Learning Something New

As some of you may know, I have been doing some kind of needle work almost all my life, starting when I was about 6 years old. I have sewn my own clothes. I make quilts. I have knitted many pair of socks. I crochet all sorts of things. And I enjoy doing all of those things for the most part. However, recently I have become bored with the projects I have been working on. Yes, like many crafters, I have so many WIPs (works in progress) that I doubt I will live long enough to finish them! But, like I said, I'm bored. Let's learn something new!

For some time, I have wanted to learn a new craft. I have looked through the catalog for the local adult learning program and nothing strikes my fancy. A while back, I was reading a book and one of the characters was doing pastel painting. Eureka!

Several years ago, I tried painting with acrylics. I was not very good at it. Oh, my pictures came out looking somewhat like the step-by-step instructions, but I wasn't enjoying it. Mixing the paint resulted in mud many times instead of the nice color that I wanted. I still have those acrylics, but I doubt I'll ever try them again.

When I was inspired by that book character to think about pastels, I looked into it. I found a craft that I could try without investing too many dollars. Less than $20 would purchase a cheap set of oil pastels and a pad of paper. So, I signed into Amazon, ordered those supplies and in a couple of days I had my paints and paper and was ready to start.

My first attempt was an apple. I was going on memory instead of getting an apple and using it for reference. I think it turned out OK for a first attempt. What do you think?

Well, that is OK, but what about working from a picture? I looked online for a simple picture of my favorite flower -- iris. I gave it my best attempt and here's what happened:

It actually looks like an iris! Still, it's an amateurish painting, but it's a start. Turns out, I really do like making pictures with oil pastels. I have a lot to learn. My next attempt will be a bird, maybe a cardinal.

Learning something new is exciting. It stimulates my brain and gets my creative juices going. And now I have supplies on hand that will help me ward off the boring days of winter. Maybe I should get another pad of paper...just in case!

As always, thanks for reading my ramblings. I would love to hear from you with feedback on my newest craft.

Amy

When did we get so lazy?

I doubt that anyone will read this post, but that's OK. I have something to get off my chest. If you are one of the unfortunates who decided to click on this post, I apologize for the rant. I hope you will forgive me.

It seems to me that there is a pervasive element taking hold in our country...or maybe our generation. I don't know which it is, but it seems to have developed since the advent of social media. Or maybe it's more apparent since we started sharing our lives on social media. The pervasive element of which I speak is laziness.

Let me provide an example. I follow a couple of "clubs" on Facebook that have a large number of members...as in at least 10,000 people.  Both of these groups post a lot of photos. I love looking at the photos. Apparently others do, too, because instead of reading the narrative that goes along with the photo, they will post a comment asking a question that is answered in the narrative. Now, maybe I'm being too picky. OK. I guess I am being picky, but why is it so hard to read before asking questions? My parents raised me to ask questions if I don't understand something. However, they would provide guidance and expect me to find my own answers. Therefore, I grew up reading and then asking questions.

Why aren't we all taught this way of learning? I don't know. Did it start when we started plunking kids in front of the TV and took a hands-off approach to parenting? Maybe it is a result of single-parenting. No, I don't think that's it. I know too many single parents who taught their kids in ways similar to the way I was taught.

I don't know the answer to this. I'm sure that psychologists and sociologists have studied this. I don't care enough about the reasons to do my own research. I just had to blow of steam today.

Thank you for reading my rant. Now I will fade into the background, a place where I feel most comfortable. Spring is coming. Who can be grumpy when the earth is bursting to life around us?

Enjoy your day!

It's Finished!

I have finally finished the quilt I was making for my niece. In an earlier post, I said I was using the Attic Windows block using heart blocks left over from an anniversary quilt as the focal point in the block. I even posted a photo of a block. Well, here is a photo of the finished item:

I think it turned out very nice. There is only one instance of having like blocks side by side. See the two pink hearts in the middle of the photo. And I worked so hard to try to avoid that happening. Oh, well. This photo makes the two hearts immediately to the left of the duplicates look the same, but they are not. The top one is blue and the bottom is green. And some of the windows look empty, but they aren't. Those windows have light colored, usually yellow, hearts. So what do you think? It actually does kind of look like a window -- if you squint your eyes and move back as far as possible. :-)

Good news on the cancer front. I had another 3-month follow-up visit yesterday with the medical oncologist and everything looks good (his words!). I am a year and a half out of the end of chemo so my anxiety lessens with each healthy doctor visit. I still have the port-a-cath, but I hope to get it removed when I can switch over to six month visits, which should happen sometime this fall. It doesn't hurt, but it's a bother having to have it flushed to make sure no clots form. I did find out recently that I can wait three months before having it flushed. I was told at the beginning that it should be flushed every 6-8 weeks. I've been having it flushed every six weeks because that times well with doctor visits. So now I'm switching to three months. Saves a little money because insurance doesn't cover all the cost of the flush. Nonetheless, I am very happy that I continue to do well. I feel good most of the time, which is a good thing. All in all, I'm very satisfied with my life.

In an early post this year, I mentioned the positive thoughts jar that I was going to keep. Well, it was a good idea! I do add thoughts to the jar, but it's not happening every day. To be honest, I seldom have thoughts that aren't positive so it's hard to remember to write down special thoughts that occur. I don't remember most of the things I have written down so opening the jar at the end of the year will be a treat. I must remember to add to the jar, though.

I've started working on the baby quilt for my new great-grand-nephew who is due in July. I'm using English paper piecing in a hexagon and diamond pattern. Something like the diagram below:


I like fabrics from the 1930's so that's what I'm using. Since it's for a boy, I am using "boy" colors -- blue, green and yellow prints for the hexagons and solid blue, green and yellow for the diamonds. I'm just getting started so no photos yet.

That just about does it for this time. The SWANs meet tomorrow night so I'll take the Attic Windows quilt for show-and-tell. They've watched me working on the blocks for what seems like forever so I'm sure they will want to see the finished product.

As always, thanks for reading my ramblings
Amy 

Procrastination

In recent days, I have begun to notice something about my actions that I'm not sure is a good thing. Procrastination. I seem to be adept at delaying action on tasks that I don't want to do/am bored with. It's a long-standing ability that I have. I first noticed it when I was in college 30+ years ago. I would find anything that I could think of to do to avoid studying or writing papers. Well, apparently not much has changed in the last 30 years!

As I mentioned in my last post, I am making a quilt for my niece. I enjoy the quilt and I enjoy the quilting process. However, as I near the end of projects, I sometimes get a little tired of working on it. Such is the case with my niece's quilt. I have just a few blocks to quilt and then stitch the blocks together. You would think I would be doubly excited to work on the quilt. Well, you would be wrong. This week, I decided that I need to transfer some of my favorite recipes that I have stored on my computer onto recipe cards. Keep in mind that I have printed them out on regular paper so I can follow them as I prepare the recipe. And I have backed up all my documents onto a thumb drive. Nope. Not good enough. I need to have them on recipe cards. While that is probably a good idea, I really need to focus on the quilt.

Yesterday, I decided to amp up my efforts on the quilt and got a lot done. Then I realized why it was so easy to refocus. I'm delaying doing my taxes! Yes, procrastination has reared its ugly head again! My plan for today is to do my taxes before I start anything else. And my taxes are really easy since I don't have enough deductions to require the long form. But it is an unpleasant task that I put off for some unknown reason. So, what did I do? Decide to write a blog post about procrastination. Makes sense, doesn't it?

So, that's it for today's post. I'm going to discipline myself and work on my taxes...as soon a I finish this post and check email and get something out of the freezer for dinner and.... Well, you get the point. I WILL finish my taxes today, but I may not have time to do any quilting. C'est la vie!

Yours in putting off until tomorrow what you should do today.
Amy

How will I ever find time???

I think I may have written about this before, but it seems as if every time I am nearing the end of one project, my  mind is already jumping ahead to the next one. In my last post, I mentioned the quilt throw that I am making for my niece. I have about half of the blocks finished. As always, I am doing everything by hand in the pot-holder quilt method. Here is a photo of one of the completed blocks:

I'm using the Attic Windows setting. This photo doesn't really do justice to the block, but I think the finished product will be really nice. Sure hope she likes it!

Now that I'm getting close to the finish line on this quilt, I'm jumping forward to the next quilt -- the one for the new baby coming in July. I really enjoy doing English Paper Piecing so I am going to make the baby quilt using EPP hexagons and diamonds. I'm still working on the layout, but I have all of the paper pieces cut (using freezer paper) and adhered to the fabric and about half of them have been basted. I hope to finish the attic windows quilt within the next month so I will be able to focus my full attention on the baby quilt.

Annnndd, I'm even thinking ahead to the next quilt after the baby quilt! A great nephew is in the Air Force and I think it's time I make a quilt for him and his wife. I'm tossing around patterns -- flying geese (to honor his service)? Homeward Bound (because he hopes to be stationed back in the states soon)? I just don't know. Fortunately, I'll have a while before I have to make a decision on that one.

I'm doing pretty well at keeping up with the positive thoughts jar. There have been a couple of days when I forgot to add to the jar, but that's been balanced out by the days when I put two or more thoughts in the jar.

Apparently I don't have enough to occupy my hands or my mind because I keep finding new things that I want to try. The most recent thing I ran across is on a blog called Thread Head and the craft is Romanian Point Lace and can be found at http://joanne-threadhead.blogspot.ca/2010/08/romanian-point-lace-tutorial.html. I'm going to give this a try when I have a chance. Maybe this will be my ornament for the 2014 SWAN exchange.

Yesterday was another followup visit with the medical oncologist. I am now about a year and a half out of treatment so I'm hoping that all tests for the next six months are negative so I can move to seeing the doctors every six months. And get this port taken out! While it doesn't hurt, it's a pain in the behind to have it flushed every six weeks. Not having it flushed could mean a blood clot and that wouldn't be a good thing, especially since the port catheter is in a vein near the heart. So for the next few months, I'll continue with the flushing and hope that all of the tests continue to come back negative.

Enough chatter for now. It's time for me to get back to the quilt...so I can get this one finished and start on the next one! Or work on the shawl that I started knitting back in the fall... Or try out the Romanian Point Lace. So many things I want to do; so little time!

Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Amy

Snow Day

Yes, I know I haven't posted for almost three months. Do good intentions count? I think about posting while I'm doing some other task and then when I'm finished, I've forgotten about the blog. This is a new year so maybe I'll be better able to keep up.

Anyway, I'm calling this a snow day even though as a retiree I don't have to go anywhere unless I want to. We got three to four inches of snow last night. The roads seem to be clear enough, but the temperature is horrible! At around noontime, the temperature was only 10 degrees. Baby, that's cold!

What better way to spend a snow day than updating my blog. So here goes. My last post in October talked about the SWAN Halloween Party. That was a wonderful evening. Teresa always does an outstanding job as hostess. The ornament exchange was fun as always. The ornament that I made (on the left below) was drawn by Jackie and the ornament that I drew (made by Darlene) is on the right.

Ornament I made; drawn by Jackie

Ornament Darlene made that I drew

 

 

So now it's time for Christmas. The SWANs party was held in early December. Denise and I were hostesses and for the first time we held the dinner at the church where we normally stitch. I think everything went well. I know I had lots of fun. Lots of good food and fellowship made for a wonderful evening. As always, we had an ornament exchange. Well, I couldn't come up with an ornament that I liked so I made a mug rug. Apparently the fad has been around for a while, but I just found them last summer. It's a small quilted item that is big enough to serve as a coaster for a cup or glass and have room to put a snack to munch on while sipping the beverage of choice. Anyway, I made this mug rug from some free clip art I found on the Internet and I think it turned out really cute. Jackie once again drew my entry and it is on the left. I was fortunate to get the ornament that Robin made (on the right). I say "fortunate" because angels and snowmen are the two Christmas figures that I really like.

Jackie drew my mug rug contribution

I drew the angel ornament Robin stitched

I was surprised just before Christmas to receive a package in the mail from my niece. It may sound silly, but I waited until Christmas morning to open it. What a wonderful gift! Venetia gave me a book called "Jesus Calling" written by Sarah Young. It is a book of devotionals, one a day for a year. I've been reading the daily devotion now for a week and really enjoy it. And in just this short time, it's amazing how spot-on some of the readings have been. Spending 15 or so minutes first thing in the morning reading and reflecting on that days devotion has started my days off on a very positive note.

As a corollary to my devotional, the same niece shared a post on Facebook last night that she and I are going to do. Below is the photo that she posted:

I started last night and am realizing today that there will probably be days like today throughout the year when I will add a couple of notes to the jar. And I plan to keep the jar out in plain sight, too, so I will always be reminded. It's a wonderful idea and I sure hope we both can keep up with it. The plan is to then share at the end of the year all the good things we experienced throughout the year.

Whew! All these things have kept me busy, but I always have time to stitch! I'm working on a couch-throw quilt for my niece. And I found out just a couple of months ago that we're having a new baby in July (my great-niece and her hubby are expecting their 3rd) so I'm starting on a baby quilt, too. And I really want to make a quilt for the new baby we got last December (my great-nephew and his wife had their first). And there are Halloween and Christmas ornaments to make for SWAN exchanges. And I thought I would have lots of time to leisurely work on quilting when I retired! Wonder where I got that silly idea???

Now you're up to date. I'm going to TRY to do better about blogging this year although I did not make that as a resolution. Here's to a Happy and Healthy 2014!

Thanks for reading my rambling
Amy

Where has the year gone?

I can't believe that a whole year as passed by since my last post. I wish I could say that it was an eventful year and I suppose in some ways, it was. Unfortunately, I can't put my finger on anything in particular that happened. Last year at this time, I had just finished chemo and was ready to start radiation. That went well and by early November last year all treatment was finished and I was in the follow-up stage. So far, all of the follow ups have gone well and I anticipate that to be the same for many years to come.

For a long while after finishing treatment, I really didn't feel well. I was tired all the time, most likely due to a combination of the chemo and the low blood counts. I certainly never expected to be as tired as I was for as long as I was. About a month ago, I realized one day that I feel good again. And for the most part, that feeling has continued. I still have a day once in a while when am fatigued. For the most part, though, the only remaining side effect of treatment is numbness in both feet and some in my left hand. Fortunately, my right hand is OK so I can still work on my needlework! Heaven help us if the day arrives when I can't do some kind of needlework!

This year, I did finish the Dresden Plate quilt that I started in 2002. I had hoped to finish it in 2012, but there were a lot of months when I just couldn't bring myself to do anything other than read or watch TV. I offered the quilt to my niece and her daughter. The daughter, my grand-niece, said she would like to have it so that's where it went. Here's what it looks like finished up.

I have also done a lot of pattern testing for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. So much so that I have told them that I need to step back for a while and work on my own things. After the first of the year, I'll do more testing, I'm sure. In the meantime, I am working on a couch throw for my niece using left over blocks from a quilt I made for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I hope to have that finished by spring. Better get busy, Amy!

My stitch group has an ornament exchange each year at Halloween and Christmas. I didn't participate in the Halloween swap last year, but I did for Christmas. The ornament I made is on the left. Sarah drew the short straw and was the recipient of my ornament. Teresa made the one on the right and I was fortunate enough to draw hers. Isn't it lovely?

 

I've made an ornament for this year's Halloween swap, but I can't post a photo of it just yet. The party is next week and that's when we'll exchange ornaments. After that happens, I will post photos of the one I made and the one I draw.

I suppose this is enough for this time. I am going to try to be more faithful about writing my blog if for no other reason than to help me remember what I have accomplished!

Until the next time we meet, thanks for reading my ramblings.
--Amy

The Next Phase

A week ago, on October 5, I completed my 17th chemotherapy dose and my doctor decided that was enough. I'm glad he decided that because I had just about reached the end of my stamina. Now, a week later, I'm feeling pretty good...all things considered.

With chemo finished, it's time for the next phase of treatment. I met this past Wednesday with a radiation therapy doctor at Missouri Cancer Associates. He felt that because my cancer is an aggressive strain that we should treat it aggressively so I'll have to have radiation therapy. My first treatment will be October 24, then October 31 and finally November 7. It's only three treatments and I was told that there would be little or no side effects. Certainly not the nausea and tiredness that I experienced with chemo. I figure I lived through four months of chemo and now can do just about anything. The down side is now I will have another doctor to add into the mix. Three of my doctors will follow me every three months for the next couple of years. Guess I'll be spending a lot of time at the doctor's office for a while.

I had four blood transfusions throughout chemo. Without them, I can't imagine how I would feel! My blood counts are still kind of low which means I am susceptible to infection so I've been staying home as much as I can. And I'm dealing with peripheral neuropathy which means that I have numbness in my fingers and my feet. The doctor tells me that the neuropathy will go away with time. Sure hope he's right!

To make this crafty, I finished the last installment of pattern testing that I had been doing for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. I still need to layer and quilt the project for the final installment and hope to get that done this coming week. And I finally feel like knitting again. I count stitches when I knit and during chemo I couldn't concentrate well enough to count. (I called the problem "chemo brain.") But that has changed. I finished a pair of socks that I started back in the early spring and have started another pair. I don't know what it is about socks, but I really enjoy knitting them. I'm feeling confident enough with sock knitting that I'm going to try some of the patterned directions. As always happens, I can hardly wait to finish this pair so I can start on a new pattern. I guess that's what all creative people go through.

Sorry no photos this time. I'll try to take some photos and post them in the next few days. Now that the directions for a couple of the projects I tested for the quilt magazine have been published, I can show photos of what I did. I think you'll like them.

So now you're  up to date. I'm feeling very positive about the future and am excited to get on to the next needlework project. And of course I'll tell you all about them.

Thanks for reading. Until next time...
Amy

Friday the 13th

Oh, I know that by the calendar, today was not Friday the 13th. However, for me it really was Friday the 13th...in the best possible way. Today was my 13th chemotherapy treatment with only five more to go. Certainly nothing to be superstitious about.

One of the things I have found over the past 13 weeks is that  lot of people are there at the same time I am on Friday morning and are pretty much doing the same thing as I am doing. Today was no exception. For several weeks now I have had conversations with a woman who lives north of Columbia. I would say we have visited probably 6-8 times and today we finally got around to introducing ourselves. See, when you are sitting in a recliner having poison infused into your system, names just aren't important. Anyway this lady and I have a lot of fun with our conversation. She is a typical farm woman. A real sweetheart! We talk about anything and everything and spent over an hour doing that exact thing. She was only getting one drug today and it would take about an hour and a half. She was just getting hooked up to the IV when I got there. This was a two-drug day for me and that takes three and a half to four hours so I was going to be there for quite a while after Peggy was finished.

As I think I've mentioned before, I always take my Kindle along so I can read while being infused. Today I think I managed to read a total of two pages! Yes, Peggy and I talked non-stop while she was being infused. She was finished before my first drug was gone so I expected to return to my Kindle and spend the next hour or so reading. Wrong! There was a gentleman sitting across from me who struck up a conversation. Usually one of the first questions asked when meeting someone new is how many treatments do you have left. I told him that I have five and he told me he has four. The conversation went on from there. Once again, like the early weeks with Peggy, I have no idea what his name is, but even though his wife was there with him, we talked non-stop for the next hour or so until I was finished for the day. And another woman who was catty-corner from me started talking to me for the first time. I've seen her several times, but she always seemed so withdrawn that I didn't want to disturb her by talking to her. And another woman and her friend/driver were catty-corner the other direction and entered into the conversation, too. The gentleman is an engineer here in town who owns his own company. When he found out that I had served as advisor, he talked on and on about how he hires interns for the summer and then when they graduate most likely will hire them full time. Of course, that was only one of the subjects we talked about.

When I got home shortly after noon, I had lunch and then sat back and reviewed what had taken place that morning. I was really surprised at how fast I fell back into the advisor role when I was talking to the engineer and even the reserved woman. I've always know that I like to talk, but really what I was doing was what I did on the job...ask a question or make a comment and then sit back and let the other person talk. I don't know if there any big plan for how today unfolded, but I can't help but believe that there was. Even the staff commented on how we were all talking among ourselves. And they didn't tell us to hold it down because we were making too much noise. ha!

Even if there was no bigger plan for today, I must say I enjoyed this treatment more than I have any other. It reaffirmed for me that no matter who we are, we are all there for the same purpose and that common thread makes us friends. Am I looking forward to the end of this ordeal? Well, of course I am. I can think of a lot of things I would enjoy doing on Friday morning more than having a needle stuck into my chest so that I can have poison infused into my system. But it's not my choice...and the end is almost here. I can make it now because I've realized I have a lot of friends who I haven't met yet or if we've met, I don't know their name.

I am extremely blessed to have so many family and friends praying for me and sending me words of encouragement. They all mean so much to me. But I have other friends who I haven't met who mean just as much to me. How lucky can you get???

Once again, thanks for reading.
Amy

It's a learning experience

Cancer and the related treatment is teaching me more than I would ever have expected. Things I have learned so far:

1) A cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence. When the doctor called me in for the results of my latest D&C in early April, I suspected that the diagnosis would be cancer. She told me the kind of cancer and the particular strain of that cancer that I have. I told all about it in my last post so I won't go through that again. At home after that appointment I did a lot of Internet searching and found as much as I could about my cancer. With what the doctor told me and what I found online, I realized that I had almost a 100% chance of beating this. Pretty good odds, I'd say.

2) The cancer center folks and their literature will tell you a lot about what to expect with chemotherapy, but they don't tell everything. I suspect the reason they don't go into a lot of detail is that everybody reacts differently. In my case, I tried to prepare myself for a significant amount of nausea and even some vomiting. So far, I have been very fortunate to have had almost no nausea or vomiting. Another thing they tell you is that you will probably experience "tummy trouble" from the drugs. What they don't tell you is that you most likely will need to take stool softeners or even laxatives to keep things moving. OK, I know.... TMI!

3) Chemotherapy will make you lose your hair, but it won't come out all at once. My hair started coming out over the past weekend after the third chemo treatment. At first, it was just a lot of hair in my brush. Then when I washed it, there was hair stuck all over my hands. And that was all in the first day or two! It's now been four days since I noticed the extra hair loss and how all I have to do is run my hands over my head to come away with a handful of hair. Well, maybe not a handFUL, but lots of hair. My driver's license expires in August and I was concerned about my new photo be of me wearing a scarf. Fortunately, I got notice in the mail last Friday that I needed to renew my license. Guess where I'm going tomorrow morning! I asked my hairdresser to shave my head once I started losing my hair so I have an appointment next Tuesday to get it all cut off. Wonder if there will be any left for her to shave?

4) Chemotherapy not only makes you susceptible to sunburn, it also makes you sick to get into a hot car that has been sitting in the sun for a couple of hours. Ask me how I know! I thought I never would get home from lunch on Monday. This has been a really hot week so once I got home on Monday, I have stayed inside and will do so on any hot day that I can. It's supposed to be a bit cooler tomorrow so I'll run errands early and then get back inside as quickly as I can. Fortunately, I think it's supposed to be a bit cooler on Friday, too, so when my treatment is finished around noontime, it shouldn't be quite as blistering in my car. Unfortunately, the cancer center does not have shade trees or I would park under one.

5) Listening to good music and reading a book helps the treatment time go by fast. I am on a three-week cycle. The first Friday of the cycle, I get two drugs and on the other two Fridays of the cycle I get only one drug. The two drug Friday takes approximately four and a half hours from start to finish. The one drug Fridays take only about two and a half hours. No matter how many hours it takes, good music and a good book help pass the time.

6) "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." (Friedrich Nietzsche) I have determined that this cancer is not going to kill me, but it definitely is making me stronger. I have always looked on others who had dramatic illnesses with admiration, thinking to myself that I could never do what they're doing. Well, turns out I CAN do what they're doing! I never expected to have major surgery, but I did and came through it just fine. And honestly I never would have expected to need chemotherapy. But here I am and I'm finding it's really easy to keep a positive outlook. I am determined to always smile, laugh or whatever it takes to keep my positivity going. I have found that it's much easier to laugh with family and friends than it would be to hang my head and ask "why me." My family and friends make it so easy to laugh...that's why I love them so much. And my SWAN stitch group friends have already come to my service by providing food. Sure was nice to have home-cooked food that I didn't fix.

7) And last, I have found that I heal quickly and have a high tolerance to pain. All of my surgeries have healed much quicker than the doctors expected. That pleases me. And of all the surgeries and treatments I have had this year, I have only taken one dose of the strong stuff (narcotics) and that was in the hospital. In hindsight, ibuprofen would have done just as well because the pain really wasn't all that bad. I hope I don't have to put either of these to the test, but it is good to know that I most likely will have similar experiences in the future.

So there you have it. I've learned a lot in the last couple of months and I'm sure there will be lots more to learn in the future. Maybe I'm weird (OK, no comments from you guys!), but I like learning new things even if it comes from less than desirable circumstances. I find out more things about myself and my character with each new experience and that's a good thing.

Sorry no photos this time, but I promise there will be at least one photo with the next post.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Amy

Change of Plans

The year 2012 started off well. I found a project that I had started 10 years ago and never finished. My goal was to complete the project by the time the 10-year mark rolled around in mid-February. The project is Dresden plate blocks and here is a photo of the first two blocks I completed -- 10 years ago.

Here are the same two blocks as they are finished.

As you can see, I'm using my preferred method of "pot holder quilting" to complete the blocks. At this point, I have about eight blocks left to finish then they can all be stitched together. The finished quilt won't be the bed-sized quilt that I originally envisioned. However, there are 35 blocks and they are finishing out to 10" square. Those 35 blocks will make a nice twin-bed size quilt. Even though I don't have a twin bed, I think I'm going to keep the quilt, anyway.

Unfortunately, I don't know when I will finish the quilt. It may be early next year before that happens. My life has taken a very unexpected turn. If someone had asked me two months ago what I would be doing for the next two months, my answer would NOT have been having three surgeries and starting chemotherapy. In early April, I had a surgery to make sure the progesterone I had been taking was doing its job. What I found out is that yes, the progesterone was doing its job, but there was something else going on. Pathology results showed that I had developed uterine papilloma serous carcinoma. This particular cancer is very rare, occurring in only 5-10% of newly-diagnosed uterine cancers and the strain I have is typically found in slender Black women. Definitely not me!! A total hysterectomy was scheduled as soon as possible. The surgery went well and the doctor felt that all tumor-related cells had been excised. The doctor also removed lymph nodes in my groin. Fortunately, the lymph nodes were clear of disease and fortunately the disease was Stage 1 so very treatable.

Apparently, this form of cancer can show up in any part of the body so I am undergoing chemotherapy to kill any cancer critters that may have broken free and are roaming around in my body. So far, I have had only one treatment. From my perspective, it went well. I'll have treatment every Friday for 17 more weeks. The first treatment was not all that bad. Friday and Saturday were pretty good days thanks to the steroids I took. Yesterday (Sunday) was a bit rockier although still not too bad. I felt OK; just had no energy and wasn't in the mood to eat. Of course, I know I need to eat to keep going and to keep my blood sugars in control so I managed to chew on a few things. Today is getting off to a good start. And most importantly, I haven't had to struggle with nausea.

I want to share an experience I had during last Friday's first chemo treatment. I have a lot of people praying on my behalf, most of whom I don't know and have never met. But they are helping lift up my troubles. While the first drugs were being infused, I turned on my iPod and listened to some bluegrass music, one of my favorite genres. After an hour or so, I decided I wanted something else to listen to so I switched over to a couple of old-time gospel albums. As I listed to those songs, like Old Rugged Cross and Precious Memories, the lyrics were more clear to me than they ever had been. After a while of listening to those gospel songs, I felt a peace come over me and I knew that everything would be OK. It was the first time in my life that I actually felt the love of Jesus Christ. I've seen the results many times, but this time I felt it. What a wondrous feeling!

The coming weeks will be challenging many times, I am sure. But the peacefulness that I experienced on Friday reassured me that God is watching over me and helping me through this ordeal. We can never climb the mountain without the help of our Lord and I know with his help, I will reach the top of the mountain and conquer this cancer. Am I looking forward to the continuing treatments? Of course not, but I know that I have to do this to keep living so this is what I do. I have gotten advice from trusted people and am trying to heed that advice. I know it will be difficult, but with the love and prayers of family and friends and even people who don't know me, we as a group will see me through.

All of us have had quite a lot of laughs about the slender Black woman twist and that is what I am trying to focus on. I want to see the humor in as many things as I can and you have to admit the Black woman angle is funny! I will lose my hair, of course. On Friday, I had to go through a training session and one of the things we talked about is hair regrowth. Apparently there is no way to know what the hair may look like when it grows back in. The trainer said sometimes the regrowth is a different color and sometimes it's kinky. Well, of course, I zeroed in on the kinky part and I suspect that might be when I see manifestation of the "inner slender Black woman" I carry around with me. Again, anything for a laugh!

I have blathered on long enough. I hope you haven't been too bored. There was a lot that I had to get out of my system. As always, thanks for reading my ramblings.

Amy, the cancer warrior of Central Missouri

New Year, New Project

Welcome to 2012. The title of this post is a little misleading, but I'll get into that more shortly. For the first time, in 2011, I took photographs of all the projects I completed throughout the year. Turns out I actually do do something! ha! Here is a quick rundown of my accomplishments. I'll include photos of the projects that were not spotlighted at some point last year.

2011 started off with me knitting socks...lots of sock! I think it's a total of 8 pair, if I'm not mistaken. Here is a photo of most of them as well as a photo of the last pair I finished right before Christmas.



I also tested four patterns for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. Three of the patterns have been published; the fourth pattern has not yet been published. Here are photos of the three that have been published:



Then there was the witch wall hanging that I made for fellow SWAN, Teresa. That was shown in an earlier post, too. And the knitted scarves, also mentioned earlier. The bigger project was the baby quilt that I finally finished in October. As with all of my quilted projects, it was done by hand and took most of the summer. Of course, along with the quilt, I was testing patterns and working on socks. I always have at least 3 projects going at once.

The year ended with a wonderful SWAN Christmas party and ornament exchange. This was my first experience with the ornament exchange so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found out is that my ornament is really simple compared to what the other ladies did. Teresa and I unknowingly exchanged ornaments. The one I made is on the left below, the one Teresa made and I got is on the right. See what I mean???



The last completed project that I want to mention is a snowman wall hanging I made for SWAN Sarah. She gifted me with the cross stitch "quilting" piece this summer and I wanted to do something to thank her for her generosity. I felt pretty sure she likes snowmen so I decided to make this wall hanging for her.



Now on to 2012. Just before Christmas, I finished appliqueing Dresden plate quilt squares that I started a few years ago. My "new" project for 2012 is to make a quilt from those blocks. My initial plan was to alternate plain and plate blocks to make a full-size quilt. After doing a couple of full-size bed quilts, I decided not to do that again! So my plan now is to make them using the pot holder method that I've used in the past. It will make a quilt that is better sized for a twin bed than a full bed, but that's OK. I still plan to keep it and use it on my bed. I was taken a bit by surprise when I pulled out a photo of the first two blocks I appliqued. The photo was dated 2/3/2002...10 years ago! This is one UFO that WILL be finished this year. I will take a photo of those same two blocks when they are finished so you can see how they will turn out.

This is my big project of the year...so far. That may change as the year goes on. I'm also working on another pair of socks and have lots of sock yarn that will be transformed into wearables later on. Who knows what other projects will come my way throughout the year. I'll probably do more pattern testing for TPQM although I have no definite plans at this time.

Thanks for following along with me and my ramblings. Onward and upward to a fantastic 2012!
Amy

Finished!

Yep. It's finished. What I'm talking about is the baby quilt for little Austin Littau. He's two months old now so it's time that he gets his quilt before he's too big for it. I'll package it and the books today and take to the UPS store tomorrow. I can hardly wait to see what mommy and daddy think of the quilt. And I know Austin will like the books. Here's a photo of the finished product.
It turned out really nice, don't you think?

The quilt is not the only thing that has taken up my time. I mentioned earlier this summer that I was working on a surprise for a friend. I gave this witch wall hanging to a fellow SWAN who very nicely gave me a quilt hanger. I felt moved to make something for her. Here it is the way she has it hanging in her house.The one I made is on the left and seems to go quite well with the other door decoration she uses.

And, of course, I'm always working on knitted items. I have been experimenting with knitting scarves lengthwise instead of crosswise. Does that make sense? In other words, each row I knit is on the long side of the scarf instead of the short side. The problem with doing that is you have to estimate during cast on how long the scarf should be. Since I'm not using a pattern, it's been a bit of trial and error. Here are the two scarves I've finished so far. The white one is a gift for my sister-in-law. The multicolored scarf is made of mohair yarn that I bought on a whim a few years ago...then didn't know what to do with. They both turned out nice, I think.

Now, I'm working on a pair of socks...and another surprise wall hanging. (That's all I'll say about that!) When the socks are finished, I'll post a photo of all the socks I've made this year so far. I've ordered more yarn so I suspect more socks will be constructed this winter. For some reason, it just feels right to knit socks when the temperatures are a bit cooler.

So, now you're up to date. I hope you have enjoyed looking at my projects. It seems there are always more projects rolling around in my head that I would like to do than there is time to do them. And for some reason it seems like I accomplished more when I was working than I do now that I'm retired. Go figure!

As always, thanks for reading my ramblings.
Amy

Making Progress

Hello again. Time for another stimulating post. :-)

As the title says, I am making progress on my projects. Still lots to go, but progress nonetheless. As I mentioned before, I signed on to test two patterns for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. Both patterns have been tested and the results and photos sent to the magazine. I can't show you the photos of the items yet, though, because they haven't been published. I can say that I am killing two birds with one stone with each item. One of the items is Christmas ornaments that turned out really cute and will serve as my contribution to the SWANS ornament exchange in December. The other is a stuffed animal that will be a perfect addition to the baby quilt that I'm making for my friends.

Speaking of the baby quilt... That little stinker decided to make his appearance three weeks early. Austin Lawrence Littau was born on August 8. Although he was a little early, his height and weight were about normal and he only stayed in NICU for a few hours while he was checked out stem to stern. That's the good news. The bad news is that his quilt isn't finished yet. I do have it all put together and am in the process of quilting it. If Austin had come at his appointed time, there is a really good chance that his quilt would have been ready. That's OK, though. He won't need something as warm as a quilt for a couple of months until the weather cools down.

I also have lots of other projects lined up on my to-do list. I am currently working on a thank you gift for a friend. I also want to make another thank you gift for a friend who is always doing things for me and never wants anything in return. And, of course, I have the "Quilting" cross stitch piece to work up into something. And I want to make a small wall hanging for my good buddy Pat with whom I have lunch once a month.

Whew! As you can see, I have lots of ideas and plans ahead. I have enough projects and supplies on hand to keep me busy until I'm 100...and I just had my 62nd birthday! Maybe I need to pare down a bit. :-)

OK. Now you know what I'm up to. No photos this time, but I hope my next post includes photos of a completed quilt that is ready for shipping to Pennsylvania.

Til then...
Amy

Back in the Groove

On Monday of this week, I decided to work on the baby quilt some more. And it was quite successful, in my opinion. I have completed the body of the top. A quick test of the red fabric for the first border showed that it was susceptible to running. Yes, I know. I should have tested it when it first came in the house, but I didn't need it then. So, I just ran it through a wash with Retayne and it is now drying. I don't have a working dryer so the fabric is draped over a chair in front of a fan. It should be dry fairly soon. When it's dry, I'll cut the strips for the first border. Here is a photo of the top before borders.

I thought you might also want to see the fabrics that I'll be using for the borders and the backing. I'll use either the yellow or the green for the second border and the other one will be used for the backing. My next task will be to decide which one to use for the binding. Fortunately, that won't be an issue for a while.
Unfortunately, I don't think the quilt will be ready for the expected birth around September 1. But the upcoming new parents live in Pennsylvania so it will be a while before a quilt is needed.

While the red fabric is drying, I think I'll cut the paper pieces for the English paper piecing pattern that I need to test. Lots of things to do! But maybe I'll take a nap first...

Thanks for reading.
Amy

OK. Now what?

I feel all adrift. Or as my mom used to put it "at sixes and sevens." Yesterday I finished a wall hanging. I can't post a photo of it because it's a surprise for a friend and I don't want to ruin the surprise. Anyway, now that it's finished, what do I do? I could work on the baby quilt, but I'm not in the mood. I have done a little work on it. The purple diagonal row is finished and I'm sewing the blues together for the next row. But it's not exciting me.

I could knit on the sock I have started...but I'm not in the mood.

I am a pattern tester for The Quilt Pattern Magazine (http://www.quiltpatternmagazine.com/). The pattern I'm testing is English paper piecing Christmas ornaments. But before I can start working on them, I need to cut paper pieces and dig out fabric. And I'm just not in the mood. Besides, the results of my test isn't due until the middle of August. Plenty of time!

I could do lots of things, but nothing is turning on my creative juices. It's like this for me every time I finish a project. I always have a boatload of projects in progress, but for some reason they are not appealing right after finishing a project.

Guess I'll just turn on the radio and see if I can find something to listen to. Or maybe I'll get the Kindle and pick up where I left off last night on the book I'm reading. It's about a couple right after WWII. The guy has trouble dealing with the mental aspects of the war and to save his wife and children from his nightmares, he leaves home. Keep in mind that times are really hard right then and he has trouble finding jobs. Anyway, it's a good book. Maybe that's what I'll do....read a little bit.

I'm glad to have the project finished and can hardly wait to see my friend's reaction. If only I didn't feel so...I don't know...at sixes and sevens!

Tomorrow is a new day and I'm sure I'll find my enthusiasm again by then. Today I'll just take it easy and enjoy the "cooler" weather. ha!

Thanks for reading.

Amy

A.W.O.E.

Yes, I have been A.W.O.E. -- Absent With Out Excuse! I do apologize, but what I have realized as a result of having this blog is that I basically lead a dull life. Not much with which to bore people. I will bring you up to date on what I've been up to since my last post of mumble...mumble...four months or so ago...mumble...mumble.


As I said, I have really gotten into sock knitting. I have now completed six pair and am working on the seventh. Some fit me; some don't. But that's OK. I'm sure there is someone somewhere who will fit into the ones I can't wear and I got the enjoyment out of making them. I didn't take a photo because they're just socks. Nothing to get excited about.


A quilty thing that I am working on is a baby quilt for friends of mine who are expecting a baby around the first of September. The quilt won't be ready by then, but here's a photo of my progress. I have about half of the squares put together. The fabrics are 30's reproductions. The remaining rows are blue, green, yellow and red. The inner border will be a skinny solid red and the outer border will be wider (probably 5 inches) of either a green or yellow print. I have enough of each for either the border or the back. I'll decide which color goes where when I get the rest of the quilt body pieced together. I prefer to do my piecing by hand instead of sewing machine and that's part of the reason it is taking so long to get this done. My enjoyment of quilting comes from the peacefulness of hand work. Usually about the only time I use the sewing machine is to sew on the border. All of the piecing and quilting are done by hand.


The reason I'm updating my blog today is because I have been chided by a couple of my stitching buddies for not posting anything in a while. And after one of those fine ladies gave me a counted cross stitch item that she didn't want, I figured I had no choice but to update. Here is a photo of the item:



It's lovely and I appreciate Sarah's generosity. My next task is to decide what to do with it. I will probably make it into a wall hanging, but I'm not sure just how I'll do it. I have a lot of burgundy scraps from a quilt I made a few years ago so I'm sure I can find compatible fabrics. The cross stitch kit also came with charms to put on the item. The picture suggested putting the charms on the quilt blocks, but that just doesn't look right to me. I'll come up with something, I'm sure. Here is a picture of the charms:




OK. Now you're up to date with what I've been doing. And it looks like a storm is brewing outside so I'd better get off the computer before something bad happens.


As always, thanks for reading my blog. I hope you managed to stay awake through all the boring blather. ha!


Amy

Welcome 2011

Yes, I know I haven't posted anything in a long time. I'm sorry about that, but the end of 2010 was not a very good time for me. Things are looking better now and it's time that I update my blog.

When I look back at 2010, one of my major accomplishments was finishing my whirligig quilt. I have more quilts than I'll ever need so I gave whirligig to my good friend, Pat. Here's a photo of it. Frankly, I'm glad it's over. Working with all that black got tiresome. But it's finished and Pat seems to really like it.


Our family had a nice Christmas gathering at my brother's house on Dec. 18. We always gather on some day other than Christmas. It was great, as usual. Lots of good food and even more conversation. I took along a bag full of things I had knitted so everyone could take their choice. The best part is I came home empty-handed! :-)

So far, 2011 has been good to me. I have tried off and on for several years to learn how to knit socks. Up to this point, my efforts were not successful. However, after Christmas, I pulled out some sock yarn I had on hand and my needles to see what I could accomplish. I found a sock pattern on the Internet that made more sense than the patterns I had tried before. And now I have completed two pair of socks. The first pair was definitely a first effort! One sock is a bit bigger than the other so I've been using them for my bed socks and they work great. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of cold weather so having warm socks to keep my tooties warm has been wonderful.

After my first so-so
result, I tried again to make socks and came up with a better result. At least these two are both the same size. That's progress, I think. :-) They're still not quite what I'm looking for, but they definitely are wearable and will be used -- either by me or someone. I'm now working on another pair of sock. I made a few alterations to the pattern and I think these will fit better. We'll see....


I haven't been to stitch group for a while. We met only once in November because the second meeting would have been Thanksgiving. The group had a Christmas party in early December, but I wasn't feeling up to par so I didn't go. Then last week, the weather was too cold for me to get out. I'm holding out hope for next week's meeting. The forecast...at least at this point...says we'll be in the 30's so there's hope that I'll be able to make it. I sure miss those evenings of stitching and talking.


Well, this is pretty much my life in a nutshell. I'll try to be more diligent about posting this year. I'm pretty sure it won't be on a regular basis, but I think I can do better than once every 3-4 months!


Until we meet again, stay warm and stay safe.
Amy

Motivation...or the lack thereof

Where have I been recently? It sure isn't updating my blog nor is it working on the quilt. For some reason, I have no motivation to work on it. To be honest, though, I hit this same point with just about all of my projects especially the bigger ones. I'm not tired of the quilt and I'm not tired of working on it, but my mind keeps whirling ahead to the next project. How do I stop that from happening? A long time ago, I realized that I can't start a new project until the one I am currently working on is finished (or I acknowledge that I have lost interest in it and put it away for a future time). This quilt is about 2/3 finished so I don't know why I can't seem to focus on finishing it. Anybody have suggestions? I am going to try to work on it some this afternoon or evening. Maybe I can get it to the 3/4 finished point. I had hoped to have it finished for the last SWAN meeting and now it doesn't look like it will be ready for this week's meeting, either. Darn it!

I have enjoyed a couple of nice lunches with friends in recent weeks. It's always a pleasure to spend time with good friends. If those friends would retire, too, then we could spend long lunches instead of rushing to finish so they can go back to work. All in good time, I suppose.

Think I'll try to rummage around and hopefully find some motivation to get back to work on the quilt. Wish me luck!

Later,
Amy

Modern Quilting Bee?

Quilting bee. That phrase conjures up an image of several women sitting around a quilt and adding their stitches to make a finished product. The frame is usually set up in one of the women's living room (parlor?) and conversation flows around the group. I never had the opportunity to visit an old-time quilting bee, but my mom did participate in something similar when I was a kid. She was a member of the local extension homemakers club (anyone need a description of what that was?) and occasionally they would make a quilt to have in reserve for a family in need or if one of the members needed one for a special occasion. These ladies gathered once a month in a local church basement where they set up the quilting frame and set to it with their needles and thread. Very similar to my mental image of a quilting bee.

I suspect there are still what I view as traditional quilting bees held around the country, but I belong to what I have come to view as a "modern" quilting bee. What I refer to is the stitch group to which I belong. Last Thursday evening was the first of the July gatherings and while we all work on different projects, the conversation flows just as freely as I imagine occurred in the old-fashioned version. For approximately the first 20 minutes after we gathered last week, there were three separate conversations going on. Then gradually those conversations ended and others began. Sometimes as a group we are "Chatty Cathy" and other times we are heads down and working on our projects with only occasional conversations.

No matter the shape of the conversation on any given evening, we do visit with each other -- a lot! Since I'm the newbie of the group, I'm still learning more about these folks. After gatherings like last week when there was an abundance of conversation, I come home and spend a while reflecting on the group and how much I enjoy being with them. What a great group of dedicated stitchers!

Quilt update: I now have about a third of the alternate blocks finished. I've run out of black fabric so I'm going to have to do some shopping. Darn it! :-) The only bad thing about fabric shopping is I always manage to find lots of other things I absolutely have to have and spend more money than I should. I need the fabric, though, so I guess I'll just bite the bullet and write a large check.

My stitching awaits. Til next time...
Amy