A Pain in the Neck

With the title of this blog post, you might think I’m talking about either the cats or some local teenager, but this is actually a literal pain in my neck. It’s getting better now, and I’ll talk about it later in the post, but first let’s move on to something more interesting....

I was able to baste and finish the Squared Away quilt, and it turned out nicely. Squared Away was the challenge quilt that Mari of Academic Quilter and Angela, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge hostess, set out for us this year. This finish happened BNI (before neck issue).

It finished at 56x56” and is my 19th quilt finish this year. That’s how many I did in all of 2017, so any finishes from here to the end of the year will go toward a personal best. You can see my quilts on my quilts page, link below the header. Anyway, this one will go into the donation pile after it gets laundered.

Squared Away is Goal #6 in my 4th Quarter Goals for the 2018 Finish Along. My list is HERE.  The 4th quarter finish linky party is HERE.

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And if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you have probably seen this picture of Darla and Alfalfa.

Well, I had heard that Melissa Averinos, an accomplished quilter, did kitty portraits. Barbara over at Three Cats Ranch had a picture of Smitty (and later Sadie) done by Melissa. So, I posted the above picture on Instagram with the tag #melissapaintmycat and she did!

Isn’t it adorable??  When she paints the picture, you have the option to purchase it at a greatly discounted rate from her normal prices. Naturally, how could I resist?  The picture arrived this week and Bruce and I love it!  I’m going to get it framed and hang it in the kitties’ bedroom (formerly known as the guest bedroom, LOL).  Check out @melissaaverinos on Instagram, or @wierdcatsforever.

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Here is where my next quilting project stands (or hangs) for now. It’s the California Poppies quilt blocks that I won from the August Block Lotto.  The top is all pieced except for the outer border with cornerstones.

I won 40 blocks and added eight more for a total of 48. Then I did a traditional setting and added sashing and cornerstones.

I hope to get California Poppies finished this week, if my neck and arms cooperate and continue healing. I’ve been resting for a couple days and want to get back into sewing very gingerly, avoiding any repetitive movements (like pin-basting a quilt). Time to try out my quilt basting spray!



OK, so the neck..... Last Monday Bruce and I worked furiously in the garden to prepare for winter. While he pulled out all the vegetables plants (after we’d harvested the last of everything), I trimmed the grape vines and climbing roses in the backyard. Then he began mulching everything (he has a chipper) and I cleared the yards of remaining decorations and moved in all the patio furniture. Then I swept. His part took about five hours, mine only about 2 1/2.














But by the next day, my neck (I have TOS or Thoracic Outlet Syndrome) and shoulders were hurting and starting to swell. My right hand was numb on-and-off, which spread to my entire right arm. And the back of my neck was numb. Obviously, there was a pinched nerve there, too. I couldn’t get in to my doctor (out until Monday, when I have an appointment anyway), and his replacement was double booked. I got on a waiting list, but knew I’d have to figure it out myself.

So, it was several days of rest, lots of Advil and Tylenol (great together), and a heating pad.  Rinse and repeat. And it is getting better. I even managed some grocery shopping today (Friday as I write this) and some laundry.  But I tell you, the gods are having a field day with me this week. My shower wouldn’t drain this morning, so I bought some Liquid Plummer and took care of that. Then the clog must’ve moved down the line to the laundry room, because as the washer drained during the third and final load of laundry, the overflow pipe spewed water all over. I’ll let Bruce deal with that when he gets home......

Let’s end this post on a good note. One day this past week we went up to Bountiful to visit our friend Terri (the widow of Bruce’s lifelong best friend Mike, and one of the band members of their group The Muddy Gutter Boys, who performed together for over 50 years).  We went to lunch and gabbed and got caught up with the family happenings. Absolutely delightful, as always. Terri has been on a pumpkin-making binge, as well as crocheting little blankets for the local mortuary to use for infant angels. Way to go, Terri!  Here are the three pumpkins that she let Bruce and I pick out from her Pumpkins for Friends Stash. I posed them on the floor in the living room....  And of course, Darla was right there to see what was happening.

What have we here, Mom?

Hmmm.... this pumpkin stalk smells more like a cinnamon stick

Now, doesn’t my face impurrove the picture??

Another March Quilt Finish

Whew! I got this one in just under the wire, didn’t I?  It was my goal to finish my Rainbow Dresdens, the last of my 2016 Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, before the end of the first quarter of 2017 because I wanted to include it in my first quarter totals (six quilts finished). Yay! I did it! But I have had a love-hate relationship with this quilts since its inception, and its finishing was no different.

Have you ever tried to quilt over lacy cotton doilies? If not, don’t. No matter how careful you are, they get caught in the presser foot. So, you will see from the back of the quilt that I eventually gave up quilting in that area. If the doily was smooth (not crocheted), it was minimally quilted.

Here is a picture of what one of the squares looked like from the back. It had always been my intention to NOT use the same-old stippling for quilting. I wanted instead to outline each blade of every Dresden with a straight line stitching to echo the shape of the blade.  Well, that lasted less than one Dresden.... too much turning for these numb hands and sore shoulders. I had already spent a couple hours the day before in a Hazmat suit, cleaning up the downstairs bathroom shower, scrubbing it to within an inch of its life (and mine, apparently). Seriously, I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, where the nerves (etc) from the neck go through the a rather smallish opening in the  collar bone. I have to exercise my neck and arms regularly (and take anti-inflammatory meds) to control the numbness which occurs when I use my arms, hands, etc. too much (gardening, scrubbing, rotary cutting).  I needed to rest up a couple days before tackling this quilt, but I hadn’t. So, I resorted to the boring meander. And this damn quilt fought me every step of the way.

My favorite block. The doily was crocheted by my maternal great-grandmother .

After a couple days in Time Out (both me and the quilt), I was able to finish quilting it on Sunday, when cousin Kim came over to sew. And I offered it to her. It was not about to live in the same house with me. Luckily, she gladly accepted; she has always admired it. It got bound and washed up on Monday. The binding is a pastel window-pane fabric I’ve had in my stash for ages.

The quilt finished at 76x76” and is #2 on my list of Quarter I Finish-Along Goals.  It is my sixth finish this year, and it means that I’ve completed 6 of 7 of my goals. I’ll take it!

Naturally, I will link this to the 2017 First Quarter Link-up. And to those lovely ladies who are checking out all my finishes for the Finish-Along, all my finishes can all be accessed in my original goal list, linked in the paragraph above.

I’ll also be linking up to the Rainbow Quilt Parade at Angela’s So Scrappy blog at the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by!