Patience . . .

Amazing what a few minutes a day will yield. I try to do a little quilting each day and I've managed to finish another quilt top, sandwich/pin three tops, quilt two tops and finish one. Here are a couple views of my studio today with different things in progress.

B/W with Red is finished! I used some black and white strings that I've had around here for a few years. Every so often, I dig them out and use some for another quilt. One of these days, that bin will be empty.

This donation quilt is 58" square. I quilted it with large loops and double loops using Aurifil #2600 50-wt Dove thread for the top and Microquilter 100-wt #7007 light gray thread for the back.

The back is black with a small white dot and the binding matches the red in the quilt.

The newest quilt top, The I Spy Tree, is based on Bonnie Hunter's Pine Tree Point. I used strings from my overflowing string bin to make the trees. Since this will be donated to a child at the Children's Hospital, I made one tree with prints, the I Spy tree. I made minor changes to the pattern. The most significant was cutting the trees with fewer pieces. I also changed the borders. 

Update on my health:
Monday I saw the surgeon. I've had lots of imaging - CT scan, X-rays, MRI, and more X-rays. The surgeon said I needed surgery which I expected. BUT... he went on to say that my bone strength/density is not good enough to have the surgery. That came as a shock. So we are working on changing the strength and density of my bones. He is hopeful that he'll be able to do the surgery in 6 months. He said that I can work through the pain - I was told a few months ago to stop any activity when the pain ramped up. The surgeon said I will not be doing any more damage to the nerves. So for the next 6 months, I'll still have the pain but at least I can do some things. I've started riding the stationary recumbent bike again and I'm trying to walk a little on the treadmill. Patience ...

First Finish of 2021 and more

We had a Rime Ice for a number of days. It's like a Hoar Frost but caused by fog. On Tuesday, we also had sun which left us with a magical winter wonderland. I'll share just a couple of my pictures from our short ride. 

I'm trying to spend a little time sewing each day. It's about all I do but I am showing some progress. I have two finished quilt tops. The first is Easy Breezy. This is based on Bonnie Hunter's leader/ender project of 2020.

And the second is Pathways to Friendship. I made the serpentine strips based on Christina Cameli's Pathway Pillow, a class I took a while back. Everything else in this quilt is from my orphan/leftover block bin. 

And I have my first finish of 2021 - Awesome Aspens which is based on Amanda Jean Nyberg's Bright Birch Trees. I did not buy Amanda Jean's pattern but the idea totally belongs to her.  

The turquoise and tangerine fabrics are Moda Grunge. The trees are made from many small scraps. I used a walking foot and stitched this with 1/2" vertical lines, using dark gray #2605 Aurifil thread.

You may have noticed that the binding matches the color of fabric it borders.

The fun backing for this 54" by 58" donation quilt is black with all of the colors from the quilt.

A few days ago, I had 9 quilt tops waiting to be sandwiched and quilted and no other WIPs. I thought about that overnight and came up with ideas for 4 new quilts. I now have one of the quilt tops sandwiched and hope to begin quilting it this coming week. Who knows, I might have another finish one of these days!

Just Checking In...

I thought it was time to check in. There isn't much happening here. I do have the rest of the blocks made for Easy Breezy. I need to add sashing and sew them together.

I'm hoping to begin machine quilting a quilt later this week. We'll see how it goes. I am knitting each day - I'm working on an afghan and a sweater.

We finally decided to get an Air Fryer in October and it has become a favorite. We use it most days and have been eating well. Yesterday we had egg bites for breakfast and roasted a whole chicken for dinner. Both were excellent. Tomorrow I think we'll try apple fritter bread because we have some apples that need to be used. We've cooked beef, pork, poultry, fish, pizza, grilled cheese, different vegetables, and a few desserts. It will be a long time before we run out of ideas.

I have become somewhat of an expert at a couple of computer games. I have played Algerian Patience for 10 years. I had to reload the game and began a streak last fall. Yes, I really win this game. Every. Time!

My other, more recent game is Numberzilla. I have almost every badge and I refuse to buy the hints, bombs and undos so I have to play smart. I've only been playing about a month. 

Both games involve some concentration which helps me deal with my back pain.

I'm seeing a neuro-spine surgeon in a few weeks. The imaging I need cannot be done in time for the one appointment he has in January due to Covid, quarantines, holidays, and vacations. So I will see him first thing in February. The pain is rather constant so my days aren't very productive. I'm not supposed to work through the pain which is hard. I am hoping to get a little exercise - treadmill walking and stationary recumbent bike riding - in the days ahead. A little will be like 5 minutes or until the pain intensifies. I feel better when I get some exercise so I'll do whatever I can. 

We had a big snow storm a couple weeks before Christmas so ours was a White Christmas. Last night we got a little more snow and tomorrow we are under a winter storm warning with many inches of snow forecast. We are ready to hunker down for a few days. The two of us will celebrate the New Year at home.

Happy New Year!

Some progress made

I finished Basket Weave Strings a few days ago using  Bonnie Hunter's Basket-weave-strings pattern. 

This donation quilt is 58" by 66". The strings are all from my string scrap bin which is still overflowing.

I free-motion quilted this with a back and forth curve across the strings in each block using Aurifil 50-weight #2600 Dove Gray thread.

I quilted the edges with a loop in each setting triangle and straight lines in the border.

The backing is from my stash.

I also finished a table runner using Missouri Star's Circle Magic. I bought the templates early in the pandemic and they arrived broken. MSQC was very quick to replace them. I was not as quick to make something. I ordered the templates because I had a bunch of blue circles cut with the Baby Go cutter. I thought this might be a good way to use them. The circles were the perfect size for the small template. 

I used red or white for the opposite side of each blue circle. The table runner is 9" by 29". Each circle has a square of batting (Dream Cotton) inside which is a perfect use for scrap batting.

Each circle is quilted before sewing the pieces together. The process is easy in this quilt as you go project. 

On the back, you can see the centers of the blue circles I began with.

I might try the larger circle template - I'd like to see how that looks. This little runner will be used in our home next summer.

I also finished two quilt tops, Batik Knots and

Black/White with Red. Both have been added to the growing pile of tops waiting to be sandwiched and quilted

Easy Breezy is half done! I sewed fifty 4 1/2" blocks together. When the other 50 blocks are finished, I'll add them.

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving by ourselves. We are hopeful that we'll be able to be around some family at Christmas time.

Update on my back: Physical Therapy has ended for the time being - the tests showed that I wasn't making progress; in fact, my mobility was regressing. The first spinal injection was painful and didn't help. I'm hoping to skip the second spinal injection and just progress to the next doctor. We'll see... 

Some finishes and more...

The flannel quilt, Pink Puppies, is now completed. It is 42" by 53" and a donation quilt. 

This was a cute kit 

with striped binding.

I added the pink flannel backing. I free-motion quilted this with large swirl flowers. I think they show better from the back. I used 40-weight Aurifil thread, #2423 pink.

Colored Strings is finished. This donation quilt is 58" square.

The back is red with colored circles and the binding is a black and white stripe.

I free-motion quilted this with rulers, doing four different motifs. I used the same motif for all 4 squares of the same color. I used a beige/brown Aurifil 40-weight thread, #2326. 

The first motif is a four pointed star.

This a a diamond pattern repeated a couple of times.

Next is a wedge pattern.

The 4th pattern is three four-sided figures with one common corner.

I finished piecing Diamonds With Squares. I'm adding a scrappy white border and it will be ready to pin and quilt.

I also began another quilt that I'll call Black/White with Red. All of the blocks are made. I'm still using some black/white strings that I made years ago. After adding red to the corners, I sewed some of the blocks together and decided to make a change.

The new layout has white sashing with red corner stones. I already like it much better. 

I finished this sweater. It is not gathered but appears like it in this photo.

I also finished my afghan, from Building Blocks by Michelle Hunter. Each of the 12 squares is different and is written for a person to learn more about knitting. Although I have knitted since I was a child, I am, for the most part, self taught. It's a great book/pattern and I did learn a few things.

To look really nice, one would have to get on the floor and spread this out nicely. But today, I'm not getting on the floor. 😉

You might be able to see it better on the back of the couch.

I am making another afghan from Michelle Hunter's book Building in Color. This one is knit in ten strips each using 2 - 3 colors of yarn. I am working on the second strip and have already learned things! It's nice to be filling in the gaps in my education.

I'm still going to physical therapy. We were rear-ended in a car accident in September of 2018 that moved vertebrae L3 about 1/4". My L4-L5-S1 vertebrae were fused together with cement made from my hip bone and screws in 2011. Well the spinal canal in L3 is much smaller than before the accident and is now full of arthritis and more so all of the nerves are again being pinched. This includes both sciatic nerves (right and left). It gets rather painful at times and it is difficult to move. The PT will continue a few more weeks and I'll start injections in early December. If need be, L3 will be moved back and fused to the vertebrae below. For now, I don't get a lot of exercise but I am able to sew some, I can knit, and I'm very good at taking naps!

Life could be worse but I'm hoping is gets better soon.