One step at a time

Sometimes I feel like I am on a slow boat, and the waves keep progress at a minimum.
It's the one good day, one bad day, two good days, one bad day, three good days......you get the picture.
But I am plodding ahead, and I AM getting better, maybe not as fast as I would like.
Some would call me impatient......I can't imagine who would say that.
But I guess it might be true.
I have received compliments though, on my RESTRAINT.   I am being very good at pacing myself, and resting, and listening to my pain level........all things, I might add, that I have not usually been real good at previously.  Ever.
Which all has to do with the level of surgical intervention.
Got my attention, that it did.

Yesterday went for my first day trip since surgery.   My BFF and I went to a farmer's market, where I bought some of the season's last tomatoes, some beets, some cilantro, and some sage-basil pesto.

Then we went to my fave yarn shop,  Cacklin Hens, in Middlebury, Vt.   I admit that in addition to being a loom addict, I am seriously hooked on yarn.
I have tons of it, but it never enough.  I know hope I am knitting for the rest of my life, so I NEED it all.
Then I go into a yarn shop, especially one like Cacklin Hens, and they have so much beautiful yarn, I am a wreck just picking out a couple of things.
Anyway, I have this baby shower coming up, so I bought this sweet pattern.

And it's gonna be in blues.

It was a cloudy/rainy day.  The leaves are beginning to turn colors.

It felt so good to be out with my BFF, doing normal things.
(little voice saying thank you, thank you, thank you)
Sharing a dessert.  Laughing.  Just feeling ok.

What am I going to do with my one wild and precious life???
Since my surgery, that is the only question I have.
But one, you can bet, that I will be embracing.

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quilt for 1 more kid...

One of my goals (resolutions) for 2012 was to make a few quilts for charity.

This is my 3rd donation quilt for the 100 Quilts for Kids Project.

It may look pretty simple, but it's actually very special and holds some good memories.

I used a line by Sandy Gervais (can't remember the name ... something Spring) to make a quilt for my first grandchild, Elyse. In addition there were bumper pads, table skirt, etc. In my excitement I may have (did) overbuy in the fabric department. The leftover has been sitting on my shelf, calling me to do something special.

I added a few current fabrics and simply sewed squares together. The backing was pieced using every last bit of leftover fabric.

So thanks to an over-zealous grandmother, a child will get a special quilt.

I'll be donating the quilt to Project Linus with the St Louis Modern Quilt Guild's Fall Charity Project.

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From here.

We have been on vacay, DH and I.
In our own home.  With Roy.
Cause my mother has gone to my daughter's house, and she's been gone ALL WEEK.
Can I just say WOW?

I love my mother.  You know that.  But living with an aging parent is not easy, and it is not always
pleasant.
And it is evident to everyone, that there is a different dynamic with me, than she has with anyone else.
Somewhere along the way, we switched roles, at least in her mind.  And I am the mother.
At my daughter's house, she has kids to interact with, and I think it is good for her.  She gets to be "Nan".
For us, the quiet is like a soft rain.  There is no TV blaring from her room.  No drama.  No demands.
It is a gift, from my daughter, to me.
When I first came home from my brain surgery, my mother stepped it up.  She kind of hovered over me, making me lunch, bringing me tea, doing things for me that I could not do.
She seemed, well, like MY MOTHER.
But it was short lived.  As I got better, she slid back into her neediness and her comfortable dependent role.  The more I began to feel like myself, the less like my mother she became.

I have told my children that I will never live with them, and I hope that I can keep that promise, because I know how hard it is.
When you have raised your children, and given 30 years of your life to the work force, then it should be time for serenity, which doesn't always happen when you live with a parent.
We thought, eight years ago, that we were doing the right thing, having her live with us.
Now I know, it would have been smarter, to get her an apartment nearby, damn the cost.  It would have been better for us, and it would have encouraged her to hang on to her independence.
Instead, she waits for us: to go to the store, to make dinner, to do a thousand little things for her, that she could probably do for herself.
This was not the best choice.
But here it is, and now we make the best of it.
Which I hope includes more mini vacays like this one.  I think a few days away here and there, are good for her, and us.  She will be glad to be home, and it will be nice to have her home.

Ah, the perspective from vacation. I love it.

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Roy the Pit Bull

It makes me somewhat crazy to hear the hype about pit bulls.
Any dog can be mean, if brought up by mean people.

Roy is what most pit bulls are like, in my opinion.
He is my third pit, and I love the breed for their loyalty, their sweetness, and their energy.

Ava loves him, too.
Roy loves kids.

But when there are no kids around, this is where he likes to be, as close to me as he can get.
Touching me, preferably.

Who rescued who, indeed?

Today was a better day.  More PT this afternoon.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.
One day at a time here.
Feeling more like myself every day.  
Just ask Roy.

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The Winner

I am feeling fragile today.
Maybe the Physical Therapy yesterday did me in.
But whatever the reason, I spent most of today on the couch.

Three steps forward, one step back.
Sigh.

 So I am keeping it simple.  
What else can I do??

So without further ado, the winner of the Socketbook is:    DARYL.......Onthem104.blogspot.com

I hope she carries it all around NYC, and is my best advertisement!!!!!

Congrats Daryl.

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WIP Envelope Block

Do you think they look like envelopes?

I've had the idea to piece blocks that look like envelopes after seeing this quilt on flickr.

Don't you think it would make a cute wallhanging over a desk or a table where you plop your mail?

I splurged on some charm squares from this etsy fabric designer.

I just loved the graphic designs and colors.

I think I'll just sew these six blocks up into a simple wall quilt.

As for other projects - I've got 3 of my Spinning Stars blocks made. Hope to make some more this weekend at our Modern Quilt Guild sew-in! 

Linking up today with Lee at Freshly Pieced! . . . Cindy

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What's your fave?

I don't get much done on my daily visits to the studio.  But I love to be there, and just getting one or two small things accomplished makes me feel good.

Today, I cleaned my desk, #1.

And #2, I did a photo shoot, with L's help.

I give you, the  S O C K E T B O O K.

We have two sizes.  The smaller one is $19.95, the larger one is $27.95.
They are, as I have said, reversible, and washable.
I actually used the smaller one at the fiber festival the other day.  I took my wallet and my cell phone out of my 'heavy' purse, and left it in the car.
Do you know how lovely it felt not to have that weight on my neck??

Tomorrow morning, I will be putting individual purses on my web site with a Buy it Now button.

There will be more coming.

I love the monkeys, but I think I like these purses even more. They are so functional, and so simple.

Getting them all on my web site will probably be my 'big' accomplishment for tomorrow.
Plus, tomorrow is my first day of PT.  Gentle neck strengthening exercises.  I can hardly wait.

I finally got the mitten pattern written up.  I have it in email form, if you want it, and I also put it in the PROJECTS tab, above.  You can highlight it, and print it.
Or email me.

I think I need to showcase the Socketbook in the school system somehow.  Can't you just see all the kids with one.  Well, the kids, and me.
Because they are definitely for everyone.

So check tomorrow.

Get ready for Christmas.
We won't sell as many Socketbooks, as the Iphone 5, but then, we aren't Apple.

We're just Crazy as a Loom.

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Journal

I love paper, notebooks, pencils, pens and markers. I have lots of sketchpads where I jot quilt design ideas and often chicken-scratch mathematical notes. I keep a gratitude journal and recently have started a journal of movies - seen and to-see.

But I've never been much of a journaler ~ although I strive to be. So when I ran across the Lil Journal Project on one of my favorite blogs, UCreate, I decided this was the perfect project for me. Ashley is providing daily prompts for writing or drawing so you don't sit empty-headed with a blank page staring at you. She's up to Day 16, but you can go at your own pace and skip anything you'd like.

She suggested buying a sketchbook with a plain cover, and of course that is the first rule I had to break. I made a cover for my journal using Rachel's tutorial at Stitched In Color. The typewriter and text print combo was totally her idea and I loved it!

here's the back...

Day 2's entry was to draw a picture of the first classroom that you remember. That was going way back for me, but I so enjoyed thinking about it. Funny how my first recollection was going under our desks for nuclear attack drills! What kid doesn't like to hide under a table?

While I was in the little project mode yesterday, I also made myself the ipad case that's been on the list for a while. I used Faith's tutorial at Fresh Lemons.

It fit perfectly!

My journal entry today was about simple pleasures and I got to use some of my favorite markers!

Hope your week is filled with many simple pleasures! . . . Cindy

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B.O.R.I.N.G.

One thing I have been able to do in my 'recovery' phase, is knit.

Thank God.

I have been knitting since I was four years old.  My mother, fresh from England, thought that she had to teach me to knit, and to read, before I went to school.

I was scheduled to go to school at 4 and 1/2, so she got busy.

All of my life, knitting has been a comfort to me.  I have a huge box of needles and paraphernalia, and several totes full of yarns, just for knitting.

I didn't knit at first when I came home from the hospital, but the second week, I got my knitting bag out.

I knew it would make me feel better.   And it did.

I am making kids' mittens in various sizes.  

So far I have a small stack of them on the coffee table, with no thumbs. One of these evenings, it will be THUMB NIGHT.
I know, this is almost too exciting for words.

At one point, a few years back, I bought a sock knitting machine.  I had always wanted one.  It took me a little while to figure it out, but eventually I did.
As soon as I cranked out my first sock, I realized that I hated it.
It was too labor intensive, it felt like work, and quite honestly, I wanted my knitting to be my retreat, not another job.  I didn't feel one moment of regret when I sold it.

My favorite things to knit, are mittens and socks.  I like funky hats, too.
Occasionally, I will knit a sweater, but not often.  I can't finish it in a night ................you get the picture.

I have these wonderful instructions for mittens.........I've had it for donkey years.  There are instructions for mittens for 2-4yr, 5-7yr, 8-10 yr, women's and men's, all on the same page.  I love this.
If anyone wants this pattern, let me know.  I will be happy to mail it to you.

And that's the excitement here.  I guess when you are bored, you are boring.
Or something like that.

Except that the show, which L did single handedly, is done, and she did great.
I bet she will be happy when I am no longer a slug.

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Let's have a giveaway.

I think it's time, don't you?
We'll celebrate fall, and lovely weather.
Or maybe my recovery.
Or let's just celebrate the good energy that blogging generates, and the friends that it makes.

Before my surgery, I had my newfound seamstress, Angie, making monkeys, and sewing strips for rugs.
Then she had an idea.   She never stops, this girl.  Reminds me of someone........

She made a purse, out of socks.
It was so danged cute, that I told her to go for it, and make more.  Which she did.
So let me introduce you to:

The SOCKETBOOK.  

I know.  So silly it could actually work.
They come in two sizes, the small which will be $19.95, and the larger, which will be $27.95.  They are totally washable, and GET THIS, they are REVERSIBLE. Some have cell phone pockets.
Too freaking awesome for words.

It is perfect, for your wallet, and your phone.......or a bottle of water, when you are walking.  It is just enough.   I will take some better pictures soon.
Carrying around my heavy camera has not been an option, so all you are getting are pictures from my Iphone.

I love Angie.  She is a hard worker, she communicates, she is on time, and she is creative.
Thank you, Craigslist.

Anyway, that's the giveaway.......a small Socketbook.  All you have to do is leave a comment about it.
Drawing Wednesday 9/26.


This weekend is the Washington County Fiber Festival at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Greenwich, NY.
I have a booth there, but I am not personally there.
So this is Lois' first solo show.  I told her I would cancel it, but she said no, she wanted to do it.
Check with her on Sunday evening, to see if that was a good decision, or not.
I helped her with a little advice, and that, my friends, is all I was good for.  Couldn't lift, couldn't lug, couldn't do much of anything.
Ack.
I did, however, go to visit, and check it out.  She is doing a great job.  You're not surprised, right?

I think in life that a lot of our happiness, or unhappiness, comes from surrounding ourselves with people who uplift us, and make us better, or NOT.
Been that last place, done that.

Now it seems that I truly am surrounded by lovely, helpful, supportive, and sweet people.
It's not an accident, folks.
I think it is something that comes with getting older.   If only the young knew.

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