Sat down and laid up

The surgery went well and I am now in recovery mode. I am so glad I have never been a bored housewife...daytime TV sucks! I have watched two movies and started viewing the series Vera on Netflix. Mr Wazoo is holding down the fort, cooking (?) doing dishes, and quilting. Molly doesn't understand why the big black thing is taking up her spot in my chair. Relegated to the sofa, she sleeps when I sit and goes along whenever nature calls and I have to get up. She steers a wide berth around the walker...it's pretty scary.There hasn't been a bit of pain. Better living through chemistry! Rehab starts Thursday, so I am taking it easy until then.
Tomorrow is Nifty Fifty and I think I will be sitting with my feet up making hexies. Sounds good!
Until then, here's what I can do with a cell phone and hours to waste.

Molly keeping me company

Big Black. My MD put his initials on my knee so he wouldn't mess up. Just some bandaids now!

Hmmm, Giada makes pizza. Okay.

During the pizza segment, I fell asleep. Oh well, it looked good. Molly never moved.

Great quilting day!

I set to work right away early this morning and by 6pm had all 140 blocks quilted!! Some of them stumped me at first, but the ideas came and the quilting progressed well. A half hour with the heating pad at lunchtime was the only pain control needed. My back is feeling better and I am happy that I didn't have to take pills today. I hope tomorrow goes as well. I may get the lion's share of the borders and sashing done.
Here are a couple of pics of the blocks. The photos aren't too good, but you get the idea.
Off to bed, and dreams of quilting!

Beautiful quilt in progress

I am working on a stunning quilt made by a friend in Venice, FL who now is not able to see well enough to continue piecing quilts. What a loss for the quilting community! Her quilts are always beautiful works of needle art and testaments to the quilters who preceded us. This one has 140 different blocks, each one is six inches square. Yowza!! Some of the pieces are really tiny, but all are perfect. No corners cut off or wonky square shapes...perfect. The applique blocks are equally wonderful, some done with machine, but most with invisible hand stitching. Her choice of fabrics is calm and sophisticated, using mostly Civil War reproductions. I just had to share it.
I finished the stitch in the ditch today and will venture into the free motion quilting tomorrow. I plan to repeat the same simple pattern in each block so the quilting doesn't overpower the wonderful blocks. I am not sure about the sashing treatment yet, but it will come to me, I'm sure.
My back is doing better today after a good and restful night's sleep. I sure don't plan to over-do it with the quilting. Four or five hours at the machine is the limit. Oh well, I got a bunch done today, so I am happy.
Mr Wazoo is struggling through a tee shirt quilt that isn't very well stabilized so it is somewhat wobbly and stretchy. The customer had never made one before. She did a pretty good job, but the quilter has his work cut out for him. I have every confidence he'll do it well.
Gotta go get some supper going...Somebody found fresh sweet corn at the market and he wants it for his supper. Mmmm, me, too!

some of the blocks

that's a quarter laying on the block

even tinier pieces

more blocks

aren't they wonderful?!

the mister is working this one

Woe is me!

One week home and my back isn't any better. In case you are wondering, I took the grandkids bowling in Texas and POP went my lower back. I couldn't unbend at first and couldn't swear (grandkids, remember) but it was as horrible as my other back tragedy a year and a half ago. Rats!! After a few hours, it had abated to a steady pain from the back radiating to both hips. Couldn't walk, sit or lie down without pain. Bummer. The rest of the trip I just gritted my teeth and went with the flow. The 1400 mile ride home was the final straw. Back at home, I went to the doctor and had some x-rays done. It looks like I may have compression fractures in my lumbar and sacral areas, so tomorrow, I am off to the MRI tube to see what the answer is. With Tylenol, Ibuprofen, muscle relaxers, steroids, ice, heat and rest I am upright and mobile and able to sleep at night and quilt 4 or 5 hours a day. Not too bad. Of course, I still have the torn meniscus in my knee, and the surgery is September 9th. If my head doesn't come unglued and fall off I may recover from all this!!
Mr Wazoo is back at the machine and did two matching twin quilts since coming home. I have been
s-l-o-w-l-y working on a custom quilt that has to be done by September 8. (I will have to take a week and a half off after the knee is fixed) There are quilts in the line and time is ticking away. I feel like I am swimming in mud with all this going on, but I am sure it will all work out fine in the end.
Thanks for letting me vent. For being so nice, I will now show you some more pictures of my vacation. ha ha ha...no slides, thank Heaven!

Phyllis and Ed, wedding day and 70 years later

grandkids in bumper cars

Jenny times the underwater handstand contest

Chikako whooped Andy at air hockey

Devin drives the killer taxi

Hot shot Hana scored big in the shooting game

Mom and Dad blowing out the candles on one of the cakes (yum)

happy cousins

cousin group hug

Even the boys were happy to be together!

Winding down

The family all came, there was the happy bedlam we anticipated, we got our picture taken without bloodshed, everyone had a blast at the anniversary party, and now parts of the family are on their way home. I hadn't seen my four kids all together in five years, and I really missed them. The grandkids have gotten bigger and much more handsome, if I do say so myself.
Tomorrow is Mr Wazoo's birthday, so we will be going to the local Texas barbeque joint to finalize our visit with a blood vessel clogging, finger-licking good dose of smoked meats drenched in sauce. We vegetarians have to do this every once in a while to remind ourselves what we gave up to be healthy. (NOT!!) We just do it because we lose all restraint around really good food. All in all, I think there will be some serious dieting when we get back to Florida.
I'll post again when I have the results of the birthday bash. Now, I am off to bed...I'm pooped!

The whole goofy family

my folks, me and the Mr., my kids and grandkids

My kids

My little family

Halfway to Texas and in for the night

The day started really early for us, and we are now enjoying some down-time in the hotel before the second leg of the trip. Tim did all the driving (it's a man thing...) and I played ipad games and ate snacks (bad Susan!!)
We saw a big battleship when going through Biloxi, as well as other big ships in port there. Otherwise, the landscape really doesn't change from home to here...flat and mostly scrubby looking. Lots of marshy fields and Interstate signs out the window. Pretty boring. I can say to my N50 gals, I am a master of the Plumber Crack game now. ha ha ha
I didn't post a pic of my parents in the last post, so I will do it now. Phyllis and Ed have been married 70 years! An inspiration to any married couple. Can't wait to see them, and all my kids together for the first time in 5 years! And the grands, too. Yahoo! Many photos later. Now, it's time for a sandwich and a dip in our whirlpool tub. (great hotel!)

Dad and Mom with my son and his wife

Phyllis and Ed, married 70 years, and now in their 90s! 

I send Dad an amaryllis bulb every year for Christmas. This is the result of one of those bulbs.

Finishing up and getting packed

It's the last day of readiness prep for me, since I have Nifty Fifty tomorrow, so I have been working like a mad beaver to get the jobs done. I got the ten quilts for the head start kids all bound and finished, as well as the quilt for my grandson and for the woman whose home we will be staying in. I did the math on the little quilts and was flabbergasted to realize I used 35 yards of fabric making them! A real stash buster. (More room for new fabric...)
Mr Wazoo has been mowing lawns and getting the outside ship shape, too. Once the laundry is done, the refrigerator is cleaned out and the car is packed, we'll be on our way! Miss Molly will be visiting her two buddies, Toby and Teddy over at my quilting friend's house. She will be wined and dined in grand style and I am sure come home fat and happy.
My folks are celebrating 70 years of marriage and we will get to visit with relatives we haven't seen in years. It should be a once in a lifetime happy event. Stay tuned for the details!

first five kid quilts

great backs, too

second five kid quilts...and backs!

all ten piled up. So pretty!

Choden's quilt

label

hostess' quilt

label

Miss Molly

Teddy and Toby

Yahoo, Wazoo! Another great time in Sebring

We're home again from the summer retreat in Sebring, and I am proud of my accomplishment...10 charity quilts and one big quilt for me.
On Thursday, I quilted eight of them while Mr Wazoo pitched in to do the other two. I made the bindings (do you realize, that is 50 strips of binding?!!) and have five sewn on and four finished so far. The guild needs them for the kids at a local school. I have to go for a mammogram tomorrow morning (ugh!) but plan to get the other bindings on so I can do the hand sewing in the evenings.
We leave for Texas soon, so I had better keep the nose to the grindstone.
Enjoy the slideshow. I will be posting quilt progress soon.

This slideshow generated with Smilebox

What's new, Wazoo?!

It sure is the summer doldrum around here; people have left on vacations to see family or just try to find a place to beat the heat. Good luck with that! Mr. Wazoo loves the hot weather and has spent much of it digging in the dirt and mowing lawns. He does his quilting work and then heads outdoors for some 'yardwork'. His word for digging and fussing with the borders and flower beds. I don't know how he stands it! Walking to the mailbox just about melts my hair!! I prefer to stay in and quilt.

So quilt I did! I finished this HUGE quilt in one day (thankfully, she wanted a pantograph!)

I also did this beauty of a Hawaiian quilt. This one was custom and also took a full day to quilt. I love it!

I had a fun time on the weekend finishing another one of my UFOs, too. I can't believe how many of these boxed square quilts I have made. That should prove to you it is a super easy and fun quilt to make. I made this one with earthy batiks and an aboriginal fabric for the border. The pop of color in the inner border is something I love to do with my quilts. I bound it with a clay colored batik, but haven't taken a photo of that yet.

the backing

And last, I made a couple of charity quilts with orphan blocks and left over bits from other quilts. I really need to cull my scraps, and these used a pile of them! The blocks started out 9 patch, then split and turned so they formed the sashing and cornerstones. Cool! Binding from the bin finished them off. Hooray!

number one

number two

That's it for the week at Wazoo. Mr.W managed to do a few customer quilts, so I will continue to employ him. ha ha ha. 

I started my next project. I chose these fabrics and have everything cut out now and ready to sew blocks. I think tomorrow at my sewing group I will get them sewn. Gee whiz, I really love quilting!!