Monday, May 31, 2021

Happy Birthday, Andy!  (This shirt I ordered for him is green.)



Mary came over this morning to help me with the latest PP snag.  Naturally Brownie was beyond excited, thinking she was going to take him for a walk.  



On the other hand, I'm happy that my first Book Nerd block is assembled.



But that project is (temporarily) on hold; since Mary will be back on Thursday morning to help me lay out the Chain Link blocks, I need to assemble the (4?) remaining ones before then.  My goal is to get the top pieced by the next Foothills meeting, which is on June 9.

Sunday, May 30, 2021

This morning I cut out pieces for four additional Chain Link blocks, but since I only had enough white-on-white fabric to sew two I knew I'd have to pop over to TOQS for more.



Here's the first block I whipped up today:



Between getting my white-on-white fabrics cut and checking out, Sheri needed to help out a man who'd come in.  I almost got out of there buying just what I'd gone in for - but then noticed a new bolt by the register, so this Glass Menagerie panel also ended up coming home with me.  



Brownie and I spent the afternoon over at Sally & Dan's to see Sean
who had flown in to join Marcela for the weekend.  



We all enjoyed our visit poolside.  I was about to head home when Dan was getting ready to grill and they twisted my arm to stay for an early dinner.



Alex was also having some water fun today.




Do have to wonder about the backstory here, though...

Saturday, May 29, 2021

 Decided it made sense 

to assemble this block this morning since the pieces were already cut out.


Then I set aside the Chain Link project "for a little while" (all the while hoping it doesn't morph into yet another UFO) in order to switch back to the Book Nerd blocks.



But after trimming the book "spines" to the correct size (according to the directions), I can see there is going to be an issue matching up with the front/back covers.  They SEEM to be too long, but I am not going to do any trimming until I can schedule another session with my marvelous tutor Mary.



So once again there's a change in the day's plans; it looks like I will be piecing more Chain Link blocks after all.

Friday, May 28, 2021

I enjoyed my visit with Marcela (and Sally) today.  

I'd brought along scissors and had Marcela cut my hair again, this time "forcing" her to whack off most of my ponytail.  It's now at least 6 inches shorter and feels SO much better - and no, Tom has not noticed. 


We lunched at Zupas (she'd never been.)

As always, everything was scrumptious.



Just as I promised, here are pix approximating what some of the Book Nerd blocks will look like when the sections get sewn together.  I plan to get a number of those done over the weekend! 

I Wanted Armadillos



On The Day You Were Born



Let It Snow



Halloween Horrors



Pieces of the Puzzle



Children of the World



Summertime




Doctor called this evening with the results of my latest MRI.  The good news is that there isn't anything structural that needs to be addressed, which mean no additional surgery.  The bad news came when he read me the results, and the list of sprained this and sprained that seemed to go on forever.


 
  Soft tissue takes a long time to heal (hey, it's been over FIVE months already!) so he couldn't guess at a timeline for walking, though when I asked if it would be this century he assured me it would be.  



In the meantime we are going to try a steroid injection into the ankle for some pain relief.   Hopefully it will also interrupt the pain pathway to the brain enough so that the pain "forgets" to return!  


I'll call the office first thing Tuesday morning after the holiday weekend to set that up.



Also just got an e-mail from Monica, who has my scrap string quilt finished and is going to drop it off here first thing Tuesday morning.  I'm excited to see it!  No idea what pattern she chose (I left it up to her) but know it will look great.

Melodie did a WONDERFUL job job choosing fonts for the book spines!  Watch for their 15 seconds of fame in a later post.


On the drive home from her house yesterday I caught the end of a segment on global warming.  Pretty sure I heard correctly that in the past decade we haven't set a single new record here for any date's low temperature.  


Yesterday was another successful PT session, in that Ryan is getting additional movement in my ankle.  (I scored a 5 on that one pesky measurement.)  And while naturally it's encouraging to see that number rise, I'm still not able to walk, which is what truly matters.


In a bit off to meet Marcela over at Sally's house.  

Thursday, May 27, 2021

Melodie just texted - the last book spine embroidery is on her machine now!



And in other quilting news, one of the Foothills ladies posted this lovely poem, A Legacy of Stitches,  that was read at the memorial for a quilter:

A Legacy of Stitches is what we leave behind;
the imprint of our very soul that lasts beyond our time.
The heart that quilts know, oh, so well the peace that can be found,
as needle meets with fabric, for there is no sweeter sound.
Whether quiet piecing done by hand or on our sewing machine,
there’s rhythm to our stitches as we sew along each seam.
Those stitches tell the story of our lives as they unfold
as we think of quilts that Grandma made with stories left untold.
The humdrum of our daily lives grows elegant and grand,
when we start to cut the pieces, then stitch the fabric in our hands.
And whatever is the reason for the quilts we piece and sew,
and whoever is the maker, there is one thing that we know.
Each quilt is full of memories, and is a treasured thing.
If quilts could talk, imagine how some quilts would surely sing!
For some quilts are sewn in happy times and others when we’re sad,
and some are sewn in laughter, and others when we’re mad.
Some are sewn to warm us, and some sewn just for fun,
and some are “works in progress” that never quite get done!
Some quilts are sewn for beauty, a quilt made just for “show”,
but the heart of the true quilter is the one who really knows~
That no matter how the quilt is stitched, we leave our mark in time.
This Legacy of Stitches is what we leave behind.


Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Took a slight 'detour' 

to try out one of the new (to me) scrap triangle tricks. 


Seemed to work just fine!



And apparently I can capture an instagram photo:


Live and learn!




Alex's new hammock arrived the day after he left, and waited here patiently while he was gone.  He collected it this morning, and it's now up and ready for business!



Next couple of Chain Blocks sewn today:


Alex popped over last evening and caught us up on some of his past week.  The music festival itself was disappointing, with very low attendance - but the guys did get to visit a couple of nice springs.  At one they saw a gazillion soft-shell turtle hatchlings (fun), and they also saw alligators (maybe not quite as much fun?)


We did have fun with this one <g> in the Party Pool 
at the hot springs several summers ago...

   With the time change Alex was tired, and once he and Tom finished watching the Suns lose he headed back to his place to crash.  Still on Florida time this morning he did get an early start to his day today, with laundry.



I was up at 3:00 am when Brownie barked; turned out Tom had gone out front to see about a noise.  I fell back asleep, but when I woke again at 4:05 I decided to check out the blood moon eclipse, scheduled to begin at 4:11.  It was quite a hobble, and sadly my reward was a disappointingly cloudy sky with no visible moon.  Once back in bed at 4:25 I took something and slept in until 8:00!


I've settled for this red moon quilt

that floated across my FB feed this morning.


This morning Alex checked out the peach tree for me, and the fruit must be close to ripe; the birds have already started sampling some of it.  While the crop is quite small this year (last year it was huge), the peaches themselves are sizeable.   He brought in a couple to finish ripening inside.


I'm hoping he will be able to net the tree itself later today.


Also on his "To Do for Mom" list is to take some cases of RockStar over to Firestone as a more tangible thanks for their flat tire house-call yesterday!