Watch It Grow...

I added another row to the Texas Braid this morning. Last night was an unusual night. I went to bed when the family started watching a movie. I felt horrible...dizzy, nauseated. But I feel fine today.

Emily drove down to FL yesterday to surprise Steve. Steve was driving up here starting at 8:30 PM and bringing my oldest son home as well. So they arrived here about 7:15 this AM. They were all exhausted, so they all went to bed. I woke up four people to see if anyone wanted to go to the YMCA with me and got no takers.

So now I'm back from the Y and sewing some more. It's SNOWING!! Snow always looks so peaceful and lovely floating down.

~Joan

Texas Braid - Another Six Inches Wider

I added one more vertical row to the Texas Braid. There is a ton of sewing involved in finishing even one row. The red squares are added to the cream bricks, then either a color or a cream/red unit is added and added, and added until you have 51 red cornerstones in a row. Then there is the trimming.

I cut lots more bricks from my scraps this afternoon and finished this row and nearly one more. The one more is the wrong one to add to either side, so it might be a while before I get the "right" one finished. There will be 16 rows in the final quilt.

For you non-quilters, the red blocks are the center of each row. There are four rows in the above picture.

~Joan

Texas Braid Beginning

I was able to squeeze in a little piecing time tonight. Isaac offered to help me press, and that always makes things go faster. Here we are, with him to the left of the ironing board and me to the right at the sewing machine. It was still daylight when we started. What are we making??

We are making this...Texas Braid sections. This is from Bonnie Hunter's book, Adventures with Leaders & Enders. I have decided to limit my piecing time to this project until it's a finished top. You can stop laughing now.

This picture is a close up.

Here's one a little further out. Guess how many pins I used for the piecing and putting the rows together? See the end of the post for the answer.

And finally, all of it. Well, at least as much as you can see on my five-foot high design wall. I folded the top down (that makes it sound fun, like a convertible!!). The pieces are over 100 inches long, so folded they must be.

Zero. That is how many pins I used. When you assemble the sections, you press the pieces in such a way that you need not one pin to sew the rows to each other. Ta da!!

~Joan

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