Narrow Gauge through the Rockies

Hi to everyone!  I made another 48 blocks, for a total of 96...and that's all, folks!!  Next is the narrow black border, when I get all the blocks sewn together.  Then...maybe that's it!!  I love these blocks, they are just great fun to make!

I received a gift from the heart.  A long time blog friend gifted me with this gorgeous crocheted piece...I left it on the wrapping paper to photograph, so you could see the detail.  It is truly beautiful, and truly appreciated!!  Thank you so much, Nines!!


**************************Nurse's Notes***********************

I floated yesterday at the hospital...this is where administration takes a nurse, and send them to another totally unfamiliar unit to work, to help with staffing. Once I went to labor and delivery...once to the ER.  It is like taking a commuter driver and sending them to run the Indy 500...a totally different scene than the one the nurse is familiar with!!  Yet, this happens all the time...scary stuff, really...and the prayer is that you don't mess up!!  Any of you nurses...do you float??  I lucked out and had simple, fun patients...whoohoo!!!




Have a great day, all!!

Julie

Coons again this spring

 Can you see these pretty eyes peering up out from our chimney? This is the view down from the top.  Yes, I got on the roof...but dear husband took the pictures.  And yes, we did have the chimney covered!  The coons deftly torn the cover off, and squeezed down here during the tornado storms the other night...

Babies!!  Three babies and a Momma coonie...I love them.  I know a lot of you don't like them, but they are gorgeous creatures to me.  So, we again wove a rope ladder for them, and I am sure they will be gone before morning.  Our poodle goes crazy when the coonies move in!



Have a great weekend!!

Julie

Quilt along, part two

Well here is part two!  I used scraps for my pinwheels, and muslin for the background fabric.  I loved making this border!!  It was just so much fun, and fit...FIT!!  Yippee!!

Please see Lori and Randy (just click on their names), to see their blogs and join in on this fun quilt along!!


Julie

Quilt along!!

Happy Monday!  I am quilting along with Lori and Randy on a fun medallion style quilt.  Here is my center block.  It is not too late for you to join in and quilt along too!!  This was fun and easy to do...I forget sometimes how much I love applique!!


Julie

Days off!!

 Today, interspersed with cleaning and laundry, I have made four Carolina Lily blocks.  I think this must be an old pattern...does anyone know?

And on the other end of the spectrum, I made some blocks from batiks.  I have very few batik fabrics, but love them for their vibrant color and crisp texture.


Other than that, it has been a quiet day.  Hope each of you out there has a wonderful Mother's day!!


Julie

A perfect storm

Here is my progress on the crumb plaid string X quilt, "Narrow Gauge through the Rockies". Little pieces of plaids comprise this quilt, and it was just a blast to piece!!  I was inspired by several of you, but the biggest influence was Regan!  Please click on her name to see her blog, and her quilt is from her April 16th post.  It is phenomenal!! Love her cheddar!!  She has had some terrible news this week, so a caring note from everyone would be wonderful.

And so far, this is what I have.  I am rethinking the piano key border  because it does not continue the diagonal feel of the quilt.  Hmmm...I will dream on it!!  Please...what do you think about a border??

And another little one...I have made two of these quilts so far!  Three inch blocks...wheeeee!!!!



*******************Nurse's Notes***********************

Down the back hall at work is a wide sunny space.  I love to walk there in the morning, and stand with my eyes closed, just for a minute, in the sun.  It is wonderful!  I catch wiffs of patient flowers here, sometimes...I really like this big wide quiet hall at the hospital.  But then!!


THE PERFECT STORM hits!

The patient comes from a procedure, doing OK  not great...not good blood pressure.  Then I noticed her distended neck veins.   Blood pressure continued to drop minute by minute.  I listened to heart sounds...very muffled.  She was in Cardiac tamponade!! Now here is the amazing thing...I just took a class on this, two weeks ago, in a CCRN review, and was able to recognize what was up immediately.  ( A God thing!)   Now this is where the perfect storm comes in....

Pharmacy...mixed my emergency drugs so fast and shot them up to me in perfect timing...fast, fast!!
Echo...the tech was right on the spot and did the cardiac echo, confirming that the patient had blood around her heart, constricting her heart beating!
Nurse Practitioner...was right there ordering things left and right for me!
The Doctor...was right on the spot too and quickly went to work!
The cath lab team...moved another stable patient and got my patient down to cath lab right that very minute!
The nurses and staff...hung drips and IV's, monitored,  helped get her to the cath lab, pushing at a run down the hall!


By the time we got her to cath lab, she had no discernible blood pressure at all.  The end of the storm?   By needle aspiration, 500 cc of blood was removed from around the heart of this patient, trapped in the pericardial sack.  Results?  Blood pressure, and heart tones all back to normal!  A save!!!!!

So the teamwork was the perfect storm...a good one!!  Instead of a death...we have a life.  The lady will go home this week.

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Julie

Making a new cloth

This quilt greets you from Germany!!  Angelika made this quilt, all out of plaids. Isn't it wonderful?  And best of all, her HUSBAND quilted it for her!!   I love it!  Thank you, Angelika, for sharing this quilt with me, you made my day!

Here is a close up of the quilting and pretty plaid fabrics.  All this plaid makes me want to sew plaids, plaids, plaids!!

So....I made string strips out of plaids...this was the most fun piecing I have had for such a long time!  I can heartily recommend it for just fun piecing, without having to think much, LOL!  Sometimes we can all use a break like that, right?

Then I added the black strips on each side of the pieced rectangle.

Then trimmed the corners...

And added muslin triangles to finish the block.  Pieces and parts of plaids...all I have left of the littlies went into these blocks.


When I was little, I lived in Colorado, and was born there in the mountains.  One trip I remember very well was a trip to Durango, Colorado, to ride the Narrow Gauge Railroad through the mountains to Silverton. It was the old train back then, before the new and improved version. Oh what a treat it was to me, to see those breathtaking mountains of home.  Those mountains never fail to awe me, and seem to envelope me in a big hug when I get to go home. These blocks remind me of the old railroad tracks...so the name of this quilt is Narrow Gauge through the Rockies.


It is now short work of making the rest of the blocks, and putting it all together with a piano key scrappy plaid border.  I have truly loved making this quilt!!



Julie

Weekly progress

 A few more of these blocks...these take about 30 minutes each for me to make.  Wonder why I am not faster at this?

 Some hand quilting on this...this quilt is just not straightened out, it is not this wonky!

 A dark picture to show the quilting...

 And a couple happy flower blocks!!

And that's it, folks!!!



**********************Nurse's notes*****************************

I am having to take a review course, for CEU's to renew my CCRN certification.  I attended a class today, and I learned a ton!!  Just listened...and absorbed...and bound a quilt!  I asked permission from the instructor before I did this...I did not want her to be offended at my quiet stitching.  That's right, a whole quilt bound...it seemed like I learned more as I just relaxed and listened and bound!  Wonder why?  Is this the "Zen" state that people used to talk about?  Anyway, it was a wonderfully productive day for me!!

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Have a great day, everyone!!


Julie

Finishing things, and a brand new bag!

Do you ever get an idea, from a previous quilt?  I made a wonderful table topper from Marcie Patch's pattern this week, and then got to thinkin'...how about making a bag with strings and this pattern?   So here it is!!  I am not going to use it for a while, I will just admire it until I am ready to change purses.  I truly love sewing my scraps into something useful!!


I am working on finishing some things up.  This is an overwhelming task, but little by little, I am persevering!!


Hope you have a great day today, everyone!!


Julie

Tuesday!

 Well, I am slowly working on my Sister's choice blocks.  I do love working with my scraps!!  Seems like I have lots of pink...LOL!!  I have been saving the connector triangles and making pinwheels from them...maybe a border for something?  Hmmmm...one quilt inspires another!!

 Closer look...

 All these blocks are pretty much caught up and sewn together. I still have some stitching to do, and I am hand blanket stitching the applique pieces.  These are fun!!  And easy...just right for a portable project for me with the waiting, waiting, waiting at the hospital this last week.

And binding on this!!  This quilt just makes me smile...tiny pieces, and all scraps!  Hundreds of different fabrics...what is not to love about using these old friend fabrics in a fun quilt?!!

***************************Recent events**************************


I am so saddened by the Boston Marathon bombing.  I was working at the hospital, when my friends rushed to my patient's room and said "turn on the news!"  The patient,  nurses, doctors, aides, secretaries...we all looked on in horror at the horrible scene.  The best thing?  Because there is always a best thing in any situation...people ran TOWARD the scene to help!!  I was so lightened and touched by that...everyday heroes!!!  Thank you, each one of you, for helping, for stepping forward and running to help.  Bless you!!

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Nurse's Notes!

We have a gentleman, very wrinkled and grey, who has been faithfully treading our hospital halls for two weeks now.  Of course I stopped to chat...his wife is in the hospital with heart surgery.  He shared that they have been married 56 years now, and that she is his whole world.  Love, love, love....LOVE that!!



Julie

An eventful week...

 Good Sunday afternoon to everyone!  Above is my progress on my sister's choice quilt blocks.   I have all the blocks cut out and ready to go...just waiting for time to do it all.  I am making 42 blocks in all, and each piece came from my 2.5 inch strip drawer.  It is as full as ever...

And a Patchalot quilt!!!  Marcie at Patchalot patterns makes the cutest and most wonderful patterns!  My colors were from the stash, so they are different from hers.  Her quilt is so very cute!!  Please see her website HERE!  I do love this little birdie!  Marcie is having a buy one, get one deal going on right now...don't miss out!  What makes this quilt even more special is that these blocks in the middle were gifted to me, from my friend Joyce in Arizona.  I love them!


********************Nurse's Notes*******************************

Well, we were the recipients of hospital care, on my floor this week.  For some time, my husband has had more chest pain.  He always wrote it off as indigestion, or lifting too much, or general tiredness (does this sound familiar to any of you ladies?)...but this week, he finally agreed to come to the hospital and see just what it was.  How to do that?  A heart cath...and low and behold, he had a 90% blockage and a  70% blockage.  The interventional cardiologist was able to open the arteries up and stent them to keep them open.  My thanks to our God and to all the wonderful docs and nurses who blessed us so much this week.  My DH is home, and while he still has some chest pain, he feels better...and I am so very glad for this.  No bypass, at least for now, and we are so grateful!  He eats well, and has very few risk factors, but that genetic component is there...he eats very well, but has decided to once and for all become vegan.  In support of him, I will be eating mostly veggies too.  I will let you know how that goes!!

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In light of all that has happened this couple weeks, I am woefully behind on replies and such..I ask for your forgiveness and please know that I will catch up!!  Now for the fun stuff!!



WINNERS!

The book giveaway from a couple postings ago!!

KaHolly!!  Robert from Northern Iowa!

You have both won a book, please e-mail me your address and I will zip them out to you!

Nancy!  Leslie at Lesquilts!  Regan!  Sandy at Crazy 'bout quilts!  Deanna! A
Garden of threads!!   All these comments were randomly selected to win a pin from Jennifer.

Please e-mail me and I will send out your pins!!


Have a great day, all!!


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Julie

Sidetracked!

 Happy Tuesday!!  I have always loved the Sister's Choice quilt on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville site.  So, I made a start...one block.  Then...I just had to know what 1/2 size blocks would look like.  So, I made a little quilt from these blocks.  All out of the 1.5 inch strip bin.  These fabrics are old friends...some VERY old friends...like 20 years old, LOL!

 Hanging from the fireplace.

And another little quilt.  This one is a Lori Smith pattern, from a book I lent out from the library.  The book is called "Fat Quarter Quilting", and it has so many cute small quilt patterns.  I renewed it...again...love it!!



It rained off and on today, and the same is to happen tomorrow.  I got some housework done, and piddled around with the above little quilts.  I am finding that I have way too much stimulation...too many quilts I want to make.  I need to find a way to filter all this stimuli a little better and concentrate on one thing at a time.  Please tell me you do this too, LOL!  ??  Time to make some tracks on the big Sister's Choice blocks!!


Have a great day, everyone!!


Julie

A very special giveaway

Good Monday to everyone!!  I am off work, and didn't even get a call to come in...wow!  A real day off!  I have been enjoying the above...the latest paperback from Jennifer Chiaverini!  Many of you enjoy her novels, and I do too.  So....here is your chance to receive one of these copies of her book, "The Giving Quilt".  Just leave me a comment, and I will ship anywhere in the world!

This one is a good one, as all Jennifer's books are.  This is near and dear subject to so many of us, as quilters, as giving people...about Project Linus and giving to others.  You will really enjoy this book, and I found it a fun and uplifting read.

"At Elm Creek Manor, the circle of quilters, is hard at work preparing for "Quiltsgiving."  Held annually the week after Thanksgiving, expert and novice quilters from near and far gather for a special winter session of quilt camp to make pieces for Project Linus.  As the week unfolds, the quilters respond to the question, "why do you give?"  in ways as varied as the life experiences that drew them to Elm Creek Manor. Each of the quilters, including a librarian, a teacher, a college student, and a quilt shop clerk  uses her unique talents to teach, inspire and give back to her fellow campers."

So there it is in a nutshell, folks...please leave a comment and one of these books and pins can be yours.  I will draw by random number on Friday, the 5th.

Have a great day, everyone!!

Julie K

Tuesday, and called in to the hospital!

 Well, you can tell what I am doing...trying to choose a border.  Rosie the poodle has rearranged the blocks several times to her liking, so they are a bit crooked...the artist poodle at work, you understand!I just picked out the biggest pieces of plaids I have, and auditioned them...

 This black piece really makes the blocks seem so much brighter!!  I think that is what I will go with.  Hopefully I have enough fabric.  Just wanted to shout out to Kathy...you will recognize some of your strings, (well, all of your strings) in this quilt...I used them all!!  Thank you!  Please click on her her name to see her wonderful blog!

 Another friend, Joan, is working on finished her Crab Apple quilt. Hers is perfectly pieced, flat, wonderful. Well, mine is to the flimsy stage...very flimsy!  I though if I just pulled a little bit on each sashing while piecing, it would make the sashing fit perfectly to the blocks..NOT!  It just served to make each block shaped like a bowl!  and set on point to boot...this poor, poor quilt just never had a fightin' chance!  I did learn from this mistake...really I did!  Click on Joan's name to see how the quilt SHOULD look!

And my heart is so full...I bought this quilt from the Alzheimer's initiative, and Lori of Humble Quilts was the maker.  It is so perfect, and so scrappy, and so fun...it just made me tear up when I saw it.  Lori is almost to $1000.00 in donation quilts.  Pretty cool, huh?  I hung it up so I could see it when I woke this morning.




**********************Nurse's notes**************************

The hospital just called, and needs help desperately.  I am going to go in and help them...4 big surgeries coming, and no nurses...yikes!  A coronary artery bypass, two big lung surgeries, and a complicated laser lead extraction...wonder what I will get??

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See ya...on my way...Have a great day!


Julie

Hand Quilting, and Rainbow offerings in Orange

 Good Monday to everyone!  The color of the month is Orange...so I made some string stars, and of course some broken dishes blocks from the trimmings.  Seems one thing just leads to the other!

 And some more baskets...in orange too.  These are four inches finished.  I still need to hand applique the handles, in a moment of quietness.

And table runner progress!!  On the left are the finished ones, hand quilted...the middle ones are in various stages of progress...and the ones on the right are waiting to be sandwiched and quilted.  I am trying, really trying, to get ahead of Christmas this year!!



********************Nurse's Notes**************************

Very sick, sick patients in our unit this past few days.  Renal failure after surgery, lung failure...codes...all of it happened and so much more.  I am glad that yesterday, most of the patients improved significantly!!  We had one family who were bound and determined to find everything wrong in everything we did...until a very special young nurse took things into her own hands...and had them satisfied at the end of the weekend...great job girlie!!

The new nurses are coming along just fine...treading water at least, in the deep end of the pool of nursing.


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Have a great day, everyone!!

Julie

Honey Bee blocks

Well, this is one way to put these blocks together...I am undecided about how to proceed.  I do like the criss-cross affect. I have finished laundry, swept and mopped, cleaned mirrors, and vacuumed.  And worked on table runners!!  I am kind of at a loss for what to do next.  I have too many projects in the works and in my head...maybe I need to follow some of y'alls examples and write down all my UFO's and WISP's and PIG's.  Hee!!   Do  you ever run into this, this kind of block?  Not a shut down, but a restlessness when you can't decide where to focus?

I have a quilting day tomorrow!!  With nurse friends of old...yahoo!!  I plan to do hand quilting all day and eat, and chat and have a blast!!!

Hope you have a blast too, whatever you are doing!!!

Julie

Hand quilting, and spring!

 Happy Monday to everyone!  I have not been at the sewing machine for a while...I am in acute withdrawal! We took a road trip, and that is my time to hand quilt while dear husband is driving.  I have quilted around all the center blocks, and now am working on the border.  You really can't see the quilting, but when the quilt is completed, and washed, it will show up more.  Right now the quilt is covered with strings and threads, which I will cut all at once, when the quilting is all done.

 I found some twigs, and a pretty rock, and added some eyes...too much time on my hands (not)!    I do love nature at this time of year...Spring is here!  Flowers are blooming, all the trees have tiny green leaves, and the temperature outside is just perfect.

 The first iris are blooming.

And another peeped out today!!


I played in the dirt, and planted my tomato plants, peppers, and some annual flowers...I love getting dirt under my nails!  Do you like gardening too??


Have a great day, all!!

Julie

Another pic

 Just another string top...put the borders on today.

Must get going now!!  This is so pretty in person...sorry the pictures are so dark!!

Have a great day, all!

Julie

Cleaning here...how about you?

 Now there are twelve of these blocks.  I have a setting in mind, and will try to work on that today.  Mostly, though, I am cleaning and dusting and organizing today.  Ironing and laundry is already done. Yahoo!

 A few more plaid blocks have been made.  I have 50 more to make.  Luckily, they are so mindless, and go really fast! I love making them...looks a little cacophonous at this point.  If you squint, you can see the rail fence pattern better...at least that is what I tell myself!

Just wanted to show you our new light fixture that dear husband installed.  It is really a pretty thing, much dressier than the old one, and we found it at Costco, of all places!!  A nice change after a thirty year run with the old one.



***********************Nurse's notes************************

Well, we have a new group of Versant residents starting on our floor...new nurses.  I have not one, but two of them this time.  I sure hope I can do a great job with them...it is hard to slow down and teach sometimes. I am very well aware of this in myself, so am trying extra hard to do a great job.   I am sure you all know what I mean, if you have taught anything.  So I am saying prayers of peace, and learning, and patience with teaching for me and this group of new nurses!  They are coming right into critical care from school, which is hard...kind of like diving in at the deep end of the pool, and not knowing how to swim...hopefully I can help them get a great start!


It is hard when a patient comes in, quite young, code blue...and does not make it due to his own ingestion/ bad habits.  It is harder still when the wife does not know a thing about it...and hard too on the young nurse who is there, supporting the whole family...great job, R...I am so proud of you!!  Prayers for this family...

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Julie