Pain Free!! Wheeeee!!

Got to talk to Emily last night after her right foot surgery. This whole situation has been just nanometers short of miraculous. Regardless of the circumstances, I am giving all the glory to God, our merciful heavenly Father. She had nothing but glowing reports of all the personnel at the clinic. Best of all, she IS truly pain free.

If you want to see before and after pictures of her foot (taken moments after the surgery was complete), look here. She is the one coded 010411EP (date of surgery and her initials). This really falls into the too-good-to-be-true category of life. I am so happy for her that I could cry at a moment's notice when I think about it.

Off to machine quilt a baby quilt I'm making for a friend. She lives in FL, and her dad is driving down there tomorrow. So if I finish it, I can send it down for her baby shower this weekend. Post pics after she sees it.

In quilty news, I received two items I ordered recently...a Supreme Slider and Little Genie Magic Bobbin Washers. They are from Day Style Designs. I happened to see some of her youtube videos on machine quilting. I test drove a Teflon-coated table for machine quilting at the quilt show we attended this past May. It was amazing. I'll let you know how I like it when I use it for the baby quilt today.

Bursting with God's goodness,
Joan

Update on Emily's Surgery

My Emily is having bunion surgery on her right foot tomorrow at 3:30 PM EST. She is in California with her daddy. So glad he was able to make the trip with her. I miss them both terribly. If she comes to mind tomorrow, please pray for the surgeon, nurse, and EMILY!!

Looking forward to good news and hoping for her right foot to be pain free after this!

~Joan

Prototype

Since I plan on making a bunch of these, I figured I should make one in its entirety before going hog wild. I see some things I would change already. Colors I would or would not use next time.

I put a piece of muslin behind my snowman (which is made from batting). You can still see the green through it slightly, but it's much better than without it.

I am going to use black seed beads for the eyes and mouth. The knots are too big for my liking.

A friend of our family called earlier and asked if he could take our whole family out for supper. We just got back, but now we're going to their house for some games and fellowship.

Happy new year!

~Joan

Something New

One of my blog readers is sending bricks for my Texas Braid. They won't be here for a few days, so in the mean time I am giving that project a rest.

My sister made one of these doorknob hangers for her MIL a while back. I think it is adorable. I'm going to start piecing one today. Then, if all goes well, I will be making these for Christmas presents for NEXT YEAR. Ho ho ho, ha ha ha, hee hee hee...imagine ME making presents ahead of time!!

Off to begin selecting fabric for the first. Without the hanger, it is about 4" x 10".

~Joan

View of All of the Texas Braid So Far

But first, a picture of my morning view. This is the YMCA I frequent nearly every morning (except Sundays...yeah!!). I am always glad I went...later. This AM I increased the weight on 3 of my machines. It's amazing how much of a difference five pounds makes.

Once school was underway, I had two of my boys hold up the Texas Braid so you could get a peek at the whole thing. It's 98" long, so about 1/3 of it is draped over the back of the design wall in all my other pictures. I like how the occasional really dark or light brick makes the top seem to sparkle, but the red cornerstones down the middle of each row gives the eye a place to rest.

Calling to order a Handi-Quilter now. Yippee!!

~Joan

Promised Kathie a Picture

I was reading Kathie's blog and saw that she just pieced a little snowball quilt. Hers is blue with white snowballs and so cute. I am nearly finished handquilting this little runner. I started making the blocks because I was going to make a sampler quilt, then I decided I should not take on another big time-consuming project. Aren't you proud of me? So I used the blocks to make this runner instead.

Nearly finished with the quilting. I did a double diagonal line (1/4" apart) through the center of each snowball. One line would have taken half the time, but it is so small! This has been my YMCA project for about a week. I work on it after I finish my circuit on the exercise machines and am waiting for the others in my family. No problem for me to wait! More hand quilting time.

~Joan

11/16 of The Way There, and Then Some

Here is my Texas Braid, 11 rows completely finished, and a couple partial rows in the works. This has been fun to work on. I highly recommend Bonnie Hunter's book, Adventures with Leaders and Enders. This has been one of the easiest quilts to make ever. Not one pin used in the construction, which proves that careful cutting and proper pressing ensure a nice, flat quilt top. Tomorrow I am going to machine baste around the top and bottom edges of the quilt. Every edge is bias!

In the pic above, the quilt hangs down behind my design wall about another 48" or so.

Will likely be ordering a Handi-Quilter tomorrow!! Good times!

~Joan