Home Again

Late yesterday afternoon the doctors released Blake to come home!  His fever had been down for 48 hours and the allergic reaction was beginning to get better so of course we were all thrilled.  Coming home they drove through the most horrible thunderstorm ever and it was really scary.  We're always afraid of things we can see but our God carries us through both the seen and the unseen alike.  Blake's illness and the thunderstorm have much in common.  They both came on suddenly, they both seemed overwhelming while he was in the middle of them, but they both passed on and left a great peace that was a welcome relief.  I'm so thankful that I can now picture him at home instead of in that hospital bed.  I'm also thankful beyond words for each of you who said a prayer for him or wished him good thoughts and who carried him in your heart for a few days.  One of God's greatest gifts to me has been the friends I've made in life, both in person and here on this blog.  I thank Him for each of you.

On a sadder note one of our own blog friends, Angie at Can You All Hear Me At The Back, has also gone home from the hospital but her journey was a bit longer.  She is dancing in Heaven now, baking and decorating cakes again, and has thrown away that wheel chair.  She was the most faithful of blog followers and she made me laugh more times than I can say - like a few days ago when she was astounded to discover that Fonzie lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  For some reason Angie always thought Milwaukee was in Idaho. :)  For those of us who are American that is especially funny.  Picturing Fonzie in Idaho....oh my.  I often say I'm geographically challenged and I think Angie would be right there with me!  My prayers are going up for her family and her friends.  She shone so brightly - she will be missed.

One New Thing

Well, maybe more than one....
Several days ago I showed you a sneak peek at the new thing I was allowing myself to make after finishing a UFO.  That's my goal for the year - One UFO means I can make one new thing but I can't make a new thing until I've completed a UFO.  I might have missed the mark just a small bit but not much.  First of all I finished this top today:

This is Creve Coeur by Dawn Heese for Linen Closet Designs.  I used Moda's Maison de Garance - a layer cake.  I love these fabrics!  You might remember I also made a quilt wrap out of these fabrics a couple of weeks ago.  I'm going to use a dark brown binding but haven't decided how to quilt it or what the backing will be.  Obviously, feathers are called for somewhere.  :)  Maybe the ecru border....

I've also made the first three of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilt blocks.

The one at the top is Seven Sisters, on the left is North Star and on the right is Catch Me If You Can.  She has given us Tears for Texas and Kansas Troubles but I haven't made those yet.  I'm hoping to catch up tomorrow.

For those of you following the saga of my grandson, Blake, he is still in the hospital - he's been there since last Tuesday.  They have offered up several diagnoses but I think they are settling on a staph infection in his lymph nodes.  His fever has been down for nearly 48 hours now but night before last he developed an allergy to his medication and is broken out all over his body in a horrible rash.  They've changed the antibiotic but he can't leave the hospital until the rash starts to improve and right now it's only getting worse.  Thank goodness it doesn't itch!  We're hoping for a trip home tomorrow.  They have at least lifted the quarantine so he can now have visitors but I'm not sure he's feeling up to it or if he wants anyone to see him with this rash.  It's that bad. Thank you so much for all the prayers and crossed fingers!

AWOL

Don't you think it's odd how sometimes we can write a post every single day for weeks and then we have to go "AWOL" for a while.  Sometimes we're just not able to write.  Other times life interferes with work, children, grandchildren, trips, etc.  For me it was grandchildren this week.

I've had two sick grandchildren this week but one in particular, Blake, has been in Children's Hospital for several days now.  Blake is 12 and has a combination of symptoms that have completely perplexed his doctors.  Today is the 12th day he's run fever.  He has a very swollen lymph node in his neck as well as several smaller ones.  He's having some joint swelling and a rash.  He's thrown up a time or two but only when the fever gets high or he tries to take oral meds.  They've tested him for everything from cat scratch fever to non-tuberculin micro bacteria!  They've ruled out several things but ruled in nothing.  And even now they say his strep test has been negative twice but it could still be that.  If the non-tuberculin micro bacteria test is negative, it could still be that.  It could be both bacterial and viral.  It could be....bless their hearts they're trying but it's just not standing out as any one thing!  Obviously he's pale and tired and weak and wants to go home.

What do grandparents do when grandchildren are sick?  We worry.  Because we have no control of the situation.  Don't you hate that?  When we were the parents we were the ones asking the questions, talking to the doctors, calling the nurses, holding the child's hands.  Now we have to step aside and let their parents do all that even as we're chomping at the bit to do it ourselves.  After all how can we trust those adults who once were our toddlers with sagging diapers, who picked up a Snickers off the parking lot and stuck it in their mouths, who started talking back about age 12....   It isn't that we haven't accepted them as adults a long time ago, it's just that we want to take it all back and say move aside, let Mama handle this.  :)

But we can't handle it so we stitch.  We sit quietly, try to keep our mouths shut, and stitch.  This is what this grandmother is stitching on right now.

Twas The Night Before Christmas by CrabApple Hill.  Embroidery is so soothing.....

UFO #6 and A Sneak Peek

UFO # 6 out of 32 is finished.  :)  Yes, I said 32.  That I counted.  I refused to count any more after that ... I was tired.

This came originally from a kit I bought...somewhere....some time.  I can't remember where or when and that means it must have been a very long time ago.  Or last week.  Anyway I think I changed the background fabric but truth be told I had this cut out so long that I'm not even sure about that.  :)  Doesn't matter - I loved it, bought it, put it on the back of the shelf and forgot it.  While organizing and cleaning I rediscovered it and loved it again. I figure if you love something twice it must be a keeper.  And for the very first time while free motion quilting I stopped, stood up and did a happy dance.  Spilled my tea but danced on.  I finally "felt" the rhythm.  I knew every single time I got off the rhythm.  :(  But at least I knew when I did it!  That doesn't mean all those stitches are even or even exactly where I wanted them to be but it does mean that I'm gettin' there.  And you can't see it in this picture but I added some blue crystals to some of the stars and they glitter when the light catches them.  :)

If you read an earlier post I said that I had promised myself for every UFO I finish this year I get to make one new thing.  So of course, I've started my one new thing.  Here's a sneak peek.

The fabrics are Moda Maison de Garance and I love them!  I made my quilt wrap that I showed you here from that same line.  I think this one will be pretty fast, which is a good thing because I'm supposed to be working on a mug rug (Hi Jane!) and have lots of ideas rolling around my head for that but can't choose.  :)

They're Everywhere, They're Everywhere!

Everywhere I look there are things I want to make!

This black and white quilt with the red center - so striking!

These embroidered Santas are awesome and look at the quilting in the borders!

Another red and white one with embroidery - do you think these might be my favorites?

I actually have the embroidered blocks done for this quilt so it's on my UFO list to be done soon.  I even have all the fabrics gathered together!

And a sweet friend sent me this pattern a couple of years ago and I haven't even started the embroidery but I want to!  Oh I love this one!

And this pumpkin, isn't it scrumptious?  I have the kit...waiting....waiting.

And look when I took this picture - 2 1/2 years ago!  I have this pattern too.  

Do you do this?  Keep pictures of things you want to make, gather all the stuff, then put it aside and not get back to it?  Is this a sickness?  If so, is there a cure?  Help!  If it were only these few things I wouldn't worry, but there's more and I'm beginning to think I might not live long enough to make them all.  Is it too much to ask to live to be 120?

Frustration

I promised ya'll I'd be back to quiltin' stuff today and I'm trying hard but my computer has thwarted me again! You've all experienced it so I'm sure you know what I mean when I say I want to yell at it...loudly. But it's a computer and it doesn't listen. Kind of makes you think it must be male, right? :) Just kidding! My computer decided about 10 days ago that it didn't want to be wireless any more. That's like saying I don't want to be short any more - growing taller at this point in my life is just not going to happen. And my computer has to be wireless. Don't ask me to explain that because I'd have to go into this long drawn out explanation involving logistics, the temperature in one room versus the temperature in another room, FOX news, wireless cards, loose antennae, yada, yada. My grandson, the computer wizard, will be looking at it again tomorrow and if he can't fix it then it's going in the trash. (not really, but if I say that maybe it will get scared and go back to acting right). Anyway, for now I'm using DH's computer (hate it) to tell you my sad story and to say if you're looking for me I'm the one in the corner moaning and gnashing my teeth while my computer thumbs it's nose at me.