I sit her laughing at myself

It is now Monday the 25th, still sick, got myself to the Dr. on Sat., ended up having a burst eardrum last Thursday morn, turned into a raging ear infection and a sinus infection.  But No pneumonia tho. LOL - I took decongestants all last week and now I'm on ear drops and a Z-pack  I thought I felt better today, a little dizzy but OK, that was till I bent down to do some cleaning.  got so dizzy that I nearly fell.  Grateful that I could hold on to something till the dizziness passed and was able to get over to a chair to sit down.  Boy I am wondering what am I doing wrong?  my immune system seems to be so down that I just go from one infection to the other.... 1st the bad UTI that the new Dr. I saw ordered such an expensive  antibiotic I couldn't afford it.  So I had to ride that one out.  Now this burst eardrum and an ear and sinus infection that hopefully will abate soon with the ear drops and Zithromax.  I did not count on this dizziness.  I certainly don't want to fall and break something!  I will have to look and see if I can somehow get my immune system up to par.  Get Healthy and get moving!  for now I will use my 4 pronged cane to maneuver in my home and probably get to bed to rest for a bit.  I am not enjoying being sick at all and want to get to my sewing machine to finish up my mug rugs before the 28th.  I want to send them off by next Monday at the latest.
I was looking at the cutest fabric from Christa Quilts.  I think it will go nicely with the bags I am looking at creating for Christmas for my little George, William, Nathan, James, Ethan, Mason & ?  The bags will be a good size to hold cars, baby toys and such. easy for them to carry and just boyish enough.  I only need 1/2 fat quarter for each bag and a zipper....
Feeling less dizzy this Eve.  Happy Monday to all.  Blessings. from this Dizzy Dame here at Creative Lady's Enthusiastic Thoughts.

a crazy end to a great week

I am sitting here at my computer - it's 2am - I have a roaring head cold, sneezing, coughing ect.  went to bed early but woke in a cold sweat.. showered but still sneezing away!  I do hope this doesn't turn into pneumonia....Oh my - I will try to go back to bed now - Medicine down and hopefully I will away a new woman in the am.  Missed Church Sunday, did not get much sewing/quilting done....Oh My!  Tomorrow my Granddaughter Caroline is going to pick out her wedding dress,,,I wanted to be there but don't want to share this crud with her - at least my daughter Beth will be able to be there. Hope they will share pics with me via my phone.

My Amazing Week!

The past 2 weeks have been amazing for me.  Starting with Tuesday the 5th of Feb., usually I would go to my quilting down at the point with my quilting buddies Frank and Gwen, but we decided not to meet since Frank is moving and Gwen was busy. I did go to the 1st Tuesday club meeting down at the quilt shop that day, I signed up to go to the "Ladies Night Out" quilt retreat Mon - Wed. 2/11- 2/13 and choose to sleep over since it was supposed to snow each night.  I left Thursday Morn after cleaning off 3 inches of snow.   I was able to get a lot of quilting done and had an awesome time.  I met some great ladies and the conversation was great.  I loved networking with my new friends.  Tomorrow I am going to attend the Hudson Heritage Quilters at Bethel Lutheran Church.  Carol K who was at the retreat belongs to it as well as other quilters.  I also love Civil War Quilts and plan to attend the Civil War Club at Sew Little Time Quilt Shop that meets every 2nd and 4th Thursday.  They are in the middle of a project but I can bring a project to work on...I know just the one.  a pattern bought last year? (or was it in 2011) at the shop when it was over at exit 4 off of 94.   I am so excited.  Below is the quilt top I worked on at the retreat.  I completed rows 2 - 5 - Yeah! now to square them up. piece them together and get them ready for quilting.

Meadow Lark row Quilt
 

Im going to follow alogn with these gals as they do some crazy quilt stitching this year.

my 1st crazy block...

This morning after checking my emails I traveled over to Debra's Design Studio and Oh My! what a lusciously delicious Crazy Quilt did she make.  Oh - gave me incentive to do more with my patchwork blocks that I have been making... Then I traveled over to the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2013 inspirational Home Page and more beautiful crazy quilting from so many talented ladies.  I am definitely going to follow along with them as they do a block a month since I am too late to sign up this year.  Oh' well maybe next. Wow! - eye candy for the soul so check them out.  Here are some of the blocks that I did last year, tho not a match to what these ladies have done.  Now I know what I want to do with them... Add more embroidery and embellishments and make mini quilts with them...or?????  The Possibilities are endless.

Scrapbooking, another challange for this year!

Scrapbooking Project 2013 January

Wow it is already the 12th of Jan and I am just getting to checking out this email from Connie Prince.  I have been so caught up with quilting that I am ignoring other fun stuff I love to do.   I think my 1st project I had planned was to scrapbook those family photos & cards that arrive at Christmas time.  and I like these little prompts so I think I will try to fit this into my life.  at least to gather the pictures etc.. and do some digital scrapbooking.... 

Mmmmm So. # 1 this year I want to accomplish Lovely finishes for 2013 with my quilting projects. and I have started to catalog them and have joined an online group to help with it. 
Jan - my Piano Runner  - I have been taking many pictures to place on my Blog and flickr so why not a page of photos that would let me see visably just what I have to do....! 

Photos of Pillows on my Bed

The Brown Pillow in the back are from a Set - I kept

 I kept the large Silky Brown Pillow Shams and gave away the comforter, The smaller brown pillow was from a thrift store and the Pink Pillow is a pink pillowcase with a great border embroidery that I pinned over a pillow form to showcase the edge.

These are some of the pillows on my Bed

I call this one Lace, Ribbon and Rose's  It is a pillowcase from Penny's with a fancy lace edge folded
over a sofa pillow and tied with Ribbon and a silk rose added.  

This Rose Pillow was bought at Goodwill Thrift Store 

I couldn't resist this cross stitched Pillow "Home Sweet Home"

bought several years ago for $25 at Target.  A splurge I know

but I love its lacy sweetness

 

This is the Yummy lace on my Lace, Ribbon & Rose's

Pillow above - I am so glad I bought 2 sets of this pillow case. 

Pillows on my Bed!

I'd like to share a thought with you today.  I love pillows and have many on my bed.  Pillows of all sizes and shapes.  I know my children wonder what's up with mamma - Well nothing really.  My love of pillows has always been strong and in my younger years I decorated my living room with pillows on the sofa, chairs and sometimes large ones on the floors.  I loved to change the look by pining on fabric, tying with bows or sewing new pillow covers.  So pillows have always played a part in my Décor.  They really didn't show up in my bedroom much but I did have 2 sizes on my bed the large king size and the standard pillow, these were used by hubby and me and I did enjoy changing the colors with my sheets but nothing spectacular.  So how did such a varied and large amount  end up on my Bed?

It all started back in 2005 after my hubby had a stroke and had to be in a nursing home.  I found that  I was uncomfortable with the empty space on his side of the bed. (I was unaware of these feelings till much later).  I found that Stuff seemed to gravitate towards my bed to fill that empty space, laundry, books, even the occasional box of things that needed to be put away in other areas of the house.  I seemed comfortable with this chaos but didn't understand it.  I'm sure the kids thought Mom was loosing it and becoming more of a messy housekeeper.  Especially since my bedroom was now down in the Dining area of my home and very viewable from both the kitchen and living room.  (This came about when my hubby couldn't go upstairs due to his medical  problems, sometime in 2002.) This continued several years even after I let go of the house and moved to a smaller home.  All this time my husband was in the nursing home.  It wasn't until I moved to my present home in 2011 that the pillows Became the focal point of my home.  Hubby had died in 2009 and I did not seem to need the comfort of "Stuff" on my bed.
When I had moved from my home in the Twin Cities to a small house in a lovely little town in Wisconsin I decided to dress up my bed and ordered a lovely set from Macy's in rich brown tones to go with my "Pink" Bedroom. I emphasize "pink" because in my older home my walls were either off white or wallpapered.  The set came with these gorgeous large pillows with shams,  the set was too dark for my room so I gave one of the kids my comforter ect. - keeping the large pillows for my bed. I started adding more pillows to the mix, all the while still dealing with the chaos of clothing ect on my bed. 
After my move in 2011 to a cottage with lots of sunshine and light I found myself not wanting extra stuff on my bed and was comfortable with just my array of Pillows.  I still do find stuff gravitating towards that empty space to take up residence but am more able to clear that away and just have my bed be graced with just the pillows.  With knowing why I let "Stuff" gather I find it easier to clear it away and just let those Pillows Shine! 
Wow, I certainly have said a lot so now I will make my bed, clear off the excess stuff (like the curtains that have made their way from my lined closet and have not been put away and some clothing?????  :)  I will clear the clutter and take a photo of my bed as it should look.  See you later.
 

The Day after Christmas.

My Back Yard Winter 2011 -  N. Hudson WI

Here it is the day after Christmas already.  Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day with you family.  I enjoyed baking sugar cookies with my Grandson and his fiancé and baby James, then dinner at my daughter Nan's, playing trivia with all my kids and grandkids made it so fun.  It was nice to see most of my kids together and the conversation and laughter, movies and playfulness of the gk was so fun to watch. 
Now here it is the day after. no running around shopping for all those deals out there.  Just looking thru my emails and all the deals on line one could take advantage of.  Of course I did get some great deals on my favorite hand and body creams and hand soap from my favorite Bath and Body.  Also all the deals on fabric and notions was great too.  Made window shopping so simple :)

I love window shopping, I learned at an early age that I get most of my ideas from window shopping and it is easy on my budget because I don't really need to spend a lot of money and get great ideas that I can use at any time  of the year.  Now to get back into my studio and work on another project.


Wishes for a Blessed New Year to all my family and friends.  

My Pintrest Morning

I awoke early this am and was checking my e-mails on my tablet as I usually do before getting out of bed.  I pursued over to my Pintrest emails of new people following my boards an repining from them and came across some cleaning ideas for my home.  Intriguing  as it was, cleaning my home with green products - making febreze, windex and orange spray for cleaning.  Wow TOTALY cool and inexpensive.  So my next trip to the store will have some new ingredients on it for helping me keep my home clean and smelling fresh and keeping some $ in my pocket doing it.  Saving $ is always a bonus for me since I am now retired and on a limited budget.  I pinned some of these Ideas on my Pintrest Board, "For The Home" to share with my readers and especially with my grown kids.  Boy where was Pintrest when I was a young housewife. 

OK now I am going grab some cereal and coffee to start my day.  Maybe do a little Christmas Decorating or fixing Cookies for the Holidays. and then to quilt and finish up some blocks I have been working on.
 
My Shopping List:
Baking Soda, White Vinegar - (I already keep a gallon on hand), White Ammonia, Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide, Biz, Borax, Dawn Dishwashing Liquid, ect.

I also came across some nifty blogs all about cleaning;

• The Quick and the Hungry
• Fake it Frugal
• Apartment Therapy 

These are just a few so if you head over to my Pintrest board you can find more.  Enjoy!

I Had A Very Nice Saturday!

Today it was a rainy December day here in Wisconsin.  I was invited to breakfast at Perkin's for my daughter Nan's Birthday, went Christmas shopping afterwards with Nan and GD Zuri.  We had a nice time and I was able to complete my Christmas shopping, enjoyed Peppermint Latte's at Starbuck's, then returned home just in time for the 5 O'clock news.... It did seem a bit strange tho to be out and about in the rain in Mid December.  I enjoyed it tho - winter will be here full force soon enough.  I hope everyone had as nice a day.

Up early to work on my About Me Page for EBay

This Morning I thought I would work on my About Me Page for my Etsy, ArtFire & EBay Stores.  I begin by gathering all the about me's from my blogs, Stores and Facebook pages to I can make them into one cohesive About Me Page.  I do think I bit off more than I can Chew - lol  but I will try. 

My blogs:
Quilting And Sewing Arts
My Studio at Quilting and Sewing Arts
Creative Lady's Enthusiastic Thoughts

Today I plan on working on a table runner for Christmas.  It is from Legacy Patterns, called "Very Braidy Christmas it even has a pattern for a stocking.  Check out my My Studio at Quilting and Sewing Arts for Pictures

Finish Up Friday is Here.

Today I will work on a project that is simple to do for a gift I need on Sunday.  So far this week I have finished up knitting baby hats for my "3rd Monday Crafting Group" I am starting on a Christmas Runner I am making at my quilting group "the Quilters at 3rd & Vine".  I started cutting out my 2 1/2" strips then cutting them into 4" segments, then I will sew them together.  I also need to quilt my other runner.  Wow I think I have planned a busy day today.  "Lovin it" :}

Can't sleep tonight!

Here it is 2am in the morning and I can't sleep.  I got some very good news from my spine specialist.  I don't need surgery at this time since my leg and back pain have improved after having the steroid shot in my back 6 weeks ago and strength has gotten better in my R leg.  I was not looking forward to surgery so close to my Shoulder replacement surgery in late August.  I am so glad I opted for the steroid shot in my back in October.  My Shoulder continues to get stronger daily and I am back to working in my Studio - quilting and sewing and organizing. 

Yesterday morning while reading an old quilting magazine, American Patchwork & Quilting,  I found a pattern for a small wall hanging that would be ideal for spring.  It is called "Nature's Beauty" by Designer Carol Armstrong.   She also has a book out that I want to read.  I think I will see if it is available in the Library downtown.

mmmm lunch time but I wanted to blog 1st

well i am getting hungry, I can tell cause I can't think straight, but 1st I wanted to touch base.  I finally got something up for finish up Friday at Amanda jean's blog.  Yeah! i wrote about it on Monday and actually got it linked up today.  It has been my Mini Quilt.  I started blogging about the creative process for this from inception to completion at my Studio . I really had fun sharing this process with you all.  Today I plan to complet my 4 wonky log cabin blocs for the quilts going to Sandy's storm survivors.  I will post pictures of them later.  ok now I can go and eat.....

Sleep study finished

Here it is Thursday am and I am home sitting here at the computer, sleepy with my hair full of gunk and trying to decide if I am going to shower 1st and then lay down or sleep 1st & then shower....I think the 2nd option is what I will do, I am SO sleepy so I will get a small towel to lay over my pillow and crawl into my comfy bed and nap till noon or so if i want. 
Just finished up a sleep study and added another diagnosis to my long an growing list this year,  LOL, I have sleep apnea and need to get a CPAP - Oh well....I guess that will be OK - just another thing to lug around when I travel.  so I will say Nap time for now and talk to you all later. LOL - Momo

PS - I did stop at Perkins an had a good breakfast before coming home so I did not miss breakfast, Yea!
Q.-1 what would you have done in this situation?
Q -2 what are you doing today to take care of yourself?
Love to hear your thoughts. 

Monday Morning

I enjoy my mornings checking out my e-mails and newletters from my favorite blogs.  I looked out my window this morning and saw a slight dusting of snow swirling around on the blacktop.  Oh, it is November after all but it has been so nice the past few days, autumn weather was enjoyable but now it has turned colder this morning. I wonder if it will snow some more.  I should check out my weather station for news.  Over the weekend I was in my Studio and finished up a mini quilt that I will share with my readers in My Studio and also Quilting & Sewing Arts.  Here is a couple of pictures Id like to share

My Christmas Star/Autumn Pumkins Mini-Quilt:

Opps! it's already 8am

Wow, here I am blogging again on my web site: Quilting and Sewing Arts about the newsletter I recived from Details by Diane, (not me!) this morning. I just love to read my e-mail in bed in the morning.  Time is getting short and I must get ready to go downtown, St Paul, for my monthly Infusion for my RA.  so I think I better get myself ready!  I know I can do it... check out my blog above to see my most recent post.

What a rainy day outside

Did you Vote yet?  I did.  Today is a dreary, cold & rainy day but sharing it with others while waiting in line to vote made it ok.  It only took me 1/2 hr to get inside then once inside I was done in about ten min.  Glad I got to vote thanks to my friends, Gwen & Bob for picking me up.  They said they had a long wait too. 

Farewell to Christopher!!

Chris wearing the A lace Agate wrapped in sterling on Leather cording.

My Grandson Christopher is going to go to Army Boot Camp in two weeks, he has been visiting us Here in MN & Wisconsin for the past several weeks and it sure has been nice - we do miss him and his dad since they moved down to Fort Dodge Iowa several years ago.  I was thinking of some gifts I could give him that would remind him of all of us here that love him.  I am giving him a camping knife that his grandpa got from the "Marlboro" points that he had saved up.  I like that knife and I also am attaching a Minnesota Agate that his Aunt Marie polished from stones she had gathered from her  driveway in north Minnesota, I wrapped it with copper and attached it to the knife.  I also gave him another Minnesota Agate wrapped in Sterling on a leather necklace that  made to remind him of me. and then a pack of cards so he could keep himself busy in his down time.  Ha!  I really don't thing he will have much downtime tho... All my prayers will follow him as he goes forward as they have done so since his birth.  He is truly an answer to this grandmother's Prayers...long long story but I do know God is faithful.  It is proof every time I look into my children and grandchildren eyes.

The Past 2 weeks have been Traumatic for me

These past 2 weeks have been traumatic weeks for me. I have been dealing with back pain for the past 6 1/2 weeks and as you know I also had my right shoulder replaced 8 1/2 weeks ago.  I had my right shoulder replaced and am healing well from it with minimal pain. So it has been so frustrating for me to be dealing with the pain & the pain meds needed for my back, and the side effects of them. My r arm is gaining more strength as the days go by.  My pain level for my shoulder was at a #2 and the pain from the back was #9 – so frustrating….

Last Friday I had an MRI done on my back and it showed significant changes from the one done in April - A herniated disk is what has been causing the pain. How did I do it?  Who knows - I moved wrong or did the exercises wrong???? Any way I saw my spine specialist Dr Bartie, wed – for a Plan of action -

Plan of action and 2 options. 1-Surgery now! 2- a steroid injection - then in 2 week if it hasn't worked Surgery! I chose the Injection - it would give me at least 2 -4 weeks more for my shoulder/arm to gain strength - so I won't ruin the work of my shoulder surgeon. I do believe tho that ultimately I will need the back surgery to prevent further damage to my r leg nerves.

See my blog for further updates. www.dianeswett.blogspot.com  - known as “Creative Lady’s Enthusiastic Thoughts”