AWOL

I know, I know; I've been AWOL with no clue as to when I'd return or why I had disappeared. The last you knew I had my cast taken off and I was footloose and fancy-free again. Well, let's just say that was a very short lived state! Sigh. After a few days of catching up with all the tasks that required two free hands I contracted some sort of virus that presented with almost every symptom you could name: sore throat, headache, body aches, cough, congestion, nausea, fever... all of the above. However, the over-riding and longest lasting symptom was that of fatigue. I was wiped out. Some have suggested this may have been COVID, maybe it was, I had no test and was too sick to worry about that, I wouldn't have done anything differently anyway. I never left the house for ten days and really didn't even begin to feel anywhere even remotely like myself again for two full weeks! It was awful. This past Friday was the day that I turned the corner, there's life among the living again and I plan to participate fully! Whew. Moving on and catching up...

This bridge represents the road back to recovery; this is where I spent last weekend, on retreat! What a wonderful chance to just sit and stitch and visit with friends, it was the best of all therapy. I completed the table topper pictured above on Friday, I had already stitched up the pumpkins that formed the borders so they were ready to go. This is one of the Riley Blake Designs from last year's monthly table topper of the month program, this pattern, Pumpkinz Squared was a Lori Holt original. I can't wait to get it quilted up and on the table.

Take a look at this grand retreat space we had in which to work; isn't it the absolute BEST? My set up is in the lower right corner, on Saturday I pulled out the Snowflake blocks from a pattern by Wendy Sheppard, linked here. I got all twenty blocks pieced before the day's end, I felt like I had really accomplished a LOT. After I brought the blocks home, I arranged them on the design wall, moving and shuffling, until I arrived at the layout pictured below.

They will have sashing strips with stars in the intersections, a great winter quilt!

Here's a pinned-up version of how the intersections will appear. I plan to quilt this one with a panto that I've had for awhile, Swirly Snowflakes, I may even quilt it with a silver thread. 

With one more morning left on retreat I started the first block of Strawberry Jam; I guess you could say that I covered three seasons while I was away for the weekend! This was a limited edition kit that I purchased through A Crafty Fox last summer. You know I just had to have this; even though I rarely buy kits she had me at "strawberry"- throw in "limited number available" and I was on it! 😉 This quilt has twelve blocks with the cutest pieced lattice-style sashing. Stay tuned. 

One more thing happened during my blog hiatus, this precious boy celebrated his first birthday! He's pictured here with a chew stick that he got from his favorite canine friend. 💗 I celebrated a milestone birthday too, near the end of last month, but with the wrist and the crud it sort of all got lost in the shuffle; when I broke a molar after biting into a pretzel and spent the morning in the dentist's chair last Thursday I realized that I might just simply be falling apart! My Dad always said that aging isn't for the weak; I believe that he's right, these last few months have been taking all my strength! Ha! 

Life is Good!

Sleeping Away, Going Home

We had an overnight visitor on Friday night. Lynnleigh arrived in the afternoon and promptly removed the clothes that she was wearing and pulled on her new sundress which I had just finished. (the link to the pattern was in a previous post, but here it is again.) I can't say enough good things about the fit and the ease of wearing, no buttons or zippers. Once you figure out the method (not hard!) to sewing the pleats it's Easy Peazy! 

She wore it home on Saturday, too; I think she liked it!😉 We had a wonderful time together. She and Nana decided that it would be a good idea to clean out and take inventory of the Art Box, that is her favorite thing to explore when she's here. I had just replaced my decrepit label maker with a new one which arrived from Amazon that day, we put it right to work!

We labeled whatever we could attach a sticker to: the bins of crayons, markers, scissors, paper, smaller tablets and so on. Lynnleigh wrote me a list of things we need to replace or add to the box, she was very serious and thorough with her list-making. 

She even the numbered the entries: #1. wotir clors (water colors), #2. PomPoms #3. pip clenirs, #4. glue stik, #5. gitir glue (glitter glue) #6. paly-doh. She left her list in the kitchen beside my grocery list! 🥰

One more: from our D.E.A.R. (drop everything and read) time on the porch. Isn't this precious?

I am deeply grateful to one and all for your prayers on behalf of my mother. She spent Monday through Friday in the hospital with pneumonia in her right lung. She was discharged to a rehab facility nearby until yesterday, she's at home again with my Dad and sleeping in her own bed again. She's feeling much, much better; thanks be to God!

"Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; 

save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise."

 -Jeremiah 17:14

Life is Good!

Speechless!

It was a long weekend (it began on Thursday), one I had looked forward to for months. I expected good food, good friends, and happy hours spent sewing together on a semi-annual quilting retreat in Black Mountain, NC. I wasn't disappointed on that front. The one thing I didn't expect, though, was having no voice, nope; none! I lost it on Thursday evening and it began to return as we got ready to head home yesterday. I know it was an annoying experience for those seated nearby; however, being rendered speechless was a ridiculously impossible situation for me. Groan.

Life is Good!
~albeit quiet~

Happy Camper, Sick Camper

I'm back from camp, a little under the weather. The climate there was soggy and damp at times but I blame my throat and sinus malady on something else: mold. The adult volunteers at camp are privileged to stay in some pretty nice "digs", by camp standards. These rooms are air-conditioned. I've always believed this to be more psychological than physical air "conditioning", the fan runs in these rooms, but they're not all that effective. Personally, I don't like to run it, I'd be more than content to throw open the windows; but my daughter-roommate wanted the A/C, and I acquiesced... hey, it WAS her birthday! (My hesitancy to use the unit is based on my supposed lack of proper filter maintenance on camp... I feel the same way about airplanes and recycled air there, too.) It was rainy and it did make sense to at least attempt to dry out our room air where we slept. On Saturday morning I awakened to burning eyes and a raging sore throat. Coincidence? Maybe. Today it has seemingly settled into my sinuses and I am running on half-motor (or less). And yet, it was all worth it. Our time spent at camp, as witnesses to the very youngest campers, was worth every sneeze and sniffle that I've brought back as a souvenir; precious time spent with my adult daughter, too. I'd go back in a heartbeat; but next time I'm going to push a little harder for God's conditioned mountain air, albeit damp, coming through open windows... after all, I have a theory to prove.

Life is Good!