Monday, October 5, 2009

A winner!

Hi Friends! You know, I just been obsessed with plaids lately, and I had some small strings left over from the Plaid quilt from a few post ago. Well, OK, LOTS left over, including a bunch that my friend Joyce sent from Arizona. So, what else to do except make another plaid quilt? This one is small, with 4 1/2 inch blocks. It was so much fun! Really, anyone who had ever want to try string piecing, should give it a go. It is a blast! This is not the final placement of the blocks, I can see a big error in the placement when I just looked at it.

More string quilts....in the McCall's quilting magazine, back in the summer, in their Scrap Quilting magazine, I found the above quilt by Candace Hassen. I loved it, of course, on sight, and am making it below. I am making it bigger, for our bed, at least queen size. Those strings have been making wild stringy whoopey in the string box, because they are multiplying! Since the strings are multiplying, there are more there than ever, and this is another attempt to use them up.
It is strange, I have this absolutely gorgeous new fabric I got in Florida...yet I gravitate back over to the little scraps and strings! Do you do this too??

This is my progress so far. I plan to make 30 blocks.



Drum roll please! The winner of my giveaway from a couple posts ago was chosen by random number generator, and the winning number is Pat, of http://www.alittleofthisandalittleofpat.blogspot.com/. Congratulations, Pat!! Please let me know your address, and I will send you your gift. Thank you so much to each one of you for entering, and celebrating my anniversary, and visiting my blog. Wish I could send a gift to each one of you!




**********************Nursing Notes!!!!!!!!!!*************************************



Carrie is doing great! No more seizures, gaining weight, doing exceptionally well. So, that means she will be leaving the hospital soon for rehab, as soon as financing can be obtained for her.



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Gary, the gunshot victim is doing well, off the vent and talking up a storm. He was a commercial pilot before the criminals who car-jacked him took his active life away from him. His mom is precious, and cares for him at home.



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Now, I just must tell you about a huge thing that happened last time I worked. I got a 21 year old girl from the ER, and she was in big-time respiratory distress. She had gone to the other hospital in town a couple days prior, and they just sent her home and said she had the flu-no blood work. She came to our ER, we did blood work, and she had 295,000 WBC (white blood cells). Normal is 5-10,000. She was diagonosed with leukemia. Now for the kicker...she is eight months pregnant!!!!!!! This is her 3rd baby, the first she had when she was just 14 years old. She received no prenatal care for this pregnancy. We emergently intubated (put a breathing tube in her), and just could not keep her saturation above 90%, which it needs to be for the baby to get enough oxygen. So, we had 5 doctors in the room, and the decision was to take the baby emergency C-section...STAT!!! Well, this nurse(me) had not a clue, as it has been 20 years since I had helped deliver a baby, and that was in nursing school. I got to go over to the Labor and delivery department, and the surgeons had that baby out in under 5 minutes. Poor little one only weighed 3 pounds and a little bit...the little baby boy was purple when he came out, not breathing and not moving. So, he was also placed on the preemie ventilator. I can report that he was doing much better when I left, I went to see him after my shift. He is pink and wiggling!!



Whewwww!!!


We rushed the mom back to our floor, and the baby went the other way to the neonatal intensive care unit. I worked all day long, one on one with this poor mother, and she was alive when I left. Critically, critically ill. Poor thing, she did not have insurance...if she would have gone to just one prenatal visit, this could have been avoided, probably.



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I will keep up posted about her...


Have a super day all!!



Julie


20 comments:

Pat said...

OH...I am just SICK hearing about that young mom and her leukemia. At least there was good news about Carrie and your nice gentleman on the unit. And...of course, I was happy to win that wonderful anniversary giveaway of yours (sent you my address in an email). I'm truly sorry about the young mom and I hope something can be done for her...I realize she is in a very critical situation right now...and I guess her baby is, too.

Mary-Kay said...

That is so sad. That poor baby. I hope he'll be okay and the mom too. You must be a great nurse and your patients must love all the care you bestow on them. Have a great day! Oh yeah, the string quilt looks really nice and cozy. Did you use a foundation or just pieced the strings together?

Unknown said...

What an update on your patients. Poor Mom, It's so sad that things like this happen but when you don't have any money that's what happens. So good that she has a great nurse to take care of her.\
Yes, your string quilt blocks are neat. That is something I have not tried. Love to hear about your patients. Mine is doing pretty good.

Unknown said...

Fantastic string quilts! I love them so much. Your story of the girl is just heartbreaking to say the least. I hope that she has some family around that can help with the children.

Vicki W said...

I'm not sure I could handle that much drama in my work! More power to you!

I love your string blocks. I do occasionally make "planned" quilts but I seem to gravitate to scrap quilts for myself.

Nancy said...

String blocks ARE addictive! Your blocks are fantastic.

Amelia said...

The love you show came right thru in this post...you are so passionate about the care of your patients..not just the medical part but their personal lives as well. You are definitely storing up those jewels for your heavenly crown.

On another note...your string quilts look great.

Debi said...

Congrats to Pat. So sad to hear about that young mother, but very happy to hear Carrie is doing better.

Joyce said...

Great job on both the quilts and your nursing. You are an inspiration to all of us in both areas. Keep up the good work!

Susan said...

You are getting me inspired to do a few string quilts. I have enough strings...........

Keep us updated on the baby and mother if you can.

Stina Blomgren said...

Plaid Mania...:o) oh so fun!!! Love your new blocks!! And congratulations to the winner!!! :o)

Mary Johnson said...

Love the strings -- I was just thinking that I need to get my homespuns out and do a string quilt and a brick quilt with them.

Becky said...

Love your plaid string quilt! I love making string blocks, too. I still have to try and match the fabrics. I can't just put any string next to the other.

Thanks for sharing about your patients! It helps reinforce just how lucky we are.

Meggie said...

Love your quilts.
It is so interesting reading your nursing notes. I hope that little boy is ok, & hope his poor mother can be saved to care for him.

Kim said...

Takes a special person to keep up with the ups and downs of her patients. I am happy to hear that Carrie is doing better with each passing day. A bit of happy news among the less fortunate stories. The string quilt that you are making is lovely. Looks fun!

Teresa said...

How nice that you got to meet Karen and visit. Great quilt pictures and buys you made and you sure accomplished a lot on your projects. You see so much heartbreak and stress on your job, but then you also see the rewards in lives saved.

Libby said...

I'm catching up - of course, you know I love the plaids. The new blocks are just delicious.

Thank you for sharing the patient up-dates. I keep them in my thoughts and hope for each to have a good recovery.

~Bren~ said...

So sorry to hear about your newest patient. I will pray for her!
Good news on Carrie and your gentleman patient, though!
Love your quilt!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Julie, congratulations to Pat for winning your giveaway.....love your plaid quilts.....must try one out of my scraps....hugs lyn

QuiltSue said...

Oh how sad some of the stories about your patients. I hope they all come through OK.

On another note, I just loved your string quilt. Beautiful.

Puffins and purples!!

I was tempted by Puffins...a squirrelly breed!!  LOL!  This fabric was shared with me, and I have been loved these bright, candy corn colors...