Monthly Archives: June 2013

The Beauty of an Empty Spool

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I was working on whip-stitching the binding on my table toppers this past week, and emptied a spool of thread.  Mind you, there wasn’t much tread on the spool to begin with but I like to save my nearly-empty spools (that don’t have enough thread to use in my sewing machine) to use for my handwork to finish a quilt project.  I had just enough thread left on a spool to complete sewing the binding to the backing – and there wasn’t a stitch of thread (pun intended) left on the spool and my projects were complete.

I am sure those of you who sew and quilt know the feeling of an empty spool – or perhaps these types of revelations just hit me out of nowhere and I have to write them down before they fill my MS brain with stuff so I can keep my brain filled with important things – like the schedules of my children’s summer activities (which I forget daily).

Hence, the empty spool beauty.  While looking at an empty spool, I smile at how many stitches I have used with that spool.  How many creative outlets I’ve used with with that spool of thread.  How many people I have helped put a smile on their face with the quilted projects from that spool of thread.  And although I will eventually need to replace that spool of thread, I do so with glee.  I will get a new spool of thread and can once again piece quilts, quilted projects, hand-sewing projects and continue to share the love from my quilted heart.

Spools

An empty spool is a thing of beauty – old or new, there are so many metaphors that describe an empty spool of thread.  The best one I can use right now is JOY.

Wax On, Wax Off

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I pieced table toppers for my friend Becky in Utah in December 2010.  If you remember, I was diagnosed with MS the last week of December 2010 – and our ‘normal’ world changed to a ‘new normal’ at that time.  Nothing has ever ‘leveled out’ for me since then, as the MS symptoms have progressively gotten worse.  I am currently between MS therapies and will start a new one soon.

Anyway, the table toppers were promised to Becky for her spring tables where she sells her goat’s milk soap.  She has some wonderful displays at various venues for her lovely products.  I believe I had made some autumn table toppers the year (2009) before, for her fall display tables.

Once I was diagnosed, I had a couple of years to try to deal with not only having MS but also to figure out my ‘place’ in our family.  My husband and I had made a pretty good bargain when we had kids – he would handle all mornings and I would handle the evenings.  In the past year, he has had to take on more and more of my evening responsibilities because I was either in the bed and in pain or I was on medication that meant I couldn’t drive.  He is definitely burning his candle at both ends and I haven’t been able to stick to my end of the bargain.

While my foster mother wintered with us earlier this year, we were looking through my stash piles for blocks for her to practice quilting on and I ran across the three table toppers I had made for Becky.  I was terribly ashamed that I hadn’t been able to get them done before but made it my new mission, to get those things done as they aren’t just spring colors but summer colors, too – and although my MS was not under any kind of control, finishing these up was my new ASAP WIP.

So, I set my mind to getting them finished!  I started preparing my MS body by relaxing as much as possible after my nap.  If I could get my legs and feet to stop spazzing and burning, through various relaxation techniques – I was one step closer to being able to get them done.  After a week, I believed I had conquered the relaxation.  Next was my reaction to stress, which usually shows itself in all sorts of painful MS symptoms.  Again, relaxation techniques helped that symptom immensely.  Finally I had to work on the daily dizziness.  My doctor told me to get some motion sickness pills to see if that helped.  Of course, it didn’t help, but it did give me some other ideas on how to try to stop the dizziness such as not getting overheated, resting well in the right temps, etc.

FINALLY, I did it!  I went a week with very few breakthrough symptoms!  Now it was time to tackle Becky’s table toppers.

During my week of dealing with the new me, I found out a very dear and precious (local) friend was having a medical crisis of her own – and needed a whole lot of prayers, praise and thanksgiving to fight her medical battle.  Every time I saw or heard her name, I sent up yet another prayer.  But, I felt I needed to envelope her in prayer more than I was doing.  Hence, the two projects (table toppers for Becky and prayers for my friend), morphed into one project.  And that original Karate Kid movie was my driving force in handling both projects.

Wax on, Wax off, Wax on, Wax off.

Stitch in and pray, stitch out and pray, stitch in and pray, stitch out and pray.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I’ll make it easy on you – I was whip-stitching the binding to the table toppers and with each stitch in that I made, I prayed for my friend.  Each time the needle from my hand went through the fabric, I prayed for my friend.

Stitch in and pray, stitch out and pray.

Here are the three table toppers that I’ve finished – definitely made with love and stitched with prayer:

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The fabric was gifted to me by Linda at AbbiMays.com and it is fabric that was designed for spring release in 2011 by Sandy Gervais.

And now, I will just have to find another project to keep my hands busy and my prayers joined with many others for my dear friend!

Dear Mike

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As I sit here this day, I wonder what heaven is like.  I wonder what death is like.  I wonder how many others are using you as a guardian angel.  I even wonder how many others remember this anniversary from 1997.  And, I wonder if I’ll ever stop missing you.

On the anniversary of your death, I clearly remember what we were doing the day before you passed through to your heavenly home.  My husband and I had gone to San Marcos so he could work and so I could have my first visit with my OB/GYN as I was pregnant with child #2.  You had been in the waiting room when we had DD#1 and I wouldn’t have had it any other way – I always felt like we shared our first baby with you, especially since we talked on the phone weekly (sometimes more than once a week).  I wanted to share as much of this new pregnancy as I could with you as I knew you were not going to have kids…and just the little things regarding our first daughter brought you some of the best joy.

I called you from the campground where we were staying for the night and let you listen to the heartbeat of baby #2 – I had recorded it just for you, so you could be with us in the same way you were involved with our first child.  You laughed and said that heartbeat “sounded like a freight train”.

Little did I know that it would be the last conversation I would have with you – at least while we were both alive.

The next day was Father’s Day.  In 1976, our dad died before we could have another Father’s Day with him.  We made it back to our home in Corpus Christi and I got a frantic phone call from Trickie.  She said something had happened and your eyes rolled up in the back of your head and you were unresponsive.  She had called her mom, a nurse, before she had called me as well as 911 – but, I was the first one she called, in our family, because she knew how hurt I’d be if I didn’t hear something so awful from someone else.  A few hours later, I received a call from an aunt who had a police scanner and said she was so very sorry but you had never regained consciousness and were DOA.  I was crying and screaming and so very upset.  You were the best friend I ever had, outside of my husband.  To this day, I still don’t have a best friend that cared about me as much as you did.  Or that cared about having a sibling relationship in the manner with which you and I had.

I talk to you often, even if it’s just in prayer.  I make sure to visit with you when I have a question about our family and pray for your wisdom to help me see through the quagmire of life to find an answer to my dilemma.

I cannot say I wish we had never gotten so close because without your love and showing me how to love, I was able to find and fall in love with my husband.  We have four wonderful (most of the time, which you would definitely laugh at) kids and none of them know their Uncle Mike except through some old family photos and my stories to them.  But, those stories do not take the place of having you here.

I miss having you here.

I miss you.

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Forever your Sister, Tammy

Choosing Fabrics for a Quilt Project

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I have heard from many quilters that they have no idea how to go about picking out fabrics for a quilt project.  The advice I have given them is to find ONE fabric that you love and build your fabric selections based on that one fabric that they love.

This week, I need to make a baby quilt – so thought I’d put together some photos of potential fabrics for the quilt.  It’s like choosing an Academy Award!  The one fabric (purple with flowers) is the ONE fabric I want in this quilt.  Take a look at my collections that I chose to go with that fabric:

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Fabric group #1

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Fabric group #2

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Fabric group #3

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Fabric group #4

Based on these fabric combinations, which would YOU choose?

This fabric was sent to me by Linda at www.AbbiMays.com.

My final answer is to go with group #2!IMG_0056 (299x450)

I will photograph the final project once it’s done and will share the finished quilt top when it’s complete!

Confessions of a Non-Long-Arm Quilter #2

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We return to our regularly schedule program with the final quilted Rail Fence table topper with fabrics chosen from a Sandy Gervais.collection.

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The project is complete (above) and the lines have all been ironed out.  Here’s the finished quilted project!

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The final things I need to do include cutting the backing and batting to even out the square:

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Finished table topper:

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The quilting on this project took about an hour.  I just have to bind it (fabrics already picked out for that) and then it is ready for Ms. Becky’s Spirit Goat tables where she sells her products!