Archive for April, 2007

The trees have started sprouting leaves this week and when I looked out this afternoon it finally looked like spring.

Another HeartStrings quilt is finished. Pieced by Carol and quilted by me, this is such a great setting for string blocks and the finished quilt looks great. As Carol requested, this quilt will go to the To the Top Project and be given to a veteran. Here’s another link to an article about the To the Top Project.

Yesterday was fun visiting Stillwater and getting together with other HeartStrings quilters. I brought back a finished top as well as another pile of Chinese Coins sections. I’ll wait a few weeks until that special project is over and all the sections have been mailed before I start playing with them.

Keith is still out of town so I’ve been continuing my retreat and should have another HeartStrings quilt (Carol’s top) bound and finished tonight.

Several blogs that I read have been discussing challenges of caring for aging and ill parents and I was reminded as I read my latest book, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande, of the challenge of making medical decisions not just for ourselves but for our parents.

Two years ago Keith and I brought his father to live with us and cared for him in the months before he died of complications from Leukemia. One accusation his mother would make was that it was *easy* for me because I was a nurse. Well I hadn’t worked as a clinician in 10 years and caring for a family member at home is different anyway. It was very rewarding but certainly not easy.

My Mom lives alone in Virginia and so I’m also struggling with how to be there and available to her when she has health issues. Having the flexibility to go help her when needed is one of the reasons I choose not to work outside the home.

For those readers in the group these are the books that I found helpful as I cared for Keith’s Dad and I as continue to try and be there for my Mom. I would also suggest that you obtain a copy of your parent’s living wills and make sure you understand what their wishes are. Some of the most difficult decisions we made were possible because we knew they were what his Dad wanted.

How to Care for Aging Parents
Caregiving As Your Parents Age
The 36 Hour Day: A Family guide to caring for persons with Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life

And the book that helped me most when it was time to let Keith’s dad go.
Dying Well: Peace and Possibilities at the End of Life by Ira Byock, MD

Finished up Mom’s quilt and am ready to ship this one and her basket quilt back to her. I’m not happy with my quilting on this one because;

1. it’s too thready
2. the quilting is too dense
3. I don’t like the medium blue thread in the white squares.

Oh well, live and learn – good thing Mom is an easy to please *customer*.

I had plans to use the leftover strips from my Pineapple quilt for rail fence blocks and set them on point. I’m tired of the two bins being in the way so I started making some blocks this weekend and decided I didn’t like them.

The final borders still need to be added but it’s getting there. For now, I’m taking a break and going out on my balcony with my book and a glass of wine.

I’m on a roll! I finished quilting a HeartStrings top today and posted a photo and the story behind the quilt on the HeartStrings Blog.

You may recognize this quilt from a blog post last July. My Mom and I made it for my niece who was heading off to VA Tech for her first year of college.

I spoke with my sister earlier and Laura is OK but my thoughts and prayers go out to all those killed or injured as well as their families and the entire Tech community.

Is anyone else watching the Quilt Pink eBay auction? I have one of the quilts that was auctioned a couple years ago and I’m watching this year’s auction too. I wish we could see all the quilts so I’d know which one was my favorite before bidding.

I’ll also be watching to see how my Quilt Pink donation does.

One last sunset on the Big Island

What could be better than sitting on the beach in Hawaii, in the shade of a palm tree, reading a good book?? However, I was SO happy to get home this afternoon and run to the kennel to pick Chesty up. We had a wonderful time but 10 days was such a long time to leave my baby!

I have tons of pictures but once I go through all the disks I’ll create a Hawaii album on Picasa so those of you who are interested can take a look.

I have lots of running around to do tomorrow but hope to get back to quilting on Saturday.

I’m just getting caught up with email after vacation but I’ve been tagged on a couple sites so I’ll quickly respond with my top 5 inspirational blogs.

As everyone one else has mentioned – there are many other blogs out there that I follow which provide inspiration for my quilting – you guys know who you are because I visit and comment on your blogs. Thank you all for sharing.

Judy – for starting the Stash Quilts blog ring, Quilt for an Hour patterns, her stash challenges, her quilts – no matter how busy I am I always check Judy’s blog for updates.

Bonnie Hunter – Bonnie = scrap quilts. Her website has even more goodies.

Jeanne’s blog – She’s another scrappy quilter whose quilts strongly appeal to me.

Patti’s blog – I love her applique quilts but it’s her scrap quilts that really inspire me.

HeartStrings Quilt Project – I know I write this one BUT I started it because I was so inspired by the work being done by quilters involved in the project that I wanted to share their work on a broader scale.