Star of the Four Winds

The name of this quilt has always stuck with me. It is one of the most fun quilts I've ever made. Hmmm...I think I say that about all my quilts! lol This one was made for my friend, Leota, back in 1999 or 2000. Can't remember and I'd have to look at the label. It's an applique quilt made with fusible bonding. I cut the white pieces of the design with the fusible on the back and fused them in place on the red blocks. I would like to make another one someday with blue and white.

Update from the hospital...Dad had the thoracentesis done today. They drew off a quart of dark, straw-colored liquid. I told him it looked like ale with a foamy head! The renal doctor told him, "so, that's where you've been hiding that beer!" He is breathing much better and his physical therapy went very well today. He walked over 250 feet down the hall and back. His cardiologist from Clovis - the one we credit with saving his life - came to see him today. That was a nice surprise.

We still don't know the plan for rehab, if there is one. If he continues to improve as he has the last few days, I don't see why they won't release him to go home in a few days and have his PT there. I think I'm going home tomorrow to take care of things then come back on Sunday so Judy can go home and work on Monday. We're going to have to do a tag-team thing for a while.

It snowed in Clovis today! I wasn't there to see it, but everyone I talked to went on and on about it. Should get down to about 27 tonight, I hear.

I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. I only got about an hour's sleep last night and napped for a few minutes today. Hope I can sleep tonight.

Two week mark at the hospital

WTIL (Wrap Them In Love), a group I was more active in before I joined QOR. I made this quilt for WTIL. I'm ashamed to say I have not made as many quilts to send to this group as I would have liked. If I were as prolific as Linda is in making charity quilts, this is where I would send them. I think that this quilt was one of the first that I actually machine quilted with a walking foot. I was hooked!

Thursday, April 12, marked two weeks that we have been in Lubbock at the hospital with Dad. I told Jim earlier than it has been the longest, yet the shortest, two weeks I've ever spent. He says it feels more like a month! Does that mean he misses me terribly? lol I certainly miss being home but I cannot tell you enough how firmly I believe that I am exactly where I should be right now, with my dad. Yes, my two siblings are here, well, Henry has had to return to work, but Judy and I are here. I cannot leave him until I know he is well out of danger.

Speaking of danger...the lung doctor came in today and told us the left lung is still full of fluid. They just about dried him out using diuretics and the fluid just won't come off the lung. So, they'll do a lung tap (thoracentesis) in the morning. They'd do it today, but his blood is too thin right now. Otherwise, he's doing great! He's walking, with help, down the hall and back to his room. A little further every day. So, taking the fluid off that lung will aid in a quicker recovery. Please pray that all goes well.

Once I know that Dad is settled and rehab procedures in place, I will head back home. Judy and I had planned to go home on Thursday so I would be able to work Friday and Saturday. Best laid plans... So, now maybe I will have a friend come for me on Friday, work on Saturday, then return to the hospital for the weekend. Hopefully, Dad will be doing well enough to go home in the next few days.

I'm sitting here tonight, it's about 1:30 a.m. watching movies on my laptop and writing this. Judy has been sitting in a straightback chair while I'm lounging in a recliner. I feel guilty every time I'm in this chair, but I think she concedes that my age warrants the chair! LOL She just left the room to lay on one of the couches in one of the lesser occupied waiting areas.

Back to the movie..

Sunbonnet Sue

My granddaughter was born in 1999. I decided she needed a Sunbonnet Sue quilt. I hand appliqued this one and hand quilted it as well. This is one of the few quilts I have hand quilted. Once I discovered machine quilting, I can't bear to spend all that time working on quilts "the old-fashioned way" when I can finish them faster with the machine.

We're still in the hospital with Dad. He walked twice today, first time about 60 feet, second time, 80 feet. He's working on filling his dance card to dance with the PTs and the OTs and the nurses! lol He did a little jig, sorta, while standing by the bed with the physical therapist holding on to him. He's feeding himself easily, he scratched off several lotto tickets that April brought him yesterday, he's able to sit on the porta-potty and his mental state is improving daily. It's been a real treat to watch his progress. We are still waiting on his cardiologist to come by today. Actually, he came by around noon when Dad was "indisposed" and said he'd return. He forgot to mention that it'd be tomorrow! We need an order from him to request the rehab people to come in for an evaluation. That probably won't happen until tomorrow, but I hope it's early enough to allow us time to go home for the night. Judy then plans to return on Friday and I will work Friday and Saturday and come back on Saturday night to spend the weekend. Hopefully, he'll be ready to go home by then. If not, then at least the early part of next week. Everything just seems to move at a snail's pace. Of course, they're still working on removing the fluid off his left lung. The right lung is fine now, they say. He must've just been drowning in fluids when we got him to the hospital!

Alright, enough of that. I've seen several movies since I've been here. This laptop has been the best thing we've bought in a long time. Thanks, honey! Speaking of Jim..I'm grateful that he's been home, holding down the fort and working, while all of this has been happening. He knows it's been hard on me and I know he wishes I could be home, but Dad needs us both right now. Once we get him home, my boys and homecare will play a bigger part in his care. But, I digress...Rob and April brought us tons of DVDs to watch on the laptops. I think they're mostly April's movies. Thanks! They've been a lifesaver. I watched a movie until nearly 4 a.m this morning between jumping up to help Dad.

Time to help with dinner. Hopefully, the next post will be from my sewing room, at home! If you don't hear from me in the next few days, it's 'cause I'm working, doing taxes, sewing, etc., etc...

Just sitting here, thinking...

Sitting in a hospital room gives a person lots of time to think - and to go through pictures on the computer! I've been browsing through my picture album and realize there are many quilts I haven't shown yet. So, since I'll be here for a few more days, I'll post a few of my past projects.

This little quilt is one I made for my granddaughter. I can't tell you which magazine I got the pattern from since I'm not at home to look it up. It was a series so the instructions came out in two or three different issues. The pattern called for the dolls to be made as well, but after trying one, I knew I wouldn't have the patience to do more. So, I just bought little dolls to fit in the beds.



This little quilt I made for a hair client's new little granddaughter several years ago. I had the bear panels and just bordered them ala log cabin style. The border was new to me since I wanted to try something different. I found this ribbon style in one of my many books. I love the way it looks as though the ribbon is winding through the border

Dad's doing much better. Getting stronger by the day, but not by leaps and bounds. Well, actually, considering the shape he was in just a few days ago, it might be classified as leaps and bounds. Physical therapy came in today and had him sit up in a chair for almost two hours. He had lunch there then they came in with a special walker that allows them to tie him to it and help him walk. He was able to walk from the door of the room to the bed, about 20 feet. He was really tired. He likes the PT ladies 'cause they make him hug them in order to get him out of bed. lol

Time to help Dad with his breathing treatments. I hope we all get some sleep tonight. Henry and Shanon went home today so we'll miss him tonight.

Hospital quilt

Judy has decided that this quilt will probably end up being Dad's. He's had it on his bed in the hospital and has gotten rave reviews.

Dad is doing better, little by little, day by day. They are working on getting him of the ventilator today and have already had him on the CPAP machine and, this morning, have unhooked him from the ventilator, but is still intubated. It is so frustrating for him and us since he can't tell us what he wants.




My boys will be coming to see us tonight. Hopefully, the ventilator will come off this weekend and I can run home for a little.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Quilt friends at the hospital

Dad had a fairly restful night after they gave him a little bit of a sedative. He has begun to be awfully anxious now that he's more alert and he realizes he has the ventilator down his throat. He can't talk and he is trying so hard to tell us what's on his mind. We haven't seen a doctor yet so we don't know the whole story for the day. But, we do know that he is improving, thank the Lord.

11:00 a.m.
Finally saw the pulmonary doc and the cardiologist. They concur that he is improving, albeit, slowly. They do not want to remove the ventilator until the lungs are clear and there is still quite a bit of fluid on them. They don't want to push too many diuretics because that would put a strain on his kidneys. Still a waiting game...

A quilty note...I met two ladies in the the waiting room that quilt! I saw one of them the other day and she had a shirt on that read "I'd rather be quilting". I hadn't had a chance to find her again until this morning when I saw her in the waiting room. She and her mom are from a town near here and we have mutual friends! How's that for "it's a small world"! I hope to take my laptop to show them some of my quilts.

Brother H. has gone to shower and bring back lunch. Think we're having Quizno's today.

Hospital party

I wrote this post just past midnight, April 1.

Today is my birthday. Well, April 1st was. I think this will post with the 2nd as the date. It's Dad's 4th day in the hospital. They implanted a defibrillator on Friday. He is doing well, but is still on the respirator. He is also still working to remove excess fluid from his lungs. So, the respirator will not come out until the lungs are clear.

Since today is my birthday, I was so hoping that Dad would open his eyes for us. He has been responding to commands such as, "squeeze my hand", "open your mouth", and my favorite, "stick your tongue out!" LOL Well, he finally opened his eyes this evening. Just for a very short time, but it is very promising. He seems to be recognizing our voices, but I think we're in this for the long haul.

I haven't been home since Thursday, so I haven't done anything remotely resembling quilting. The only "quilty" thing I've done is to receive a gift bag full of quilting supplies for my birthday from my friend, Deborah. She came to the hospital with a carrot cake, paper plates, forks and my bag full of FQs, assorted quilting notions, a Pink Ribbon travel mug, and a quilt magazine. Was not how I'd planned on spending my birthday, but with friends and family surrounding me, what more could I ask?

I better get to sleep. I sense it will be another long day tomorrow. I don't know when I will get home. Hopefully, I can make the 100 mile trip for one day and get clean clothes and see Jim. I think he's missing me a little bit.

Emergency trip with Dad

A quick note to ask for prayer for my Dad. They flew him to Lubbock this morning. He called me around 7:30 and by the time I got to the house, I knew he needed help. He was able to walk to the car, but almost as soon as I was on the street, on the way to the hospital, he passed out on me. He was out the whole time I was driving him to the ER. It probably took me about 3 minutes to get there. At first, they told us that his pupils were fixed and dilated and was unresponsive. Then, they realized that he'd had cataract surgery and it was harder to determine eye movements. So, then they stabilized him and put him in a helicopter to Lubbock.

They are now doing some tests to see if his heart was damaged and to what extent. It's just a waiting game now. The next 24 -48 hours will tell the story.

Mindless sewing..

Four more Mary's Flower Garden blocks finished today. Actually, yesterday and today. I worked on them this morning before heading out to run errands. I put them together using the reversible quilt method after appliquing/quilting each block. I want to make at least six more blocks but need to get more batiks and more of the printed fusible interfacing. I was going to make my own, but didn't copy the pattern. It's just easier to buy the interfacing.

The little patchwork blocks you see are made from leftover strips from the last DWR. The strips were roughly 2 1/2" x 5". I sewed three of them together, pressed and subcut in 2 1/2" units. Two of these units were sewn together, then four of these units were put together making these 7 1/4" blocks you see here. I'm not sure how many more I've got cut up to assemble. Not sure what I'm going to do with these, either, but it's kind of a mindless little task that works for me right now.
Judy and I finally got to the gym tonight. We've got to get our act together. We did so well for over a year. I think right now we're both just so stressed with Dad and she's got a lot on her plate with work. Speaking of Dad, I finally decided he needs to be seen by his cardiac guy sooner than next month. So, we're taking him to Lubbock this week. Maybe he just needs his meds tweaked. We'll see..

Tornado aftermath

What a weekend! The picture you see here is my friend, Leota's house. If you click on the picture, it will take you to more pictures of the destruction. She had a mobile home sitting directly in front of her house, across the dirt road, and it is totally demolished. In fact, it fell on her car! She and Brian were inside the house at the time, but they managed to come out of it unhurt. The renters in the mobile home were also inside the trailer and were tossed about when the twister picked it up. They came out from under the rubble without a scratch! Miracles...

There has been no sewing at my house the last day or two. I tried to go to work this morning, but the power was out and still is. So, I spent the morning with my dad and then Rob and I drove around to see the destruction where we could. Then I spent the afternoon at the Hispanic Expo at our new Convention Center where Judy had a booth set up for her business. They went ahead with the Expo in light of all the commotion from the tornado and will donate some of the proceedings to the relief effort.

Don't know if we'll go to the gym tonight. We missed last night and the night before so we really should go. Where was I during the tornado? Judy, Joe and I were at a Mexican food restaurant where we were told to get under the tables when we heard a tornado was headed our way. Under the tables?! Get real! We are BIG people and there was no way we were going to fit under those things! Anyway, management told us to leave if we wanted to, without paying the bill! I did leave Judy's name and number... We headed to Judy's house all the while being pelted with quarter to golf-size hail. In the light of day, we see where the twister touched down only about a half block from her house and turned over a motor home.

On a quilty note, I've made two Mary's Flower Garden blocks from Quiltsmart.



I would like to make at least 4 - 6 more blocks but I need to find more batiks. I had a set of FQ batiks that I picked up in Amarillo last time we were there. I can't believe I don't have any more in my stash!

Time to change my clothes in case we work out.

I love to quilt!

I really do enjoy the quilting process. Don't get me wrong! I love all the other aspects of this passion, but I do enjoy free motion quilting, even if it is on my little domestic Bernina. I hope you can see the free-hand hearts on the border of this quilt. I also did the hearts in the setting blocks between the 9-patch blocks. I think this little quilt will go to my sweet little granddaughter, Brittany. All the pink reminds me of her. And, since she won't get to come spend her spring break with us this year, maybe it will take the sting out of her disappointment. Didn't do much for mine :-( But, we can look forward to two weeks in the summer.

It's another Monday and Dad has given me the day off. LOL I usually take him to rehab on Monday but he decided that his caregiver does a wonderful job so I can just take my time today. I am so grateful that he likes his caregiver person and that she is so good to him. So, soon as I get done primping, I'll head out to the fabric stores and see what kind of damage I can do.

Circular Saw on a Saturday

All I can say about this block is, "it's finished!" LOL There are so many things wrong with this little block that I may have to re-do it just for my sanity. It's really not as hard as I thought it was going to be. It's just small.

I've brought the Valentine quilt into the sewing room to be quilted. It's been draped over the quilt rack in the living room where I've been looking at it everytime I walk through to the kitchen. It won't take but an evening to quilt, I just can't get the motivation.

We had dinner at Judy's where she made her famous spaghetti. Now we have to go work out! So, guess I'd better get my shoes on...

Oldest UFO

This Cathedral Window was started right after I started quilting, about 10 years ago. I can't believe I decided to make it king size! No wonder I've put off working on it. But, it won't get done that way, will it? When I laid the strips out on the bed I thought, "I need about 10 more rows!" Oh well, this will be one of those projects that will be found years from now and they'll say, "She must've just got tired of it!" LOL Maybe letting you all know I've got it will give me a boost to re-visit this project.

I've been working on Midget Block 20. It's the hardest one I've done yet. I think I'm only 7 blocks behind. I'm trying to do them in the order they're being presented. This one may take a while.

Dad's holding his own. His sense of humor is more evident these days. I just wish we could get him out more. His visits to the rehab center are the highlights of his week.

I think I've decided why I can't seem to focus on a particular project right this minute. My sewing room is a total and complete mess. My sister and I have decided that I need to install shelves before I can do anything. I have no place to store anything. Will start looking...

It's official!

Finally! Robert received his diploma in the mail after waiting since December. Apparently, they had a problem at the college and the diplomas were delayed in mailing. Daddy Jim is SO proud! lol He had me send this picture everywhere. I'm proud, too! You might notice that Rob's teeth are not the straightest things...well, that's why he had his wisdom teeth removed a few weeks ago and will soon start on his orthodontic adventure. This little boy, er, young man, has been the hardest to get to the dentist's. He will admit to you that he will faint at the slightest idea of pain. lol He came through his wisdom teeth extractions with flying colors, though. I'm sure he's not looking forward to the rest, but I think his front teeth have already moved a little just from the removal of the back teeth! But, I digress.. He is formally a graduate of NMSU and we are all very proud! Go, Rob!!


On a quilty note - These blocks are birthday blocks for Fran, the only March birthday girl. The first one is called "On The Oregon Trail" and the second is "Tradewinds". The fabric she sent is the swirly, flowery fabric. It is beautiful!

I'm going to be late for work. Dad's numbers are great today. If we could just get his hip to stop hurting...

Monday night

Since we spent all day in Amarillo I didn't get much sewing done yesterday. So, last night, I sat down and finished quilting on a tablerunner I had promised a lady around Christmas. I'm not happy with the way it turned out. We'll see if she likes it. I didn't even take a picture of it. Well, I do have a picture of the top, but the quilting came out alright. Then, I made this little pincushion. We picked up the kit for this at Sister's Scraps in Amarillo. Easy, but I don't think the kit was complete unless I read the instructions wrong. I had to add a 10" piece of coordinating fabric and then it made two cushions. I added this picture later today when I made the other pincushion and thought, "why not try a smaller one?" It's really too small, but you get the idea. I've actually made a smaller one, long time ago, that was called a "ring pincushion". I keep it in my travel bag.

Got to work this morning and my app't book was totally empty! I hadn't had that happen in a long time. Actually, this is a slow time of year. Everyone's getting their taxes in order (one of the reasons I came on home - to work on mine!), so things are a little slow. Weekends get busy, though.

While we were in Amarillo yesterday, we went to two quilt stores. R & R Quilts is one of my favorites and they are the ones that sponsor the retreat in July. The other is Sister's Scraps. They have a nice, new store and filled to the brim with fabric. I get so overwhelmed when I go into a place like that. I want it all!! lol So, I end up buying one or two little things unless I'm there for something specific. 'Course, right now I'm on this fabric diet...

I've got to quit procrastinating. Time to dig out the tax papers. I'd rather take a nap..

Bloomin' DWR finished!

Can you stand one more picture of this DWR? lol I was bound and determined to get this project done way before the Amarillo retreat so I wouldn't have to stress over it. And, I did! All I need now is the label on the back and, perhaps, buttons to go in the center of the cornerstones. I found some last night at Wal Mart, but I am still two buttons short so I'll look again today when Judy and I go to Amarillo. She has an appointment at the dermatologist's and I'm riding along.

What a story about that kidnapped baby in Lubbock! And then to find her in Clovis! Right here in our little town. Then, this morning, Jim says, "that kidnapper lives on my route!" So, had he been delivering mail while they were doing the investigating, he would've seen it all "go down"! lol

I mentioned going to Amarillo today. That's contingent on how Dad is feeling when we go see him before we leave. He was not doing very well yesterday. That fluid is building up again and I'm not sure the diuretics they have him on are doing the trick fast enough. I'd hate for him to have to take the heavy duty diuretic he was on right before he had his low sugar spell. I still think we need to get back to the heart doc in Lubbock, maybe even before his regular check up in April. The doc here is ok, but it's hard when they all start prescribing different things.

I'm off to get ready for the day. Everyone feeling the effects of the time change? I was so surprised to see how dark it still was at 7 a.m.

DWR back

 You are looking at the back of the DWR mentioned in the last few posts. This back is formerly a front that I made up several years ago - like, 10 years ago?! I can't remember the name of the pattern now but I think it had the word "spring" in it. I made a quilt with this pattern for my sister around the same time. I was not as well informed then, as I am now :-), about how to make a quilt hang evenly so her quilt is a little askew. And, after working with the top/back last night, I found it was going to take some squaring up as well. I added the red borders just to make it big enough and then quilted the DWR. Tonight, I plan to work on the binding. I'm going to take the rest of the 5" squares, cut them in half on the bias, sew them all together and make a scrappy binding. Then, I will cut the edges of the quilt to match the curves in the arcs. That's my plan, anyway...

Time to finish getting ready for work. Busy Saturday..

One more DWR pic

Here's an upright picture of the top after the blocks are sewn together. Still haven't decided what to do for borders, if anything. Someone suggested using the leftover squares in the pieced back. That's a workable idea. I might even piece the binding...

Thanks to all of you that commented. I appreciate you all and love it when I can count on fellow quilters to "brainstorm" with. I'm off to the gym.

DWR in progress

 

The blocks are all appliqued and the buttons added. I found some really neat, large buttons that I couldn't resist. They kind of get lost in the design, but the buttons are so cool, I am going to use them. The yellow buttons I'd bought originally were too small for the centers. Now I need to decide what kind of border to do since I still have about 60 five-inch squares left. I also have about 100 5"x2" rectangles left over after cutting the arc wedges. I feel as though it's getting awfully busy, but I kinda like it! lol I've thought of a piano border, but I'm still thinking....

I was a little disappointed in the arcs that have the light or white wedges in them, especially in the outer arcs. It makes it look as though there's a break in the arcs. But, I used random fabrics and that's what came up.

Update on Dad...His heart rate was up to 61 at his 2 o'clock check this afternoon. Hopefully, we're seeing some positive progress. We had a little set-back this weekend when he told me he had "done it again". He hit his leg on something and now has another ulcer. He had just been released from the last one, but, it did heal faster than they have been healing. So, hopefully, this one will heal quickly. He has better blood flow to his legs since his surgery and I guess that's been helping.

Busy days at work but I've been able to get off around 2p.m. I've been coming home to work on the DWR and I need to finish up some birthday blocks. Judy and I have been hitting the gym regularly, if only for cardiac. We hope to work on weights tonight. I get so sleepy around 4 - 5 p.m especially when I'm sitting here reading or doing some repetitive sewing. So, I think I'll go take a quick nap in order to get up to fix dinner.

Bloomin' Rings

A quick note before I head off to work. This block is the start of a Double Wedding Ring quilt that will be my challenge piece for the Amarillo retreat this year. I came home last year from the retreat with 220 5" squares that we swapped. I had not even thought about what I might do, but, since I've been wanting to do a larger DWR (larger than all the tablerunners I did last year) I thought I'd do this. Since the rings themselves did not use up but about a little more than half of all the squares, I decided to do a little applique flower in the center of the rings. Not sure yet what I'll do with the center of the flower. Probably a round yellow applique. Maybe a button? Any ideas? I also have to decide on the colors of the cornerstones. I'm thinking maybe red and blue jewel tones but I kinda like the colors in the pattern picture.

Ok, off to finish getting ready for work. Oh, thank you Lord for seeing Rob through his wisdom teeth extractions and for the fact that Dad is still feeling well.