Don't let the difficulties of the present moments overshadow the reality of God's promises. God's promises still stand. And God's promises are stronger than our failures.

Friday, January 31, 2014

She Who Sews


When Madame Samm first mentioned this new line of fabrics from Quilting Treasures, and I saw the pictures, I was in love!  Every single one of those women just made me smile.  So I was thrilled when Carla from Creatin In The Sticks agreed to be the cheerleader.  I might possibly have been the first one to sign up - I e-mailed her so quick she probably didn't know what hit her.  :)

I don't have a lot of imagination to come up with things to make but I just knew I wanted some of these women in my sewing room to keep me company.  Unfortunately life sometimes give us a kick in the pants when we're least expecting it and when I came down with an extreme case of Sciatica, which put me in the bed for three weeks now, I was so disappointed.  Oh - don't worry - I found I can even do a little sewing when on pain meds and my brain has turned to mush.  :)  When your brain is mush you just have to do something that doesn't require much thinking.  Thinking can get you in trouble when you're on pain meds!

The first thing I did was make a cover for my sewing machine.  It's a simple throw type cover but with these darling women I didn't want to cover up even one little piece of them with anything else.


I added a polka dot binding along with some large ric rac, which isn't really visible in this picture but trust me, is darling.  :)  I did a simple stippling pattern for the quilting and added some ties on the side.  One of the nice things about this is that when I take it off to sew it slips right over the back of my sewing chair so it doesn't end up on the floor or tucked away in a corner so I forget where I put it!




Then I noticed my serger, sitting there all plain and sad.  Well, more than plain - I had simply slipped a white pillowcase over it as a cover and it was pitiful.  Really.  Pitiful.  It was almost crying because it felt so plain.  So I made it a new cover too.  Now the shape of a serger isn't exactly like a sewing machine - I tried just a plain rectangle but it didn't seem right, so I added a tuck in the top on each side to make it a bit more fitted and less likely to slide off.



I put a pocket on each side, one for the instruction book and the other for the various little tools you use with a serger.  I didn't put ties on this one - the weight of the book and tools holds it in place nicely.  Now my serger is much happier.  Can't you just tell she's happy?  :)

That only left my Featherweight.  All alone.  Naked.


So I made her a dress too.  :)


I've never thought of my sewing room being "decorated".  Until now.  I mean, in the living areas of my home I'm constantly changing a pillow here, a picture there....but the sewing room has now taken on a whole new look.  Which means I looked around and thought, what else?  So I recovered my ironing table.



It's funny how a few new things make such a change - it's bright and cheerful and fun.  The changes inspired me and since I've finished these I've even been cleaning out some drawers going through old patterns and fabrics.  And everywhere I look I think of something else I could make out of this fabric for this room...I'm going to have to order more to do it but really, what's a girl to do?  :)

Please be sure you visit the other bloggers today - there are some really cute things to see!


 
 
 
 

Monday, January 27, 2014

She Who Sews

I've really been looking forward to this blog hop - what could be better than one called She Who Sews?  Let's all go visit these bloggers who are going to show us some amazing things from women who sew!




January 27th
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

January 29th

 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

A Little Wool Fun

Some of you know I've been in the bed for a couple of weeks with a sciatic nerve issue.  I hate sciatic nerves.  I have no idea why we need them but I'm pretty sure we don't.

Anyway, I got this little piece prepped and ready in one of my brief periods when the pain meds were doing their thing and my brain was still functioning too.  That didn't always happen at the same time.


Then, when I started cutting my meds in half I was able to do the hand stitching and today, when I've been more off the meds than on I got the pillow back on it.  He turned out pretty cute I think.


I've even got another pillow top started with most of the hand stitching done.  My friend Michelle from Raspberry Rabbits is going to like it.  That should give you a clue what little furry animals might be on it.  :)  Tomorrow, if I have any energy at all left after a visit to the chiropractor's and the allergy clinic to get shots, I hope to finish it.

Thank goodness I started several weeks ago on a project for the upcoming So She Sews Blog Hop - I won't have a lot of different things done for that when my post goes up on Friday but I'll at least have something there!

The ironic thing about not feeling good enough to be up and sewing is that you sit and look at magazines and quilt books and online tutorials and end up with this looooong list of things you want to make but you have no strength or energy to make them.  And when you feel well enough to make all those things you have a million other things that real life requires, like cooking and shopping and laundry and not much time for sewing.  Funny how life works that way.  Or not funny, whatever the case might be.


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Bits and Pieces

I'm not sure I should be writing a post because the pain meds and muscle relaxers I'm on make me a bit loopy at times and my tongue gets tangled so if I say something that makes absolutely no sense chalk it up to that and smile at my entertaining brain twists.  :)

Every day my sciatica is a bit better.  A tiny bit, but I'll take even a tiny bit.  I feel sort of like this poor lady (I don't have a clue who she is...just found her on the internet)


I'm beginning to wean myself off the pain meds, a little at a time.  I'm not sure if that's wise or not but I've got a call in to the doc to see what he thinks.  

Meanwhile, I'm trying to sit up as much as I can and move around the house whenever possible.  I'm doing some hand stitching a few minutes at a time.  I've found that sitting on one of those cushions that is plastic and has little pokey things on it (for your posture I think) is helpful, for whatever reason.  

Part of the reason this is good for my back is I don't slide off it.  My body stays put and I can put a cushion behind my back and nothing moves.  I seem to slide right off a regular cushion/pillow.

I've finished the embroidery on another tea towel and the applique on a wool pillow top called Wool for Ewe.  I'll show it to you when I get the pillow top finished.  I've also cut out and ironed on another wool pillow top called Wabbits from a Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.  I drew off several more wool pincushions - these are all things I can do sitting down so the hours that I'm up and alert I spend prepping things to do when I'm not so alert.

For those of you who suggested it I got a TENS machine yesterday and have used it several times now.  I took it to the chiropractor with me today and he set it for me and I do believe it gives me some temporary pain relief.  

I was scheduled to begin a mission trip this weekend but needless to say that's off the books now.  No traveling for me for four to six weeks, unless I'm a really fast healer which doesn't appear to be the case right now.  I still have hope though that this will pass soon.

One of the things I've been able to do is read and/or play games on my IPad Mini, bought 12/24, and that's been really wonderful.  Unfortunately, it bit the dust yesterday and has to be shipped back to Apple.  So now I'm back to bed where I'm going to try to read and respond to some blogs using my Mac.  Fingers crossed I'll be able to do that!


Sunday, January 19, 2014

The Kindness of Strangers and a Few Other Things

A couple of weeks ago I was hit with the most severe case of sciatica that ever existed in the history of the world.  Or maybe it was just my world....but oh my, the pain.  I've had sciatica before and it was bad but this was beyond bad.  I've been in the bed most of the time for two weeks now, unable to walk upright, or to stand for more than a minute or two or to sit with any comfort at all.  I've made several visits to the chiropractor and one to the masseuse; I've been to my primary care doctor and gotten pain meds, muscle relaxers and steroids.  I detest medication and am terrified of getting addicted because addiction seems to run in my family so I put off taking anything until it was way past the point of no return.  Early last week I hobbled into the chiropractor's leaning heavily on my cane and with tears running down my face.  I had managed to shower and wash my hair but no styling and no makeup so I can only imagine what I looked like.  A sweet lady who was in the waiting room said, "oh my honey, you're in a lot of pain....the doctor will help you - he always helps me."  And then she went straight to the receptionist and told her to take me in first, that she could wait.  I cannot tell you how that small bit of kindness touched me.  She would not have been there if she hadn't needed to see him but she put me in front of herself - I wonder if I would have been thoughtful enough to do the same.  I hope so and I know that I will be much more aware of others in similar situations now.

My husband has been a real trooper, doing the laundry, cooking, helping me change clothes since I couldn't even lift my left leg enough to get pajama pants on or off.  One neighbor brought a wonderful taco soup and another (a quilter of course) brought me a block I could hand stitch.  Today one of my daughters is bringing lunch and of course, my children have checked on me most every day.  I must be getting better because I am now laughing at myself as I toddle through the house leaning on my cane and looking straight at the floor because to stand upright is too painful.  I think of the fairy tales I read as a child, I don't remember which one, but there was a crooked little man?  :)

After I take my meds there is usually a window of time where I can sit up and stitch a little...handwork is soothing to my soul so I'm thrilled to be able to do it.  I've finished a couple of tea towels:


And the top for a pincushion is ready...except I see in this picture that his eye needs to be a bit darker:


And today I was able to sit up long enough to prep this wool pillow top:


I've read a couple of books and am wondering if anyone has some good ones to recommend - perhaps a good romance, light enough that I don't have to think because at this point my brain is on strike.  I love the Robyn Carr books if that gives you an idea of what I'm looking for.

I'm also stuck on Level 70 of Candy Crush and have played that game for hours now since I can do it lying down.  Any tricks to getting past this level?

And I've been so thankful for my blog friends who have had some wonderful posts I could enjoy - especially the Kona Blog Hop that's going on now.  I'm looking forward to next weeks' posts...you might want to join me in visiting these for a little inspiration!

January 20

January 21

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Sunrise....Sunset.....Kona






I love Kona!  I know, you're saying "who doesn't?"  We all love those bright, clear, crisp colors and the soft pastels and the vivid...well I'm preaching to the choir here.  But I also love Amanda Murphy!  Look at this beautiful new book!

 I "borrowed"this photo from Amazon and it's awful!  But just to show you I can do better, I took this one myself.  :)


Amanda Murphy's newest book, Color Essentials, is just gorgeous!  The colors are so bright and crisp and clean that you'll just sit with your mouth open when you see them.  :)

I went through it about ten times trying to decide what I wanted to make and changed my mind more than once, actually more than twice!  First I looked at these place mats.  Don't you just love them?  Then I saw this...


Oh my....the colors are just stunning!  But in the end I knew I wanted/needed to make a table runner so I chose this pattern to be my first creation from her book.


I loved that border on the two ends!  But I knew that, for myself, I wanted to combine two blues with white - so spring like - that would blend with my Blue Willow dishes so decided to "tweak" this pattern, combine it with some others in the book and ended up with this...


I took this picture out in the bright sunshine - that's a shadow from a tree in my yard that you see on the side - but I figured it would take that light for you to see the subtle difference in the blues.  I quickly realized you could see it much better indoors on my table.



What do you think?  Does it work with my Blue Willow dishes?  It certainly sets off that poinsettia don't you think?

If you think you might want a copy of this book be sure you tell me that in your comment.  I'm going to give away a copy of the book!  Just comment once and be sure I can get in touch with you.

Thanks so much to Kona for the lovely fabric, to Amanda for this fabulous book, to Carol for shepherding us and to Madame Samm for being such a great friend to quilter's everywhere.  And be sure you visit the rest of the bloggers - you're in for a treat!




January 15
January 16
January 17
January 20
January 21

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Birds in the Blizzard






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