Saturday, November 23, 2019

Whining and Sewing

It’s been a different sort of week here at Chez Kizerian. I’ve felt as though I’ve been walking through water; everything is slower and more resistant than usual. Relatively speaking, carpal tunnel surgery (even on both hands simultaneously) is minor in the grand scheme of things. But it gets so damn frustrating when you can’t do the things you want. Bruce has to pour my coffee when the pot is full and he has to cut our apples at snack time. Those are only a couple examples out of dozens that I could name. Two days ago I reached to pull open the door of the dishwasher without thinking, and the sharp pain in my right palm nearly brought me to my knees. I think maybe I should’ve taken the pain meds and ibuprofen a few days longer than I did (which was 4 days). Finally I did take one last night and slept almost 11 hours, which I needed. But the boring days pass. I’ve done a little sewing, lots of reading and Netflix watching. My stitches come out on Wednesday and at least I'll be able to drive as I gradually ease back into bearing weight and pressure on my hands.

So, enough of my whining. Really, all is well and I shouldn’t be complaining. This, too, shall pass. The silver linings are that I don’t have to fix the turkey for Thanksgiving and my hands aren't numb anymore!

We hired some painters to come in this week and they painted the doors, trim and ceiling in our guest bedroom. The previous owners had an eighties gray and maroon color scheme in that room with duck hunting wallpaper. I steamed off the wallpaper in the first year we lived here (15 years ago) and painted the room yellow. But I had left the gray ceiling and baseboards, etc. Painting all the trim white has been on my to-do list for ages. Finally I realized that we can afford to hire it out and save wear and tear on the ol’ body parts at the same time. It looks beautiful!

Studio wall repainted
While they were here, we had them paint one wall of my studio where the white paint was peeling off the old dark paneling. Now that is fresh and clean too. It did necessitate emptying out all my fabric storage (Cousin Kim helped) and moving some drawers and things into another room and then back again (Bruce did that). But that is all put back together now. In the process, I rearranged things and re-discovered some old fabric friends.


But despite everything else going on (or not going on, depending on how you look at it), I did get some sewing in. Cousin Kim trimmed up the pink and green quilt for me, and I was able to bind it. It’s a finish, and this my OMG - One Monthly Goal - for November. I’m linking  up to Patty's November OMG finish link-up party.


The back is print that came from this line of fabric. It's a sweet little floral.


I’m calling it Dogwoods for Karen, as this quilt top (minus the border) was purchased at that huge estate fabric sale I attended a few weeks ago. The deceased was a quilter named Karen, so I thought it would be nice to finish it in her honor. The flowers are dogwoods. The quilt finished at 49x61" and will be donated to Quilts for Kids.

Here's a  closeup of some of the quilting - and a bonus; cat hairs! No quilt is complete without them. But don't worry, we wash all the quilts before donating them.


Dogwoods for Karen was Goal #4 on my 4th Quarter Finish-Along list, which you can see HERE.

I’ve also worked on some string blocks for another future donation quilt. SQUIRREL!! I have several more pressing projects to work on for Christmas gifts, to say nothing of at least 3 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts to finish, but they were all buried under the piles of fabric for days while we had the painting done. So the string project sort of floated to the top of the list. They’re easy and fun and they scratched my sewing itch. Here are 16 blocks  (6.5" each, unfinished) slapped up on the design board.


Finally, I finished off the three pillowcases for some of the grandkids. I have five other finished ones from earlier in the year, so all the littles will get one as a stocking stuffer.


Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge.


21 comments:

  1. Glad your healing is progressing, even if it is slow, Cathy! I hope someone else is cooking Thanksgiving dinner. :) I love those string blocks, especially with the red centers. They make a great design!

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  2. Surgery AND a completed quilt?!?! Only YOU could manage that, Cathy. SEW glad that you and your machine are able to work through the recovery period!

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  3. Everything in due time. Heal now so you don't pay later.

    String blocks are fabulous!

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  4. So pleased your hands are slowly getting better, probably can't rush recovery time so you will just have to be patient. I'm sure your hubby is only too pleased to help you with the things you can't manage at the moment. Take care.

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  5. Except for the surgery part and the painters, you gave an excellent description of my average day. I do hope you feel better...

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  6. Dogwoods for Karen is a lovely finish! I'm sure Karen approves from beyond the grave. Were you able to do the hand stitching on the binding during the boring days, at least? It's OK to whine a bit; pain is pain, and boredom is boredom, no matter what the cause. I hope your kitties were at least attentive during this healing time :)

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    1. Forgot to add: I like the new blog header photo, too!

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  7. Well, MY first painful reminder was when I opened the back door to the car. The Element has suicide doors with the handle on the side of the door and I forgot to not use my left hand to open it. Here I thought I was healed two months later and tried to lift the side of a sewing table and boy, I paid for that for a couple of days. But the surgery was well worth it. Nice that you got your rooms freshened up. I suppose I'll be doing that in the spring.
    Happy Thanksgiving.
    xx, Carol

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  8. WOW--you did get a lot done despite your surgeries...it must be so difficult to remember NOT to use your hands...I love that strip diamond piece--so cheerful and bright!! hope you heal up quickly now..take it easy hugs, Julierose

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  9. You managed to accomplish quite a bit despite the surgery. I've been postponing my surgery for a few years now and I am definitely worse. I am just afraid I won't be able to manage by myself.

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  10. It is so hard after surgery or illness to realize that you don't get back to normal the next day. Routine tasks are so automatic that it's a shock when you do something without thinking about the consequences because, after all, it's routine. Glad to see you are making progress. Enjoy the respite while you can.
    Pat

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  11. The amazing Cathy is at it again despite the surgery. The Karen quilt turned out lovely especially with the coordinating fabrics. I love the pillowcases, so cute. Have a good week!

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  12. So glad you are healing well. I love your pillowcases, especially the Bob Ross one! I'm guessing that's for the grandson--you just never know what kids will be into!

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  13. Glad your wrist/hand is healing. Don't overdo! "By checkbook" is becoming our preferred way to deal with many household projects. What caught my eye are your string-and-red blocks -- wow!

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  14. In spite of all the pain and discomfort you still manged to do so much!!! I am amazed. The pillowcases are so cute. If you are going to watch more Netflix, may I recommend "How to be a Latin Lover"? After all isn't laughter the best medicine? Sending lots of love and healing vibes.

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  15. I enjoyed reading your blog today! And thanks, too, for the personal email regarding my own hand/wrist issues! Maybe 2020, we are still heal financially from DH gall bladder and dental issues! Love your string blocks! Keep getting better, one day at a time!

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  16. Having BOTH wrists done at once is quite a challenge! Wow! And you ARE surviving this with glowing colors. Have a great Thanksgiving!

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  17. I commiserate with you; I had my carpal tunnels done about five years ago. I couldn't cut fabric as holding the ruler steady was impossible. The upside was that I surfed the Internet from my i-Pad (useful touch screen) and discovered quilting blogs and the online quilting community!
    In spite of the pain you have managed to do much more than I did in that period. You'll be back to full production any day now!

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  18. I'm glad to hear you are on the mend! I can't believe how much you were able to accomplish - very inspiring. I love that you named the quilt after the person who made the top, that's so thoughtful. What a great idea to give pillow cases as stocking stuffers for your grandkids. I don't have any yet, but I have plenty (5) children and lots of nieces and nephews and was struggling with what to do for them. Thanks so much for the idea!

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  19. Lovely quilt! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish!

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  20. Very glad to hear that your healing is coming along as it should. Nice too that you were able to get some painting accomplished and can enjoy something 'new'.

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