Quilting in my cave

Well, here it is, almost next year!! Sitting here where it is cold and windy, but not snowing, at least, waiting for midnight so I can say Hello to 2009! Still have a little over an hour for that, however. Tom is in the recliner, trying really hard to stay awake, but I fear he will lose the battle.

It has been a busy day for me today. I was down in my cave pretty early, working on yet another paper pieced ornament block, which was to be a gift for a friend we would be seeing at lunch. Of course, you just know that Murphy's Law overtook me, but went unnoticed until it was time to turn the ornament right side out, and guess what? I had stitched the batting to the wrong side of the block, so had to unsew the edges while I was doing my opping in the chat room. Good thing the chatters who come in there understand such things, and are very encouraging. LOL My shift on Wednesdays run for 3 hours, so I had lots of time for taking out stitches. Needless to say, the chatting was busy today, and I was also trying to do some computer stuff that I do not know how to do, so Murphy's Law was working there too. I was getting the feeling that it might not be a good day for me.

We had been invited for some traditional German pancakes, which would be our lunch, at our friends home in town. Her sister and brother in law would be there, too, so it was sort of a party. The pancakes are good, but not for my diabetes, but I ate 3 of the smaller ones, and the hostess was happy. I also took along some fresh fruit and homemade pickles, to help round out the meal. My blood sugar reading before I ate was 85, so that was a good number. After we ate, we sat around and visited a while, then came home. I had taken my new quilt to show them, and when we stopped at the post office on the way home, I showed the quilt to the postmistress, who just happens to be a quilter, too. She has a long arm machine in the former quilt shop and still does quilting for others, so I asked her if she could get a quilt done for me before the end of January, and she told me to bring it over, she could do it. I am so happy, because that will take away another of my UFO's! I am excited. The quilt will be for the lady who made the pancakes, who is also our house sitter when we go to Arkansas in the spring. She is getting a very green Turning 20 quilt for her birthday, which is in early February.

While I was working in the chatroom, the clinic called and gave me the day for my next mammogram, which I have to go to Mason City for this year. They usually have to do an ultra sound on me now, because there have been "stuff" showing up the last couple of years. I had a biopsy 2 years ago, but it came back clean, so was happy about that. I figured I would have to go to the hospital again, instead of to Forest City for a "normal" mammogram. I get to go to the clinic for my A1C test next Monday, too. Am hoping the result is good, so perhaps I can get off the diabetes pill, one that has been in the news recently because it has some icky side effects. My numbers have been so good all year, that hopefully I can be done with the pills. My prayers are for that goal.

I have actually been doing some quilty stuff in my cave! I have made the latest paper piecing block from Carol Doak, which is a snow covered mountain, with a frozen stream of water in the foreground. The block turned out very well and I was the second person getting their picture in for viewing. I also got to be first to get my 4500 member block, from the same lady, up for viewing. Never thought I could be first in there. It is hard to believe there are that many people in the world interested in paper piecing, because hardly anyone around this town will do it. LOL I am now working on a larger grouping of that new 4500 member block, which will turn into a little table quilt. I also got the Blizzard in Blue quilt top all made, which is to be a thank you gift for my oncologist at Mayo Clinic, which will be delivered on Feb. 3, when we go for my first check-up.

At the top of this post, you will see me with a beautiful quilt. I was very surprised to get a package from Pennsylvania on Tuesday before Christmas, with this quilt in it. I was very happy to see it was from many of the people who come in to the chatroom to visit with me when I am working there. There are blocks in that quilt from all over the world, so it is very special to me. One of the ladies got told I would be taking a naked picture with the quilt, and she said she didn't want to see that! We had a great laugh about that in the chatroom, and she will not have to worry, because I do not ever plan on any naked pics of me showing up anywhere!! I would never subject the world to that terror! LOL

Tomorrow we have to make a run to Blue Earth, MN, to pick up some medical stuff at Wal-Mart, but then I get to come home and get started on that Blizzard quilt quilting. I am going to use a flannel sheet for the backing on that quilt, because the colors are just perfect for it. Tom has killed the fitted bottom sheet with his ragged feet, so not sure what to do with the almost perfectly good top sheet. If it is fabric, in my stash, it is fair game for any and all quilts. On top of that, it will make the quilt a bit more cuddly. :)

Well, it is now half an hour until next year, so will go for now. Hope you have a very Happy New Year, with good health and happy thoughts.

Pieceful, quilty hugs
Ele