Sister's Choice Quilts

Taking a Little Blogging Break

I am going to be taking a little break from blogging until the last week of September. When I return I hope to get back to my usual quilty and bookish content. 

Things have been rather hectic in my personal life these past months, with many family responsibilities vying for my time. With luck, things will settle down a bit over the next few weeks and I can get back to my hobbies and other interests. Thanks for your patience, and I'll look forward to "talking" to you again the last week of September!

Siderailed By Fabric Related Injury

As I told you all last week, I spent my free time this weekend sorting out my sewing space. That was such a great dialog we had in the comments. It seems a disorganized sewing area is something a lot of you struggle with as well.  

My organization included hauling a lot of heavy tubs of fabric around. Somehow I managed to sprain my thumb! I must have stretched or torn a ligament. It hurt right away and has gotten progressively more painful, swollen, and bruised. We went out first thing yesterday morning and bought a thumb brace, which helps matters considerably. I am immobilizing it and taking Aleve. 

It turns out there are so many things you just cannot do without a thumb. Brushing your teeth is a real challenge, as is typing. I can't seem to manage the space bar whatsoever. Using scissors is completely impossible. I can use the rotary cutter briefly for small pieces, but cutting out a project, starching fabric, and pinning things just isn't happening. 

But look! Here is something I managed to do with my left hand. I could tear the paper off Fat Quartershop's new Square in a Square foundation units without any trouble. That is indeed a testament to how great those papers are and how easy they come off.

I did make some progress on my room organization and will share it with you tomorrow. If any of you were inspired to tackle tidying up your sewing rooms, I hope you managed to do it without injury.

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

Cataracts

I've been blessed with pretty good eyesight during my life.  I need readers to magnify the print when I am reading, but my distance vision has always been all right. In the past few years, I have experienced a gradual worsening of my vision.  I walk three or four days a week with a friend.  I began to notice that the individual leaves I used to be able to see up in a tree were now a blur of indistinguishable green. And when I read a page of a book, there would be a blurry area in the upper left of the page.  I could always shift the page around so my eyes could read the blurry bits, so I didn't worry too much. Then threading needles became really difficult.  I kept wanting more light for whatever task I was working on. More light always seemed to be the answer to my issues. And it helped. Up to a point.

I went to the eye doctor yesterday and she confirmed I had cataracts in both eyes, worse in the left eye.  The good news is, it is fixable. No rush.  I think I'll wait a few months until the COVID issue is more clear, then schedule my procedure.  I have never met a person who has had cataract surgery who has regretted it, so I am pretty excited for good results.

My husband is having some health issues as well, of a more personal nature.  I don't think he would like me to discuss them specifically, so I will respect his wishes.  Let me just say, a general wish of good luck would be welcome on this end right now. Getting old sure is the pits. 

On a lighter note, Eva was having homeschooling with her dad Monday and Tuesday of this week while her grandpa and I were away seeing doctors.  She is such a creature of habit.  She kept texting me, "Nana, can I have my morning break now?  It's 10:30."  "Nana, can I have lunch now?  It's noon".  Good heavens. I will be home soon and we will be back in my kitchen doing homeschool and the Earth will keep spinning on its axis.  

Hope you are all well.  A random quilty thought popped into my mind: have you heard of Joanna Figueroa's (Fig Tree Quilts) new Winter Solstice quilt along? It looks very interesting.  Eight-inch blocks with a dark background.  I do miss the nice big PRINT HERE button for printing the patterns, but you can copy and paste and work around it.

Hope your week is going great. Not long until Christmas.  I just want to get back home and stay put until mid-February.

A Quarantine Story

I hope you all had a nice weekend.  Our weather turned cold and rainy, so I spent a lot of time inside reading my books.  I zoomed through a couple of them, so at the end of the month, I should have a decent number to review for you.  

My husband had a hankering for Potato Leek Soup, so we indulged ourselves in some of that along with our home-baked bread.  From the comments I received last week, it sounds as if a lot of you are bread bakers too!  I also had bought some fresh cherries and made a delicious bar cookie called Cherry Garcia Brownies.  I will definitely share that recipe with you this week.

Speaking of sharing, I meant to share this with you all last week but got sidetracked.  A reader of this blog named Dianne and I have been corresponding recently, and I think a lot of you will be so interested in her quarantine experience.  Dianne and her husband live half the year in California, and half the year in Australia.  Her husband's mom is still with them and they like to spend time with her.  This is their typical time to return to their home in Australia, and have they ever got a travel/quarantine story.  Australia requires all persons who enter the country to shelter in place for two weeks in a hotel when they arrive.  Fourteen days and they cannot stick as much as one toe outside their hotel room!  She and her husband have been put up at the government's expense at a five-star hotel in Sydney. Dianne has shared her adventure on her blog Calfornia GIrl in Oz, and I invite you to hop over and read her adventure.  To my knowledge, she and her husband are on day 10 of their lockdown at this point in time.  After 37 hours of travel and fourteen days stuck in a hotel room, I'll bet she'd be real glad to get some comments.  Be sure to start on Day One and read through all her posts.  They're so good!

Books to Read During Lockdown

We are pretty much under lockdown here, and I imagine your situation may be similar.  We are only going out for the most essential reasons and otherwise staying in the house trying to occupy ourselves with anything to pass the time.  In an effort to provide some sort of distraction (however small), I am going to post every day this week and offer up some topics that may inspire you to try something new.

Our libraries have closed for the duration of the COVID-19 situation, but I have several other options for you to cheaply get your hands on some books that will definitely help you pass the time we are stuck with "social distancing".  Today I am going to recommend some backlist books that will be completely escapist.  You will become so immersed in the worlds of these books that the time we are stuck inside will fly by.  These books are readily available and most can be borrowed at no cost in an eBook or audible format.  The books I mention are available for purchase on Amazon for Kindle, Audible.com, or are available free on a service called Scribd (free for 30 days), or through your library's eBook borrowing service (Hoopla, Axis 365, Libby).

I am not going to provide reviews here, just the briefest descriptions.  Hopefully, there will be something for everyone here.  So, let's go.

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth- a series set in post-war England, 22-year-old Jenny leaves her comfortable life to move into a convent and become a midwife in London's slums.  This is also the highest-rated series BBC has ever done and is available to watch free through Amazon Prime.

A Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell- escape to Denmark with this entertaining real-life saga of a couple who moves to Denmark for a year to see what life there is all about.  See what the Danes get right and wrong, and be completely entertained.  Made me laugh out loud in parts.

Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik- a young woman leaves life in the US behind to move to the Bolivian jungle.  It starts as an exotic excursion and ends up being a fight for survival.  You have to suspend some belief with this book, but I promise you will be completely immersed.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver- one of my all-time favorite books.  An evangelic minister takes his wife and four daughters on a mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959.  Told from the point of view of his wife and daughters.  Pretty amazing story that will stay with you long after you finish the book.

Winter Cottage and Spring House, both by Mary Ellen Taylor- if you love women's fiction and also enjoy books told from alternating timelines, you will be a fan of anything Mary Ellen Taylor writes.  Both these books involve the restoration of properties on an estate on Virginia's Eastern Shore and uncover secrets from the past.  Mary Ellen Taylor has also written the Union Street Bakery series, books that involve baking, plucky heroines and some romance.

The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley- this is a seven-book series (6 available so far) about the adopted daughters of a Swiss bazillionaire who has died and left information to each of the girls about their origins.  Each book tells the story of one of the daughters and follows her back to her country of origin and her ancestors.  All these books have a dual timeline format, which is so fun.  These books will take you to Rio de Janeiro, Norway, Beatrix Potter's Lake District in England, Aboriginal Australia, the Scottish Highlands, Flamenco dancing in Madrid, and the plains of Kenya.  The first in the series is The Seven Sisters.  If you want to escape, these books are the way to go.

Three Pines books by Louise Penney (Inspector Gamache books)-  This series is absolutely beloved by so many readers.  If you have not read any Louise Penny books, you really should give these mysteries a try.  All are set in or involve a cast of characters from Three Pines, a small town in Quebec Province, Canada.  Still Life is the first in the series. You will come to love the characters and enjoy the increasingly deep look into human nature as the series progresses.  Winner of many many awards. 15 books in the series, so if you love this author as so many do, you will be all set for a long time.  You are welcome.

Madame Chic series by Jennifer Scott- if you want to spend your quarantine time on some self-improvement, the Madam Chic books are an entertaining way to do it.  This author explores poise, manners, and the fine art of living.  She also has an intriguing YouTube channel called The Daily Connoisseur, which could occupy you for hours. 

Fingersmith, Affinity, The Little Stranger, The Paying Guests all by Sarah Waters- I have enjoyed everything this author has written.  Her books are historical fiction, some set in Victorian times, others in the 1920s or 40s.  All her books have a creepy Gothic vibe and are suspenseful and atmospheric.  Such a good writer.  Her books tend to be lengthy as well, so they will definitely keep you engrossed for a while.

Last, if you really want to escape from this world, you might want to try some Fantasy books.  

Robin Hobb is a prolific author who has written five series set in The Land of the Elderlings.  I would start with 
The Farseer Trilogy, then The Tawny Man trilogy, then the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, the Live Ships trilogy and then the Rain Wilds series.  If you get caught up in these books, you will not regret it.  I have never read so many pages by one single author!  Each series involves some of the same characters, who you will grow to love as you progress through the books.  Really excellent.  If you have never read books in the Fantasy genre, this is your gateway.  Not violent, no open door sex, no bad language- just top-notch storytelling.

The Blackthorn and Grim books by Juliette Marillier are also an engrossing fantasy series set in an imagined world of ancient Ireland.  Dreamer's Pool, Tower of Thorns,  and Den of Wolves are the books in the trilogy.  The series starts out quite dark, but Blackthorn and Grim are a formidable team and overcome many adversities.  Our grumpy main character Blackthorn is sentenced for seven years to live amongst the people of Dalriada as a healer.  Part fairy tale, part Celtic folklore, these books are magical in more ways than one.

So, what do you think?  With luck, some of these books will take you away from our crazy present world and into realms beyond your wildest imagination.

 

Chat from the Sick Room

Well, this has sure been a wasted week.  I came down with the flu on Sunday night and have spent the week in bed, each day with a new horror of a symptom.  Laryngitis on Monday, faucet nose on Tuesday, fever and chills on Wednesday, and a ruptured eardrum on Thursday.  I took myself to Urgent Care with that latest issue and was told I had the flu, an ear infection and a sinus infection.  I got my antibiotics and some steroids for my asthma and believe, as I write this, that I am beginning to feel a bit better.  And I was so ready to get some good sewing done this week.  I am under strict orders to rest and drink liquids.

The quilt pictured above has been a great comfort to me all week.  We have had lots of time to bond.  I have it on my bed and have not only enjoyed its warmth, but those cute little baskets are so adorable.

In between naps I was able to read these books.  It is amazing what you can accomplish if you read for 8 hours a day.  The only one of these books that I totally loved was Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger, which I would give 4 1/2 stars out of 5.  I tend to love books that are from a "coming of age" point of view, and also books about family.  Twelve year old Rueben lives in Minnesota with his older brother Davy, younger sister Swede and his janitor father Jerimiah.  The story is about a family who encounters some big trouble, but handles it with grace and stoicism.  A few miracles may happen along the way.  If you enjoy books about decent people who have strong values and love of family, this one's for you.

Since I have been down for the count this week, I have not been so good at responding to comments, but thanks to all of you who said nice things about my Triangle Gatherings finish, and also who gave encouragement about the Diva Bernina coming home after her trip to Bernina's Illinois Health Spa.  I wanted to emphasize that I truly have no complaints about Bernina or my dealer in this situation.  I did agree to pay for shipping, and there was a misunderstanding about the warranty date (they originally wanted to bill me for labor which is not covered after the first year).  The dealer stepped up and dealt with Bernina about the date of my machine warranty, so I did not pay any labor charges.  The machine is working great and I appreciated the California technician being honest about not feeling he was up to the complexity of the repair, which caused Diva to make the cross country trip to Illinois to Bernina USA.  I am happy with how it all turned out and am grateful to my dealer here in California and also to Bernina for fixing Diva up and getting her back home safe and sound.  All's well that ends well, right?  It is all good.  I have a niggling worry at the back of my mind that some similar fluke thing could happen again, but as many of you suggested, I need to just get back in there and use her and enjoy her.

Oh, I don't think I shared this with you--Do you recall that my husband had his right knee replaced in July?  He had been troubled for at least ten years with a bad knee and had put off the surgery for a number of (silly) reasons.  The surgery was a great success and he keeps saying he wishes he had not waited so long to get it done. (Do you hear a chorus of voices singing "We told you so...?)  Well, a week or so before Christmas, he was walking in San Francisco and his other knee suddenly went out on him with no warning.  He has been in awful pain ever since, back to using his cane and limping and being miserable.  His doctor says he must have surgery asap to have his left knee replaced!  It turns out he has some kind of hereditary condition that causes knees to wear out. His paternal grandfather spent the last years of his life in a wheel chair, and his dad (Grandpa Larry) had to have both his knees replaced.  He has a surgery date for March, which we hope will be moved up to February.  The orthopedist's office is backed up because one of the doctors broke his leg.  I am serious.

Any of you have big plans for the long Martin Luther King weekend?  Not me.  I plan to get back up to the sewing room and try to make up for lost time this week!

80% Whole 30

I got some interesting comments about the Whole 30 program.  Thanks to all of you who took the time to share your experience.  The program is rather militant, that is for sure.  If you so much as put a teaspoon of milk in your morning coffee or step on the scale to see how you are doing, you are supposed to start the program all over again with Day One.  That is just silly I think.  It may seem like blasphemy to those who have the courage to stick with the program strictly as it is written, but my philosophy is that one can take the elements that work for oneself from a regime and use what works for you individually.

What works for me is giving up bread, rice, grains, and wheat for 30 days.  It also works for me to eat more fruits and vegetables. I can pretty much live without dairy (cheese, cream, yogurt etc)--but my morning coffee?  Sorry, I am having a splash of milk in my cup.  And sigh, the whole wine thing is pretty tough.  I come from a family who is in the wine industry--wine is a part of daily life.

So here's my compromise:  I have 2 oz of white wine in a wine spritzer.  It is refreshing, I can make it last an hour, and it totally satisfies my craving/habit for that glass of wine at the end of the day.

So, while the Whole 30 has given lots of folks amazing health benefits, I think I am going to customize the ideas within the program to suit my individual preferences.  I won't be calling what I am doing "Whole 30", but I will certainly be implementing some of the ideas and recipes from that program into my own diet.

Honestly, I think cutting back on my wine consumption, skipping breads and grains, and eating more fruits and veggies could make a huge impact on my health and appearance!

Second Hand Clothes, A Finish

I am so pleased with this quilt.  Every single bit of it, I love.  The pattern is Second Hand Clothes by Bonnie Blue/Red Crinoline, and the fabrics mostly Kim Diehl designs over the past year or two.  There is a vibrancy to the quilt that makes my eye dance over its surface.  There is liveliness, optimism, and hopefulness that just jumps out at me when I look at it.  This quilt just says "Yes".

This quilt is destined for someone I dearly love, and I tell you, I said a prayer with every stitch I made.

 

Things Change

Well, we finally had to do it.   Grandpa is now a resident of a memory care facility not too far away from us.  We kept him in his own home as long as we could, employing a live in caregiver, a couple of day time care givers, visiting nurses and other therapists.  I had him at my house several days a week, along with my two and half year old grand daughter for whom I care for as well.  At this time, Grandpa's requirements have now surpassed our ability to care for him properly, and providing for his needs in his own home was beginning to take its toll on our family, emotionally and financially.  Of course we feel guilty as anything.  He has done so much for our family, so much for our country--it is so hard not to give him his wishes for the last months or years he has on earth.

What is making things more difficult is that he doesn't want to be there at all.  "Take me home" are the words we are greeted with when we go to visit.  He even goes so far as to pack his overnight bag and put it on his bed, all ready to go.  Every day, he is ready to leave at a moment's notice.  It is too sad.  The facility is lovely, the staff are amazing, lots of activities and attention for him, and the food is even ok.  We are working closely with the staff to "tweak" his care and experiences so that he will be happier.

We are in the early days  here, so hopefully he will adjust in time.  I know many of you must have gone through this with your parents.  Does it get better? 

 

 

 

 

Got To Change My Ways

Well.  I had my annual physical this past week and just got the results of my blood work. 

Let's just say I've had a bit of a wake up call.  Cut back on the carbs, eat more fresh fruits and veggies, consider exercise more than a theory, and maybe take a multi purpose vitamin.

I've never been a believer in vitamins.  Those big ol' horse pills that smell so funky?  Fuggetaboutit.  I get all the news I need on the weather report.  I mean, I get all the vitamins I need from my normal diet, right?  Umm.  Maybe not.

My doctor ordered a new test this time, one I haven't had before.  A test that measures the vitamin D in your body.  Have any of you had this test?  I had never even heard of it!  I suppose when one gets to a certain age, bone density, calcium, vitamin D is a concern. 

My level of Vitamin D was so low it is a miracle I don't have rickets.

So, major changes ahead.  Greek yogurt every day, vitamin D supplements, a multi vitamin, whole grains.  And no pizza deliveries for awhile.