Sigh of Relief

Today I turned over Teresa's five quilts to her.  I was very glad to finish the one with the fans.  Here is how it turned out.  It is a pretty quilt.

There is a lot of quilting in this one.  Working with those fan blades was not easy.  My thread broke often, and it was hard to not catch the quarter-inch of fan that protruded at the end.

In addition to that, I got to the bottom and had a LOT of fullness to deal with.  This sometimes happens due to having a lot of bias triangles, or the borders being sewn on without measuring first.  Sometimes it's just that at the bottom of the quilt, there is nowhere else for any extra fabric to go.  Usually I can put in lots of curvy quilting at the bottom and that takes care of it.  This time it left big puckers.

I ripped out all the stitching near the puffy area.  I tried hand-basting to see if it would flatten out. 

Not a chance!  So I decided to put in a controlled pleat or two.  First I pinned, then hand-basted the pleats or darts.

I quilted a lot over the fold, and then stitched the pleat by hand with thin thread.

All fixed!  I told Teresa about this on the phone, but when she picked up the quilt, she did not notice anything wrong with the border.

It looks fine to me!

I don't think I ever showed a picture of the whole Thimbleberries quilt.  Well, here is half at a time.  I would not mind keeping this one!

I have been cautiously trying out new activities, like walking the dog around the neighborhood, and getting back on my Wii Fit.  Today I went back to the hospital for my blood test, and it was at the low range of normal.  I don't have to go back for a week, and if it is okay then, I will be dismissed from the anti-coagulant clinic and returned to my doctor's care.  I did not even wear my ankle brace when I went out today.  The compression stocking seems to stabilize the ankle pretty well.  Things are looking up!

We have stayed home this weekend for the first time in a long time.  It felt good not to have to travel anywhere.  I did have to go back to the hospital on Friday for another blood test, and it was too high once again.  Now I have to go back on Tuesday.  It must take awhile to get Coumadin dosage levels to the right amount for each individual.

I got my presription stocking that is supposed to help with circulation.  I ordered the kind with no toes since I wear flip-flops or sandals almost all the time in the summer.  It looks like a thick knee-high stocking until you try to put the darn thing on.  Yikes!  It felt like a steel band contracting around my foot. After awhile,  I got it off, and read the instructions.  Oh, it comes with a stunning white slipper that you put on first.

Then you slip the stocking over it, and try to pull it up with no wrinkles.  Right.

Then you roll the foot part up over the heel, and yank off the slipper.  And here is what my ankle looked like after wearing the stocking with wrinkles all day.  My veins are sticking out like crazy and my leg is wrinkled.

But my sprained ankle is not nearly as swollen or colorful as it was the first week.  Here is a peek at how it was.

Anyway, I took Kasey for the first walk since I sprained my ankle on July 9.  She could not believe it when I put her on the leash!  First I drove to the library to pick up a book I requested, and then I remembered a very short paved greenway behind the library.  It ends up at the EMS station, so I figured that was a good plan in case I got in trouble.  All was well, but Kasey needs to go back on The Perfect Dog collar to remember her good walking manners, and my ankle did pretty well.  No need to holler for the EMS to come fetch me!

Yesterday I worked on the fans quilt, a very large one, and got down to the last row.  I had some problem with fullness at the bottom which did not quilt out very nicely.  Also had some ratty looking tension on the back side.  I think it's partly because I had to go through so many layers to get through those double fan blades and centers. 

So today I have been frogging (rippit, rippit!) all day long.  I don't like spending a whole friggin' day frogging!

Here is how some of the quilting looks (with the quilt draped across the back of the couch.)

At least there is a football game on tonight- an exhibition game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants.  It is wonderful to see Carolina winning after a dismal season last year. 

Longarm Quilting- and Un-quilting!

You might have seen my recent post about using a mirror on the longarm table to get a glimpse of what is happening on the back side of the mounted quilt.  That only works when you actually LOOK in the mirror.  That usually does not happen until you are at the end of a row and ready to roll up.


Therefore, I missed the bad tension on a whole section of the pumpkins quilt.  Like I always say, these stitches go in real fast, but come out real slow.  It took several hours of "frogging", or "un-sewing" to get it all out.


Then, you are left with the holes from the previous stitching.  You might be able to see the "needle tracks" in this photo.

Usually, I lightly mist, then use a coarse white towel to gently rub the fibers.  Often, the cotton fibers will either fluff up from the moisture, or fill in to cover the holes.

On this quilt, I went on to Step 2, which is really soaking the backing with the water, then really rubbing hard with the towel.  If I still see evidence of the previous stitching holes when it dries, I will try a third time by scrubbing with a soft toothbrush.  I have also tried the edge of a credit card.  Probably no one else will even notice the holes except me.

The quilt turned out really cute.  It is a Thimbleberries block of the month, I believe.  I used a leafy vine over the whole quilt.

but in the area with the appliqued pumpkins and leaves, I added some plant elements like veins on the leaves and ridges on the pumpkins.  Teresa had already hand-embroidered some of these, but I had to go in and add some quilting in these large areas.

To tie this section in with the rest, I had some of the leafy vine drape down over the large pumpkin.

Here is how that part looks on the back.

It is important to try to maintain the same amount of quilting throughout the quilt to avoid poofing or sagging of the unquilted areas.

Today's quilt is already loaded on the machine.  Here is another tip I learned during my three invaluable days of classes with the incomparable Linda Taylor in Texas.  Fold both backing and quilt top in half, line them up on two sides, and drape them over the length of your pick-up roller on the machine.

You should definitely see extra backing fabric on the bottom and one side if you have a large enough backing.  You can also tell which way to load the backing and top.  I admit that once I pinned the quilt top the long way and the backing the short way, and did not realize it until I got to the last row and ran out of backing fabric.

This quilt top could be a Christmas quilt, but it is not so Christmasy that it can only be used in December.

The petals of the fans are machine stitched.  They kind of stick up on the ends, so I will have to be sure not to get my needle caught in there.

So far I have done a free-motion feathered swirl, with pointy areas to fill in and mimic the points of the fans.  I got this idea from one of Darlene Epp's pocket guides on free-motion quilting.

Darlene's books have been very useful during the seven years I have had my Gammill.  There are guides for meandering, textures and fillers, and borders and sashings. They are my first go-to resource when I am pondering ideas.  I rely almost exclusively on free-motion quilting rather than patterns.

 

At $55.00 they are a little pricey, but I am rarely disappointed when I am looking for a free-motion design that enhances the fabric or quilt pattern.



Ricky Tims Fabric Sale

I just received a package of hand-dyed fabric from Ricky Tims.  He had a close-out sale of his Caveman and Rhapsody fabrics last week because he was switching to a new base fabric.  I always liked the very robust hand of his old fabrics, so I hope the new line will be even better.  I got three yards of dark Caveman, a bright orange and a dusty gold.

I have used that dark fabric in the past on many quilts.  I especially like it for bindings as it has blues, purples, and a little blue-green, making it a good blender.

Buying pretty new fabric almost makes up for missing my trip to Mary Jo's last Friday!

Last night I attended a meeting of a book club that I have belonged to since the 1990's.  The members are all former elementary school teachers or staff members.  I worked with many of them at Millbrook Elementary in Raleigh for eleven years.  Now most of them are either retired, or teach at Baileywick Elementary School. 

I have not attended a meeting in a couple of years, although I enjoy reading the monthly e-mails about which book they are discussing.  Last night the meeting was in the Heritage neighborhood, exactly 1.4 miles from my house, so I had no excuse not to venture out!  We talked from 7:00 PM until after 10:00!  I have a new list of great book recommendations.  My suggestion for next month's book was accepted:  The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros. 

It is a fictional account of a young girl of Mexican heritage growing up in a poor neighborhood in Chicago.  The book is actually a series of vignettes, some only a page and a half long, describing the people in her family and neighborhood.  I think it should be required reading for teachers who are now responding to the needs of a growing population of Hispanic students.  I am currently reading Caramelo, by the same author, which goes into more detail of her family, particularly her Mexican grandparents.

I am still having to run back and forth to Rex Hospital every three or four days.  On Monday, my lab results for my anticoagulant levels were back within normal limits, but they still want to monitor me closely after that bad one last Thursday.  I also have a prescription for a compression stocking that I am going to pick up on my next visit on Friday. That is supposed to help with the swelling and pain from the blood clot.  I keep getting more medical bills every day.  I did not know that when you visit the emergency room, you get separate bills from the radiologist, emergency room physicians, and sometimes the lab.  My little fall in the mountains ending up being a costly mistake!  But I am thankful that so far, everything I have is fixable.

How is your week going? 

A Fun Trip

We had a slight change of plans regarding our weekend trip.  My husband, Charlie, is in the financial investments business.  Last Thursday and Friday the stock market was in a scary place, so Charlie stayed at work on Friday to talk to his clients.  That meant no time to stop at Mary Jo's Cloth Store, but that's okay.  

Saturday started out very nice, and we all had fun at Richard and Phyllis's outdoor pool.  Their son Chris had moved the basketball goal from the driveway to  poolside, which provided a lot of entertainment.

Just as I predicted, we started hearing rumbles of thunder.  We got in a few hours at the pool before we retreated to the back deck.  That's Charlie's brother Grady, his wife Sheila, and Dalton.

That ;night, it quit raining, and we took a little drive to South Carolina to go out to eat.  We crossed Lake Bowen, which I had never seen before.

We ate dinner at Copper River, a restaurant in Boiling Springs, SC, that reminds us very much of The Boundary House in Calabash, NC at the beach.

Inside it has tall ceilings and wide wooden beams.  You can see the bottles at the bar shining through the beams.

It was a great dinner!  You might enjoy seeing this gift that sister-in-law Phyllis gave us...red-neck wine glasses! 

They are canning jars, which also commonly serve as the containers for "moonshine,"  mounted on candle sticks!

There were a variety of pets at Richard's, including Sexy Sadie, the normally shy outdoor cat.

That one is outside all the time, but poor CJ has to watch the party from inside.

Our niece Lindsay was there with her little chihuahua, Jasper.

This was the first time we have seen Lindsay as a mama-to-be.  She and her husband Matt will be having a little girl in November.

After leaving Richard's house we saw a flock of wild turkeys getting ready to cross the road.  Only one was brave enough to cross in front of us, and the rest stayed behind.

We stopped in Forest City to see Charlie's cousin, Tommy Mack, and while we were there cousin Linda also came to visit.  These are 50% of all Charlie's first cousins.  I have so many I don't know them all, but Charlie only has these two and their two sisters, Laura and Sissy (Mary.)

Tommy Mack always has a dog named Blackie.  Here is Blackie III.

We were surprised to learn that he also has a new black dog named Delilah, whom he adopted from the local shelter.

Unlike the past two weekends, our trip home from the mountains did not pass through any thunderstorms.  There is some pretty scenery  and hills along 64 from Rutherford County to Morganton,NC, where we get on Interstate 40.

It looks like you are going to run into a mountain when you get to this view.

It was a nice visit with the McBrayer clan.

This and That

Yesterday I went from Star Pupil to Problem Patient at the Coumadin Clinic.  My INR levels had jumped from 2.1 to 4.0 in one week.  The highest normal value is 3.0.   They wanted me to come back to Rex on Sunday morning, but we are leaving town today to visit the McBrayers in the western part of the state.  It's the annual Pool Party, which probably means it will be rainy.

I usually get to stop on the way at Mary Jo's Cloth Store, a fabric and sewing notions mecca in Gastonia, NC. 

Here is a link to a virtual tour of the place.

 I have learned how to do Mary Jo's in an hour.  I don't really need anything, and don't really have any spending money with all the medical co-payments and deductibles from my sprained ankle/blood clot double whammy.  But- got to go!   Charlie has found some places in Gastonia that he can shop, like Northern Hardware.

I read the best book this week:  A Dog's Purpose, by W.Bruce Cameron. 

Weeper Warning:  I cried at least three times while reading this novel written from a dogs point of view.  It made me want to hug my dog and appreciate how she might be thinking about human behavior.   You have to be able to wrap your mind around the idea that dogs have multiple lives, being reborn after death and remembering the experiences of their former lives.  I found that hard to do, but it makes it much easier to get past the dog's death when you realize there is more to come.

Well, now I have to take my personal doggy to the Cobble Hill Bed and Biscuit for the weekend.  She has been there several times, and the staff always says Kasey is their favorite.  They probably say that to all the dog moms and dads!  After reading A Dog's Purpose, maybe I will put her in one of the Suites with a real bed and a TV that plays animal movies!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Progress

My ankle and leg are feeling so much better that I decided to try some long-arm quilting on my Gammill yesterday.  I still have two quilts left to do for the ever-patient Teresa, who brought me six quilts in March.

I oiled my machine real well and let it run on the lowest speed for about twenty minutes (with no thread in the needle) to get it warmed up and lubricated after weeks of sitting unused.  It was purring contentedly when I got started!

Here is Teresa's autumn-themed quilt top, rolled down to about halfway.

When you load a quilt, it requires several trips around the machine to smooth out all the fabrics and batting and make sure it is rolling up without any wrinkles or pleats.  I made sure there was nothing on the floor for me to trip on as I travelled around the frame.

On the back of my machine you can see the cheap door mirror that I place on the table. 

It is kind of hard to see what is happening on the back side of the quilt while it is mounted.  You would have to stand on your head, or climb under the machine to see how things are going on the back side.  Or, you could keep rolling it back up to see your quilting stitches.  But usually, the reflection in the mirror lets you detect any knots or what I call "Chutes and Ladders" on the back caused by bad tension.

So far, so good on the quilting and the foot and leg!  I wore my ankle brace, socks and sneakers for support, and did not get swollen or very sore.

Now it's off to Rex Hospital, possible for my last visit to the Coumadin Clinic there before they turn me back over to my own doctor for follow-up.