Tuesday 12 February 2013

A little quilting therapy.



Well here I am - thanks for all your well wishes -I am so very behind on emails and comments - don't think I'll ever catch up so may not even try.  Life is settling down a little now and although normal is a long way off we are slowly getting there.  My lovely sister - aged 50 - had a massive stroke the week before Christmas - completely out of the blue.  She is still in hospital nearly 8 weeks later and is facing a long recovery. She is making progress and is gradually starting to walk etc although as yet has no movement at all in her left hand or arm.  We have spent a lot of time at the hospital. As you can imagine it has been awful although there is light at the end of the tunnel. She was not quite lucid for a few weeks but that has thankfully settled down and she is doing great. She is surprisingly cheerful and is showing sheer determination to recover as well as she can. She is awaiting a wheelchair and is having lots of intensive physio. We are taking a day at a time. Anyway as she is such a kind person she has decided she wants to give a small gift to one of the nurses who is pregnant. She asked if I had anything suitable and it just so happens I had an I-Spy baby quilt on standby. I will take this in tomorrow for her to give to the nurse.


I am also trying to catch up with some UFO's.  So far I have resisted starting anything new.  Not sure how long I can hold out though.... My Easy Street is coming along - will hopefully have pictures to show of that soon. But here are a couple of small quilts that I've been working on.

This has been hanging around for a good couple of years. It is a schnibbles pattern called X-Rated.

It was made from a charm pack I received in a swap several years ago. The sender was a lovely woman called Marlene who has sadly since passed away.  I wanted to make borders on this but had no charms left and nothing seemed to match. Anyway last week an idea popped into my head and here we are.



Close-up of spotty fabrics.



Would like to hand quilt this but will have to wait it's turn as I have another small quilt in progress. Which is this.


This is a bit of a washed out picture - the colours are much richer. This was going to be a big quilt but appliquing four blocks was enough - tried the back basting method and it worked great but just didn't want to do any more. A few hundred( or so it seemed ) paper pieced flying geese and this little quilt was born. Like I say I am hand quilting it and am pleased with how it's looking.

I have a ton of other stuff to show and will do my best to get round to it - time is against me at the moment though - need a few more hours in the day - lol.

Hope to be back sooner rather than later xx
 

12 comments:

Gail said...

Glad to hear that things are looking up! The baby quilt is so cute and will surely be cherished. I really like the X-rated quilt, it will be so nice when finished. I completely understand not wanting to do a lot more blocks, I find I really don't like doing quilts with only one block! Take care of you!

Carolyn said...

Wow, I'll keep your sister in my prayers. Love the baby quilt and the X quilt! I did a similar quilt as your reel quilt, only using one color for each applique. I did 9 blocks and called it finished. It's in line waiting to be quilted, can't decide if I should do it by hand or machine. I'm glad you're finding time to sew, it does help relieve stress!

Deb A said...

Such a cute I spy quilt. Great borders on your x quilt - just perfect. Such a cute little applique quilt and your hand quilting is amazing as always. So glad your sister is doing a bit better. Hugs to you both.
My Easy street is just sitting....... eventually it will get put together! Fixed one boo boo. One more to find and fix.

Sew Create It - Jane said...

My thoughts are with you and your sister...what an ordeal for your family. I hope that her recovery continues and that she can be back home soon.

Just love all the quilting you shared...that last quilt is lovely!!

jovaliquilts said...

So sorry about your sister. I hope her recovery is as quick as possible given the circumstances.
Love the quilts -- especially that x-rated one. The dotty fabrics are great!

sewkalico said...

Always lovely to see you blog (when you can of course!)
Much love xka

Unknown said...

Missed you last week and I didn't make it last night as I was late from work. The applique quilt is looking great! Dougal is snoring in the corner of my work room and the boss phoned to say not to try to get to work, so I am finally going to make up the bag for my beginners. Sewing keeps you sane! E x

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

I love your dotty X quilt! I'm glad your sister is improving, long may it continue!

O'Quilts said...

Very glad to see you back. Fifty is a bit young for a stroke...Sending hugs to you. Quilting is always the answer!!

Jan said...

I am so sorry your sister had a stroke. Glad to hear she is improving though. x

A Time for Stitching said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. 50 is still young so I'm sure she'll have the strength to make a very good recovery. I'm 50 myself in a few weeks so this certainly made me think!
Teresa x

Unknown said...

I am glad that your sister is on the mend. I love the little quilt you are handquilting, so well done, all the points so precise.