Back in the Saddle Y'all!

 Sew happy to be greeting you this week with a fresh perspective 😄

Look at these pics from our front yard too!!!

While getting photos this week in the yard... we enjoyed 3 full days of open windows and doors.... NO HEAT.... NO A/C!!!!  It is the craziest February we can recall in recent years...

Because the weather was delightful did make my back pain recovery more doable!  I see a spine specialist in Chattanooga where my knee surgeon is... in a few weeks to look at my CT scan and give me his opinion on options.  I had to go to me primary care's office this week still having 5/10 pain consistently unrelieved with the medications from the emergency room.... the doctor had his nurse give me a shot in the hip that is holding me over MUCH better even than what they gave me prior!  So as I write this I pray my pain remains a 1/5 like is my current normal pain level.  Unreal!

Meanwhile ... with the house open to the mountain breezes and a mani becoming desparate... Solar Flare took the place of hearts from my Valentine's mani.... 

Molly got a home groom and bath and brush out this week!  She lost about 5 pounds of hair 😂

And... Surprise!!!

I finished the buttonhole stitching!!!!  This week I will mail the blocks to Connie and when she has a few minutes here and there ... she can work on finishing the crochet around them based out of that buttonhole stitch :)  I am mega proud of this accomplishment and that I have rested my back so intensely!  While still moving every hour to keep my muscles moving!

Then THIS HAPPENED!!!!!

This quilt jumped out of it's box and DEMANDED to be loaded on my lonely Hinterberg Frame!!!!

The backing was pressed... the batting was fluffed.... the flimsy rested while all was bustling about them poof!!!!

The frame was filled once more!  Above is my set up and below you can see the first view of the quilt that will see us through this future move.  We are feeling stronger with this action!

Readers, thread, stencils, needles, marking pens and pencils, thimbles and iPad prepared...

This flimsy was made in full by my bestie Connie.... She had a kit ... next week I can find out more for you if you are interested in this pattern to make yourself.... I think it was an older pattern though!  Moda :)

And first stitches too!

Above you will see I dove in stitching on the inner quilt area of black background.... Connie is gonna quilt the outermost border in black big stitch.... meanwhile I get to quilt all the center area... and am I gonna have FUN! 

 Linking the SUPER DUPER HAND PROJECT mega week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitcher's... come see and Link up too with a photo or instagram or blog post :D  HERE <<<<<

Come along with me in future weeks as we inhale our last spring living in these mountains!

And something FUN to Quilt!

Crazy Weather and LOTS to share!

 I hope your week was joy filled however you spent it... 

It was hopefully a blessed week!  Mine personally has been kinda crazy... Weather here has been hotand cold... rainy and dry... but February is supposed to be the quiet before the storms of spring... our buttercups are tying to bloom... will they be stronger or weaker with this crazy weather I am not sure but they are standing up still and have multiplied since we planted them last year and the autumn prior!

Monday I received this Aurifil 28 wt thread to finish the machine quilting on the squares I'll show in a bit but most of them are quilted now.... I love Aurifil thread sew much when machine quilting or hand quilting!  

Have YOU ever USED Aurifil for sewing by hand or machine???

Then I also received a BIG box included the next on the frame quilt top and backing (I'm using my batting I had been saving for this project :)  And some extra goodies too as you can see!

Connie also included extra special gifts in her parcel... like this sign.... because we DO dance in our kitchen!  She gets this and it got prominence for the time being on our refrigerator.... in the kitchen!

And we got a sweet Valentine from my parents and on the right side of our mantle another gift enclosed in the box from Connie.... this will find a fine home in our new digs.... which is still all down the road a bit.

Rick had pneumonia and finally went to seek help after calling his doctor 2.5 hours away (VA in Asheville, NC) to go to the local urgent care where he got antibiotics and steroids... he is doing much better in that department but as of Thursday night he quit sleeping as deeply....

You see Thursday morning I woke with intractable pain in my lower back... I went to the emergency room locally for a CT/ MRI something to look at my lower back 10 over 10 on pain scale too.... after all I have been through with aches, pains and medication.... this had me crying full on!!!

The doctor in the Emergency Department was very good and after 4 hours in that unit I was sent home with anti-inflammatory meds, pain meds and a muscle relaxer.  This has helped as has alternating heat and cold and using Lidocaine patches on my low back area... no real conclusive evidence of cause of this pain on CT so I need an MRI which is scheduled only in our rural area and not available for emergent ER patients unless it is life threatening I suppose.  The good news is I have a very attentive honey and I am listening to the advice and taking it much easier than my normal baseline.

So as I recover I am looking at inspiration ... mainly online as my sewing room calls me to quilt.... last night I machine quilted 6 more squares from the group I shared with you last week... only 8 more waiting to be quilted by machine before button hole stitching by me.

So here we go... this morning I got up early due to my back and need to keep moving and got all 6 of these blocks marked for buttonhole stitching 20 stitches on each side... like that top green one :)

If you are new to this blog about my FUSION QUILT.... after I finish my part I send them all to Connie my best friend and quilter extraordinaire as well as a knit and crocheter!

The top 2 blocks have 3 rounds of crochet... I have tension issues when I crochet these blocks and my arthritis gets in my way too!  Once all 80 of my blocks are done with my part and her part they will be laid out to crochet together!  Then after a good wash and dry this will be MY fusion quilt.

Why is it called a fusion quilt?  You are fusing 2 crafts together ... quilted squares meet crochet in my project!  once they are crochet together there will be a crocheted outer border to add a zinging end to this project... Hopefully this year :)

Above is a random pic I found showing my process for achieving the button hole stitch up close... the thimble I use for this quilted square on my middle finger and lovely new can of bag balm for my hands which get rough easily when I am not on top of it regularly... my bestie knew me and found a good sale so picked me up this little can I have been on the lookout for and a pack of 4 portable bag balms in a dispenser 😀

Linking all this hand-ee goodness to Kathy's Slow Sunday stitching HERE <<<< !!!  She has the most cool project she is sharing this week on striped Parisian linen... totally lovely!  I've asked her where she gets it but... 

Anyone know of a USA contact for this kind of fabric???

While I have been on chair and bed rest... I made a couple cool pic collages....

Me with my Clower Clan...

And our entire family ...

You can see each is different a bit with some different pics... I just can't decide which one I will print out to frame....  I'm leaning toward the full one... do you have a preference???

Before I leave you for today... did you hear our previous President ... Jimmy Carter ... who has survived brain cancer and other little issues released the message beside his picture.

I am not a political person so please don't take this information as such but pray if you do or send thoughts for a painless passing on... He is choosing Hospice care for a reason...

In closing... evaluate you self talk... I hope it is positive... I have worked hard to discard old "records" going through my brain to positive self chat from my mind and brain to my life!

Have a blessed week as I started out with... your answers... if you have any comment about either or something else... please leave in my comments section... if that does NOT work then email me directly HERE <<<    ****  I do answer each and every email privately :) ****

 

Almost Valentine's Day!!!

 

It has been variety week around here... no task lasting long enough to get tired of... how about you?

I put on a fresh manicure.... Work of Fine Heart.... this week

I got my new cross stitch kit on paper....  it is a tiny package of fun!

Front and back...

All organized but can you see that legend and pattern???  too small for me!

So I enlarged it with my printer... now it is ready to work on!

But before THAT fun begins.... must first prep this stack of squares for my fusion quilt....  the LAST of the blocks too :)

Once they are sewn then I leave them wrong side out to trim the corners to decrease bulk there...

Then I turn them and use the tool above left to poke out the corners nicely and stitch closed the opening I had left when sewing them on my 319w Singer. :)

Here is a finished one ... I loved sewing closed the openings and doing the button hole stitching as my nails just glisten with a little heart at the top of each nail!!!

Here the first batch is all ready for Connie's skilled hands....

Here is the final batch waiting on quilting thread.... should be here Monday!

So what is a girl to do in the meantime?????

Pull out a WIP.... this BIG panel....

Redwork is sew much fun... esp when the lines are there :)  

I discovered I was almost done with MY 4th block and 5 are needed so here we go....

So I will work on this progress today and until mail runs Monday afternoon on this and house chores...

Also expected in the mail tomorrow is the next thing on my frame!  I am sew excited my bestie has outdone herself from what I see on camera.... long distance is NOT my favorite... maybe some day we will be closer in distance :)

Linking all this hand craftiness to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitchers Linky Party >>>>    HERE  <<<< where she says it is National Embroidery Month too! Perfect for redwork and button hole stitching :D

Above is a fun selfie I took and below Molly is hoping for a treat! lol  We groomed her ourselves this week and are sew happy with the results we may only take her for nail trims in the future :)

Here is a cute Valentiney quilt top I found from the MSQC group on Facebook.  the company has a tutorial recently by Jenny on how to accomplish this but I thought this was quilt cool looking!

And in closing... something important to remember....

Have a blessed Valentine whether you have a traditional Valentine or a child or a pen pal... make your own Valentine's Day special!