Yes, I cut the quilt in two!

I started Irish Chain with Solids at least a couple of years ago. I added the borders in July of 2020 and it was ready to be quilted in September of 2020. Somewhere along the line, I decided to use this quilt as a practice quilt for quilting with rulers. So I quilted each block with rulers or sometimes didn't. I just practiced on it intermittently.

When I got my longarm, I continued practicing on it. Sometimes I used rulers and sometimes I didn't, Recently I finished the quilting. Then I cut it apart, serged the four sides on each piece, and added the binding. The idea of cutting the quilt came to me  a couple of months. 

I think you can tell this was folded.
I still don't like getting on the floor.

I have beautiful tables that my machines sit on in my "machine room". To protect the tables, each machine was sitting on a practice sandwich. 

I really need to make new covers one of these days.

Now the tables look much better! The quilt was 63" square. One table in the machine room is 30" X 72" and the other is 22" X 72". The quilt is a little short on the ends but it works.

The quilting is all different and all practice. Some of it is rough but it will be fine for table mats.

I used Aurifil #2600 Dove thread and I also used Finesse #3285 Light Wool thread. They both look similar and I wanted to test both on my longarm. The back of the quilt is navy with white circles - it was in my stash. 

I really do need to make some new machine covers. I've been using small quilts that are quite old and faded. I always put the back side out because it looks better.

Practicing on this quilt also included loading a pinned quilt on the longarm, taking it off, and reloading it. It was great practice and helped me become more comfortable. I'm moving forward! 

More Finishes!

We had a pile of toys in our living room for a while. We finally moved them last week; they are going to some kindergarten and pre-school kids that don't have much. Some very kind teachers are spreading them around for us. I'm so happy the toys will be loved again.

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I finished a couple more donation quilts! The quilting is fast but the hand stitching of the binding takes some time. My hands cramp at times so I usually only stitch one side of a quilt in a day. I think all those years of hand stitching, hand quilting, and marking papers with red ink have caught up with my hands. I'm so glad I can still do some hand stitching (which I enjoy) even if it is a little slow.

I began the first quilt, Red Border Postage Stamp, in June. My hastily written instructions (I think from TV) said to make four patches from squares of fabric and some with opposite corners white. And that's all I wrote. So I arranged the blocks to make the white diamonds. I have no idea what the original looked like. 

I used  2" squares from my scraps for this quilt and made lots of 4 patches. I put red borders on this to make the quilt larger; it finished at 58" X 58". I quilted this with a large stipple - it was so easy and fast on the longarm! I used Aurifil #2600, Dove Gray thread. 

The back should be a surprise when it is turned over. It's very colorful - I love it!

The second quilt, Postage Stamps with White, is also made from 2" squares - the leftover 4 patches with white from the first quilt. The scrap box does show a tiny dent! 

This finished at 56" by 56".

This one is quilted with a large loop motif. I used Aurifil #2600, Dove Gray thread. 

 

The backing is not as colorful as the first quilt, but I think it still offers the choice for a reversible quilt.

I finished both quilt tops last July. I think that was about the end of my stitching before my surgery. I'm so blessed to be feeling good and I'm getting stronger which means I do some sewing or quilting most days. Besides enjoying the process, I love finishing quilts. There are more waiting to be quilted so stay tuned.

First projects of 2022 and more

My first projects of 2022 are my first projects using the longarm.

The first one was actually my second practice piece which I decided to finish and use. I took some leftover Christmas jelly roll strips and sewed them end to end. Then I cut 8 - 49" strips. 

I made this 16" X 49" table runner as a QAYG (quilt as you go). Everything except the binding was done on the longarm. Each time I added a strip (after the first), I quilted the previous strip. It was good practice, educational, and I ended up with a Christmas table runner. Not bad! The back is some Christmas fabric from my stash. I used Finesse #3285 Light Wool (light gray) thread.

I made the second quilt at least a year ago. I used scraps from my orphan and scrap bins and added the green because I thought the colors popped with it. I call it the Bright Green Quilt.

I quilted this with a free-hand double loop. The larger loops are probably 4 - 5" in diameter. I couldn't quilt large motifs on my domestic machine so I just had to try something a little bigger. It was fun and so fast! The stitches are beautiful - my stitch regulator is wonderful.

This quilt is about 50" x 57". The back is a bright green that I found at Quilting in the Valley in LaSalle, IL. 

There is a very good chance that I will get caught up quilting my finished tops this year!

Health update:

I was released from my spine surgery care yesterday, 1-18-22! Today I began weaning off of the last pain medicine. That will take 2.5 months.  

My scans show that my hardware hasn't moved since surgery which is great. And they show that bone is forming next to the screws and rods which delights me. I take daily shots for my bone health and this is proof they are working.

I was told 3 - 6 month recovery and I was released from care 3 days prior to 3 months. My surgeon's PA was amazed at my scans and said no PT! I will now work to get back strength and stamina. I need to go slow. I can do that - I have experience, having worked my way back from my first spine surgery in 2011. 

Rearranging and cleaning out for a longarm...

I've been busy and I've accomplished some things! I'm slow but slow and steady wins!!!

The toys are all ready to go to a preschool in an impoverished area. 

My upstairs looks different. The front dormer, aka front room, is still the machine room and hasn't changed much other than needing a good cleaning. My panoramic photos are always a little weird.

The guest room now has a cutting table.

One of the dormer closets in the guest room is now my craft closet. 

I store my Cricut on it's cart in there and I can move around it!

The longarm room has plenty of room - that's the ironing table against the window and a very comfy rocking chair for breaks or visitors (Ray).

Thank goodness, I sewed from my stash for the last 10? years and pretty much only bought backing. I still can't believe that almost all of my stash is in this dormer closet.

It's taken a while but is definitely worth the effort. I am delighted with the outcome. Right now I can quilt easier than sew so the longarm is getting a workout. 

I will see my doctors this week. I'm hoping to have my restrictions lifted. I'm feeling good and would like to begin exercising. I need to get my strength back. I'll let you know what they say...

Happy New Year!

Happy 2022! Ray and I are hoping this is a good year; I’m sure everyone else is too.

I’m getting better! Although my only exercise is walking, my left leg is getting stronger and I can now go up and down steps while alternating feet. I still get very tired and need naps, and I still begin sweating like a little pig if I do too much, but I think my back is doing great. In a couple of weeks, I see my neuro-spine surgeon’s PA. I’m hoping to get rid of some if not all, of my restrictions. 

 

I’m helping more around the house, especially with meals. It was a nice break of not worrying about what we were going to eat each day but now I’m sure Ray would like a break. He bought groceries a couple days ago and I pretty much made the list and decided some meals. He still helps A LOT and cleans up but appreciates my efforts or so he says!

 

My long-arm (technically a mid-arm) is set up and running. It's been rather eventful. Getting the boxes upstairs was quite a task. A neighborhood man, who grew up with our kids, and his high school sons helped. Then we had to clear space before we could even open boxes – so we shoved things into dormer closets. What a mess.

The mess on the left side of picture will be leaving.

Next, we put things together little by little depending on my endurance, so it took many days. When we set up the frame (which is an 8’ frame but takes up about 9’), it did not fit according to my plan. I didn’t know I needed so much room in front on and behind it. It actually fit in the room but blocked the doors of two dormer closets. So we moved more stuff and some of the same stuff. Then we moved the frame 90 degrees. Please know that whenever I say we, I mean Ray – I just supervised. Next we had to move the frame even further from the wall to facilitate the opening of one dormer closet door. This meant the only original item that could remain in the room was the ironing table. All fabric and a 35” by 60” cutting table had to move. Thankfully DS2 and his boys came to help. Whew!

The cutting table in it's new home and a large mess.

 

While DS2 and boys were here, they also shoveled snow for us and cleaned out most of the dormer closet that contained toys. Most of the toys were for younger kids and they did a good job of tossing damaged things, rescuing a few treasures to take home, and sorting things for me. As a result, I am almost ready to begin emptying another dormer closet. Of course, we will have to do that. I can’t wait to restore order and have access to everything in the studio.

Our dining room is now overrun with toys...but I do have a plan. By next week, I hope they are all gone.

I love the long-arm but need practice. Of course, I’ve done very little free motion quilting in the last year. I don’t think my learning curve will be nearly as bad as I had thought; I just need lots of practice. I’ve been using the machine a little each day and I’ve graduated to working on a real quilt vs. a practice sandwich. The quilt was partially quilted on my domestic machine as I practiced ruler work. It will eventually be cut in half and used as  a mat for my domestic machines. I never thought I’d have a long-arm so I’m still a little giddy.

 

Hopefully as we progress through 2022, I’ll get caught up with the quilts that need to be quilted. I also look forward to sitting at a sewing machine and stitching. I am not setting any goals other than to be grateful for and to enjoy each day. Its is absolutely wonderful to feel good.

Recovery continues...

I'm 6 weeks post op and here is an update.

Short story:

I am doing pretty good. My brace is off and I hope to have many of my restrictions lifted in 6 weeks.

 

Long story:

I turned a corner about a week ago – I no longer have the excruciating pain in my left leg; now I just have pain that I can tolerate. I saw the surgeon’s PA Monday – I still can’t have any anti-inflammatory drugs. I had the option of another pain med but what I’m using seems to be working so I chose to stay with that. I am still taking one nerve pain med and one very strong pain med. I hope to begin weaning off the strong med soon. The best news of my doctor visit was that my brace is off! I still have many restrictions but the brace is optional for a few weeks. I haven’t put it back on since I was in the doctor’s office. I don’t like it but I will use it if needed. 

 

We got to see my new x-rays – the screws, the rods, the donor bone, and the cage. It’s quite interesting if you can forget it’s you. 

 

The only exercise I can do is walk. My goal this week is 2000 steps a day. We were in Madison both Sunday and Monday and those days I had over 4000 steps each. Tuesday I was well over 2000. I’m ready to get my strength back but I’d also like to get off the meds and I don’t want to irritate the nerves anymore. So I’ll stick to 2000 steps the rest of this week. In 6 weeks, I’ll know about Physical Therapy – that will be 3 months post – op. There is a chance I won’t need it. The doctor thought I was doing very well!

 

My restrictions include no Bending, only light Lifting, and no Twisting. (BLT is the way it is referenced.) I’d like to begin doing squats but not yet so it’s hard to do some normal things.  I just use my grabber/reacher or call my dear husband.

 

I still rest a lot. I’ve put together jigsaw puzzles, read many books, played many computer games, and spend way too much time watching videos and TV. Somewhere in the middle of all of this while I was a little high on lots of drugs, I decided that I had room for a long-arm quilting setup and I ordered one! Well, technically, the machine is a mid-arm. The frame is 10’ long and I actually can find room without building onto the house! All I need to do is clean out 2 large dormer closets and one of my sewing rooms. Then rearrange things and I’ll be set. The problem is that I ordered everything during a big sale and although it was supposed to arrive in January; everything arrived November 29 and is in our living room.

Ray and I spent some time today moving things around in the closets and my studio. (Ray moved; I supervised.) Hopefully we'll finish that part tomorrow. There won’t be any cleaning out right now; we are just trying to clear space for the long-arm frame. Then we need to get things upstairs. After Christmas, I think DS2 and his 3 boys will come help us put the frame and machine together and in place. Sometime in the future, I’ll get things cleaned and the way I want them. 

 

I am very optimistic that this leg pain is going away (it is so much better) -  my medical team is great and I do believe them. In case you didn’t know, extensive back surgery has a long recovery time. My projected time is 3 – 6 months and I’m on track. Ten years ago my timeline was 1 – 5 years. This surgery wasn't nearly as invasive at the earlier one and I like the timeline much better! 

 

I can’t wait until I can squat and lift things … patience. I’ve been learning patience and practicing patience for well over a year. One would think I’d be better at it by now.

Recovery!

Short Version:

Surgery went well with one complication. I am improving!

Long Version:

Surgery was October 21 and all went well with my back. The main problem after surgery was my left leg. Evidently the surgery was very hard on my leg. Hammers, mauls, drills,..., were used and evidently irritated the nerves and muscles in my leg. It happens. When I woke up after surgery, I could not move my left leg but was told to have patience.The pain in the leg was astronomical and the narcotics began along with a variety of other problems such as vasovagal syncopes (fainting spells). Ugh! 

October 25, late in the day, I came home with Ray, my fantastic caregiver. Ray suggested I leave the phone and the electronics alone for a while. (I think he actually told my friends and family to not call or text for a while.) He was definitely right. I really didn't need interruptions to my rest.

Yesterday, 11/9/21, I had all 32 staples removed from the 10” incision in my back and it is doing great. My leg is better but has a ways to go. My medical team is optimistic that it will recover fully given time. Many of the additional problems are gone. The rest are being addressed.

I feel good at least part of most days. In general, my back feels good. The 10-year old hardware in my back was removed, some replaced, and some new hardware added. I'll hopefully begin therapy in December and in a few months, maybe I'll be near normal again.  

I am wearing a brace and use a walker. I am working at getting more steps each day and also to "letting go of the walker" periodically. I still have restrictions and will for a few months so it limits what I can try to do. I am also slowly getting off of the meds which means I should need fewer naps.

So how do I spend my waking hours?

Well, I'm considering a free motion quilting frame. I don't have room for a longarm so I've been looking at other options. I think I'm zeroing in on the Grace Q-Zone Hoop Frame Pro. If you have recommendations, let me know. I've been watching videos and reading reviews. I won't order until I have a very clear head. 

I probably won't post much in the coming weeks since my focus needs to be on getting better, not quilting. But eventually, I plan to be back in the studio - I think touching fabric will help with this recovery!😉