Lost my identity!

I finally had to give up the email address I have had for over 9 years.  I'm sad - it's one I really liked and identified with (twinzrock - I have twins).  But I don't know if it's because I used it for ebay or what, but I was getting spammed to death - more than 200 messages a day.  It became exhausting to try and delete all of them on a daily basis, so I asked my ISP to delete the account and give me a new address.  I was able to get quilter, which really surprised me.  I like my new name, but it's just not the same.... <heavy sigh>

I am a sap *and* a klutz!

Well, I knew I was a klutz (my childhood nickname was "Grace") - but this morning I missed the last 3 steps going down the stairs, landed on my shoulder and ribs and twisted my left ankle in the process.  I must have laid on the cold tiled floor for 5 minutes yelling for someone to help me.  And then I got laughed at.  Nice, huh?  <grumble, grumble>

I've twisted my ankle worse in the past, but it still hurts like hell, and the ribs are very tender too.  If I didn't have so many deadlines at work today, I'd be home, but I am a trooper.  lol

On my morning bus ride, I usually take the opportunity to nap and catch a few zzzzs.  This morning I was so amazed and excited by being able to SEE, that I could not sleep!  I had Lasik surgery on Tuesday and even though I had some reservations, I am so happy with the results.  I could read, I could see the amazingly beautiful eyelashes of the little girl in the seat in front of me.  It truly was overwhelming - I was actually crying, I was so happy.  I've worn glasses since the 3rd grade - it almost feels surreal to not have to wear them now!

66.66667%

This is 2/3 of my red, black and white quilt laid out on my flannel wall.  Try not to look too closely at how the blocks do not match up - I haven't started sewing them together yet!  But this takes up my whole wall, so I will have to sew these blocks and rows together before I can lay out the other 1/3 of the quilt.  What do you think?

It's quilt day!

My daughter is going to give her teacher the thank you quilt we made for her today.  Here is a picture of my cutie with the quilt.  I made a print of this photo and we used it to make a card, too.  I hope she likes it!

Work is progressing on the black, white & red quilt.  It's a real struggle for me to work with such a limited color pallette.  One minute I love it, next minute I hate it!  And I'm already having problems making the blocks random.  I didn't think it would be an issue, seeing as how I'm using over 100 red fabrics!  I guess it's due to so many pieces in each block.  Will have a photo of that on Monday.  I took one, but didn't save it as a .jpg, so I am unable to post it today.

Shoulder update

I finally got my MRI results back and while I'm relieved there is nothing torn or requiring surgery, there really is nothing that is treatable.  It's messed up tendons and rest and rehab is really the only course of treatment.  Though the pain has been increasing the more I have been riding my bike, unfortunately.  I did go in for a cortisone injection yesterday in hope that it might help alleviate the pain.  The pain is exponentially increased with that additional irritation, but hopefully things will settle down in the next few days or weeks.

The doc I saw yesterday said his niece had a similar injury and had to give up swimming.  I am beginning to doubt whether I will be able to compete in the triathlon in August.  It is something I want to do, to be able to say I did, but I also cannot live with this miserable pain with no end in sight.  I guess I have a tough decision to make, or my body will make it for me.

More than anything, I miss kickboxing.  I wish I could just go back to doing that 2-3 times a week - I never had any shoulder problems for the 18+ months I've been working out in this class.  And now it has been 2-1/2 months since I have been able to take a class.  :(

Busy week!

But not much quilty got done.  Had a lot of evening stuff related to the kids' school, so my quilting suffered.  I did finish getting my orange and white quilt squares cut out and got all the orange fabric put away, to my daughter's delight.  She hates seeing my sewing room messy, especially since she 'helped' me clean it up!

I will take my stepsister's baby quilt to the long arm quilter this week.  Can't wait to see what she does with it.  I'm a little leary because I decided not to put a border on it.  I hope it turns out okay and did not stretch too much with my piecing.

Now I can turn my entire focus back to my red, black and white quilt.  All the inidividual units are ready to go, now to start assembly-line piecing all the blocks!  I'll post pictures as soon as there is something worthwhile to show!

Dripping

I rode my bike for the first time in the rain this morning.  I figured, living in the Seattle area, I'd better get used to the rain since it's a fact of life!  It wasn't bad, though a little cold.  It was quite annoying to have to keep stopping and wiping my glasses off every now and then - what a hassle.  But it won't be for long...  I have Lasik surgery scheduled for June 20 - omg!!  Nervous but so excited.  I've worn glasses since the third grade, so this should be quite a change for me!

Measure twice, cut once...

I was cutting out my orange fabrics for my Zuzu's Petals quilt.  Not that I'm flitting from project to project, mind you, but only because I wanted to get the stack of oranges I had pulled cut and put back away in my nice, neat sewing room!

I have 50 different orange fabrics, and I have cut half of them.  I was reviewing the pattern again this morning and realized I'd made a big boo-boo.  I was cutting squares a little larger than I needed for the center 1/4 square triangles, so I was cutting 8" squares.  I realized I needed 8-1/2" squares for the setting triangles!  Ooops!  Well, at least I still have half the orange fabrics that I can use to cut the larger setting triangles with.  I'm so glad I took the time to look at the pattern again this morning before any more cutting commenced!

I'm a biker chick

After watching the triathlon Saturday, I decided I needed to spend a whole lot more time out on my bike.  I went out on the Interurban trail when I got home and had a nice ride.  It is off-road and has a challenging incline at the end.  I also wanted to be able to explore it without the kids to see if it is somewhere I might like to take them.

This morning after 60 minutes on my stationary bike, I went out trail riding for 30 minutes before work.  Boy, there is just no comparison between road biking and stationary biking!  My legs felt like jello afterwards, but what an exhilarating ride.  I just loved it!  My sit-down parts are quite sore, even though I have a nice seat and I got a gel seat cover.  I think I will break down and get myself some padded cycling shorts, even though I vowed I'd never be seen in public with them.

I love my new bike and it feels really good to get out and ride.  I feel like a kid again!

Saturday Insanity!

My buddy and I wanted to go to Issaquah to watch the triathlon that our tri-swimming classmate was competing in on Saturday. I got up at 5 a.m. and left the house at 5:30 in order to meet her and carpool to the event. As I was leaving at the crack of dawn, I was seriously questioning my sanity!

We actually got a chance to see and talk to our friend Carla before she started, even though she didn't know we were coming, so that was pretty cool. We also had a great conversation with a woman that was competing in this triathlon - she gave us a really warm and fuzzy feeling about the Danskin tri that we are registered for. It took a lot of the mystery out of the event to come and actually witness the transitions and such.

It was very interesting to watch - especially the jocks that finished in under 50 minutes!  I'm still worried about the swim. My physical therapist says absolutely no swimming until after my last therapy appointment on June 23. I really feel the need to get back in the water, but I know it won't do me any good to push myself while I'm still nursing this injury.....

I'm back in business!!!

I got my sewing machine back yesterday and she's purring like a kitten again.  I only got to do a little bit of chain sewing on my red/black quilt pieces.  I was busy last night baking a cake for the cake walk at the kids' school carnival tonight.

This weekend I will be putting the binding on my daughter's teacher's quilt so I can get that finished - the school year is just screaming by!  Soon they will be out for summer vacation - unbelieveable.

I'd also like to piece the backing for my stepsister's baby quilt so I can get that to the quilter in the next week or so.  Her baby is due at the end of July, so I do have a little time.

Sorting through my stash this weekend and being only able to dream about quilting, I came up with another project that I would like to make.  I saw a beautiful white and orange quilt on someone's blog and would like to make something along those lines.  I wanted to do kind of a buzz saw looking block, and going through my pattern stash, found one I really liked - Zuzu's Petals by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company (who else?).  This will be another 'make from the stash' quilt, made from white, cream and orange and very scrappy.

June 2006 will be my month of BUY NOTHING.  I already made it through one day, and even that was tough!  lol