wow, Wow, WOW!!!

How many times can a person say WOW! in one day? That was the question that came to mind last night after a day at MQX (machine quilters expo). This is a quilt show in Manchester, NH that highlights machine quilters and their creations. Su and I spent several hours wandering through spectacular quilts exclaiming WOW after every new turn. We also got to see many of the entries in this year’s $100,000 Quilting Challenge. WOW!! It amazes me the creative ideas and workmanship that exist around me (even if it’s not right in my backyard).

Every brand of quilting machine was exhibited as well. Although I yearn for one of these machines, there wasn’t much point in spending time trying each machine or asking a million questions when it’s just not in the cards right now. When I can afford one and have the space for one, I’ll go shopping for one. In the meantime I will just envy the work that is done on one.

I had a wonderful time spending the day with Su. She did very well considering the number of “spoons” it took for her to walk around for several hours. I know she will pay for it today and maybe into tomorrow. It always amazes me how well she copes with her illness; she compensates very well. I wonder how well I would handle the situation if the cards had been reversed and I was the one that was chronically ill. I fear that I would not be nearly as strong a person. I admire her. I know that her time is precious and I’m so grateful that she allowed me to share some of it with her.

I heard from Wendy that Vanessa was home. From what I understand she is staying downstairs in the living room because that is where she can watch the TV. Wendy said that Greg is going to work from home for four days. It should be interesting since Vanessa is not supposed to get up except to use the bathroom or take a quick shower. Everything she needs will have to be provided by Greg. It will be an extended stressful time for each of them.

Wendy went to the baby shower for Ryan today. He is the baby she made the quilt for. Jen and her husband were very appreciative of the quilt and said that it will match Ryan’s bedroom which is blue with stars.

I was able to finish up the “Birthday Quilt” today. Su gave it to me for my birthday about three years ago. Although it is actually a wallhanging and it took me a short amount of time to piece it, I have been using it to practice my free motion quilting. I did some outline stitching in the flower area, some stitch-in-the-ditch, some stippling (which is my downfall) some free-motion outlining of the leaves and some “squiggly squares” in the outside border. Sue N. saw it while I was working on it today and really liked it. She mentioned that I could always give it to her. Soooo, that’s exactly what I will do on her next birthday. That makes it truly the “Birthday Quilt”.

I did manage to meet Bill at the gym after work for 30 minutes on the cardio machines.

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Sunny skies, exercise and labor update

It was warm enough to sit in the sun for an hour today and get sunburned (oops).

Bill and I have joined the new Planet Fitness gym in town. It opened on Tuesday; it’s bright, clean and a pleasant place to be…good energy. I went both Tues. and Wed. mornings after work for a 30 minute walk on the treadmill. There is an audio port which allows the user to listen to one of five television programs or music. I went again with Bill in the afternoon plus did some tricep exercises. My arms have started to look “old” only because I have been lazy about exercising. Other than the yoga and spinning occasionally, I haven’t been doing any work at the gym and it’s definitely showing. We went first thing this morning once we were both out of bed. We did the treadmill and some leg exercises. It was nearly 11:00 by the time we had breakfast.

Once that was cleaned up, we sat outside for awhile. There was a little breeze and we were warmer once we moved to the small area near the tub. Even though we sat out for an hour, I had a jacket on for a short time. I only had about 30 minutes of direct sun but it was enough to give me a sunburn. I am usually very diligent about putting on sunscreen but I didn’t have any with me today. It is kind of nice to have a little color.

Vanessa remains hospitalized but she has been doing very well since Saturday. I talked with Greg this afternoon and she will probably be released tomorrow or Saturday. She is worried about the baby shower on the 27th but her Dr. said there were no guarantees and suggested that they postpone it for a couple of weeks.

Bill has a diagnosis of “frozen shoulder” from the orthopedic surgeon. That’s better than the torn rotator cuff that he was worried about. He will undergo 6 weeks of PT and see if there is any improvement. If not there are a couple of other options, short of surgery. He will be out of work for three weeks.

I haven’t had any opportunity to quilt in the last several days. However, I was able to get the label stitched onto Wendy’s baby quilt on Tuesday evening. She stopped by and picked it up. She seems very pleased and promised to take a couple of photos.

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Baby news is status quo

Vanessa remains in the hospital but things are stable. Saturday was not a very good day. She was weaned off the “anti-contraction” meds Friday night and experienced more contractions on Saturday. On top of that, she started running a low grade fever. The highs and lows of that day were very stressful on both Greg and Vanessa. However, by Saturday night the fever had abated and the contractions had slowed.

Sunday was a good day with only 6 contractions per hour. The Dr. felt that it was safe to move her from the intensive care section of maternity to the prenatal section where there is less monitoring. I spoke with Greg this afternoon (Monday) and she was still doing well. She has to have three good days in a row before they will consider releasing her.

In other news…I was able to get the binding sewn on Wendy’s baby quilt by stealing a few minutes here and there. I finished hand stitching the border to the back on Saturday. It turned out very well; I think Wendy did a great job piecing it. She could have done the border herself if there had been more time before the shower. I drafted a label today which included a short poem about tiny fingers and Wendy was happy with it. I hope to get it printed onto the fabric tomorrow and sewn on before the weekend.

Wendy has made this quilt for the baby born to one of her college roommates. He was due in May but was born in January at only 24 weeks; weighing in at a little over one pound. He has had heart and eye surgery during the last three months and now weighs more than six pounds.

I have spent all my free time the last week getting Wendy’s quilt finished and haven’t had a chance to work on any of my projects. I’m not even sure what to tackle next; I should have some time the end of the week

This week promises to be more like spring with temps reaching into the 60’s. YEAH!!! We heard the peepers last night on our way home from dinner at Billy’s.

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