no longer had a knee reflex in my left knee.  That got me further testing anyway and we got to the bottom of my problem.  However, all of these issues retriggered Epstein Barr ( I had mono when I was 18) and the fatigue is like nothing I had ever experienced.  So after every test under the sun (MRI, bloodwork, lumbar puncture, etc.) it looks like that has been what has made me so weak.  Have lovely leg spasms, burning feet, jumping nerves, ugh!  It has been really hard to even work since school started and I have been to the ER a few times..pretty sure I had another gallstone (sans gallbladder) and passed it in the ER too.  At least that pain is gone.  I long for my former healthy life!  I have not been going to Pilates for the past two months or so as I am too weak.  I can barely climb a flight of stairs and it seems like  lifetime ago that I hiked the Grand Canyon.  I have gained some weight back though been losing again this past month and am committed to trying. Good news though my migraines are the best they have been in twenty years.  I finally figured out a lot of my triggers are food.  UGH!  I do not eat fake sugar, much MSG, hardly anything processed and viola no more migraines unless I accidentally eat something.  I would take the crazy daily migraine pain over the worst of the fatigue though--that was super frustrating to me.  In the past week or two I have finally noticed some improvement. I am not sleeping near as much though I do need to be in bed with feet up a lot still.  Just a week ago I went out socially for the first time after a work day. I can do some on non work days but on a work day I just have to lay down as soon as I get home.  

Anyway enough about that!  Some people never recover from EB and I plan to if at all possible. 

Several weeks ago on a non work day Barb and I went to a fabric sale at a gal's house (her store in Prescott had closed) and here is the craziness I came home with for 80 ish dolllars.  I have not spent money on fabric in forever mainly because I have not been sewing but this came at a time when I was finally getting back in there!

 

Liz joined us for shopping and we ran into Tina (who was my first quilt camp roomie) so we all went to breakfast together.  What a fun bunch!  So I put together both mine and Kathy's 35th Ave. BOM from last year.  Forgot to get a picture of the second one.  It is the same but orange outer border. 

 The main reason I got back in the quilting studio was to finish On Ringo Lake (On Green Bay).  I did finish it, Ros quilted it and has some close up photos here.  I love that she puts GO PACK GO on these!  She also quilted Love Shack for me.  I was so afraid I would not be happy with it if I did it so she did her magic.  I found a stripe to bind it with and it is such a happy quilt!

 Several years ago Barb gave me the embroidered squares below.  I finally got around to using some modern fabric to center them in the stars.  Still needs quilting but will make a nice gift for someone.

 Kathy had leftover bits and pieces from On Ringo Lake so I made a pillow for my brother Sam and his soon to be wife Ashley (she is pregnant so wedding postponed a year).  It is stuffed and done but I did not take a picture!

 Here is Kathy's matching quilt which Ros has right now.  I helped with a lot of this quilt and put all the blocks together since Kathy hates on point settings more than I do!

 I also got this March On Green Ba Packers quilt top together.  I need to order some Packer fabric for the final border and it will be ready to quilt or tie.

 I just love playing around with my shadow when I am taking pictures of quilts.

 

I also finally quilted (by myself!) this tiny Snow Buttons wall hanging.  I have quite a collection of little quilts these days!  I was overall happy with how it turned out. 

Kathy is back to working on her En Provence from two years ago.  She has a lot more blocks than this done and with any luck will get closer to done this weekend.  She is really trying to finish it up before Good Fortune starts.

 Also wanted to share my latest lunch find.  These stuffed peppers from Trader Joe's are really good and only four WW points.  I am eating them most every day at work.  Delicious.

Hexes and UFO's!

Okay it is hexies and UFO's not hexes, but it was a fun title!  We have been super busy and running like crazy lately.  Last weekend we went with the family to Mund's Park and stayed in a cabin.  The kids played in the snow and we played lots of board games and went to a wine tasting.  It was fun.  I managed to finally sew all but two of my hexi flowers onto the taupe fabric they needed to go on.  The UFO number for #APQResolution was #8.  It should have been this hexie project below, but I misread it and skipped right to the hexie flower one.  Then today I had to time to prep up stuff for this one even though I had decided to continue to just do the other one.  This is Bonnie's Little Bit Hexie.

 My borders do not quite fit, so I tucked it away until its number is drawn or I feel like fixing it and went back to working on the wrong (but now right) hexie project.

 You may remember this is the project from the Quiltville Caribbean Cruise in Oct. 2015.  I made one hexie each day of the trip in modern fabrics.

 I love how it came out with the arrows!  This is just a fun wall hanging for me so I will add it to the stack of to be quilted flimsies.

Barb sent me a link to a cool blog with projects at a glance pages and full pages for each project.  I am a list maker so I printed some out and put them in a three ring binder.  I was SHOCKED to discover that I could fill up an entire page with works in progress/UFO's!  There are twenty lines on each page.  I have not even started the page for those that need quilting.  That is next.  Really fun to cross things off (just crossed off most of the first one with Hexie Flowers) and also to remember what all I have going. 
I started another page of "quilts I want to start" and have twelve on there already.  Sheesh, I know lots of quilters have lots more of these than I do, but I do not like having so many in progress.  Many of them are super close to flimsy stage so I am happy to be doing the UFO challenge and to knock them off the list. 
My Pilates instructor broke her knee a few weeks ago--so no Pilates.  She should be back at it soon.  Meanwhile I have gone back to hiking and I love it again!  I am actually training to do about 12 miles at the Grand Canyon in March.  My cousins are coming in from Wisconsin and Minnesota to hike.  I am up to four miles and need to keep on upping it!  My knee is holding up and I have a break in my day that while the weather holds out two days a week I can hike midday.  The good news with all this is my weight loss started moving again!  I was down 115.6 pounds this morning!  It also happens to be three years I have been going to Weight Watchers.  Year one I lost 81.4 pounds, year two 24.4 pounds and year three 9.8 pounds.  Slow and steady but what a difference! 

February Goals Progress

 Last Friday after an early morning shift I sewed at Barb's.  We had planned to go to the Rusty Barn Quilt show the Friday before but I wound up in the hospital with another gallstone and got pancreatitis.  UGH!  Seems like the stone passed (or fell back down so pain went away) and this week I got to hiking FOUR times!  I did not realize it had been nine months since I had hiked.  I really missed it.  I am super sore though.  And I am happy to have gotten back to it now because my Pilates instructor shattered her knee (skiing--a snowboarder plowed into her).  I am at 111.6 down.  Super slow but not going up so I am happy about that!

 So I joined the All People Quilt UFO Challenge and they pulled #8 for February which is my "Little Bit Hexie" so I depapered them all and spray basted and pinned them to the squares.  I think I am going to try to hand attach them.  These are the little flowers I made each day on the Quiltville Cruise in October 2015.

 I also made both of my "Straits of Mackinac" blocks in the Rainbow BOM color of aquamarine.  It is not too late to join in if you want to go visit Angela's blog.  So fun to have a simple goal and a place to link up!  This group has grown and grown over the years and I have made friends of many of the participants.  I love to see what block or project everyone chooses to work on all year!

I also made block two of the Pat Sloan's BOM for 2017.  Barb and I are both doing this one.  Nice to use up scraps and be surprised by how it comes out.

In other news, Kathy was super happy the Patriots won last night.  It was quite a nailbiter for awhile and then there they were!  I do not have as much time to sew as I would like...I am teaching three classes this semester (and interpreting too) and the prep keeps me busy.  One of the classes is a new curriculum...so much work setting everything up,  Should be easier here on out though because I will finally have the basics together and can just improve as I go! 

I entered two quilts in the AQG Quilt Show in March.  I wanted Talkin' Turkey which I made for the Rainbow BOM to be shown.  I am not that kind of quilter and wish I could enter without getting any feedback. I have heard they are super picky and none of that matters to me.  That has held me back from entering anything but I could not resist this time.  The other one I entered it the mystery I made with my guild.  It is nothing to write home about at all, and my colors were the peaches--it is a bit much, however those in the guild who did it are entering them as a group thing to represent our guild so I went along with it.  I need to make and attach the binding to it soon.  Kathy is also entering for the first time!  Her Allietare is going to be in the show.  She got half the binding on yesterday.  We also need to make quilt sleeves for them all too. 

Sewing up a Garden!

 I finished up the Garden Party flowers and then all the Green Chain Blocks and triangles.  So thrilled to finally be getting these blocks done!

 Started putting the blocks together.  I did not lay them all out but am trying to mix up colors as I go.

Stash kitty is out in the background and captured her on it the quilt below.  Garden Party is growing!

 Half the blocks are together and the other half is barely started.  Crazy work week ahead so doubt much progress will be made until next weekend, but super thrilled to think this will be done before the next Quiltville mystery starts!  Bonnie has posted the yardage and colors for En Provence!  I have been playing on Pinterest and Design Seeds trying to choose my palette.  When this is done I will pull fabrics!

I lost .6 this week...so have had a loss for the past seven weeks.  That is great for me at this stage of the game. I am going to hit it hard again this week and try to keep to my pound a week so I can get to onederland!

The Garden Party Continues and The Pumpkin Party Begins!

 Last weekend I made more Garden Party blocks and cut more. 

 I have all the blocks cut now and about 22 to go of the flower blocks.  I did not take any pictures of this weekends though.  I am going to sew at Barb's tomorrow so they are all packed up to sew there.

 

Bonnie's new book is out so I had to get it and her new ruler and playing cards.  Now to get it spiral bound.  So excited to have this new book in my hands.  The next picture is from Quiltville.blogspot.com. I took a screenshot of Bonnie's tablerunner and decided to just see what I could make without a pattern.  First time for everything! 

I started by sewing orange strings together and trimming them up.  The one pumpkin was made from the trimmings of all the other pumpkins.

 My first happy pumpkin.  These blocks just made me smile all night!

 It all went together amazingly well since I was just eyeballing what Bonnie did and making a smaller version of it.

 The green stripy fabric is not attached.  I like the checkered border on two sides and may just put more black around it all and do the binding in the lime spiders.  Gonna sleep on it.

It was nice to get in some sewing time.  I had a migraine all weekend but triptan made the weekend bearable for the most part.
I am almost back to my 111.2 down too.  I set a goal to lose one pound a week time mid December so that I can get to ONEderland by Christmas.  I have managed to lose five pounds in five weeks since I wrote that on paper. Every time I want to eat something I remind myself I want to see that pound gone more than I want whatever it is I am trying to eat.  It really seems to be motivating me again.  YAY! 

Weekend Fun and Garden Party Comes Out to Play!

Last weekend Kathy and I went to the Winefest in Sedona.  It was fun and we found a few sweet wines that we liked and a winery that is in Scottsdale that we want to visit.  We were not so impressed that we will go again, but it was fun to get away.  Coleman is back home and that has added to our stress as always.  He is my adult child with many labels.  The older he gets the more difficult he seems.  He thinks he knows it all and we cannot tell him anything.  He has changed alot in the past year or so he was away.  Partly due to his wife's influence (he has left her) and partly due to not being on all his medication.  He is working and wants to work which is one positive change.  He works for a temp service which seems to work out well since he is really smart and is a hard worker (when he wants to be) but due to his communication difficulties people often tire of dealing with him. He is high functioning autistic, though I believe he has an organic brain disorder from when he stopped breathing during a nap at 18 months old.  He has never been right or typical since.  Raising him has shaped my life but the last month finds me wondering how I can keep at it.  To add to the fun he is diabetic.  (I have two uncles, my mom, and two cousins who are also diabetic--runs very strongly in our family.  My great grandma Myrt had a sister who died from diabetes at age nine back before insulin).  

So getting away to Winefest was necessary.  We even did a little exploring/hiking after.My knee is not back to normal so I am not hiking seriously. I think I am afraid to try and discover I can't with this knee.  I had gained a few pounds after hurting my knee six weeks ago or so. I just cannot do the elliptical or even walk alot.  The only exercise I am getting is Pilates and since I had a cold (and Patty does not like germs at her house) I had to skip it for about ten days.  ACK!  Anyways now I have written down a lofty smart goal (lose a pound a week every week until Christmas) and I am really trying to go after it again.  I lost one pound two weeks ago and 1.4 last week.  I am still up around three pounds but it is going in the right direction again.  My eating is great, I just need more exercise!

We stayed at Suli and Diegos' last weekend and hung out with Ollie and the twins (Blake and Alice).  Ben was with his dad so he was not there.  We gave the twins baths and tried to be helpful. I do not know how Suli does it, but she does.

 

This past weekend I pulled out Garden Party from a year ago!  This one was from the Quiltville Cruise a year ago this week.  I have not sewed a stitch on it since I packed it up on the cruise.  It has been such a busy year and I have always had this thing or that thing to finish first.  Now that I am all caught up on the must do items I can get back to it.

 So this past Saturday I made a few blocks and cut for more.

And Sunday I did yet more. 

I decided to have a little wine on Sunday and the next thing you know I had sewed a whole stack of little squares incorrectly! I skipped the step where I am supposed to mach the fabric and went right to the contrasting fabric. I then unsewed them and and the await me.

In total I have 53 blocks like this made, and 47 to go. 

I enjoyed cutting up some of the two be put away bin of fabric to get more variety in my strips.  I have missed sewing and cannot wait to get back in there!

A Month of Nothing!

 A sweet gal from guild made me a little doily for my sewing machine!  It goes under the spool of thread.  So cute and thoughtful of her--she did it because I invited her to our annual Quiltlville Mystery Kickoff.

 I have sewed nothing in the past month except this little hanging sleeve so my "Making Tracks to Guild" quilt can hang in the AQG show.  I had the flu, have had lots of migraines (though doing better the past week or two!) and just have had too much going on to even get in my quilting studio.

 I did buy backing fabric with thing one and thing two on it for Suli's twins (Blake and Alex coming May 15th or before) but that is as far as I have gotten.  Really need to decide on a pattern and get to making two of them!

 I did win this awesome book from Hugh Howey!  He has a short story in it and I am looking forward to reading all the weather related end of the world short stories in the book.

 I am still working on the weight loss and going to Weight Watchers.  I have lost 109.4 pounds so far and my marbles are slowly moving over to the other jar!

 Me two years ago, me a year ago and me now.  Still have plenty to go but I am happy with my progress!  Still hiking, doing machine Pilates and the elliptical.  We finally got Kathy a bike so we are starting to bike ride too!

Colton turned three so we went to his party (he had a Mickey Mouse bouncy house) after the Cave Creek Fiesta Days Parade.  

 I have been in the quilting studio today getting organized for a landscape class I am taking on Friday!  I picked out all these pictures (only the first one I took, the rest are looted off the internet) and will be choosing one of them to turn into a little quilt.  Way out of my comfort zone as I am not an applique fan but I just love how they look!

 My quilting friend Stephanie made the first one of these and found the other two on the net, one is Paula's from AZ.

 I have all my supplies ready and a stacks of fabric too.  Here's hoping I have enough variety!  There is green on the bottom of the stack.