I'm On a Roll !

And.........I'm dead tired !    

I've been sewing since 9 a.m.

But....I finished my x and plus quilt top.......except maybe for a border to make it a bit bigger.  BUT THE MAJOR PIECING IS DONE !

I made 26 blocks many months ago, and couldn't decide on whether to make it the usual way .......

 or sash it to gain some size.  

 The only fabric that I had enough of for one-color sashing was a bright lime green.

 I wasn't happy with either option, so I put the blocks away, but not so far that I didn't run across them every time I tried to start something else.

Looking at them yesterday, I noticed that I had a LOT of extra 2 1/2 inch squares and 2 x 6 rectangles.  Playing around with the blocks, I realized that I could make sashing from the extra pieces instead.  This way ......

 .......I have plusses EVERYWHERE ! 

             X's...not so obvious,........but they're there.

 I like it this way......from a distance.  And, yes, I added the cross on purpose.)

 Up close, it's just bright CHAOS ! I think I have finally gotten over my obsession with bright quilts.  

More and more I'm craving a softly colored, quiet quilt.  That will take SOME shopping, as you won't find THAT in my current stash.

Reminds me of snowflakes !

Speaking of which, we're supposed to get a FEW tonight....nothing more than flurries, the bigger amount expected to fall in the eastern part of Tennessee.  I am SO READY for one beautiful, 6-inch snowfall, the kind that blows into every crack and crevice of trees and fences !

Back to the quilt-top, though........lookie what I 'threw' together over the last few days.

 In an effort to declutter my little home, I've been cutting out quilt designs that catch my eye, from catalogs and magazines, trimming them into 3 x 5 inch pieces, and stapling them together .  I can then leave them lying around where they play the siren's call, without having a big mess covering every surface.   Well, one of the designs I cut out recently was a bit of a quilt that was shown as a kit in Connecting Threads' recent catalog. 

Now, let me make it clear here.....I generally don't buy patterns, because I don't NEED to.  I'm blessed with the ability, praise God, to usually be able to look at something and  figure out how to make it on my own.   If that offends someone who designs patterns, I'm sorry;  I don't mean to be unethical, and I always try to give credit for the inspiration or original design.

 Well, this one kept calling to me, and I dug out the quilt kit that Wanda gave me as a housewarming gift upon my purchase of this little home of mine.  Some of the blues in the kit didn't quite go with the kit-pattern's design, so I 'borrowed' them for this project.   JoAnn had also sent me some blue fatquarters that she was not too fond of, and they seemed to work perfectly too.  Since the design was easy to figure out, just 5 stars and 4 ocean-wave-type blocks, I made blocks Saturday and Monday, and I am just CRAZY about this little thing !

 I still want to add borders of some type, but you can see that it can't hang from my quilt rack if it gets much bigger.   I've been doing simple square and rectangular designs for quite a while now (and loving them), but I have to admit that the triangles definitely give this quilt it's pizazz !   Of course, I'll also admit that having to trim down each triangle square for precision's sake was a huge pain in the 'down under' !

Still.....................totally worth it !

The thaw has come......

....to the temperatures, but I'm frozen in place, quilt-wise !  I just don't seem to be able to cut those gorgeous fabrics.  My local fabric store doesn't have any solid medium-grey fabric for me to use as my shadows for the optical illusion, and the rest of the fabrics keep teasing me to come up with a different design.  ugggghhhhh!     It's maddening ! 

My husband sees me at the cutting table, staring at the fabrics, and he says, "what'cha makin'?"  I say, "As long as I don't cut, it can be ANYTHING.......but as soon as I cut and sew, it's a done deal, there's only the one quilt instead of the myriad of possibilities !" 

In a different direction, I ordered some flannel from a seller on Etsy, to use as a backing on a little quilt top that I pieced for a young mother at church's baby boy.  I had ordered some snowglobe fabric from Connecting Threads, but it turned out to be too aqua for the blue scraps I used.  This latest purchase is a penguin-bordered blue flannel for which she only wanted $1.50 per yard !  I bought the 2 yards she had in stock, and will be glad to have it whether it works for this project or not. 

My camera card is playing hooky again, so no photos today !

Be well and be blessed...........and productive, unlike me !

First finish of 2014

There's no use in making predictions of what your first project will be, because you just never know what is going to lure you away from that plan !

I thought that I should try out the optical illusion blocks before cutting out an entire quilt.  The inspiration for those blocks was this quilt by WhatComesNext on Flickr.  The dimensionality of this quilt of hers blows me away, and I am wondering if I can achieve the same look with my fabrics.    So, I cut out blocks to make a pillow, but I didn't use a white background because my blocks were in an off-white fabric.

  I don't think the experiment worked, and it definitely didn't do a thing to prove my project.   Oh, well, I got a new pillow-cover out of the  time spent, and it reminds me of my granddaughter's first big Christmas present, a rideable stuffed painted pony !  Thanks to Jodie Ann for the pony print !

  My second project just kindof fell into my lap. While grocery shopping,  I went nosing around our little WalMart's new yarn section and I found a yummy-soft super bulky yarn by Lion Brand.

Old-lady-style.....yup, that's me !

I bought one skein, and then I did an internet search for a knitted head-wrap pattern.  I came across this one that sounded really easy.......it's called "It's a Cinch" headwrap pattern, by Elisa McLaughlin.  It was so simple ! 

I changed the number of stitches from 20 to 16 because of my thicker yarn, and it still came out wider than I need; so when I knit it again, and I'm sure I will, I will try maybe 12 stitches with my size 13 needles.

I'm really tickled with this yarn, though......it's super soft and squishy for an acrylic........and I like the look of the wrap from the front.  The back is a bit strange looking in this width, but it is so warm that I'll put up with that.

So, we're preparing for the single digits in temperature, a rare thing in this part of the south, but I'm praying that everyone will be warm and dry, and that this storm moves on out of here quickly !

2014 - Praise the LORD !

Happy New Year, everybody........it's going to be the best year ever !

I wish I had been able to post this yesterday, but I was too busy drawing up a new plan.   Hopefully, this will be my first quilt-top for 2014.

All I have to show right now is the graph-paper design I've drawn.  I lost EQ4 or 5 (can't remember which I had) when my computer crashed last Spring, so I have to resort to paper and pencil again.......and, thankfully, a good ERASER !

Bits and pieces of ideas.  It will be interesting to see what all parts of this design I use.

My camera has decided to go on strike again, and I haven't been able to find one that I liked enough/could afford with which to replace it.  So, even though I took pictures of the fabrics that I'm considering using, I can't share them because I had to reformat the memory card and lost the images after I had already put the fabrics up !



I'm torn between doing a yellow, green, and white quilt, or going ahead and making it many-multicolor.  Not sure how I'll decide !   But I bought a good white fabric today and am fixin' to go put it into the dryer right now .

This quilt was inspired by several different quilts, so I'll wait to give credit when I see which parts I use !  Nothing is totally original when it comes to quilting.......it's all in how you put your own spin on it !

Oh, Praise be to GOD !

I underwent a 3 hour upper G.I. and swallow study/x-ray yesterday, which showed that there was NO obstruction anywhere, and then my surgeon's assistant removed my feeding tube. 

With her scope, she could see that my remaining good vocal cord is already compensating almost fully for the 'dead' one !  Good reports everywhere. 

The surgeon said that he didn't know what could be causing so much acid reflux, but that maybe now that the tube is out, it would improve.  Well, IT HAS !   I slept so much better last night, WITHOUT the saliva seeping down my esophagus and airway !  

And, right now, I'm enjoying a bowl of chicken and rice soup, filled with crumbled crackers, and it is going down SO EASILY !    I am just flabbergasted !  (Forgive me, Lord, I should not be amazed by your mercy and grace at this point, but I am still humbled by it !)

2014 is going to be a FANTASTIC year !

Christmas passed...........

........in such a peaceful manner.  Praise God, our Saviour lives !

   When the tree is taken down, and the ornaments and home decor is stored away, I hope to set up my cutting table SOMEWHERE.  I just don't start many projects because of the aggravation of getting everything out, and then putting it all away after only a few hours' work.  I have some fun new fabrics, and some ideas floating around for ways to use them.  I MUST get my sewing fix........SOON !

    I guess that means that I am starting to feel more like my old self again !  I have been trying out different foods this past week and I have found that I can eat quite a few things if I take my time, swallow carefully, and sip skim milk or water after pretty much every bite.  In essence, I am washing down my food, but, hey, I'm eating !  Praise God !   I reached 137 lbs, so far, at my lowest weight, but am back up to around 140.  I still drink an occasional bottle of Ensure Plus, just to make sure I get a little more protein and other needed things that my limited diet may not give me. 
 
   The sleeping situation is a little better, too.  My next doctor's appointment is this coming Monday, and I feel confident that they'll be removing this feeding tube !  Hooray, hooray ! 

God is FAITHFUL

I have no long explanation about the trial that I said was coming up.  The amazing thing is that my blog friends have never asked me to explain; they have just supported me blindly, praying for my well-being.  In today's world, that is the rarest of jewels.

Having said that, giving all of the glory to our LORD God Almighty, I humbly tell you tonight that truth willed out, and I was found NOT GUILTY by a jury of my peers. 

I will never forget the support, encouragement, and especially prayers that were expressed to or for me throughout this ordeal, both by people who know the details, and those of you who don't.  I can honestly say that my heart is filled with love for you.  I love you, you are true kinsmen in Christ.

Now.......let's get back to healing and quilting !

December is quickly passing.........

..........and I finally have something quilty to share !

I took a few days to work on a gift for my neighbor, Rose.  She has been such a wonderful friend to me and my hubby, and she admired the ten commandments wallhanging that I have up in my home.  Remember this one?

So, I set out to make one for her.  Unbeknown to me, her son was replacing her living room carpet with hardwood this week, and the finished quilty is just the right color for her new living room decor

 She called me today and told me that she had opened her gift and LOVED it .  I'm so glad.

I didn't think to take measurements, but judging from the photo taken on top of the cutting mat, I would say that it finished at approximately 22 by 32 inches.  I rounded the top to make it look like a stone tablet, but it was a last minute decision after printing the text by hand.  If I had thought ahead, I might have spread the commandments over 2 tablets, more appropriately, but this came out a very good size, so I'm satisfied.  

I machine-quilted it with my walking foot that I bought earlier this year.......it was well worth the extra bucks to wait until I found this one with the wide-open foot so that I can really tell where I'm quilting. 

Photo courtesy of Connecting Threads

My purchases from Connecting Threads arrived and are awaiting inspiration.  I especially loved this photo on site, which prompted me to order the kit.

I don't know if I'll make a quilt like the photo, or just use the yummy color combination for something else delicious (see, Wanda, just gotta start playing against the rules again).  Whatever the case, it's nice to get an infusion of new color into the stash.

On the health side of things, I am still eating only cream soups for lunch, and using the Ensure to fill in the rest of the diet.  I still have to sleep in a semi-upright position to keep from drowning in my own saliva secretions.  But, you know, things could be A LOT worse, and I know the healer, and I am just waiting to see the evidence of things not yet seen......know what I mean?   If not, you can read the 11th chapter of Hebrews for a clue !


Well, tomorrow and the next few days are going to be rather busy, so I'll send my love to you all right now, and thank you for all the prayers and support.

New court dates

December 16th has been set as the date for the judge to hear my lawyer's motion for dismissal.  If the judge denies the motion, the trial is set to begin on December 18th. 

I am praying and trusting in the LORD.

 Psalm 56 feels familiar........

"Be  merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up.  Fighting all day he oppresses me.  My enemies would hound me all day.  For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.  In God (I will praise His word).  In God I have put my trust.  I will not fear.  What can flesh do to me?  All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil."

I ain't dead yet, praise God !..........................

.............and I KNOW that, because although I haven't touched a rotary cutter in weeks, I still can't let Black Friday pass me by without ordering something for 50% off from Connecting Threads !

Yep, I wound up just ordering a couple of strip sets of the batiks, but that was enough to satisfy the after-Thanksgiving crazed feeling.

Cyber Monday has been pre-empted !

  Last night, I did my Walmart run.
Got there at 4:30 p.m. and the wristbands had all been passed out to pick up the Funai, 32 inch t.v.s for $98.00 that were in stock.   The electronics guy said I could still get the one-hour guarantee (and pick up a t.v. later when it shipped to the store) if I got in line at 6 p.m. "Don't worry, the line won't form for another hour", he says. Ha ! I thought I'd just wander over and peek at the line location, and uh, there were already 20 people or so in line, so I joined it immediately. At about 5:40, a young man came along passing out the one-hour guarantee cards to take to the register. I sailed up to a cashier, and, of course, she told me that I couldn't pay until 6 p.m. So, with no one waiting to make regular purchases, I began a line right then and there at her register, and people started filing in behind me. At precisely 6 p.m., I paid for my t.v. and booked it on home. I went on line and registered the purchase. Now let's just wait and see what happens when 750,000 people all over the country do the same thing. Think we'll get them before Christmas?

  I went back today and leisurely browsed, found a couple of cheaper flannel shirts for my husband to live the winter out in, and saw that everything was thoroughly picked over.  Glad that hubby and I did our main shopping weeks ago, even if we did miss the 'special' prices.  I think it's kindof sad that everyone will have the same seven or eight gifts under the tree that were in the special ads. 

Thanksgiving came with Jeff and Judy blessing us with two plates heaped over with goodness.   I tried, I really did, but couldn't eat anything........back to the Ensure bottle !    Doctor is talking about putting the tube in the belly come December 30 if I'm not able to eat by then.  DON'T WANT THAT,.........but.....what will be, will be.   It could be worse.

Happy Birthday to granddaughter, Zoe...........

...........and to ME  !

I was just in here catching up on some blogs that I follow, and doing a little pre-black-Friday snooping, when a knock came on my front door.

  Lo and behold...........haven't you always wanted to say that?..........there was a beautiful arrangement of flowers for me,.....sent by my dear best friend, Wanda, out in Oklahoma !    What a sweet, sentimental sap I am to break into tears !   Thank you so much Wanda, I love you
........it's dreary here, and I was in the middle of another one of the never-ending, but much appreciated, tube feedings, and you lifted my spirits greatly.

  Much like the surprise a couple of days ago when I received a priority flat-rate envelope from other best friend, JoAnn.........containing the CUTEST Vera Bradley cross-body wallet.............and THE funniest letter I have read in EONS !   Thank you........I love you so much, Jodie ! 

  This is already the best week I've had in a very long time !

WAIT---------it gets better !   Wanda says that the florist left out my roses.......so they had to come and bring me another bouquet !  Squeeeeeeaaaaaaaaal !

5 weeks post tumor surgery............

..........found me hospitalized again !

I went up to Vanderbilt on Monday for my one month post surgery checkup.   I thought I'd save my brother the trouble of driving me up there, and just take the public transportation that they offer here at home.   I booked a round trip for $30.00, but my doctor decided that he could save me a trip back up there another day by hospitalizing me overnight for a procedure that I needed.  So, I wound up having to pay the return trip fee, AND staying 2 nights ! 

   My vocal nerve has not recovered at all, so he injected silicone or something into it to protect my airway and give me a little more of my voice back.   Scheduling got aggravating, thus the extra long stay. 

  I've thrown up the last two nights since being home, so it's been quite trying.  I've lost 14 pounds in 5 weeks, and need to stop and maintain my weight from here forward, but I can't eat anything much by mouth except for creamy tomato soup.  The tube feedings make me sick when I take the amount they prescribe, so I've got to develop an alternate method.  Sleep is still difficult without aspirating saliva into my airway.   My dentures are causing sore places in my mouth because of all the weight loss/ misfitting now.

One day at a time, with the grace of my Lord, I WILL get better.

3 weeks post surgery

Monday, I had a new swallow study/X-ray performed at Vanderbilt Hospital.  The specialist seemed to think that I was improving right on schedule, praise God .  She released me to start eating soft foods, but left the feeding tube in as I can't eat enough to get the nutrition I need from solid foods right now.


I've had potato soup for a couple of lunches this week, and overcooked some macaroni and cheese today (just the way I like it) and I ate a half cup of that.  It's actual work, with a lot of coughing and clearing my airway just to get through a little meal like that, so I have quite a ways to go.  As of this morning, I weigh 145 pounds, down from 158 on day of surgery.

I see my actual doctor on November 18th.  I hope he can explain the pain and modified movement I have in my left arm/shoulder.  Fun days !

Keep the faith !

Great news.........on the tumor !

That big ol' octopus of a tumor that was wrapped around everything it could find was           benign  !! !!! !!! !!

        non-cancerous   ! ! ! ! !

 !  !  !  !  ! PRAISE GOD !  !  !  !  !

Home again, home again,.........jiggity jog !

Well, I am definitely happy to be sitting here today.   What was supposed to be a 1 1/2 to 3 hour surgery turned into 4 hours, and what was supposed to be an overnight stay turned into 5 days. 

The tumor was not the type that the doctor had expected, and it was just wrapped around everything it could find to wrap around, including and especially my jugular vein ! 

I came out of surgery unable to swallow my own saliva.......panicky........and called upon the name of Jesus MANY, MANY times throughout those trying days.  He was everpresent, and put so many angels/saints of God in my path all along the way !  Unexpectedly being able to speak a bit, I found that singing praises to God could bring me out of the most miserable states.  It was off-key, as I lost a lot of range for now, but he's used to some of that out of me anyway, and like the wonderful father he is.........he likes to hear me sing however I can do it .

I have come home with a feeding tube in my nose, and my swallow ......partially prohibited by some paralysis of the back part of the tongue....is slowly returning.   I can swallow a little bit of water, maybe 2 - 4 swallows now.   They don't want me to even try any type of food, as I may aspirate some into my lungs and wind up with pneumonia.  

I am humbled that God finds me worthy of such a trial, and have gained a new empathy for the suffering of others, including and especially my own husband.  He's had swallowing difficulties for nearly 6 years now, since his first stroke, and I had no idea what that was like.  It's one of those things we take for granted, sortof like breathing. 

I KNOW that I am healed, by the stripes of my dear Saviour JESUS, and I pray that this experience will help me to be of some help to another person going through a hard time.   In the mean time, I look forward to each step of that healing's manifestation..........especially being able to sleep someway besides sitting straight up !

Until I post again, my love to you all, as always..............

Surgery week !

My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning, and I am scheduled to have this tumor removed that has been slowly growing under my left ear for several years.   The MRI calls in a paraganglioma, and I've been told that it is a tumor of the parotid gland, probably non-cancerous.  The confusing thing is that my doctor says that he'll most likely have to remove a section of one of my vocal cords, and yet, when I google it, none of the surgeries I find seem to do that.  Mine must show itself to be located differently or something.

So, you who know me know that the thought of not being able to talk scares the bejeebers out of me.  With hubby having so much trouble being understood when HE talks,.......even by ME,  I just keep thinking...................?

Needless to say, I would appreciate  your prayers for a good outcome.......and NO NEED to mess with the vocal chords.....NO facial paralysis, and a quick recovery !
I give it to the LORD and find peace.........and then I take it BACK ! Why do we do that ??????  So silly .......... and so human.

In the meantime, here's a "before" shot.......

Maybe I'll regain my jawline !

Love to you all !

Hi again !

Let's see if I can update this blog just a bit.

 

The vegetable garden took off growing like wildfire after amending the soil with a good manure/compost mix.

God blessed us with enough cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, squash, and peppers to share with a good many neighbors, family and friends !

It is still producing okra and peppers, with a few small tomatoes.

 This plant that I couldn't identify last Spring turned out to be some Canterbury Bells that I had planted from seed and forgotten about. 














I'd never grown them before (or seen them grown by anyone else) so I didn't recognize them.  Many a morning I was tempted to pull the plant, thinking that it must be a big weed.  But patience prevailed, praise God, and here's the sight with which I was eventually rewarded !

 The long flowerbed gave me beautiful Gladioli, Crepe Myrtle blooms, Easter Lilies, Marigold, Lantana, and many, many, MANY Zinnias !

 And if you will notice, we added a carport to the end of the driveway.  Last week, we were also able to have the leaning power pole replaced, much to the relief of my husband.......he was obsessed with that thing, and it turns out that the old one was only in the ground 2 feet !   It's only by God's grace that it didn't fall before having it removed !

I pieced a little baby-sized quilt top yesterday from flannel squares that my sister brought me from California last month (what a wonderful visit we had !)  I hope to be able to finish it and give it to a young woman at our Church who is expecting a little boy !

That's all I have time for right now, I think, but I'll try to get back here again soon !

Love to all you guys !

Hello from the craziest summer !

Just checking in at the library.............really, really fast ! 

Wonderful cooler temperatures around here have me riding my bike again.........not of of NECESSITY, this time, but out of fun !

We're both doing fine, grandkids are good in OK, and daughter is teaching 3rd grade,,,,,,,,,,crazy busy there !
 Hope all is good with ya'll,.........all my love !
Talk to you next time .............  Dolly

Hello from the Library !

This is the first time I've taken the opportunity to use the library's computer since I dropped internet service to my home.  

We're doing fine, enjoying working in the yard together as usual, and have eaten the first couple of cucumbers from our little garden.  The okra has babies showing on many of the plants, and we added another row.    The squash have looked like they weren't going to make it, but this week we have a few little starts of squash fruit, so we're hopeful that we'll soon harvest those for our table.  The tomatoes are EXCEEDINGLY hesitant, too.   We lifted almost every plant in the garden, and worked composted manure into it, so maybe things will come along well now.

I'm going to try to find me some books to read before I go home, so I'll move along now.  No sewing going on, still, but I am knitting a pair of socks, SLOWLY.

Love to you all, in Jesus's precious name !