Tears of Joy

My dear daughter, Emily, has the feet of an old woman. One who has worn ill-fitting shoes. For for 80 years. The strange thing is that she is only 19. Just a few weeks ago I saw her bare-footed for the first time in a really long time. The shape and obvious pain of her feet was more than I could bear. She has never complained about her feet hurting. At once I started researching what her problem was and how it could be fixed.

To make a long story short, I found a solution. The only doctor I could find that does it the "right" way is in California. Since he probably won't come here, I'm sending her there (with her dad). We hoped to get both feet done before June. One little complication is that our insuance anniversary is in early May. That means if we did one foot before the date and one after, we get to pay the deductible TWICE. Since that is a sizeable amount, we are glad things worked out like they did.

God graciously worked out so many details. Last night my husband called to tell me that they can do her first and worse foot on January 4, 2011. I literally cried with joy because that is so soon. It's the last week of her college break. They said (and I believe) that she can walk within a couple days of the surgery. Typical bunion surgery has a 4 week to 4 month period in which the patient cannot bear weight on the foot that has been operated upon. Not with this method! I am so happy for her!!

We called her doctor this AM for an appointment (timing is of the essence with her lab work and so on). Usually it's a few days' wait. But this time, "Can you be here in 40 minutes?" Well, yeah!!

Praising God, from Whom all blessings flow...

~Joan

He is Here...Again!!

My daughter's boyfriend arrived at 3:30 this AM, unbeknownst to her. I've known he was coming since yesterday AM, and it was EXHAUSTING to keep such a secret! Talk about pleasantly surprised!! I was so happy for her.



We all sat and laughed for 30 minutes or so after he was revealed!! Here is a picture of the happy couple...Emily is on a high stool behind Steve, who is on a chair (for those who had to know!)...

Needing to go to bed. Soon.

~Joan

Post #636

There is so much I want to update about that the post number seemed the best way to cover it all...

This has been a great past week or so. I realize now that I didn't take a single picture of all the festivities. It's not that I've been distracted. I can usually manage to...SQUIRREL!! My son, Benjamin, took a picture of this little rascal in our side yard recently. A post w/o a picture is quite boring, so here you go...
If you haven't seen the movie Up, you won't understand that little joke. I have had a million things going on at once this past week getting ready for Thanksgiving, having some very special company, and then recovering.

I hate to admit it, but doing regular exercise has been the best thing I've done in a very long time. It's been over two weeks that I've gone to the Y six days a week. I am sleeping so much better, and can stand for longer periods of time w/o my legs aching. I really put that to the test on Thursday. My husband and 5 of the kids went to GA to celebrate with his dad and extended family. I stayed here with the 2 youngest and had 2 very special young men join us for meals and a cooking extravaganza. I roasted two turkeys, baked a ham, made two batches of home made cookies, two congealed salads, sweet potato casserole, apple pie, pumpkin pie bars, a peanut butter pie, a caramel pecan cheesecake pie, and several gallons of tea. I also made breakfast, lunch, and supper for the 5 of us here. I had dishpan hands all the way up to my elbows!

Emily's boyfriend and his parents arrived here about two the next morning. We had a great day of fellowship with them on Friday then went to hear Messiah performed by Emily's college chorale. Inspiring!!

I have squeezed in some sewing here and there. Steve's mom showed me how to end a line of quilting w/o tying a knot. I have adapted it to starting a row of quilting the same way. I gave it some test tugs, and it really holds. Keep learning!!

I have a few new projects to share. Meanwhile, I'm making table runners for some very special ladies in my life. Will show pictures of those after they are distributed.

Must head off to bed...I've been very consistent at the YMCA, and 5:30 AM comes mighty early.

~Joan

Cookies Ahoy!

Thus starteth the cookie season. Tonight Rachel, Isaac, and I are baking Snickerdoodles and Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin cookies. Trying to start some good memory-making times.

~Joan

Finished Steps and Stars with Dwirling

Ready to go into the dryer...

Dried and on top of my queen-sized bed below. I estimate this finished at about 68" x 86". You can really see the machine quilting in this one. It is the dwirling pattern from the Pajama Quilter DVD. It was very difficult on a DSM, but I think it would be easy on a long-arm. Too many starts and stops on a DSM for me.

Here it is in its entirety. I had thought about giving this away, but I want to enjoy just looking at it around the house for a while.

Test driving a new Parker house Roll recipe (for Thanksgiving) this AM. Not that all our rolls aren't Parker house rolls, but these are the genuine article.

~Joan

Feeling Fuzzy

The last week or so, I've been piecing these flannel blocks...I'd make a set of 3 fabrics each night. The pattern is called Fat Quarter Squares. There were 21 fat quarters in the kit, each one making 3 blocks that finish 9-1/2" square. I have not sewn with flannel for some time, and it was...was...different. The flannel swallows up any stitches. I'm thankful I didn't have to rip any out. Don't think that would have gone very well. The finished quilt is 63" x 81"

I am bartering yardage of fabric in exchange for machine quilting service by a friend. I don't think I could wrestle this in all it's fuzzy puffiness under my domestic machine. Notice how if you twist each block the opposite way, the only seams that need to meet are the corners of the blocks?

Here is a look a little farther out. Pretty colors. Most are Thimbleberries. I bought this as a kit so long ago that I don't even remember if I lived in this house at the time.

And even farther back. My camera was left in GA two weekends ago. I just found out that it was mailed yesterday. So I snagged my son's to take the pictures.

I will sew the blocks to each other soon. Stay tuned...

~Joan

Steps and Stars Just Needs Hand Sewing

I know--the above picture isn't a quilt. But it is one of my lovely offspring! Wearing my cow apron! And my chef's hat. What is going on there? Cookie baking, of course. Just a pic for my post. I left my camera in GA last weekend so I borrowed this from my daughter's blog.

I did a lot of sewing this past few days. I machine quilted a quilt for a customer (Ruby Slippers) and made then sewed the binding onto the front by machine. Then I also finished the quilting on my Steps and Stars quilt. I have about 1-1/2 sides hand-sewn to the back, so that is coming right along.

I tried to get my ancient Singer free motion quilting machine up and running, but the thread broke after just a few inches of stitching over. and. over. and. over...very exasperating. I am debating about whether to try to get it repaired (again!) or just pitch it.

Anywho...pics to come when my camera arrives home. I wish I had taken a pic of the Ruby Slippers. I just did loop-de-loops on it, but it did look lovely.

~Joan