Feeling better, and showing off a finish !

I've been silently lurking around blogland for a week.....a crazy week.

I started throwing up last Friday, .........and had family/company on the way here, from out of state, to spend a few days !  Needless to say, I wasn't the best hostess, but we got by and hubby enjoyed seeing his nephew for the first time in nearly 40 years.  They grew up almost as brothers, so that was nice.

After checking with a local doctor, I found that the sickness was caused by acid reflux, not the creeping crud that everyone else has had.  I totally lost my voice off and on for days, and it's still not stable (not that I ever have MUCH voice anymore).  And, I couldn't eat, so I lost ANOTHER 5 POUNDS......not good !   I'm looking emaciated now.

I've scheduled a checkup with my surgeon for Monday afternoon, and am asking him to refer me to a gastroenterologist up at Vanderbilt.  I hope I can get some kind of solution to this aggravation.

Meanwhile, we've had some beautiful Spring days here, and I've been working in the yard again, now that I've recovered some of my strength from last weekend.

  Rose gave me a whole bunch of different styles of buttercups/Daffodils, and I spent most of today setting them out in various places.

While I didn't have much strength, I was able to do enough handwork to get the brown quilt bound. 

I present.................DIAMONDS IN THE DIRT........finished !

Before washing.  All of the quilting was done using my Brother walking foot.  I drew the cables with a stencil, and did the wiggly by using the 3-stitch zigzag.


Since I had to piece the backing, I inserted red diamonds, like the front of the quilt, and the arrows just came to be because I liked them.  I used the half-squares leftover from trimming the diamond-in-a-square units on the front.

Also before washing (check out how the center quilting goes right through the center of the  backing !)

 I machine-quilted it until I got sick, and then finished the last of it a few days ago.  Today I washed it and threw it into the dryer before I went out to do the yardwork.   I FORGOT all about it, and pulled it from the dryer when I came in around 5:30.

It did the cotton-shrink/crinkle-up more than one has in a long time, but it looks good.  That USED TO BE my favorite thing about a cotton-battinged quilt.

Picture's a bit fuzzy........quilt's nice and crinkly.  This design is my own adaptation of a quilt I saw offered as a pattern in a catalog.  I made a few changes but can't totally claim it as MY design.

 I have a recipient in mind for it, but I have to admit that I like this quilt more than anything I've made in a very long time.  My hubby does too !   If it had a flannel back I might have had to give it to HIM.

Nice and wrinkly after washing

I can't believe it lined up that well !  Good thing, too, with the arrows pointing it out !

The quilt started out measuring 56 x 80 inches, but shrunk a bit in the dryer, to finish at a measurement of 53 x 76 inches.  That's a LOT of shrinkage......I was making this for a TALL guy to nap under....hope it still fits !

Maybe I can get a full length shot of the quilt on the clothesline next week.

And, now, .......... I get to think about a NEW PROJECT......... YAY !
Have a great Sunday......and don't forget to thank God for this week !

Praise God for gifts of talent, busy hands, and peaceful days !