The End of the Year

I took a little bloggy break over the Christmas holiday. We had a great holiday and I hope you did too. Here's a little bit of what you missed around here.

Cooper has been a bit of a bad boy. Here he is after splashing and digging in a mud patch.

He needed a quick hose bath before he could come in. Plus he chewed up both my computer charge cord and my phone/IPad charge cord. He'd been good today though, thank goodness!
 

My mother came and stayed with us for a week. Here she is dusting with Mickey in her arms and Cooper is standing by. We took her to see a gingerbread replica of Auburn's campus one day and a tour of Christmas lights one evening. We do try to pamper her when she's here.

One day we made gingerbread houses with our daughters. Lots of fun and laughter!

 Daughter 2 spent one day at our house making French macarons: very labor intensive, but very delicious!

And I am trucking along on my Celtic Solstice project. I'm still on Clue 2 though Bonnie Hunter has posted 5 clues now. I guess I'm slow at piecing. I need to make 240 of these chevron units. I've made 150. Hopefully I'll finish this clue by the end of the week.

My new sewing machine hasn't come int yet, but I'm hoping it won't be much longer!

Are you looking for a new project for the new year? I'm hosting a free hexie block of the month at The Hexie Blog - go check it out!

Still Sitting Around

Still nursing the torn ligaments in my foot. I'm getting around without crutches now, but I still can't drive. It's good to see a bit of improvement. A few more weeks should do it.

Meanwhile, hubby brought my sewing machine down from the studio a few days ago. My dining table is now my mini-studio. For my holiday project I'm working my way through Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt. SO. MANY. LITTLE. PIECES. A real challenge for me.

I'm using this little iron while I work. I bought it for travel and retreats. Love the size!

See how itty-bitty it is? (I think I need a new pressing surface - eek!) The iron gets really hot for such a little baby.

I'm still working on Bonnie's first clue, though I have already cut clues 2 and 3. Piles of orange and navy here.

Someone insists on sitting in my lap when I'm sewing down here.

I have caught my annual Christmas cold which is making its way through our family this year. I hope all the sneezing, sniffing, and coughing is gone by Christmas.

By the way, I'm getting a new sewing machine for Christmas - sew excited! I'm going to be a Bernina girl very soon! It's been ordered and will hopefully be in soon for hubby to pick up.

Happy sewing, everyone!

Getting Around...Slowly

My sewing group came over yesterday - look at my dining room table: full of fun, fabric, and food! We had a great time making hexie pincushions and chatting the afternoon away. My friends were so sweet to bring food since I can't stand on my feet long to cook.

I went to the ortho doc Monday. The good news: no surgery needed! The bad news: multiple torn ligaments that will take several weeks to heal. The ligaments don't grow back together, but strong scar tissue will form. And there are enough ligaments in the foot to maintain stability even if some are torn. I'm so thrilled with the news, though it doesn't make my foot feel better now. However, I'm getting pretty good at the crutches. Hubby and our daughters have been a huge help to me!

When I'm not icing my foot or heating it with a heating pad, I can sit at my dining table and cut fabric. I'm almost done cutting the almost 1500 pieces needed for Step 2 of the Bonnie Hunter mystery. I had to order Tri-Rec rulers for Step 1. They arrived Monday, so later today I'll start cutting these pieces. Hubby is going to bring my sewing machine downstairs tonight, so maybe tomorrow I'll do some piecing.

I still can't drive because I wouldn't be able to jam on my brakes if needed. I really hope I'll be driving again before Christmas, but we'll see. Meanwhile, I'll continue to do what I'm doing.

The Foot Verdict

So yesterday's x-ray still showed no bone break. But I still can't walk on it - so I'm being sent to an orthopedic specialist next week. I'm really hoping I'm a LOT better by Monday and can skip the ortho doctor. I'm so afraid he's use the S word (surgery) - don't want that!

Meanwhile, I had hubby bring in my bag of crushed walnut shells from the garage this morning so I could finally stuff my pincushion. Worked like a charm - big funnel, huh? Stitched it close and now I have:

the cutest pincushion!

And here's the other side.

I really love it. I'll be making more of these little hexie gems.

And what is that in the background? Daughter 1 came over yesterday during her lunch hour and brought down some stuff from my studio: my cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler, and some fabric I'd already pulled for a quilt. Yes, I'd already decided to work on Bonnie Hunter's new mystery, Celtic Solstice over the holidays.

I'm already a week behind because of my injury. But I'll do what I can. This morning at sat at the dining room table and cut 488 yellow 2" squares. It's a start!

That's all for now - excuse my while I watch some college football!

My View

 Here's my view, elevating my foot while on the sofa. Ahh, could be worse.

Over my shoulder I can see the Christmas trees flanking the front door.

And I have a sweet Mickey on top of me! He's great company.

And there's Cooper chewing up something he stole from hubby's den, but still sticking close to me.

My toes have turned a lovely color; I'd say it's a shade of the new Pantone color for 2014 - Radiant Orchid! Gotta look on the bright side here! Hubby is taking me back to the doctor this afternoon to get another x-ray. I'm actually hoping he finds a hairline fracture; that would heal faster than tendon and ligament damage.

For now I will rest and elevate. And watch Christmas movies. And appliqué. And rest and elevate.

I'm Supposed to be Sewing...

But this is getting in the way:

Oopsy! Big oopsy!

I woke up yesterday feeling great and ready to sew! Before I even drank my coffee, I went up to the studio to bring down some fabric circles - it was hexie pincushion time!

Coming back down the stairs, I missed the last step and landed (still in my nightgown) in the floor. Hubby took me to the Urgent Care Center; it was a real adventure just getting me in the car. 

X-rays say it isn't broken - just very badly sprained. I cannot put any weight on it without excruciating pain. So I'm in an Ace bandage, resting, elevating, icing, and compressing. I have crutches to use to get to the bathroom. The doctor said it should be 50% better after 3 days, but I haven't seen or felt any improvement yet. If it's not significantly better by the end of the week I'm supposed to go back and get x-rayed again.

Hubby stayed home from work yesterday and today to be my legs, but I'm sending him back tomorrow. The daughters can both come help me at lunch time and I'm thinking I'll let them. 

Since it's my right foot I can't drive until it get a LOT better. I'm wondering if I could get upstairs to my studio by scooting on my bottom? Until then I do have some fabric circles to make hexies and I have all my Sue Sprargo projects. So I will survive. I shouldn't complain because so many people have problems so much worse than mine. I'm lucky that I like hand sewing. I can sit in my recliner and sew and watch TV, so it could be so much worse!

May I Sew Now?

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving - hope you and your family did as well! Friday I was pooped and rested. Saturday we spent the day at a football game - LOTS of fun and excitement!

Today I'm pooped again. So now I can sew! This week I'll have a needle and thread in hand for sure.

I asked the daughters to take some pics of Cooper in a Santa hat Thursday. He was not very cooperative which shouldn't surprise me since he's only 8 months old.

They spent most of the time chasing him, hat in mouth!

I'm hosting my sewing group in about 19 days - I think I'll let anyone who wants make pincushions from hexies. Tomorrow I'll make a sample to make sure it works. Can't wait to get back in the studio!