Monday, March 31, 2008

Opening day



We try again tomorrow nite

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Guess Where I'll be tomorrow?????

I'll give you a hint since I can't post a pic!!! What's with that?????? Anyway I have lots of prep work I "was " going to do tomorrow before my change of plans. Taking dad for minor surgery Tuesday and will be sitting for 5 hours give or take....and not sure what the plan is for tomorrow night so gotta get "prepared"

Enjoy opening day everyone......

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Friday's Debi's Birthday :)

And she's giving a gift away. So go stop at her blog and wish her a happy birthday! You may win a gift :) Tell her I sent you ;)

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Help!!

I lost all my "stuff" like my ring html codes :(
The Scrap Quilters and Stash Busters ones :(
I have to go reload my Yankee one- I hate trying to "fix" things and then everything goes wrong!!!
I'm still plugging along- Vet quilt loaded but not quilted. Tonight is a stitch and bitch sewing group and I hope to get a bunch more Cathedral windows done. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this and am so HAPPY!!!

Monday, March 24, 2008

No pics today :(

I did manage to get not one but 2 of the Girl Scout quilt tops together minus borders. I have orange and yellow for them. Maybe tonight , but probably not. I need to get the Vet quilt loaded as I never got to do that today.

The Viking was acting up yesterday when I was sewing the binding down and the belt needs to be changed on the feather weight. :( So what am I supposed to do?? I have deadlines and quilts that need to be made :( . So when I was unplugging my VIking to get ready for the sewing machine spa....I saw the Singer I got for HS graduation many years ago. It was serviced before I bought the janome gem so it was good to go and I got a PERFECT 1/4" seam from it after some playing. Problem is, I can't find the bobbin box full of it's bobbins :(

THe gem was still in my roll along sewing case. I needed to take some parts off before I got rid of it. They wanted over $100 to fix it again and it would have been the third time and since I only spent $199 for it in the first place I voted no. But it did have a brand spanking new 1/4" foot with the little side guard on it. hmmmmmmm it looks like it might fit the Singer and will wonders never cease IT DID!!!! Of course I figured that at the end of the day when I was done :(
I need to put another red block together for the GS quilts so DD can lay another top out and I'll work on that on breaks from the Vet quilt - yippee!!! And I even found another piece of 90" muslin I can use for a backing. So that will help when we get to that stage- I have 3 backings so far and I need to get a friend to design a label I can use for all of them.

Tonight I believe I'll work on my cathedral windows again. I have 64 more blocks to sew together and the monster will be done.I need all of them pressed and started by April 1st when I take my dad for hand surgery. They need to be there so early before the surgery. I know I'll have hours to kill. Even if it's just filling the "windows". Plus I need some for Wednesday night's stitch and bitch . Maybe after that and the GS quilts I can get back to my ocean waves quilt. I think I need another 30 blocks for another king. Mel are you ready???? LOL. ANd I need to design a black/white/red quilt for the neighbor's daughter for her sweet 16 for dd to give her. I'm debating another pineapple blossom or something using 2 1/2" strips of black and whites with red....

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Love Quilt is Done :)




Another one is half quilted on the frame and I think I'm going to try and do alittle more and call it a night. Binidng is made for that one and the Vet quilt that will get loaded tomorrow :)

Tonight I need to grate some carrots for Carrot Cake for tomorrow's dessert yummmmm

Have a Blessed Easter

Friday, March 21, 2008

this pile is the bonus hsts from a mystery I'm doing on one of my groups and the love quilt I finished the blocks/rows of this morning. That's alot of hsts to be pressed and trimmed :( But at least it shows I've been sewing :)

I have 2 quilts to do tomorrow at least the quilting and start getting bindings attached. I don't care if I spend all of Easter Day sewing them down I NEED to get them both done this weekend. Then load the Vet quilt to have finished by THIS Thursday night

DD helped by laying out a Girl Scout quilt and I have the blocks in rows and will press them tonight. I have borders for 2 of 7 ready to go :)



Lookie what DD and the mail lady bought me today :) . DD's gift is 20 fqs in a cute container. I never did a Turning 20 this might be the fabric to try it with.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

A Banner Mail Day



It's almost like Christmas :)
Look at all the goodies that came in the mail.
Planetpatchwork has the 3 EQ books as a bundle for $49
Blockbook, EQ6 Simplified ( I so need that :p) and pieced drawing.
But look I finally found the featherweight book everyone raves about and managed to find the manuel on CD on ebay.
Of course they all came as did the Australian Patchwork magazine when I don't have time to sit and read. Isn't that always the way???
Oh and look on someone's blog they had Bits and Piece's book....for small quilts and of course next thing I knew it was coming via Amazon's One Click shipping.

I'm about half done with the rows of the love quilt I'm doing 9 x 13 instead of the 10 by 14 of the drawing. I have 6 more horizontal rows to piece and add. I probably would be done but I had to help a friend at her hair salon all afternoon yesterday and didn't even remember to grab the cathedral windows to do while it was slow. And I didn't grab the book, The Mountain Artisans Quilting Boook, that Finn had on her blog last week. That is a very interesting book. It came yesterday :)

Well back to the quilt and I'll try to read blogs tonight, I've been working myself till I drop at night. Hopefully I won't have to work tomorrow as I'm sending DD to work since she's off of school for Good Friday.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Please Read

SIGNS OF OVARIAN CANCER

(Even In The Absence Of Ovaries)
An Eye-Opener On Ovarian Cancer
THIS IS A MUST TO READ TO THE END


I hope you all take the time to read this and pass it on to all you can. Send this to the women in your life that you care about.



Years ago, Gilda Radner died of ovarian cancer. Her symptoms were inconclusive, and she was treated for everything under the sun until it was too late. This blood test finally identified her illness but alas, too late. She wrote a book to heighten awareness. Gene Wilder is her widower.

Kathy's Story: this is the story of Kathy West

As all of you know, I have Primary Peritoneal Cancer. This cancer has only recently been identified as its OWN type of cancer, but it is essentially Ovarian Cancer.


Both types of cancer are diagnosed in the same way, with the 'tumor marker' CA-125 BLOOD TEST, and they are treated in the same way - surgery to remove the primary tumor and then chemotherapy with Taxol and Carboplatin.


Having gone through this ordeal, I want to save others from the same fate . That is why I am sending this message to you and hope you will print it and give it or send it via E-mail to everybody you know.


One thing I have learned is that each of us must take TOTAL responsibility for our own health care. I thought I had done that because I always had an annual physical and PAP smear, did a monthly Self-Breast Exam, went to the dentist at least twice a year, etc. I even insisted on a sigmoidoscopy and a bone density test last year. When I had a total hysterectomy in 1993, I thought that I did not have to worry about getting any of the female reproductive organ cancers.


LITTLE DID I KNOW. I don't have ovaries (and they were HEALTHY when they were removed), but I have what is essentially ovarian cancer. Strange, isn't it?
These are just SOME of the things our Doctors never tell us: ONE out of every 55 women will get OVARIAN or PRIMARY PERITONEAL CANCER.


The 'CLASSIC' symptoms are an ABDOMEN that rather SUDDENLY ENLARGES and CONSTIPATION and/or DIARRHEA.

I had these classic symptoms and went to the doctor. Because these symptoms seemed to be 'abdominal', I went to a gastroenterologist. He ran tests that were designed to determine whether there was a bacteria infection; these tests were negative, and I was diagnosed with 'Irritable Bowel Syndrome'. I guess I would have accepted this diagnosis had it not been for my enlarged abdomen. I swear to you, it looked like I was 4-5 months pregnant! I therefore insisted on more tests


They took an X-ray of my abdomen; it was negative. I was again assured that I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome and was encouraged to go on my scheduled month-long trip to Europe . I couldn't wear any of my slacks or shorts because I couldn't get them buttoned, and I KNEW something was radically wrong. I INSISTED on more tests, and they reluctantly) scheduled me for a CT-Scan (just to shut me up, I think). This is what I mean by 'taking charge of our own health care.'


The CT-Scan showed a lot of fluid in my abdomen (NOT normal). Needless to say, I had to cancel my trip and have FIVE POUNDS of fluid drawn off at the hospital (not a pleasant experience I assure you), but NOTHING compared to what was ahead of me.


Tests revealed cancer cells in the fluid. Finally, finally, finally, the doctor ran a CA-125 blood test, and I was properly diagnosed.
I HAD THE CLASSIC SYMPTOMS FOR OVARIAN CANCER, AND YET THIS SIMPLE CA-125 BLOOD TEST HAD NEVER BEEN RUN ON ME, not as part of my annual physical exam and not when I was symptomatic. This is an inexpensive and simple blood test!


PLEASE, PLEASE TELL ALL YOUR FEMALE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES TO INSIST ON A CA-125 BLOOD TEST EVERY YEAR AS PART OF THEIR ANNUAL PHYSICAL EXAMS.

Be fore warned that their doctors might try to talk them out of it, saying, 'IT ISN'T NECESSARY.' Believe me, had I known then what I know now, we would have caught my cancer much earlier (before it was a stage 3 cancer). Insist on the CA-125 BLOOD TEST; DO NOT take 'NO' for an answer!

The normal range for a CA-125 BLOOD TEST is between zero and 35. MINE WAS 754. (That's right, 754!). If the number is slightly above 35, you can have another done in three or six months and keep a close eye on it, just as women do when they have fibroid tumors or when men have a slightly elevated PSA test (Prostatic Specific Antigens) that helps diagnose prostate cancer.


Having the CA-125 test done annually can alert you early, and that's the goal in diagnosing any type of cancer - catching it early.

Do you know 55 women? If so, at least one of them will have this VERY AGGRESSIVE cancer. Please, go to your doctor and insist on a CA-125 test and have one EVERY YEAR for the rest of your life.

And forward this message to every woman you know, and tell all of your female family members and friends. Though the median age for this cancer is 56, (and, guess what, I'm exactly 56, women as young as 22 have it. Age is no factor.


A NOTE FROM THE RN:

Well , after reading this, I made some calls. I found that the CA-125 test is an ovarian screening test equivalent to a man's PSA test prostate screen (which my husband's doctor automatically gives him in his physical each year and insurance pays for it). I called the general practitioner's office about having the test done. The nurse had never heard of it. She told me that she doubted that insurance would pay for it. So I called Prudential Insurance Co, and got the same response. Never heard of it - it won't be covered.I explained that it was the same as the PSA test they had paid for my husband for years.After conferring with whomever they confer with,she told me that the CA-125 would be covered.

It is $75 in a GP's office and $125 at the GYN's. This is a screening test that should be required just like a PAP smear (a PAP smear cannot detect problems with your ovaries). And you must insist that your insurance company pay for it.

Gene Wilder and Pierce Brosnan (his wife had it, too) are lobbying for women's health issues, saying that this test should be required in our physicals, just like the PAP and the mammogram. PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO SEND THIS OUT TO ALL THOSE YOU CAN. BE IT MALE OR FEMALE, IT SHOULD NOT MATTER, AS THEY CAN FORWARD IT ALSO TO THOSE LOVED ONES THEY KNOW.

IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH FORWARDING SOMETHING AS IMPORTANT AS THIS, HERE'S A LITTLE HINT THAT MAY ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR DECISION ~ JUST PRETEND THAT THIS IS A JOKE, WHICH IT CERTAINLY IS NOT, AND SEND IT OUT TO ALL THE FOLKS YOU WOULD IF IT WAS. THANKS

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Another day is paradise, NOT

I managed to clear the frame off to load the Vet quilt. Oiled Mr Juki and he's ready to roll. The Vet won't be back from Walter Reed's till after Easter.
Yesterday I got word that one of DD's friend's mother has breast cancer :(
So after returning from the animal vet's I started making blocks for a love quilt for her. Normally different groups I belong to would donate blocks to help but since I picked a super easy pattern I decided that I can just use what I have here. Heaven knows I have way too much pinks left over from other quilts and I did go out and purchase some more lights for backgrounds of the blocks. That fabric is in the wash ready for the dryer.
I've decided to make this quilt:
Now the question is, Do you call the block shooting star like Quilter's Cache???? Or do you call it Lazy Star?????



Poor Nancy's inciscion is alittle infected so she needs to wear a collar again and take more antibiotics. Also she's still grounded till next week when she gets rechecked :(
But DD's cat, Cyd Vicious, is free to roam and hunt and this afternoon she was after him :

Sunday, March 16, 2008



This about all I've done for 2 weeks that got finished.
It's a quilt for a Vet. I need to quilt it this week for delivery.
I'm in various stages of the GS quilts and I need to start dyeing fabric for that also.