New location

Yesterday I was moved from the hospital where the surgery took place, to a hospital closer to home. This is where I will do my rehab, and also they can monitor my RA at the same time.

It is a 4 hour drive between the two locations, including a fjord crossing.  Luckily I was allowed to go by taxi, which was very comfortable considering.

It was a beautiful day.  The winter still reigns in the mountain passes, while down at the fjord it was very spring like, – at least when looking through the windscreen of the car.

Yesterday afternoon was spent settling in, and since my oldest daughter and family live close by, they were able to come and visit in the evening.  It was lovely to see them again.

A million thanks to everyone who has sent me well wishes.  I have not been able to send individual replies to everyone yet, but plan on catching up as I settle into the routines here, and get my energy back.

The new hip feels great, and I am more and more convinced that this one will be a success.  Right now that is what I will focus on, so I can move on to other things further down the road.

Eldrid

Short update

Op went well, and everything seems, and feels, fine.  I am able to sit for short whiles, but much time is still spent resting on the bed.

That is not bad either, as the view from my window is beautiful.  A couple photos below.

Will be back when time, and the slow connection, permits.

Eldrid

 

Break

I will be leaving in a few hours, and do not know for sure when I will be online again.  I hope there will be a network available in the hospital so I can connect in a few days time and keep you updated.

I promise I will not bore you with the hospital food, ( – or maybe I will )

Eldrid

Quilt Education

I have decided there is at least one hole in my quilt education.

When I first came across patchwork in the seventies, it was all about hand pieced hexagons, or English Paper Piecing as it is also called.  I was not the least interested in this,  and was not hooked on patchwork till I made my first Log Cabin block in the late eighties.  Much quicker, and much more fun, as I could use my sewing machine.  I have always loved my sewing machines, and have not sewn or quilted much by hand during the last 20 years.

So I never did English Paper Piecing.

But this is about to change.  I have decided to give it a try, and educate myself, so to speak.

There are lots of examples of beautiful designs out there using English paper pieced hexagons, – and other shapes for that matter.   “Everyone” who is hooked on this technique boast how easy and portable this is, – you can take it everywhere and sew a few stitches here and there, and before you know it, you have a double bead spread.  This sounds so good, so I have been wanting to try it for a while, only I have waited for the right opportunity to actually do it.

And I have decided that this opportunity is now.

I will be going into hospital in a day or so.  I know there will also be a long rehabilitation period when sitting by my sewing machine might not be so comfortable, – so I think that this is the perfect time for a portable hand sewing project.

I also intend to be totally selfish during my rehab, at least for a while,  - doing the training that I have to, of course, - but other than that, I will only do what I want. And this is one of the things I will want to do.  (Hhmmm, – come to think of it, there are lots of other things too … )

I already bought a packet of ready cut 1 inch hexagons, and picked some scraps from one of my scrap boxes.

I must check that the scraps are wide enough, then I will iron them and put them into a ziplock bag along with the tools that I will need: scissors, thread, needles, pins, and a thimble.

Cindy at CD Designs also recommends using tape when basting, so I will have to pack a roll of scotch tape as well.  Someone else recommended using paper clips, so I must find a few of those too.

Somehow I associate paper pieced hexagons with roses, so I found some scraps with roses on them:

 

They are actually leftovers from another hand sewing project of mine: a going-to-be-something-some-day-quilt in the Japanese folding technique with fussy cut centre pieces.

This is very old, but is still a WIP  (work in progress), – not a UFO (unfinished object). I have arranged the patches with different centre motifs medallion style, and adding the last two “borders” was my chosen hand sewing project during my last rehab period five and a half years ago (not quite finished the last border), and it had been started quite a while before that.  But I am totally relaxed about that, – this is something I do when I want to, – it does not have to be something, or finished, at any fixed time.  I am only doing it because I enjoy the process.

So, – maybe the hexagons will be the same, – a more or less eternal work in progress.  Or maybe I will aim for something smaller that can actually be finished.

Time will show.  I will do what I want, I will learn something new, and that feels very good

Eldrid

Falling….falling…..

It snowed and snowed, – and then it started to rain.  One corner of the railing still has the full amount of snow on it, – but it is starting to keel over.  I wonder if it will melt or fall. 

I guess there are scientific terms for the forces that are preventing the snow from falling, but what are they?  Viscosity?  Elasticity?  Friction?  Hhmm, – maybe I ought to update my knowledge of physics.

Notice the lines of the snow layers?  If this were by the side of a road, they would be in varying shades of brown and grey and would be wavy according to how the various parts of the snow had melted, – so when driving past it would be like looking at one looooong Bargello quilt 

Flying Hearts

This is a work in progress, and at the moment it is progressing very slowly.  My plans are to write up a pattern for it, but that will not happen for some time as I will soon go into hospital for my planned hip surgery (at last), – and then there will be rehabbing and lots of physical training, so I guess my sewing- and computer time will be limited for the next few months.

But quite a few quilters do not necessarily need a full description in order to make a quilt block into a quilt, so for those who want a head start I have put up only the templates for the block on my pattern download page at a reduced price.  They will be replaced by the full pattern once it is finished.

I chose to make my blocks in the light coloured version, but I also like the dark ones a lot.  Here you can see some more colour options.

What I like most about this kind of blocks are the many, many variations you can achieve by just turning the individual blocks different ways in the quilt setting.

Eldrid

Sun Day on a Friday

One of my favourite days of the year: the day the sun will shine into our living room again after a long and dark winter.

Yesterday the sun was shining on the tree tops close to our house:

Photo taken out the window.

Today I was looking forward to having the sun shining in through that very window.  But some clouds came in the way and almost prevented any sun at all.  Finally, at almost the last minute, the cloudes cracked a bit:

At 16.20 the first and last rays of the day shone on our wall:

 

Definitely sunshine and shadows on the wall.

Later the clouds disappeared and we had a beautiful sunset. 

If the weather permits, we will have at least 20 minutes of sunshine tomorrow. 

My husband’s grandmother, who lived here all her life,  used to smear some butter on the outside wall of the house on the day the sun returned. I have not got an explanation as to why she did this, other than she said it was to keep the sun happy. 

Maybe some of you would know more about this kind of tradition?

Eldrid

Moon and snow

When I turned off the lights before going to bed the other day,  I suddenly noticed the full moon shining outside.  I grabbed my camera to see if I could capture the mood outside. 

Well, not quite successful, – a camera is just that, – but when looking at the shots, I noticed the coloured ring around the moon.  As kids we were looking out for the ring around the moon since that would mean snow would be coming soon, at that time we thought snow was fun and were looking forward to it. 

The ring still predicts snow, and even though snow is beautiful, somehow it is not as much fun as it used to be, – more of a nuisance, in fact.  It is definitely an age thing.

  But come it did, nevertheless.

Here it is on its way in from the north west, – and this was just the beginning.

There are a few things that I still like about the snow, such as the strong “graphic” created by the contrast between the trees and the snow.  Suddenly there are lots of new lines and shapes right outside my windows.

I played a little with the tree photo:

  

Grayscale

 

Grayscale inverted

Ninepatch trees.

The inverted grayscale tree done in Kaleider.

Endless possibilities.