Sunday, November 28, 2010

Drama

Now that all the drama is over (hopefully) I am thinking about all the sewing and quilting that I am going to do over the next 4 months while I am laid off.  Since Mike and I are both on unemployment I will not be shopping for fabric but using my stash as I go along.  I am very excited about this because it will be fun to start on those quilts that I have been wanting to make over the last few years.  I had been printing out pictures & patterns of quilts I wanted to make over the years and then I started running out of room for a place for all these patterns so now I save them to my computer.  I was looking thru the pieces of paper and my laptop and sometimes I wondered why I thought at that time I would liked that particular quilt.  I have gone from liking very uniform quilts to very scrappy quilts.  Problem with scrappy quilts you need a lot of scraps.  I was thinking about going to the second hand store and buy shirts but with that problem you end up with everything but 100% cotton.  My SIL's Mom uses any kind of fabric and I don't like the way it stretches so out of place so the second hand stores are not a option.  I will have to make due with what I have and I'm sure I will be just fine as I look at all my fabric. 

I always think I need more fabric and this is just part of that sewing disease.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

OK I know I don't seem to be posting anything positive lately but I truly believe that bad things come in 3's. 

Well the first thing was my sister in law being diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was told on Monday that she has 1-3 years.  I think I cried for 2 days straight.  I asked what the Dr told her on Monday and that was it.  I'm done asking questions that I really don't want to hear the truthful answer. 

The second thing: Tuesday I took Raychel to the Dr because her seizures were so out of control and they put her in the hospital.  She was not very happy being that she has become so afraid of germs since being so sick the last 4-1/2 years.

Mike and I were to fly out this morning to Phoenix for 6 days and because of Raychel we were not going to go. This was not the 3rd thing.

The 3rd thing:  Yesterday Mike had gone to the dam by our house and went for a 2 mile walk, came home and told me he was going to the gym (cardiac rehab at the hospital) to finish working out.  We were in the beginnings of what they thought could turn into a snow storm.  I stopped by the store to get my batting since I was not going to be flying anywhere and had just got into the car and my phone rang.  It was Mike or so I thought.  It was Aaron, nurse at rehab, she proceeded to tell me that Mike had been working out and all of a sudden he went down and I needed to get to the emergency room.  Once there I was told that they could not find a pulse and was not breathing.  They got to him called code blue and started working on him.  They turned him over and were just going to shock him and they found a pulse and he started gasping for air.  His breathing did level off but was very faint.  He is doing so much better today.  They did not even call for a cardiac consult last night and I could not figure out what they were waiting for.  The cardiologist came in this morning and was so upset that they did not call him last night.  He said he would have taken Mike right in for a angiogram but now they are doing it tomorrow.  They are not sure if Mike has a blockage or if it is a electrical issue.  Mike had 2 heart attacks 2 years ago 2 weeks apart so they are not taking any chances.  I think even if he had not had the previous heart attacks they still would be very concerned with the heart stopping. 

With this being Thanksgiving I should say what I am thankful for.

I am thankful that bad things come in 3's.
I am thankful that Mike and Raychel are both going to be ok.
I am thankful that the rest of my family and friends are healthy and are great.
I am thankful that I am laid off from work for awhile and I get to sew until my fingers bleed.  This has always been my dream.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Pat


This is my sister in law, Pat, with her horse and one of her baby goats.  She is/was married to Mike's brother, Rod, who passed away 2 years ago.  She has a farm with goats, cows, chickens, horses and I'm sure there are other critters I am forgetting.  Oh yea Eleanor the dog.  Pat is so strong and she is the reason I ever thought of joining the quilting world.  She planted the seed and there you go the rest is history.  I think she was being selfish doing this because she did not want to be the one with to much fabric.  Her and I have become so close over the years and thru Raychel's illness she really was my rock.

Pat had breast cancer twice many years ago and beat it and everything has been fine.  She came to spend the weekend with me so we could sew and hang out in my sewing room for hours but she was not feeling the best.  She finally went to the Dr this past Monday and found out that she has ovarian cancer.  I have cried this whole week every time I think of her and that is very often.  Even Mike is so saddened by this and he is not to much of an emotional guy.

I am so afraid of this cancer just because of what I have heard about it over the years.  She goes in for surgery next week and I will be there.  Surgery was suppose to be on Wednesday and they just changed it to Friday which is better.  I can go up and spend the weekend with her while she is in the hospital.  She lives in Wilmar Mn which is about 1-1/2 hrs west of Minneapolis so I'm just not sure if her boys will be coming in for the weekend and being there or if they will go afterwards on Friday.

I hate getting old.  It seems the older you get the more your friends get sick.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

My sister in law, Pat, came in to town this past weekend to sew.  She had this quilt that her mom had done for one of the granddaughters and Pat wanted to quilt it for her. 

I love when she comes in and we do nothing but sew and snack all weekend.  When she comes for the weekend I feel like there is nothing more important that I should be doing than just hanging out with her. 

We sew and my husband, Mike, takes care of the meals and dishes if he's home.  How perfect is that.

Sunday being Halloween we went out to Jess's for dinner and to see the kids all dressed up.  Jess did Taylor's makeup in and put her in the red satin dress so she could be the devil.  She is getting so grown up.  And then of course Charlee had the monkey suit for the moment but that was not very girl like so they changed her costume.
Jaxson is now 3 and he LOVES Thomas and Train and he understands the whole trick or treat thing and oh yea the chocolate. 

And finally Charlee in the princess costume.  She has started sucking her thumb which is so adorable.  I know she should not be sucking her thumb but with the Rhett's syndrome I am happy that she has something to settle her self with.  The only thing she understands is "kiss" and so trying to get her to not suck her thumb would be impossible.

This quilt I am putting together is left over flannel and so I decided I needed to use it up and this is what I came up with.  The flannel was already cut up into triangles so it really was a no brainer on what to do with it.  I will give this to Taylor when I am done.

It was so funny last night I decided to start sewing the  rows and I made such a mess out of the order.  I finally had to sit back and count from the center out and of course I had 8 on one side and 7 on the other.  Had to do some ripping out and then got everything in order.  Hopefully tonight it will go smoother. 


I am determined to try and use all the fabric I have at home before buying any more fabric for a new project.  I am hoping that I can follow thru with this.