Nice Little Surprises

There's one up side to being sick and that's hearing from thoughtful friends and fans. So many of you have been so generous with your cards, comments, thoughts and prayers. A few of you made your own cards or sent one that you knew was sure to make me smile. I hope you all know I appreciate it so much.

My husband went to the Post Office after work yesterday and brought home a package from Australia. Merilyn made me this gorgeous pincushion as a get well gift! Isn't it the loveliest thing you've ever seen?? I hope I have the heart to use it - it's so pretty I'm afraid of ruining it. Maybe I'll just display it . . .

My daughter bought me a book - 

Julia gave me the mason jar full of snippets of indigo fabric!

My husband bought me these much-desired silver Brighton earrings. Yes, I know, hearts.

I still can't drive, but I've had time to browse the internet and do some shopping online. I bought myself this new book by the Country Threads ladies to go with  all the charm squares I've been collecting lately -

If you like small quilts you HAVE to get this book - so many cute quilts you will want to stop everything and make one or two.

I loved looking at the author photo of Connie and Mary. They probably aren't aware that I am a fan of their patterns and quilts and used to faithfully stop by their booth at The International Quilt Fest in Chicago every year. I'm sure no one else even noticed or paid attention to this, but in the background of the authors' picture, hanging on the wall of their shop, are 7 of MY quilts from American Doll Quilts! What fun for me to spot them as I flipped through the book - another nice little surprise I wasn't even looking for. Have a good weekend everyone!

Maybe Just a Small Outing

With the Dr's okay, we drove up to Wisconsin on Saturday to attend a special concert at my son's university. It was Parent Weekend and quite a few of his good friends who are Music majors were performing. The Art Department asked my son to display some of his photos at an art show in the lobby of the Fine Arts Center so we were very proud and I didn't want to miss either the concert or the art show. 

I was very sick this past summer and so there was really no time to travel or take a vacation, so it was a pleasure to be able to get to Wisconsin even. Anything to get off the couch and out of the house, LOL. Pretty pathetic, huh? Next year HAS to be better! At least I got to see a few colorful trees on the drive up . . . . 

 

I intended to take my daughter on a trip to visit some colleges in October, but that plan backfired for me as well and my husband will now take over and I will play it safe and stay home, nursing myself. So disappointing, but I did visit a few of the schools with my son 4 years ago so perhaps I won't miss too much. The original plan was to drive out east and possibly, possibly, make a side trip to Vermont, to the Bennington Museum, where the Dear Jane quilt resides and is publicly displayed for a very short time every year. Darn, darn, darn.  I'm sure there will be another chance to see it some other year, but still . . . . Maybe I can talk her into going to school somewhere near Vermont?? Pretty sure I can't talk her into anything these days . . . much less where she'll spend the next four years, LOL.

There was a little more leaf color in Wisconsin than here in Illinois and I know, I know,  it isn't New England, but hey, I'll take what I can get. Better than just watching the leaves turn in my backyard, right? The campus was lively with color, the overall trip good and while I pretty much took it easy, I was still able to walk around a little without feeling too bad. Maybe I AM getting better, ya think?

I made my husband take a little detour and stop at Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop on the way up. I wanted to show you how cute the the inside of the shop was but was totally disappointed that they would NOT let me take any photos, not a one, except outside. Oh well, you'll just have to stop in there yourself.

 I couldn't resist this chocolatey brown stars print and it's always hard to find a good muted purple I like, but OMG, look - they had HEXAGON pre-cuts! What the heck am I going to do with these? And did I really need four packs, LOL??

So now I'm back and envious that my family gets to travel even just a little bit. If it sounds like I'm feeling sorry for myself, don't worry, I'm not. I have plenty to do to keep me busy here and I sure won't be lonely, if you know what I mean.

Antique Hexagon Crib Quilt

More about Hexagons! After I wrote the last blog post, I looked and looked and then finally found this photo of  a crib quilt that was made in 1850 in one of my antique quilt books. I was really inspired by it when I made my own little hexagon quilt with the dark background that will be in The Civil War Sewing Circle. Unfortunately, while I was making the 16 quilts/projects for the book, not to mention writing all of the delightful text, I did NOT have time to piece this one all by hand - no, sorry, I do not have a staff to make my quilts or write my books for me - and so took the shortcut and appliqued the "flowers" onto background squares to make it go a little faster and still make my deadline (see my quilt on the cover of the book in the post below). Now I wish I had had the time to make it this way.

Don't you just love the scrappy look of this quilt (taken from the book America's Glorious Quilts) and love love love how they're all put together with the little black hexagon spacers? You and I can do this too - I know we can! Remember, just take it ONE hexagon at a time, LOL. Another future project I'm absolutely dying to try. Hey, at least I have lots of leftover scrappy hexagon flowers so I'm sort of on my way already! Told you, once I started I couldn't stop . . . 

 

Today I Feel Like Whining

My good friend Ingrid is a nurse and she told me that while recovering from several major surgeries I would have good days and bad days and oh she was so right. I had a string of good days last week because I was finally out of the hospital and so glad to be home, eager to lounge on the couch and be taken care of. But then I noticed that the euphoria started to fade as the week wore on - and then maybe  because I was doing a little too much or thought I was recovering too nicely -WHAM! Suddenly I'm exhausted and feel like I've taken a couple of steps backwards. Simple things like washing a few dishes make me fatigued. All I want to do is sleep.

I'm counting my blessings every day and trying to be patient but there's so much to do around here that hasn't been done yet and all of that still hangs over my head. I'm not supposed to bend or stretch so I am dependent on others for simple things for awhile longer, like cleaning up spills, making a cup of tea or running upstairs for a box of tissue. I feel guilty sitting around reading or watching TV on the couch while everyone else is running around like chickens with you-know-what. My sweet husband has been working so hard to help -  he cooks and cleans and "fetches" for me when he can, and even watches my website for orders. On Saturday he went to the Post Office and mailed out some book and  pattern orders for me because I still can't drive for a couple of weeks. Funny how much time I used to spend out running errands. Don't forget, pattern #4 of  the American Schoolgirl Club will be mailed out later in Oct - probably very late, the way I'm feeling right now.

I am feeling a little depressed over what I CANNOT do for myself, even though I know I get a LITTLE better every day and I've only been home for a week. I become impatient easily and would like a  fast recovery NOW, please. Will I ever get back to feeling the way I did before?

The visiting Physical Therapist told me that spending 2 weeks in the hospital causes you to lose 30% of your muscles so we're slowly working on doing tiny leg lifts and stretches. Ouch, that hurts - in more ways than one. I was trying to get into decent shape and walked a lot before I got sick but now I have to start all over and then some and who knows when I'll get the ok to walk briskly again. 

Didn't guess I could be such a whiner when I was sick, did you? I'm afraid I do not make a very good patient, LOL.

Yesterday, however, I actually finished a novel and cooked a pot of spaghetti and meatballs in two sittings so I didn't have to stand for too long. Little accomplishments, but they matter a lot. Hand piecing the little pink and blue scrappy doll quilt got me through all last week. I pieced the blocks together on the machine and now have to choose a border. 

I have a few blue Jo Morton fat quarters I'm itching to use and for some reason I want to use this one, the busiest one, instead of  the ones that are more subtle. I'm usually more conservative with my borders for scrappy quilts but really love this print. What do you think? Too busy?

Last weekend I bid on and won (!) an antique doll quilt, a coming home present to myself. It arrived on Saturday and is so cute I decided to reproduce it with more pre-cut squares I had lying around.

I just love doll quilts made from squares - the simplicity speaks to me. That's good because simple is best for me right now - I don't think I can handle anything complicated.

This one will keep me busy this week, I think. I'm not a great hand piecer, but I'm getting some good practice. It's coming along nicely and is so much fun really. Maybe I'll even quilt it if I don't fall asleep first.

Keeping Busy

Look what came in the mail last week -

This new book by Tricia Maloney is full of great ideas for using those vintage blocks you see at antique shows and flea markets. I've always been tempted to buy some but wasn't sure what to do with them when I got home. Now I know! What a great idea.

Thanks, Tricia, and good luck!

Ingrid came over to visit on Friday and brought me a birthday present - the new book by Blackbird Designs. I'm not sure how she knew I secretly craved it, but that must be exactly why we call them good friends, you know? 

Don't know if I'm up for making an appliqued bed quilt just yet, but this block looks doable or maybe a cross-stitch sachet or pincushion is something I can work on while resting on the sofa?? In addition to lovely quilts, it's also got some lucious recipes I'm anxious to try when I get back to cooking.

The Dr said I can sit at the sewing machine for 15 minutes a day, no more for now, so this weekend I'm going to take him up on that and use my machine to stitch the doll quilt with the pink and blue blocks I hand pieced from last week. The only trouble is, every time I get up from the couch, someone steals my spot! Sweetie that he is, I'm guessing he's just keeping it warm for me . . . .

Someone Watching Over Me

I'm feeling a little better every day. Excuse me for being self-indulgent, but it IS a blog after all and I know many of you are curious as to how I'm getting along. It is SO good to be home and in familiar surroundings with my loved ones close at hand. Because I am not supposed to walk up and down stairs for awhile, I'm spending most of my time resting on the sofa and make only one trip upstairs at night to sleep. So I've conveniently made up the couch as Command Central.

Here you can see I've got my breakfast of fortified Special K cereal, my magazines, a couple of decorating books to browse through (my house is a real mess as you can imagine, not having done anything for weeks, but it can't hurt to dream, can it?). The quilted throw on my lap is a store-bought quilt (oh no!) borrowed from my son's room at home. He left for his senior year of college the day I went back into the hospital. Don't want to spill or bleed on one of MY quilts, you see. Plus it reminds me of him while he's away. And it has some nice Fall colors to warm me up.

Angels watch over me as I rest. Or maybe she's just waiting for a crumb to drop, who knows? I like to think it's the angel thing. While I was in the hospital I missed my puppies so much that one day I sat up in a little bit of that half-sleeping, half-waking stage and reached out toward the foot of my bed where I thought I saw her. Nurse came in and rolled her eyes - Whaaaat puppy, where??

 

By Monday I got bored with magazines and found I couldn't concentrate on a novel yet. I had already gotten caught up with TV shows over the weekend. I knew I'd have a difficult time sitting at a sewing machine.

So I found a stack of  little pink and indigo four-patch blocks I made a few years ago and decided to use them to make a doll quilt, just for me, no pressure to turn it into a pattern or anything. I'm piecing them together by hand nice and slowly with some wonderful 2 1/2" pink and blue pre-cut squares. Did I tell you I love pre-cuts? They really came in handy this time.

I've already finished 9 blocks as of this afternoon. These will be really cute set on point with the blue and tan bird fabric I've been saving for awhile as background. I like to use one of these Ziplock containers with compartments to hold my "stuff" and keep it nearby, next to my lap desk on the sofa, while I sew.

While I was in the hospital I had a birthday and didn't actually celebrate until the weekend I got home. One of my presents from my husband and daughter was the DVD of Sleeping Beauty, my absolute favorite childhood Disney movie made in 1959. It was also Disney's most ambitious film project at the time, costing $6 million, and the very last fairy tale to be produced by Walt Disney himself. The animation from the fifties is wonderful and it has a gorgeous musical score adapted from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet. Didn't know it then, but I appreciate it now.

As a child, it was my first real exposure to Disney advertising mania. I had the Sleeping Beauty book, coloring books, lunch box, game, tiara, light-up magic wand, pencil case, etc. You name it, I had it. My older sisters had jobs and always spoiled me with toys I wanted. I remember one day with a little help from my mom I dressed up in one of my sister's old Prom dresses and met her at the bus stop after work with my tiara and magic wand. I'm sure she was thrilled to see me!

As spoiled as I was, I did feel deprived for years though, LOL, because I never got to go to Disneyland to see Sleeping Beauty's ACTUAL castle and meet her in person. We had a lot in common, I thought; I liked to sleep a lot too. I made a pilgrimage there as an adult, years later, to finally pay homage to my childhood heroine. Not a very acceptable heroine by today's standards, I know, but hey, it was the fifties and that was then.  I later found out that  feminists dismiss Beauty as the epitome of passivity in women; all she does is sleep and wait. Doesn't bother me a bit. You have to admire her perseverance. And you have to admit, true love sure does have the power to transform you sometimes, whenever it comes.

In addition to Beauty, my favorite characters in the movie were her Fairy Godmothers - Flora, Fauna and Meriwether. They were much older than Princess Aurora and always took good care of her and made sure all her needs were met. Can you see where this is going? 

 

Last week while my husband worked, my sisters were my Fairy Godmothers during the day, watching over me as I slept in the hospital, tied to machines, always there with a tissue or shoulder or ready to flag a nurse if I needed it. 

And now I have my puppy angels watching over me at home. Yessir, I've got just about everything I need right here.

Hello from Kathy

I know you haven't heard from me in a long time and I just wanted to give you an update on what's been going on with me. I went back into the hospital on Sept 11 and shortly thereafter had surgery. The intestinal infection I suffered from earlier in the summer did not completely respond to the antibiotics and slowly spread to several other organs, necessitating a complicated abdominal surgery to remove two abscesses. The doctors said I was lucky to be alive and, from the way I felt after surgery, I believe them. Good news, NO CANCER, just a very, very nasty infection.

I was finally discharged from the hospital yesterday and now face a long recovery period to get my strength and health back. Thanks to some wonderful nursing care and excellent doctors I can tell I'm on the mend and I thank you all for your patience and well wishes during this difficult time.

I will be getting back to work slowly, I think. The new book will be out soon though! Thank goodness this didn't interrupt that.

So, here's the deal in case you're wondering – YES, the American Schoolgirl Club will definitely continue!

Originally, I intended to run the 6 club patterns through the months of June, July, August, Sept, Oct and November. Because of circumstances, I am going to have to skip the month of September and will resume the patterns in October through December. So those of you in the club will still receive ALL 6 patterns, they will just be interrupted for one month while I recover. If you have a friend in the club, please pass the word.

If some of you are disappointed and do not wish to wait, please e-mail me and I will be more than willing to give you a partial refund for the remaining months. Those of you who are new members and ordered the club in Sept will receive the first 3 patterns that were sent out earlier as soon as I am able to get them out. It might be next week. I can't drive for 3 weeks so getting around is going to be difficult and I am dependent on others for the help.

Again, I am so sorry for all of the inconvenience and hope you know that you can trust that I intend to fulfill my promise of delivering the patterns to you. But my health has to come first. It's been a very stressful time for my family as I am usually the caretaker. I've been blessed with a wonderful, loving husband and great kids, four amazing and caring sisters and a multitude of friends who have surrounded me and my family with love and support. How can I lose?

I will update you as I get stronger and hope to rejoin you soon in the blog world and may even answer e-mails that have come in recently. Please know that I am always aware that I could not do any of this without all of you - my supportive fans who inspire me every day with your steadfast loyalty. It's good to be home! Oh my goodness, my puppies missed their mama . . . .

Gratefully,

Kathy

My All-time Favorite Place

I am back in the hospital again. So sorry to have to say this again so soon, but the American Schoolgirl Club is on hold for now. It may be awhile before e-mails will be answered or orders filled so your patience is appreciated.