At Last!

The wait is finally over. The blood tests, EKG, all the scans and x-rays are done. The weird saliva COVID test is done and negative. I've been giving myself daily shots to build up my bones for over 7 months. The back surgery is finally going to happen Thursday. I. AM. READY. I'm tired of the pain and the waiting. It's been over a year but the end is really in sight.

It will be a lengthy surgery and lots of precautions are being taken. Evidently in a 2nd surgery like I'm having, tears in the dura (one of membranes around the spinal cord) and infections are a higher risk. I had a tear in the dura the first time and am hoping not to have a recurrence. My surgeon has told me this surgery will not be as invasive as the one 10 years ago so I am optimistic that this will be somewhat easier.  He also is predicting my recovery time will be 3 - 6 months. Last time it was 1 - 5 years. In any event, the nerve pain will ease and I will be able to resume a more normal life. 

A normal life that includes quilting, travel, and hiking. 

Yes, I am ready!

Update on Ray: He is doing much better and will be a great support person. 

Update Time

Finally, after 6 months of daily injections to build my bones, I was able to schedule surgery with my neurosurgeon last Monday. It'll be another 5 weeks before it happens but the doctor assures me that surgery will finally happen!

During the night last Monday, Ray had a coughing spell. He's not sick or anything just a tickle in the throat. He evidently irritated some nerves in his back and leg from coughing so hard. He's having great difficulty moving and walking. He saw the doctor today (Thursday) and hopefully his meds kick in soon. (Just what this house needed - another old decrepit person 😉🙃🙃)

My days have become very predictable - lots of sleep. One way I deal with pain is to sleep and some of my meds make me sleepy so I nap a lot! If we do something, it takes a day or more to recover. Needless to say, I don't accomplish much. Now that Ray is out of commission for a bit, life could get interesting but most likely, meals will be simple, clothes won't be washed, and cleaning won't be done. We'll survive!

I haven't sewn much; in fact most days, I don't get upstairs to the studio. I had a pile of donation quilts though. Since I couldn't donate quilts to the children's hospital yet, due to COVID, we took 30 quilts to the Ronald McDonald house when we were in Madison on Monday. I think there are 3 quilts left on the donation pile upstairs. 

Thirty quilts ready to go:

I donated 

1st pile of quilts

2nd pile of quilts

3rd pile of quilts

The quilts from 2019 are:                                         

I Scream You Scream

Scrappy Trip Around the World 

Jenny's Flower Garden Too 

                                                                                        

From 2020:                                                                     

Crosswalks 

Six Degrees South North of the Equator    

Batik Bowties

Strings with Navy

Crazy Cars

Orphan Improv

Courthouse Steps

Flannel Baby Squares

Black/White with Teal

Blue with Yellow Jelly roll Race

Migration I

Migration II

Paint

Teal and White

Tiny Log Cabins

Scrappy Blue

Colored Strings

Pink Puppies

Basketweave Strings

From 2021:

Awesome Aspens

B/W with Red  

Diamonds with Squares

Easy Breezy

Pathways to Friendship

Magic Squares

Little Squares

The I Spy Tree

For the next 5 weeks I will try to help around the house, go to what seems like a zillion doctor appointments, work on staying healthy, and probably nap! And just maybe I'll find a little time to sew.

A trip to Iowa

We took a little trip to Iowa. We were gone eight days and eventually we were 4 1/2 hours from home.  We were able to spend a little time with some friends and family. I rested a lot (but evidently not enough). We ate well and had plenty of treats from some great bakeries. Ray took photos. I bought fabric.

IOWA 2021

Here's a few photos I took with my phone.

In Iowa City, there was a neat display downtown called Loop near the Graduate Hotel. One or two people can sit in the loop and push/pull the handle back and forth. Pictures go around inside the loop and lights on the outside get brighter the faster you move the handle.

Photos from Hotel Millwright which opened last October in The Amana Colonies. The hotel took over the buildings where the bales of wool arrived and where the wool was dyed.

Our huge suite in Hotel Millwright - this is part of the living room / kitchenette.

This is looking towards the door from the bedroom door. The open door is the bathroom with a closet next to it.

Lily Lake in the Amana.

Scenes in Pella, Iowa. 

We stayed on a farm in Indianola. These flowers were near the barn.

This is one of many quilt shops we found. This one is in Indianola.

Ray carried the bag of fabric that I bought at Quality Time Quilts and decided I should take a photo.

We went to the National Balloon Classic in Indianola. There were so many people. The area on the far hill was the least populated as it was the furthest from the parking. On stage were the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. 

It was fun to see the balloons inflate and lift off.

Over 100 hot air balloons were there.

Up, up, and away!

We loved traveling again although it was quite different from our usual trips. There was no hiking but in all honesty the weather was too hot and humid be outside much until the last couple of days. Our accommodations were the one hotel, 2 AirBnb rentals and 1 VRBO rental. All were great - clean and comfortable. We both enjoyed our Iowa trip.

Now I am recovering - I might have overdone a little. I got in a fair number of steps each day (far more than usual) but I only gained 1/2 pound from all those treats so I think that is a win! I've mostly slept since we got home Monday evening. I think I'm finally feeling better tonight.

Just checking in...

Well, not a lot is happening around here but I thought it was time to check-in. I no longer sew everyday - what a difference! 

I do have some finished tops that I don't think I have shown you. I'll tell you more about each when they are finished.

My pressing is now done while I'm sitting down. I have the log cabin squares finished; I just need to decide on a layout.

Health update: The pain meds are working but the pain has increased so I'm back to not doing much. Standing still is very difficult. Walking is ten times easier. A couple weeks ago we took a short overnight trip. We went to Quilting in the Valley in LaSalle, IL. On that 2-day trip, we also saw 2 grandsons play baseball. It was great fun but tiring. Upon my urging, we are about to leave on another longer trip. We'll visit family and friends and hopefully see an International Hot Air Balloon Festival. At the furthest point, we'll be 4-1/2 hours from home. We have LOTS of rest time built in and will only travel short distances on travel days. We are both looking forward to it.

Batik Knots is done

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Batik Knots is another donation quilt. It is about 60" square and made with some 2 1/2" colored batik squares that I had. The white pieces are Moda Bella cotton. The sashing, borders, and binding are a bright navy that was in my stash.

The corners and the center squares in the blocks are a batik that DS1 chose for a mask a year ago. It's so nice to not be making masks! 

I free-motion quilted this with the following motif. I'm not sure the motif has a name - I call it 3 petals with echo. 

It's easy to fill spaces. I quilted the motif quite large on this quilt.

I used Dove gray #2600 Aurifil thread to quilt this. The backing is from my stash.

Health update: The meds are working - I am quite easily able to handle the pain now except when I overdo. Saturday I was on my feet all morning and then I was down for almost 3 days with some bad pain. I'm better today and will be more cognizant of what I am doing. Most days I am walking 14 minutes on a treadmill while hanging on. It's nice to get some exercise. 

Notice to email followers

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Finishes and more!

I have both a quilting finish and a knitting finish.

This quilt is called Daises - the center of each block and the cornerstones are all daisies.

The yellow is a Moda Bella Cotton. The other colors (except for the daisies) are hand dyed. I bought two fat quarter packs a number of years ago in the Outer Banks. The pattern is called the Economy Quilt Block. I added sashing between the blocks.

This donation quilt is 58" square. I quilted it with a walking foot in diagonal straight lines using Aurifil #1135 50-weight yellow thread. The stitching is on the same diagonal as the colors.

The backing is a yellow fabric that was printed a few years ago for the Iowa Shop Hop. It has boys and girls riding bicycles.

My knitting finish is an afghan that I made following Michelle Hunter's Building in Color book. I learned  more about knitting in color and was glad I decided to make the quilt. I did change the border - I crocheted it rather than knit it. The only reason was variety. The afghan is about 40" by 54".

At the recent retreat, I worked on this quilt and got the blocks put together.

I also made some logcabin blocks.

And I put together lots of 4-patches for another quilt.

I hope to have another finish soon.