Still here, recuperating

I did make it to quilt guild the night before my hysterectomy and showed off the two finished projects.  First, the Hoopla baby quilts:

I finished sewing the bindings on them that evening and sent them out later in the week (my big post-surgical outing to the post office).  The recipients loved them.

The other quilt I showed was the wall hanging I made with Moda's City Weekend Candy Bars (2.5" x 5") from the Moda Bake Shop recipe.  Here is a closeup taken at guild showing the bubble play quilting from Laura at Star City Stitchery:

It goes with the baby quilt I made Janice before (see here) which she hung on the wall rather than put on the baby. 

I haven't done much sewing in the almost two weeks since my recuperation.  I did sew the binding onto the quilt I am now calling "Pink Profusion" and will take that one to guild next week for show and tell.  I am starting to be up and about more and while I'm trying to do some work from home, I also want to log some time in my sewing room.  The Kaleidoscope blocks are nearly finished, I have catching up to do on the Civil War Chronicles BOM, and I have all but fallen off the face of the earth with the FWQAL.  Yet somehow I'm in the mood to do one new quilt from start to finish for no apparent reason.  We'll see how that goes.

time is running out

I had my pre-surgery appointments yesterday and the time until the big "H" is winding down.  I realized yesterday while navigating the hospital that all my previous surgeries had been emergencies and I was completely unfamiliar with the concept of pre-admission tests and procedures.  I got a fancy little wristband to wear until Tuesday but luckily it slipped over my hand so that I can just put it back on Monday night.  I need to be at the hospital at 5 AM on Tuesday.  My wonderful Honey is very kind and patient to not only take me at such an ungodly hour, but wait for me throughout the procedure, which will probably last a couple of hours according to my OB/GYN.

We are going to see the kids this weekend so I won't be able to work much more on the baby quilts until Sunday night, except for the one which I did get the binding started on.  I really wanted to get them in the mail on Monday but at this point, Monday is going to have to be a marathon day with all I want to get done at work and in my personal life.  Quilt guild meets Monday night too and I don't know that I will be able to attend with all the pre-surgery requirements, including an early night's sleep.  I suppose that if I don't have the Hoopla baby quilts for show & tell, there's little point.  The program is on EQ and is done by Susan Kraterfield ... since I don't have EQ and currently don't intend to get it, it might be lost on me.

I will take the GFG blocks to hand piece during the long car ride, though.  It's five hours up and five hours back.  I try to help my Honey with the driving but honestly, I like the daylight to sew by on the drive north, and by the time it gets dark we're around Washington, DC with lots of traffic and construction (and narrow lanes with Jersey walls right next to you), and I'm less comfortable driving his car than mine.  Still, he often drives the whole way home and I can sew the whole way as a result.  Or sometimes I read aloud to him.

I'm working on stacking up my Netflix queue and trying to get my office all wound up before I go out for weeks.  It's been a strange week and I'll be glad to get on to the next part and get this over with.

New handwork project

It's been a week since I last blogged, or really sat down to work on the baby quilts.  I'd better get a move on, since they were born yesterday!  Yes, they're very early, and weigh less than three pounds each, but they're here, and they have names (for labels), and they will need quilts when they leave the NICU.  So it's back to the machine I go tonight.

In the meantime, I've been doing more handwork when I've been sewing at all (the weekend was a projects-around-the-house kind of weekend, although the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee have been drenching us for days, so Monday became a movie marathon day with hand sewing).  I pulled out this very old project last Thursday night for sewing at Kitty's and have continued working on it during my TV time:  a reproduction 1930's Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top.

This is what I have had put together so far, and below is another flower in progress.  I use the Quilt Patis to piece.  I believe I'm using the 1" per side hexagons.  Interesting story - a few years ago, I was in Columbus and near Pati Shambaugh's Picking up the Pieces.  I stopped in to meet her and buy some more Quilt Patis, and she signed my package for me.  :-P

 The fabrics are the result of an internet swap from YEARS ago.  I spread out the baggies of the pieces on the coffee table and see one of my own there with my address in Delaware, which we moved from in 2002.  This was probably done well before that since most of my quilt swaps were before my son was born in 2000 and I got busy with sewing for him.

It should be a fun project to continue sewing as it grows and grows.

My Honey is away for the next few days and while I worked last night until almost 8 PM, tonight I plan to leave right at 5 to devote myself to finishing the quilting on the baby quilts and making some binding.  I would love to finish them over the weekend on the drive up to Maryland to see the kids and then get them in the mail early next week before Tuesday's surgery.