I stayed the night with Mom, in the hospital.  I was surprised when I got home, that I still had energy left to do a little quilting on the client quilt I loaded yesterday.  This is the first time I have quilted this panto, and I’m loving the texture, and the way the flowers seem to dance across the top.  The pattern is Lorien Flower by Lorien Quilting.  I think it is also an enjoyable pattern to stitch.  No computerized system here…my quilting is completely hand guided.  So, a nice flow to a pantograph pattern is important to me.  This one has it.

Dianne, I think it’s looking great, and I hope you like it, too! Thank you for sharing your pretty quilt with me.  I did run out of steam before I finished today, but I will do my best to have it back to you soon.  Thank you for your patience, and also for a nice generous backing to work with!

I am loving yo-yo making! I told Mom that I have found a project she can do, when she starts feeling better. 🙂  I will show her how and let her try one, and if she likes it, I will get her a set of yo-yo makers of her very own, and supply her with some of my scrap fabrics.  I think it would be something that could help her pass the time while she regains her strength.  Right now, she is so weak she can barely raise herself up out of bed.  Her fever went up to 102 degrees last night, prompting blood draws, and a chest xray, which revealed some pneumonia in the right side.  It is always so hard for me to leave her.  If I were not working, I think I would just live at the hospital with her.  I am thankful for some wonderful extended family that are pitching in, so that we can all take turns sitting and resting, and give me some peace of mind while I’m at work.  I am sooooo ready for her to turn the corner and start having better days again.  I hate seeing her so frail and weak, and suffering with pain. But, I believe that she is going to get past this, and my Mom will be coming back, and someday we will have a project with yo-yos made by mother and daughter.

I bought Clover yo-yo makers, from extra small to extra large, quite some time ago.  Today, I decided to give it a try, thinking it would be a good way to stay occupied while sitting with Mom, who is in the hospital, due to the brutal effects of the chemo she had to take for the stem cell transplant.

My opinion of these little gadgets? I like!!

Mom starts five straight days of chemo in the morning, then has her stem cell transplant on the 18th.  Any and all prayers are much appreciated.

I do have a little quilting to share. I finished up a cute customer top last weekend. This one is for Thelma, and it is adorable.  The bugs and flowers are chenille strips that she will “fluff up” after the quilting.

I also made a bit more progress on one of my stash tops.

I’m also shopping sewing furniture, so I can quit using my dining table for this purpose.  I’m really drooling over the Koala QuiltPro Plus IV, and am thinking that if I survive the rest of this year, that I may reward myself with one of these.  I like the Brazilian Cherry, and think I will add the optional 6″ of height, so that it is a comfortable cutting surface, as well.  If you have one, how do you like it?  It will be a couple more months before I make a final decision and purchase.  Something to look forward to, though, in the tough days ahead. I am so dreading watching my Mom go through this.  Thanks again for the prayers!

Talk to you soon…

I never met Diane Fink in person.  We “met” through online quilting forums. Through the distance between us, we shared our love of quilting, NASCAR, our boys, etc., via emails, phone calls,  squishy packages in the mail, and of course our blogs. I found out yesterday that we have lost her to a car accident.  I will miss you, Diane. 😦

Mom made it through her week in the hospital, and stem cell harvesting has been completed.  She gets to rest for a couple of weeks before the next phase…five straight days of chemo, and then her stem cells will be put back into her body.  This will be the hardest phase of her treatment.

I had some “me” time this weekend.  I worked on my quilt guild homework.  This year, our challenge project is to do a block of the month quilt, of our own choosing.  We can pick any pattern we wish, and just work on it like a BOM, and bring our completed block to guild meeting each month.  The project I have chosen to work on is the Fons & Porter patriotic sampler, that I have quilted for a couple of other guild members.  I really would like to have one of my own.  The only problem is that it has a few more than 12 blocks, so I will have to make more than one each month, to get it finished by the deadline next year.  For this month, I did all the flag blocks.

I’m off to a good start, at least!  And…all of the fabric is from my stash.  Yay! A stash quilting report again…finally.  I know that it has been awhile.

I also pulled this older stash project back out, and made a little more progress on it.  I think it’s been about a year since I worked on it last.  This weekend, I finished the applique blocks by doing the embroidery with my DSM.  It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty happy with it.  It will look great when it’s all quilted, I think.  I started working on the pieced blocks, which are mostly done with paper piecing…even the flying geese strips.  I find it to be slower than regular piecing, but I’m enjoying the process.  I just hope I’m not still working on this time next year.  It would be nice to have it finished by the time fall comes around again, so I can hang it in my house.

I also finished Sheril’s cute Christmas quilt. For some reason, all the pictures I took came out a little blurry.

And, I started the next cute one, from another guild member, Thelma.  I am having some fun on this! Hope she likes it!

(Thanks again to Michelle Wyman for her cute ladybug panto! I’ve not ever used the whole panto on a quilt, yet…but, this is the second time that I have used her ladybug design from it.)

Whew…I’m tired now.  Have a great week!

I know I have not been a good blogger, lately.  Eventually, life will settle down again.  Right now, I am adjusting to my new promotion at work, trying to get a handle on running my department, and dealing with budget issues, and staff shortages.  And, taking care of Mom.  Her treatment regimen is getting much more hectic.  Tomorrow, she has labs at 8:30 a.m., and if her blood counts are up enough, she will be admitted to the hospital to begin harvesting her own stem cells, which will later be transplanted back into her system, after she undergoes a potent round of chemo that will basically wipe out her immune system, and hopefully any lingering cancer cells that may still be lurking.  The doctor said this will give her the best chance of it not returning, though it is certainly no guarantee.  I am fearful that she will not survive the treatment.  The chemo will be administered for five days in a row, a Mon thru Fri.  It will be after she recovers from the harvesting process, which will be a three or four day process.  She seems so much more frail…she only weighs around 105 lbs.  It is taking quite an emotional toll on all of us, but she is a tough little fighter.

I have been working on a very cute Christmas quilt for Sheril, and wanted to post a quick update for her.  I was hoping to finish it this weekend, but I think I’m going to come up a bit short.  I’m so thankful that I have the most patient, understanding clients a quilter could ask for!

So, to help with the waiting…here is a little peek! It’s been a fun one to quilt!

I’m still here.  I’ve have just been overwhelmingly busy.  Not much time or energy for blogging.  I have taken some random photos here and there, of things that made me smile.

And….I didn’t get to catch any of my butterflies while they were coming out of their chrysalis…one I missed completely…the brown one is still a chrysalis…so I don’t know if it’s still alive in there, or not…but I did catch two of the butterflies doing something else.  This next part might be for mature audiences only.  😉

I also have an update on my Mom, for all those that have held her (and me) in prayer, and sent me messages of support.  Her last PET scan was “negative”…which is great news.  However, the downside is that she has more chemo yet to come, a central line will be inserted at one of her next two rounds, and they will harvest her own stem cells.  She has tolerated the chemo rather well, and her doctor wants to proceed to stem cell transplant, using her own cells.  I don’t know all that it will entail…he said we will discuss it more as the time draws nearer, but I do know that it will be rough on her.  So, I am dreading that.

I would love to hear some news on some of those that had contacted me privately about their own family members, that are going through similar battles.  I have been thinking of y’all, as well.  Please drop me a line and let me know how it is going for you and your families.

Wednesday, my “baby” goes to college.  A big life change for all of us.  Happy, sad,  and exciting all at once.

Have a blessed weekend, y’all!