Monday, November 17, 2014

Design wall!! (floor, as usual)

 Good morning!!  I participated in a nine patch block swap with Barb...please see see her blog HERE.  She did such an amazing job with it all!!  Each nine patch was kind of a treasure, a little work of art to me, carefully pressed and sewn by many hands. Yes, I know I am waxing a bit poetic, but that is the way I felt about it, so I wanted to somehow showcase each nine patch.  So I bordered each one, setting it on point.
 Then I thought and thought about how to set them together.  I use almost exclusively scraps in my quilting, as many of you know.  What could I do??
 I then went to the 1.5 inch strip bin and got out some pretty strips of fabric, and started kind of matching the blocks to the strips.  Not really matching...just whatever at that moment in time I thought looked fun together.  So here is where I am!!

I laugh and laugh when I think of other quilter's gorgeous, organized and beautiful design walls...and the laughter comes when I think of myself, down on the floor with the poodle dog, moving quilt pieces and parts around and wiggling around to the music playing!!! I guess I will never be as amazingly organized or put together as most folks, but I sure have fun!!
 I recently received the most beautiful patterns from Marcie Patch....please see her blog and business HERE!!  Marcie has been a huge inspiration to me for many years, and I count her as a wonderful friend too.  Thank you so much, Marcie!!
Last but not least for sure, I have some piece and parts from a famous quilt!!  At least famous to me...it is TAZZIE's Omigosh quilt!!    Please click on the link to see her amazing quilt.  It is a huge award winner, and she sent me some of her little strips and nine patches that she used in her quilt, and some pretty fabric too.  I am still cutting out pieces for mine...stay tuned!!!


Thank you, Tazz!!


Happy Monday to all,


Julie

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Cutting, cutting, cutting!

 You know those bonus triangles?  The kind you get when you sew connector corners, and keep the triangles?  Well...I may have a zillion!  Billion...well, maybe only a million.  I would not want to exaggerate here.  I decided that since I am in a cutting mood, I would trim them all up to a usable size and make SOMETHING!!
 So I did....
I know that this does not look like many, but trust me!  That is at least a million!  Or two hours of trimming.  But I can use them now!  And have a reasonable chance of them meeting at the points...at least a little closer than if I did not make them a uniform size.


I have more...big and little...just considering what to do with all of them!  What do you do with yours???



Have a wonderful day, every single one of you!!  And to our Veterans, happy Veteran's Day!  I appreciate every sacrifice you have made for my freedom and privileges. My Dad is among you. THANK YOU!!




Julie

Monday, November 10, 2014

Design Wall (floor) Monday!

 Good morning!!  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  Mine was restful and renewing...just what I needed.  I added the borders to this crazy, wild quilt, to the top and bottom.
 I am finding it just a bit homely and ugly...and am also finding that I like it too!! The tiniest pieces of fabric found their way into this quilt.
 I am caught up with the Temecula Letters!  Honestly, these take longer to cut out than they do to sew.  Quick, quick!!  You can catch up right here, on the Temecula Quilt Shop Blog.
 I have been cutting out lots, and lots, and lots of quilts.  I tend to go through phases of doing that...I sure hope I get them all sewn into something, otherwise, my progeny will wonder what in the world I was up to!!  I am playing with my beloved plaids, above.
Cutting lots of stars out!!  I am loving touching all these homespuns.  Some are rough in texture, while some are smooth and have a flannel-like side.  I love the colors, and can just imagine these plaids on a kilted Scottish warrior of old.  Maybe not the pink plaid...but maybe so!!  My clan plaid was green and brown, I found with a little bit of research.



Thank you so much for letting me blog a little about being a nurse.  It helps to share my experiences with all of you.  Please just skip the nurse's notes if they are not your cup of tea.  I just love being a nurse, so intimately entwined with people's highs and lows in their lives.

Congratulations to Donna K from North Texas!!  Number two was drawn, and you were the number two commenter for the Sandra Dallas book.  Please let me know your snail mail and I will get it to you!!



Have a wonderful day!!!

Julie

Saturday, November 8, 2014

A little progress


Good morning!  Blogger is all messed up...at least on this end of the computer!  I have not been able to post a thing.  The pictures are a bit distorted, but above is a little mug rug I finished up and put in the gift pile.


I cut one zillion 1.5 inch squares for the postage stamp quilt. I know because I counted them...NOT!!!  But there are a lot...


And I am joining the party, a bit late, making letters, following the Timecula Quilt shop instructions on their blog.  They are fun and fast!  I will replace the "M", because I don't particularly like the fabric choice I made.  Maybe the "O" too....and I am working backwards, because I am working backwards through the blog posts.



I am working on Christmas gifts too...and will show them when I am all done.



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

WARNING!!!  sad case here!!!


I had a patient....doesn't it always start like this??  I obtained written permission to tell her story...so I am not violating her privacy.

She was a nurse.  And a type one diabetic.  A very large lady, and she had bypass in the 1980's and many stents in the 90's.  She came in with chest pain, and there was just nothing the cardiologists and surgeons could do. Every vessel in her heart was clogged up. Then...she went into congestive heart failure, due to her very weak heart.  Then...her kidneys failed, and she was placed on continuous dialysis, not regular dialysis,  due to very low blood pressure.  Then...her liver enzymes shot up...then...her intestines became ischemic (low blood flow situation), and failed.  All the time, the family kept on saying "do everything you possibly can!".. The patient said..."Hospice for me".  So it was a continual struggle for the family and the patient.  But yesterday, when I had a day off, the hospital called me.  She had passed on quietly that morning.  So it was sad, and yet it was a relief for her, I think...and I also think that Heaven received another angel that day.  I had her every day when I was at work...the room will seem empty, where she was....


*****************************************************************



Back to the quilting stuff....


Have a great day everyone, and hug your loved ones close!!

Julie


Hexies, rainbow quilts and plaids!

Good morning to all!!!  Above is a hexagon, for English paper piecing.  My kitten Lucky has discovered them, and decided that they are great...