Dragon Baby quilted & DSW Day

Dragon Baby border is being curvy-scalloped. Quilting is spiky to match the dragon backbone spikes. The batting is 100% cotton.  I'm afraid of poly batting in kids quilts, in case of fire - I hate the thought of plastic melting on to skin.  Much better to burn right off.

The body of the quilt was quilted with orange peel design.  The dragon got a few scales.

I took a personal day on Thursday and went ... Shoe shopping!!!!  Vouchers are only good for so long, you know.  :-)

I got home at 9 pm and as I walked in the door DH handed me the phone.  Apparently the whole world had been trying to find me, starting at 2:40 in the afternoon.  Mom fell and broke her hip (or more likely broke her hip and THEN fell) and was in the hospital.  Poor Mom is in a lot of pain and totally drugged up while she waits for her blood INR to get to a level where they can operate without making her bleed out.  Likely Saturday or Sunday.  It was already so late at night by the time I sorted out calls to the nursing home and the hospital that I waited until Friday morning to go down to sign the surgery waiver.  Supposedly she will be back at the nursing home approximately one week after surgery.  My great hope is that she will get back her mobility.  Most of the residents at the home are in wheelchairs - Mom is one of the few who wanders the halls under her own steam, using a walker.

Dragon Baby Quilt

Yesterday was a great day for making a baby quilt.

I started with 2 1/2" strips that were from a guild Strippers Club. I think I used 18 strips.

One of the strips was cut up into 2 1/2" squares that I used as little spacers between joins. And since 2012 is the Year of the Dragon... 

The borders were cut at 6 1/2".

Isn't he just the cutest???  I picked up the animal border and the green plaid at the Red Bobbin in Brantford during one of my Red Hat outings.

The top measures 44" x 50", including the 6" wide border.  Today I'll get this quilted, around my normal Monday schedule of going to do physio with Mom.  And don't forget the tea and timbits which is the other part of the Monday physio schedule. 

Another Bargello and Arm Update

A wee while ago I posted a fabulous bargello quilt.  The maker had enough strips to make a second top.  Even though I'm not a lover of brown I think this quilt is gorgeous.  Very rich colours.  It has such depth I just want to sink my hands into it.

This was quilted with the same design as the first quilt.

And, how do country folk amuse themselves in the evening???

My cast was due to come off the week of Feb. 6th but the clinic could not see me until the 22nd.  My skin on the little wrist bones was getting rubbed raw and I was having nightmares about weeping sores inside the cast.  Then the nightmares turned into blood infections and gangrene (you know how your mind runs away with you at night), so I thought for my mental health I had better have dh go to work on me.  I laughed when I saw the top right pic - it looks like he's cutting my hand off.  Right now, I am using a wrist brace and suffering through weakness, swelling and some discomfort.  Next step - physiotherapy.  I was so sad on the weekend - we got a beautiful little snowstorm and I was not able to go out and do my shoveling on the front walk and the back patio.  Weird as it sounds, I really enjoy that job, probably because it is pretty infrequent.  Although, I enjoy weeding the garden too, and that is NOT infrequent.  Actually, I'm already a little worried about whether I will regain enough strength in my arm to take care of the garden this summer.  What will happen with my zucchini crop???  I sure as hell know that dh will not baby it, zucchini hater that he is.

I've been doing so much reading and tv watching since I fell.  The latest book I finished was by Sophie Kinsella:  Remember Me?  I love her books (the Shopaholic series) - they are light fluff and just plain fun.  Similar to the Janet Evanovich books, but with fewer guns and less potty-mouth. Now I've started something a little more intellectual: the Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, about a photojournalist in Vietnam.  In my, um, PAST life I did a lot of other things.  Reading a book would often take me three weeks.  Now, with almost no housework on my job list and pretty much no cooking, I am knocking books off two per week. And I'm already half way through season 3 of Mad Men (downloaded on 'the box' attached to the tv).  Oh, yeah, and I'm still up two pounds, too.

Happy Valentines Day.  Enjoy your chocolates.

Butterfly quilt & Tumblers on the design wall

This is the butterfly quilt I made for my friend's daughter last spring.  Cheater Designer butterfly panels, not real (aack) applique  by me.

As usual, this got s.i.d. in all sashing and borders.  The 9-patch blocks were quilted with c/c, Line Dancing, and feathers.

The borders were quilted with a curled feather.  I love the vintage look of this quilt.

Speaking of vintage, these are the 30's Tumblers I've been working on since last spring.  In my endless, incapacitated boredom I convinced dh to drag out the flannel board for me.  We had to have a few arguments discussions about the proper way to set it up.  I won.