Adventures In Cardioland!

I should have known better. I mean I was in the midst of a Bad-Things-Come-In-Threes karma, times two. First my bad fall right before Christmas, a trip I was looking forward to was canceled, a good friend died,a family pet died, and our house was broken into. Someone really needed to take me aside and tell me now was not the best time to schedule a physical. Well, lacking such a prescient person in my life, I scheduled. So, I don't know why I was so surprised when the doctor wanted me to have a stress test done. Eek!

No food 4 hours prior and (the worst part) no caffeine 12 hours prior. In view of the raging caffeine-withdrawal headache I had come appointment time (3:00 pm), I regretted not getting up at 2:30 am and having a cup! I was super nervous remembering all the stories I'd heard of people having a heart attack while being tested. I decided to ask and get some reassurance. Hah! The nurse said "oh, yes, it doesn't happen often but it does happen". Yikes! "But," she continued, "this is a great place to have one!!! We're all certified in ACLS and the doctors are nearby". Great. Well, I made it through but my EKG at rest and exercising showed "abnormal changes". Double yikes! I had to go back for a Nuclear Stress Test which is essentially like the regular stress test on the treadmill but at the end they inject you with a radioactive dye and take pictures of your heart. Then because I had the test done on a Friday, I had to wait until Monday for the results and all is fine!!! Apparently I am just someone who shows a quirky EKG, a not uncommon problem in women.

In between all my tests I found this book at the library. I highly recommend it. I did one of the projects, more about that and pictures next time.
Thanks for stopping by.

Mr. Lucky

Friday, February 20 started out like any other day. I was particularly lazy that day and violated my routine of grocery shopping in the morning and didn't leave until just after noon. I also didn't take my MacBook Pro computer off the Family Room sofa like I usually do. I was only gone for a little shy of 1 1/2 hours. It was after I had carried all the groceries in that I noticed our sliding glass doors looked "funny". A quick glance to the sofa revealed no computer nor charger. I think this was when I began to shake. I will add what I did next only because fellow quilters will relate so well. I ran to my sewing room, which is just behind the Family Room, to make sure my Bernina was still there! The police had quite the chuckle over this detail so I tend to leave it out when my listeners are non quilters. The police "dusted" for fingerprints and it seems our crook knew to wear latex gloves. I had a borrowed PC but I'm a Mac girl and well, it just wasn't the same. Nothing was backed up, so I lost pictures and bookmarks and personal information. The sense of violation I felt afterward shocked me. After much investigation by the police, I have come to accept that it"s gone and I have a new computer now. It is different enough that some new learning needs to occur but that is good. And it has Time Machine, a built in system for backing up my computer information.
I've done quite a bit of sewing and managed to do two classes since I last posted. I will post pictures next time. Thanks for stopping by.

Completion

These are the quilt blocks I made for February from an online site that is posting free directions on the 15th of each month. I had to 'drop everything' to make them! I'm using Christmas colors and plan on giving the finished quilt to my SIL.

I finished making the quilt using my Batik leftovers from the Batik Challenge. I so wanted to buy some other Batiks but made myself work with what I had on hand.

Would you believe I still have more scraps left?

I think the quilt is done though. I just started by making some house blocks and letting things evolve from there. It finishes about 40 by 33 inches.

This is William, my daughter's budgie that I inherited when she went off to college. He's been sick for the past several months with cancer. It overtook him yesterday morning. He was a good little guy with as much personality as any dog or cat and will be missed.
Thanks for stopping by.

Feeling Blue...

My daughter left this morning a day late. Flights through Atlanta airport were delayed for several hours yesterday and rebooking on a later flight on Thanksgiving weekend was impossible. It was so great to have her home again. This whole empty nest thing is vastly over-rated.


I found this on Quilting Gallery this morning and it seemed it would be rather fun to enter. You have to send six Charm Squares (you can simply cut five inch squares or send them from Charm Packs). Three of the squares are used for a charity quilt and three are used for the contest. Winners receive 36 charm squares from around the world. The deadline for the contest is December 31. Check it out here.


These are some fat quarters I ordered from a shop on Etsy. They are from the Farmer's Market line by Sandi Henderson. These are from the Spring colorway.


And these are from the Summer colorway. They are so bright and fresh looking I had to have some! There is also a Fall colorway but no Winter, which seems appropriate for this collection or maybe my bias is showing! {photos sew love fabrics}
With leftovers planned for dinner, I am off to the sewing room. Happy creating!