Saturday, March 13, 2010

Seems Like a Long Time!

Oddly enough, I think I have more followers now than before. I suspect, though, it's because I have only been posting sporadically and there must be a couple people who are tired of checking but want to be alerted if I have anything to say. Well, I have A LOT to say, but I've been trying to behave myself and follow doctor's orders, so I've kept quiet. In a virtual sort of way.

Well I've missed you! I really miss the exchanges between me and those of you who "talk" to me in the comments you leave.

As far as my carpal tunnel (or some type of nerve impingement) goes, I've finished the first round of physical therapy and I'm told I haven't made the progress the doctor and therapist hoped for. So next up are nerve conduction studies. If it's carpal tunnel, there's a fairly simple, quick surgery that can be done; if it's the radial nerve, as the doctor thinks it may be, there's no simple, quick surgery to repair the damage. I'd keep my fingers crossed for carpal tunnel, but I suspect crossing my fingers for an extended period of time is something I probably shouldn't do. A friend of mine had the same thing I have with the same fingers (and thumb) and hers turned out to be carpal tunnel. She had the surgery and lived happily ever after. So I'm hopeful I can be just like her.

At this point, a little keyboarding is okay--I just can't type as much as I'd need to in my job. And Hubby will help type too. So I'm hoping to blog a little more frequently than I have been for the past six weeks.

Bet you wonder what I've been doing, right? I've been doing a lot--and not much at all. I'll probably talk a bit about that in the next few days. In the meantime, I thought today I'd show you what I've been doing as far as quilting goes.

I finished this month's Year of Schnibbles quilt--the Roundabout pattern. Right about the time the pattern for this month was announced, Gran and I had gone on a little shop hop (more later) and I'd picked up a couple charm packs of Fig Tree's new Whimsy fabric line. The yardage wasn't out yet, so I used some brown fabric from my stash as a background fabric.


These colors are quite different for me, but I love the vintage look of this line--it reminds me of American Jane in toned down, softer colors. And I found some rick rack at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks that comes pretty darn close to the blue in the fabric--blues are always SO hard to match too! I'm happy with the result.

You've already seen the Rooibos Schnibbles I pieced before, but I'd forgotten to get a photo of it once it was quilted, so when I visited Bearpaws & Hollyhocks, I managed to get a photo:


Probably nearly two years ago, I won the pieced table runner you see below as a door prize at Thimbleberries Club. I'd set it aside to add some applique to it and quilt it, and I finally pulled it off the "to be finished" rack and finished it up last week:


Most of the fabric is Thimbleberries--a couple of older prints. I added wool applique and sewed the applique down by machine as I quilted it. This will make a nice, new tablerunner come fall! I have two more quilt tops that I've pinned for quilting. It seems to me the process of quilting is okay for my hands since my arms, wrists, hands, and fingers are held pretty darn flat while I'm quilting. So you may well see more finished projects before long.

Well, that's more than enough typing for today. If you're here in the US, don't forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour tonight. See you again soon.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love that brown background you chose for Roundabout. I've got another Picnic Schnibble to do using Jo Morton's new black for the background and neutrals for the baskets. Enjoyed the post...was glad to see you on the top of my sidebar for a change.

Betsy said...

welcome back Kim. I hope surgery works for you. The projects you made are all delightful.

paulette said...

Whooopeee...she's back!! Hope surgery does it for you!! I'm loving the new finished projects!! So rest the hands/wrists and we will see you in the morning!! Got to get the Starbucks all ready to brew..all set for my morning read!

Paulette

Julia from Thimbleberries said...

Be good! You have to be able to have class on the 3rd. Really looking forward to that. :)

Julie-Julia

Unknown said...

I love the Roundabout. Your fabric choices are always so great! I'm hoping for you that your wrist/etc turns out to be fixed relativily easily.

Anonymous said...

Kim, so good to see you back on line!! Hoping for the best with your hands. Love the newest Schnibbles quilt, the ric rac is a great match. Take care, Hugs, Cathy

Orcsmom said...

I miss you so-o-o-o-o-o much!!! Can't wait to see you Monday evening.

Big Hugs!!

Pam

Kelly Ann said...

Welcome back...I love me some ric-rak....we have pink, red, yellow and lime green jumbo in the store..just ordered, pink, lt blue and white...like I said I love me some ric-rak.

Nancy said...

Welcome back!! I love the rick rack on that schnibbles...

How about I keep My fingers crossed for you to have carpal tunnel, although I don't like hoping for bad things to happen to good people.

Anonymous said...

Kim, I'm so glad you can continue to sew. Your quilts are beautiful! Hoping for carpal tunnel -- recovery is really fast! Florence

luv2quilt2 said...

Glad to see you back, even for a short visit. I've had carpal tunnel surgery on one hand, and it really took care of the problem. I still need to have it done to the other hand, and will have to schedule it before too long. I hope that's what your problem turns out to be and that you can get it fixed soon.

Kim said...

Love the Whimsy with the ric rac! It's nice to hear from you. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's carpal tunnel. I've had both hands done.

Lorraine said...

Good to see you back! For someone who isn't doing much you have done a lot! Not sure if that makes sense...but really ...nothing in my life makes much sense these days! We have a couple more weeks of daylight saving here....it has been extended to take in a couple of festivals and the odd car race...it is pitch black when I get up to go to the gym at 6am....so am looking forward to putting the clocks back in a couple of weeks. Take care - hope it is carpal tunnel and you can have the surgery and be back to normal....lol ...whatever normal is!

quiltmom anna said...

You are making some beautiful quilts KIm. I hope that it won't be long before you're hands are feeling better. It is nice to see you back on line.
I get a bit discoboobolated by the time change- everything seems like its at the wrong time. I find it harder in the spring than in the fall.
I have been busy with school stuff- hope to get a blog post and quilting done tomorrow.
Hugs,
Anna

Shirley--Knot-y Embroidery Lady said...

Hey!