I’m Baaaack!

After three weeks of hell (ever had a knee replaced?) I’m finally well enough mentally and physically to start returning to regular routines. That includes my weekly blogpost and participation in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge’s Scrappy Saturday. I’ve got six more weeks of physical therapy ahead, but I realize how much I need and appreciate that. My left knee is still painful and uncomfortable, but I know it gets better. I’m off the heavy drugs and am using a walker probably for another week or ten days. I can do light activities in spurts of 15-45 minutes, then I need to just lie down, elevate and ice the knee. I’m hanging in there. But thank heavens there are no more knees left for me to replace!!

In my last post about three (four?) weeks ago, I showed you a load full of scraps that were dropped off to me by our Quilts for Kids chapter. Here’s a refresher for you:

I’m proud to say that over my convalescence, I was able to go through all these scraps and get them sorted by color and size. I did have some help from Cousin Kim and Ruby one morning to finish off the green-lidded bin, but other than that, it was all me. My string bin is overflowing once again, and I have two new bins (in addition to one I already had) for 2.5” strips and lengths. One bin is for WOF (width of fabric) strips, another houses 2.5x4.5” chips, and a third has the 2.5” width strips sorted into 6.5 and 8.5” lengths. I have a lot of squares of various sizes in still another bin, and am further sorting other chunks down into bricks of varying sizes. If scraps or strings were a predominantly one-colored piece, they went into my RSC scrap bins. But if it was multi-colored or there were lots of duplicates, they joined the multi-colored string bins or pre-cut size bins.

There were also at least 2-3 block sets in the boxes and bags. One set needed a couple seams to finish the last three blocks, which I did. Then I sewed them into a top, made a back, and it is in my lineup of flimsies that Ruby is quilting on her longarm for me. I’ll show those quilts upon completion. Another set of 12 blocks were Dresden blades. They weren’t quite 90 degrees, so I added another blade to each and can now trim and machine appliqué them to a background. Sorry for the lousy picture.

These bright and dark saturated arcs will be appliquéd to a neutral tan background squares. I’ll add a border to bring it up to a larger (older kid) size, like 50-something by 60-something inches. I have a great print I bought from Missouri Star Quilt Company for the backing. It’s a print of library books and matches these colors perfectly. 

Here are the sixty (4 sets of 15) strings I’ve sewn over the last three weeks from the QFK strings: 

No, there’s no hint of a dent in the string box, so I’ll happily stitch away at these for the remainder of the year!

Another idea I had was to use the 2.5x8.5” strips with 2.5x4.5” black accents. Here’s the mess up on the design wall. The first three columns are webbed vertically; my goal is to finish webbing the top this week. It only used (less than) half my longer strips, so I’ll do another one in sets of three strips with white accent bricks of 6.5”x4.5”. 

Another project I’ve started from the scraps - because my attention span is all over the place - is these dark and light potato chip blocks. Cousin Kim just recently finished a flimsy of these, and I believe someone in the RSC (Sara?) is doing these too. 

They’re a good thing to sew when I don’t have the energy or stamina to put in some real thinking-type sewing. I’ll just let them accumulate for now. 

And finally, I did bind this little quilt that I sewed before the surgery. Ruby quilted it for me. I fell in love with the little bonnet girls when I saw a smallish chunk of it in Ruby’s stash. Then, before we went to the Worldwide Quilting Day event in March, Cousin Kim brought over a sack of fabric donations to take there. In the sack (because I had to look through it, right?) was another piece of the same fabric. Between the two pieces, I was able to eke out these blocks and create a simple and sweet little quilt. The pink is not as bright as it looks in these pictures. 

The backing was a soft green print, and after I backed this quilt, I sewed a Strippie top using the remainder along with some green and purple accents. That quilt is in the To Be Quilted lineup. More (many more, actually!) to come.

I’ve missed you ladies! I’ve tried to comment on a blogpost here and there, but mostly I was lucky just to manage my daily affairs for the first couple weeks (with a lot of help from Bruce, the family and a few  special friends) . 

Have a wonderful week! And join us at Scrappy Saturday to see what other quilters are up to! 

A Wedding and a New Month in the Sewing Room

It was a lovely day for a wedding last Saturday, when my grandson Easton and his fiancé Madalyn got married up in Logan, Utah. Behind them for all of us to enjoy was an expansive view of the very green Cache Valley. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, because it rained for the following three days afterward. But by then the newlyweds were jetting their way to a honeymoon in Italy! 

It was a semi-formal wedding with a sit-down dinner for about 75 people. There were outdoor games for the kids and good music and dancing after the dinner and cake. We didn’t stay after the dinner part, and ended up driving the two hours back home rather than staying in a hotel.

Madalyn and Easton

It was so beautiful! But my poor son Ryan and daughter-in-law Kim (parents of the groom); their daughter Lauren graduated from Utah State University this week (Thursday) with her BA in Landscape Architecture. I imagine Ryan and Kim (and their wallets) will need a good vacation this month! But everything has been so happy and joyous! 

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In sewing news, the week kicked off with the delivery of some new Accuquilt dies. They had a great sale, and I picked up these three kid-appropriate dies to use for Quilts for Kids. I haven’t used them yet, but I will soon enough!

I did finish up some crumb blocks and four Hollow Nines in April’s color, Pink, for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Seven crumb blocks at 6.5” unfinished. I added them to the 8 I had from last year.

And here is a set of all 15 crumb blocks, which will go to Quilts for Kids for kits. 

And to finish up April, four Hollow Nine blocks at 6.5”.

Then I was able to sort and cut out all the pieces for my planned blocks for Orange May in the RSC. It was natural to continue on with more Hollow Nines in Orange, and I sewed six of those. 

And continuing with a project I started in 2025, I added six more Switchplate blocks to the pile. I anticipate that I’ll finish all the needed blocks by the end of summer. 

It should be a fairly relaxing weekend. We do plan to run to Lowe’s or Home Depot  (big box hardware stores) and get some flowers for a couple of my Talavera patio pots. I always provide the pots and flowers to the HOA to use at our Cinco de Mayo party. I may get some annuals for my vertical planter this year, too, as well as some groundcover. We’re in a drought, though, and my courtyard planting will be very limited as we begin our water restrictions. Oh, and while we’re at the store, we hope to purchase a new patio dining set. 

The closing on the sale of my brother’s home in Colorado is set for Friday. I will be able to sign documents electronically. This week I’ll also begin my pre-op visits and labs for my May 18 knee replacement surgery (left knee this time) on May 18. Let the preparations begin!

Have a great week!

Stepping Back into Life

Well, the last three weeks have been the hardest I’ve ever had in my 71 years. I don’t say that to garner sympathy, but more just to explain what has been going on. And let’s face it, we all have had times in our lives that are hard; times we wouldn’t want to relive. But maybe it’s true that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. Personally, I don’t believe that - I’m not feeling strong now at all. But I’m still here, loving my family and friends, and doing my best to heal physically and emotionally.

Since my blog is also a bit of a personal diary, I’m going to talk about the last three weeks in this post. Feel free to skip it if you’re not interested; I’ll be back posting my regular quilting content tomorrow.

Let’s start with the physical stuff first. I had a right knee total replacement done on December 4, exactly three weeks before Christmas. Luckily, I had the foresight to stock up on food and buy all the Christmas gift cards, so we got everyone taken care of (even though some items have yet to be mailed).  I was able to begin driving again about a week ago, and this week I started outpatient physical therapy. I had heard that knee replacements are brutal, and thought I was psyched up for it. I was not. The pain is constant. Yes, I was given (and used) the prescription pain meds for the first couple weeks. But in order to drive, I can’t be on opioids, so I’m down to just Arthritis Strength Tylenol during the day or Tylenol PM at bedtime. 

Nothing I do with my leg is comfortable. But it’s better if I move or rest or walk or whatever in periods of an hour or less (bedtime excepted). I’m doing my exercises. I’ve graduated from a walker to a cane for going out, and am mobile around the house without any aids. But even in the house I’ll use a cane if I’m tired or sleepy, just to be safe. Everyone says I’ll be glad in the long run that I had the knee done, and I’m holding onto that belief. Right now in the short term, I’m not glad. I know I need the perspective that time will give me.

And speaking of time, it was devastating to lose my dear brother Steve at Thanksgiving time. We were close, and he was 18 months younger than me. We usually talked a couple times per week. We had so many plans! He had completely given up drinking a little over 2 years ago and was really seeing the physical and mental benefits of a healthy lifestyle. But his leg circulation was getting bad and he was having episodes of lightheadedness and nearly passing out. A couple months ago they admitted him to a hospital and ran batteries of tests, finally concluding his arteries were in bad shape and he needed a stent inserted in his iliac artery. He had a 4” stent inserted in a crossover procedure on November 19. I won’t explain it all here. Anyway, he came through it fine - the doctor called me and told me Steve was doing great. Steve went home the next day and felt good. We talked a couple times over the next couple days and were going to talk again on Thanksgiving Day. Then on Monday night before Thanksgiving he went to the EMT’s at the local clinic saying he didn’t feel right. They checked him out and couldn’t find anything, but offered to take him to the hospital. He declined. He went home. Later that night or the next morning, he was in his recliner and died. His friend Richard, who had a key, found him on Thanksgiving morning when he hadn’t returned calls for 2 days.  

I was dealing with the mortuary paperwork for the first couple weeks of December, even as I was having surgery. Steve’s friends Richard and his wife Sherry have been godsends. They took Steve’s dog as they had promised him before the operation. They have found a home for the cat and will be relocating her before year end. They cleaned out the refrigerator, throwing away spoiled food and donating (or keeping) the rest. They’ve been watering his plants and now would like to buy his house (which sits on 3/4 acre). I’ve finally gotten e-copies of the death certificate (hard copies coming in the mail) and will begin sorting through bank documents, bills, and making phone calls next week from the piles that Richard and Sherry sent. I’m probably going to be chastised for not handling things in a more timely manner, but I am handling it as best I can.

So, I’m a physical and emotional wreck. I cry a lot. I do my exercises, take my meds, get nauseated, cry some more, and slowly have begun healing. I can’t see any progress from day to day, but if I mark time by the week, I can definitely tell I’ve come a ways along the road. I am spending some time in my sewing room again and will have a few things to share in the next post.

One more thing I need to share. I have never considered myself a very religious person in the church-attending style. My parents were atheists, but to their credit let me attend the churches I wanted as I was growing up. I was baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby (yes, by my parents. I have no explanation for that). Growing up, I occasionally attended churches with friends, 2 summers of Lutheran bible school, joined Job’s Daughters (a Masonic organization for young girls) and went into “the line” (leadership) becoming an Honored Queen. At one point my ex-husband and I joined the LDS church (Mormon), but I firmly don’t believe in that anymore. I call myself a spiritual drifter, sampling this and learning that. I’ve tried to live my life in an honorable and good manner. But church every Sunday? No, thank you. But friend Ruby, Cousin Kim and I call our regular Sunday meetings “The Church of Bernina”. Now, having said all that, I can share this recent experience.

On the Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving, I was at my regular Weight Watchers meeting (workshop/social gathering/mental health boost). The subject was thankfulness. Just about everyone had something to share. I was quiet, listening, nursing a bad mood over something minor and irrelevant to the story. And suddenly, it was as though every remark was pointed at me. Not literally, of course, but everything was hitting me and making an impression. My annoyance dissipated and I began feeling overwhelmed and sad and so small. My eyes began tearing up and I could tell I was losing my composure. I turned to my bestie Ruby sitting next to me and whispered, “I’ve got to go; I’m going to crash”. She told me later I was pale. I went out to my car and started sobbing. I didn’t know why, exactly, but I cried for a good seven or eight minutes. Just overwhelming sadness. Eventually, I collected myself and drove home.  Ruby did call and check up on me later and I still couldn’t explain it. 

Fast forward two days, Thanksgiving morning. Two officers from the local police department visited us to tell me my brother Steve had passed. They gave me the coroner’s number, and I called her within the hour. She gave me all the information she had (which is where I found out he had visited the EMTs, etc), and said he had been dead for two days from when he was found earlier that morning. Ruby came by later that Thanksgiving day and connected the dots for me. The Tuesday morning incident was Steve saying goodbye or making a connection with me. I do believe there are things - connections, energy, love, life, death - that are beyond our understanding. If I hadn’t experienced it so dramatically myself, I would be a skeptic. I still can’t explain it, but I do believe it fervently now. I will always love you, Steve.