Quilt Dedication - March 2017

We held a quilt dedication today.  Over 60 quilts made by members of our Victory Prayer Quilt Group and members of our congregation were dedicated to service and, over the next few months, will be distributed to family and friends of our church family as well as members who are battling cancer and other serious health challenges.

The phone photos I took yesterday were not very good, and there were bunches of things I had to do before the first service today, so I took these quickly between services--which will explain the images that include the tops of people's heads.

 When we have a dedication, all the people at the church service are invited to lay hands on the quilts as we pray together and commission the quilts for service.

 One of the exciting aspects of this ministry is that sometimes the quilts are treasured for years by the original recipients, and sometimes they pass them on to others who also experience healing beyond what their medical teams expect.

 The altar cloth is a collaboration of several members of our group created from a commercial pattern quite a few years ago. (I remember quilting it on one of my treadles in my living room.)

 Just as I'm fascinated by the colors quiltmakers choose to use, I'm fascinated by the colors which appeal to the people who choose a quilt to give or the people who choose a quilt.

 I'm not at all sure why that white black and red quilt is folded so small. (I did not set up that part of the display.)

Not all the quilts are pictured.  I think someone began talking to me, and because of the distraction, I thought I'd snapped a couple of photos when I hadn't.

In my family we've been praying for a cousin with lung cancer despite no known risk factors.  She is being blessed with lots of prayer support.  Yesterday the upper lobe of her left lung was removed in robotic surgery at Johns Hopkins.  Another cousin is in a rehabilitation facility in Lincoln, Nebraska following an industrial accident that has resulted in paralysis from the neck down.

Tomorrow Victory Quilters are getting together to sew some quilts appropriate for children because so many youngsters with connections to our congregation have faced some very serious health challenges lately, and we think we need a shelf for some fun, juvenile quilts to comfort therm on their journeys toward healing.

I have five days off from work and am soooo looking forward to time at home, and hoping I can manage at least one pajama day. I already have several things on the calendar the will require me to leave home, but if my scanner will work correctly, I may avoid a trip into Albuquerque. Then I'll have two more months until the end of the school year.

I'm also trying to get some new socks knitted--since socks I made eight years or so ago are wearing out at an alarming rate. Yes, I take my knitting almost everywhere--even to lunch today with the College Girl before she headed to the airport to pick up classmates and then back to her university. (I'm thinking we'll change her nickname to The Engineer, although she has begun work on her master's, and we should have a graduation not only this May but also next May.  I'm pleased with what a hard worker she is.)

I'm also marking five years post assault/brain injury. Only occasionally do I grieve what I lost in that injury and will never recover.  My journey since then has been filled with more blessings than I can innumerate.

Happy quiltmaking, knitting, and creating,....

Swish, Sew, Snip....the College Quilt

A few Lots of fat-quarters

Some yardage...

Swish goes the rotary cutter...

See that green on white dots with crosses above?  That is yardage left over from a dress I made back in the early 80's.  Although I no longer have the dress, I enjoyed wearing it for several years because I'd hand appliqued wonderful morning glories across the bodice.  (A few weeks later I took of the dress at the end of the day and thought one of the morning glories had faded onto my skin!  Then I realized my baby niece had kicked my chest when I was playing with her--so it was a bruise rather than purple dye!)

Sew, sew...

Snip, snip...

Sew, sew

 Stuff the trimmings and tiniest leftovers into a Kleenex box,

because even if it gets bumped off the table,

the snips will stay inside...

 Stop by Busy Bee and pick up more white polka-dots...

I especially like the second from the top, because although it doesn't show in the photograph, the dots are different sizes.

(Busy Bee Quilts is located 1.5 miles north of I-40 at exit 187 in Edgewood, New Mexico
just 20 miles east of Albuquerque.)

Health note: Since adding the daily dose of meclizine for my head-injury-induced vertigo, the vertigo is minimal *and* so are the headaches that plagued me, that failed to respond to any other medication, and that the doctors attributed to stress and anxiety (although they didn't treat me for stress and anxiety).  Life became immeasurably better.  However, I also began having symptoms of low-blood pressure; rehab specialist ignored that concern.  Today I saw my own medical practitioner and we lowered the dosage of the blood pressure medication I've been taking for a couple of decades--since she measured my blood pressure at 102/?? ["couldn't hear it"].  So, now I'm expecting life to get even better--and trying to decide if I should or should not count the days until I return to school.  (August 7 is rushing toward me.)

In the meantime, I'm treasuring every moment of piecing Sweet Teen's College quilt and quilting another project--and throwing in some tatting too, just because it's beautiful and I haven't had much chance to tat since last summer.

Oooh!  Still at only .25 inches of rain for July, although every afternoon thunderstorms spring up all around us.  I *am* grateful for the .25 inches of rain! (I do think some great minds should find a way to create and build a system to economically transport water from flooding areas to where it is needed!)

Happy quiltmaking.....

Linking to: Freshly Pieced 
Free Motion by the River

and Esther's WOW WIPs on Wednesday

Another New Quilting Experience

 On this National and International Quilting Day I did have another new quiltmaking experience.  Today was our monthly quilt together for our Victory Prayer Quilt group. 

Although I took my Featherweight, it never made it out of the case.  I did get some pieces cut for another prayer quilt and some poor stitching ripped out of another prayer quilt.  I was looking for a possible fabric to add to the patches I had cut out when Judy said, "I'm not sure how to quilt these borders, although I know you'd put feathers in them."
I replied, "Yes, I would.  And if you'd trust me to use your machine, I'd be glad to put feathers on your quilt."  She trusted me, so I did.

 I'd never before stitched for more than a minute or two using a Bernina Stitch Regulator.

 In addition, while I know a lot of quiltmakers enjoy piecing and quilting with Connecting Threads cotton thread, this was my first time to use it. I do understand that the Bernina Stitch Regulators are quite expensive.  I didn't really understand that they regulate the size of stitches only with a range.  My stitches are equally as uniform when I do free motion on my treadles--and that came as a big surprise to me.

Judy found this Thomas Kincaid panel several years go.  Then she was fortunate enough to find very recently the coordinating all over print for the backing.  (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of that.)  I feel good that we were able to finish one quilt to the binding stage today--and happy that I was able to have some positive new experiences while helping the quilt make it to that stage.
I also am happy that she let me bring a couple other very pretty, already layered quilts home with me to quilt.  I'll try to get photos of them tomorrow.  However, I'm not at all sure when I'll get them quilted.  She has already given me other layered quilts that I haven't had time to finish.  They are really pretty, girly, and spring-like; I'll try to photograph them and get them on the blog some time in the next few days.

I head back to school Monday--I'm thinking it will be a pretty tough week with multiple IEPs and three days of state testing [and keeping kids occupied in positive ways during the times they are not testing].  Fortunately, as a senior, Sweet Teen will not have to test, although she was "chosen" to take the National Assessment of Educational Progress the week before last.  She will need to head down to the southeastern part of the state for an FFA competition, although she's not yet sure which day she will be competing.

I did get to Natural Grocers to pick up some supplements today, and I'm hoping they will help with the brain stuff I'm experiencing.  The numerous anxiety attacks I experienced one day early in the week have decreased dramatically, thank goodness, so I'm having only several a day.  I do hope they are merely a reflection of the date and not of a bunch of backward steps.  We definitely need a national data base to provide some clues about what is within the range of "common" when experiencing healing from brain injuries.

I hope you all have a fun St. Patrick's Day.  (Is the Chicago River still dyed green in his honor?)

Happy quiltmaking.....

Out of the Maze?

Just one of many quilts, large and small, waiting to be quilted. I've wasted a almost an entire morning, so I need to get going here.

However, I'm facing a few challenges.  I'm one year into recovery from the assault by a child and the resultant brain injury.  (My knees are hurting off and on, but I'm considering that only a very minor symptom.) I think part of what I've experienced the last few days is just my brain remembering and trying to come to terms with what happened.  First, let me say that I'm very fortunate because this week is "spring break," although we are weeks from spring; so at least I can deal with this stuff from the haven of my home most of the time. I've had horrible headaches, nausea, and panic attacks.  My hearing is still off--if I don't have a pocket and lay my phone down, I can't identify where the sound is coming from when I get a text or phone call.  (I'm thinking I'll just let my upper underclothing ring! Update:  I did; still couldn't identify where the sound was coming from!) I'm having olfactory delusions--practically choked on the smell of tobacco smoke when I went to bed last night.  The buzzing in my brain has returned, although I feel fortunate that it's intermittent.  I'm on an emotional roller coaster.  Any kind of overload of things to do and moderately stressful situations send me on a downward spiral. My short term memory is totally malfunctioning again--can't remember why I've walked into a room, can't cook without constantly referring to the recipe, can't remember what I just did or did not do.

And the point of this rant?  While in the course of world affairs, my struggles mean diddly [if that much], the health care system definitely needs to learn a lot more about brain injury and about how to help people who experience it.

Nevertheless, happy quiltmaking.....

Progress: Spring Breeze Quilt

 Progress is slow--at least in comparison to quite a few past quiltmaking projects.
There are soooooo many ways to make half square triangles--and most of them are just not very enjoyable.  So I'm just trying to take a few minutes here and there, between naps and chores and therapies and doctor visits and am telling myself that once it's done, it's a quilt, and that's all that matters.

So, right now I'm making green windmills from white broadcloth and some of my hand-dyed greens.
Next step will be to piece the pink print and white windmills, and then I can move on to easier piecing and larger areas and will feel I'm accomplishing more.

Sweet Teen wanted some help with one of her essays yesterday on the surprising level of stress felt by many high-achieving, affluent people.  I really hope she finds her passion and just follows it.  She says she wants to be the first Asian-American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.  That sounds like waaay too much stress to me.--However, my brain was struggling to hang on to sentences, word order, and word choice yesterday!

Today's schedule includes another evaluation and an appointment with the rehab specialist, hopefully with the opportunity to go over some of the previous evaluations, although I know he won't have received all of them yet.

Happy quiltmaking....

Linking to:

Quilting By the River

Fabric Tuesday #85

Be sure to stop by these blogs and check out the work of people who've left links to their works.  It's a great way to discover some new blogs, catch up with the work of possibly more familiar bloggers, and discover new quiltmakers.  Bloggers love comments, especially those of us who work in semi-isolation.