Almost a year gone by!

I'm so bad at updating this! I joined Facebook and have been putting most things there. Thought I better update a couple things here. I had my other knee replaced not quite six weeks ago so I haven't been doing any quilting or painting! Will be anxious to get back into both hobbies and I have a couple of commissions to do.

April 7th - Easter Update and a ME day

What a wonderful fun day we had at Christy and Brian's house on Easter Sunday. Hunting for Easter eggs was a huge hit - mostly because Grammy hides money in the eggs! And this was Easton's first Easter so he had special Noah's Ark eggs for mommy to find. Lunch was delicious and easy - ham bbq sandwiches, pasta salad, baked beans,deviled eggs. And Tina's boys made triple mud pie for dessert. Of course there was a ball game and a water balloon slingshot too! Just a perfect day and I am so blessed.

Today was a "me" day. I still have 4 days of physical therapy and then I start back to work. So I went to Joanne Fabrics to get backings for two quilts for my sister then I went to Smocking Shop to look at a Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz machine. Will probably try to purchase it. Both of my machines are old and wearing out. Then I went to Austin's Sewing and signed up for a class with Cynthia England on June 5th. I love doing landscape quilts so I'm looking forward to that! Tonite I continue working on a Quilt of Valor quilt that my 89 year old mom started piecing for me. Soon it will be ready to quilt then get it shipped. I also made hotel reservations for the Quilting with Machines show in September and registered for a few classes. It's been a great day!

Another surgery done!

I had a total knee replacement done on Feb. 22nd so have not had a whole lot to show or write about. Last week I was finally able to start sewing again and began working on some UFO's. Hopefully will get some new pics up soon. I still have 6 therapy classes to go but am so glad I had this done. Soon I can climb the stairs again to get to my Georgie Girl (my gammill premier plus) and get several quilts done that my mother had pieced.

Walking with a Cancer Patient

This quilt is reflective of my walk with my daughter-in-law, Catina, as she battled breast cancer. I’d like to dedicate it to all of the doctors, nurses, technicians and support teams at the Louisville Oncology offices at Norton Suburban and Audubon and the help at the radiology unit.

The quilt was made in 2008 as a block of the month at the website www.thequiltshow.com however her story started in March 2006 when she found a lump and was 5 months pregnant. She had her left breast removed, had a port put in, and had one round of chemo before delivering Bradley 5 weeks early. Chemo continued. In the summer she had a hysterectomy, then another lump was found in the chest wall of the same side and that was removed in 07 and was cancerous. More chemo. December of 07 showed a clean ct scan. In April of 2008 the right breast was removed due to another mass which fortunately was not cancerous. When healed from that, she began radiation. In December of 08, a clean ct scan was reported.

Tina is the mother of 4 boys, ages 11,7,6,2 ½. Bradley has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and sensory integration disorder. He began walking earlier this year and what a miracle that was. She’s been a strong woman through it all and has gone through the gamut of emotions of course. My son, Keith, stood by her side the whole way. We all kept hope alive through our faith in Jesus Christ and prayers from all over the world. The family participated in the family walk this summer and will do so again next year. In March 09 Tina will be a 3 year survivor.

January: I'm working through the emotions of cancer on my dil, so my quilt is beginning with black/white for my anger at her recurrence. Jesus, the bright and shining star, is the constant in each block as He helps me through. Color will be added each month by painting some of the fabrics.

February: I began adding color to my block starting with the vases. I used tsukeniko inks to paint the black/white fabric. I did this because just as the vase holds the flowers, our bodies hold our spirits and emotions and our bodies are very temporal. Cancer is a reminder that life here is just practice for life later.

March: This month I painted the flowers red to reflect one of the first emotions of cancer - anger.

April: This month I left the flowers red because Tina had to have the 2nd mastectomy but I added green to the stems and flowers to symbolize you can have new life with cancer.

May: I added green to the dark grey leaves this month to continue the reminder of new life with cancer.

June: Dedicated to the counselors and help at the resource centers who helped sort through all the mixed up emotions, thoughts, and feelings. That's why this block is mixed up!

July: The empty spaces on this block will be quilted in with thread. Cancer leaves a lot of empty spaces in your life, in your questions and answers, that need filled in later.

August: This month is colorful because the 4 month scan was clear for my dil! I'll add the baby's breath, etc... when I do the thread painting. I added a breast cancer charm to the vase.

September: Butterflies are another symbol of hope so they decorate my vase this month. The vase was colorfully painted with polka dots too. Feet will be embroidered later because Bradley finally started walking this month! I left the blue dark because he has to have surgery in the near future for a tethered spinal cord. They see the neurosurgeon on Nov. 4th.

October: When I saw all those circles, I thought "I don't want to do this anymore!" It reminded me of taking to Tina to daily radiation treatments - 40 miles round trip - with Bradley and stroller and I thought the same thing! So to simplify things, I used the circle stitch on my machine to do them. We couldn't simplify trips but we went shopping some and treated ourselves to McD's some.

November: When I saw the ribbon on this block, I knew I had to use my pink ribbon fabric since this is my walk with my dil through breast cancer. The first piece of colored fabric except for the yellow of my stars.

December: This finishes the quilt with using all special fabrics. The yellow for Jesus still remains and has expanded even more because He’s so much a part of this walk. The vase is glitzy and shiny – another clean ct scan! The flowers are made using a fabric from the Hoffman Quilt for a Cure fabric line. The leaves and stems are fabric that I hand-dyed – trying something new. Cancer gives everyone – yourself, your family, those who love you, a new look at living. Beauty can come from the black/white beginning – keep hope alive at all times!

I finally got the quilt together and quilted and finished in Feb. 2010.

Some Works in Progress

Here's a few things I've been working on since surgery. I finished all of the 2009 Among Friends BOM but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet because they truly are not my color palette at all. Maybe make some placemats for a gift or a vest.

The larger quilt is the BOM from The Quilt Show website. I just finished October and now I need to make 170 more flying geese for the next border for November! It might get finished by June of this year!

The back of the jacket was a Carol Fallert Pattern called soaring. I dyed most of the fabric for that part of the jacket. I was going to work on finishing it today but I can't find my pattern! I think I left it at Linda's when I cut it out a couple weeks ago. Hope it's still there.

The paintings are all waiting for frames. The bunny was from a photo that my friend Joyce had. The glacier is my favorite spot in Alaska - Prince William Sound. The Shiprock was another of the October seminar classes with Jerry Yarnell that I tried on my own because I could only sit in on the class and take notes due to recovering still.

Happy New Year!

A lot has happened since my last post! I did have the kidney surgery and it was a rough recovery but Praise the Lord, there was no cancer! I worked a good bit from home doing the bookkeeping but wasn't able to paint or sew much. I started working on projects again in October so hopefully I can get some photos up in the next couple days of works in progress.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were a blessing. Christy and Brian adopted a little boy - Easton Malachi. He was born about 6 weeks premature but is doing wonderfully at almost 3 months old now.

We were able to have the whole family together the Sunday after Christmas for dinner and that really made my holiday special.

In November we moved into our new church building and it's awesome! I love my office - it has lots of windows. And it's so nice to attend church again because now we don't have any steps.

I am looking forward to a total knee replacement finally on February 22nd. It's been coming for several years but finally it's time. So now I'm preparing meals ahead and getting some small projects organized that I can take to the rehab facility to work on for a few days there too.
Wishing you all rich blessings and God's grace for the coming year!

August

I was afraid I wouldn't get something posted before August ended! Surgery is still for the 20th and I am soooooooo ready. Thursday I have to discontinue arthritis meds so please say a prayer that my knee holds out for me. My sister, Pat, is flying down on the 24th to stay for a week and help. I should be in the hospital 3-4 days.

Here's the July Among Friends block:

My 89 year old mom, was needing a project, so I cut out triangles and had her piece some blocks for a throw to give to Christy's motherinlaw, Rose, who just had a lumpectomy. I love the angel wings panto and use it on a lot of female quilts. Mom was so glad to help with this and she did so well that I sent her another box of patches to piece for a female Quilt of Valor quilt. That won't get quilted til after I've recovered though. Rose was thrilled with the gift. I can't do the Walks or Runs for the cure but I sure can Quilt for the Cure!

My grandsons started back to school today. Am anxious to hear a report!

George had a great time at the National shooting matches at Camp Perry and he improved a lot from last year. Hopefully I can go next year. I sure missed him. He didn't take any pictures though.

I need to get busy on the Quilt Show BOM for August. I have most of my smaller stars done.