Had the Surgery....

My sweet daughter Ashley is taking care of me!

So my friends...

Friday night after this last post....

I was feeling pretty rotten...

so I told the hubby...

to take me to the ER here in St George.

Well...

my blood pressure was 211/112

and guess what???

They did the surgery.

I am now at my daughter's recuperating.
Her and that sweet son in law of mine...
are sleeping on an air mattress
out in the living room...
so I can have their king size bed.
When I get home I will have to show you all
the sweet note this new son of mine
wrote to me while I was in the hospital.
On the front of it...
it said...
"Brownie Points"


Well...he has scored some of those....
that's for sure!


Saturday was one of the worst days of my life.
Sometimes you wonder how much 'one' 
should really share on a blog.
But I will just say this....
My parents who live in Colorado...
drove through and didn't even stop to see me.
Nor did they call.
 I still tear up to think about it.
I've worked hard at this relationship for over
5  years booking shows near them, 
so we could go and see them,
 sometimes even driving hundreds of miles
out of the way so I could spend time with them.

I thought things were better.
I guess they are...
as long as I am the one making the effort.


To say the least it broke this little girl's heart in two.


I can't imagine one of my kids being sick
and not being there for them.


So by day's end on Saturday...
I decided to let it go...
and to count the blessings...
of all my kids, their spouses,
my sweet grandkids
my wonderful husband
and true and tried prayer
warrior friend Nancy for
being there for me.

I do need prayers though.
I do not want to be bitter.
I just want acceptance.
I can't change people...
and make them feel something 
they don't.
I can only be grateful for all of the
wonderful people
God has put in my life to
love and care for me.

The Guitar Man left for home today...

but not before getting me a ticket

on a plane out of here Saturday.

My sweet friend Nancy and her hubby 

drove up from Vegas to see me

the first night I got out.

What would we do without faithful friends?
She brought me some 'vanilla' 
from her trip to Mexico.
Ooh Laa Laa...
its been so long
since I've been able to bake
with Mexican Vanilla.
It's the best, gals!!!

So now  I'm a restin' my body and soul....
gently .....
in His care...

recovering...

Until Later...

Me

The Scene here....Friday after T Day

My sweet daughter in law...

made homemade waffles for breakfast...

wah...wah...

 I didn't dare eat any.

I am nursing myself on organic apple juice

and distilled water with

organic raw apple cider vinegar..

yuk!

My little grand baby boy

who is about 18 months...

keeps popping his head in here

bringing me things....

while I lay on a heating pad

nursing myself back to normal...

My two grand girls are here in the room with me...

watching a cartoon....

Melissa'a mom is in the kitchen...

making lefsa...

Ummm...smells soooo good!

But I don't dare.

Funny thought...

I've never tried lefsa.

The Guitar man went and picked up 

my oldest grandson

and took him to the Harry Potter movie...

we're waiting for him to come home...

and then hopefully

me and the girls will go and see

Tangled.

I asked them if just 'Pop' could take them...

seeing I am still 

under the weather...

"No way Jose'" was there response.

This Thanksgiving weekend

I am so thankful for so much.

First of all for God in my life....

and all that 'He' means to me...

my precious family and husband...

work that is creative and keeps me fulfilled...

and my special thankful thought 

for this year....

is that I have found out what

has been ailing me these last 18 years...

that no other doctor has picked up on.

I always try to find the 'blessing'

in the hard times.

This one wasn't hard to find.

So from bed....

I wish for all of you a wonderful

Thanksgiving weekend!

Hugs,

John'aLee

A Very Unpleasant 36 hours in the Hospital

Just a quick little post....

Ken and I are driving, driving, driving...

across the USA....

when just outside of Gallup, New Mexico...

I came down with horrific pain.

I had Ken pull over more than once....

so I could stand outside by the road

hoping it would subside....

It just got worse...

so we pulled into The Hampton Inn...

where I ran a hot tub of water...

but after 2 hours of crying horrifically...

I told him he had to take me to the ER.

I was shaking and crying, moaning...

what a mess I was.

It was a severe gallbladder attack.

After tons of morphene, antibiotics...

dyes, for CT scans...

and fluids being pumped into me...

I finally talked the doc out of surgery.

It just didn't seem possible so far from home.

Because their XRay machines were all down...

they let me go.

But he told me...

"When you see a doc about this,

they are going to ask why in the world didn't these people

take out your gallbladder then and there."

Boy 

life sure does get interesting sometimes...

I'm 

tired 

of 

"interesting"

Happy Turkey day to all!

A New Color Way for Mystery Block of the Month

Parisian Summer

 This color way is now available to sign up for.

The quilt will be just like Buttercream Summer...

only in different fabrics.

I had special requests from several customers

to make this up in a second colorway....

so

I've been working away at it.

Gotta keep those customers happy!

You can sign up for it on my website.
Ken is going to get me a link up today sometime.

Now to show you a little of our life...

as we work in a place with no furniture...

and only the stuff from our trailer

that we toodle around from show to show with!

Here  I've made myself a 'Makeshift Studio"

until my  'real' stuff gets here...

 Ya know....

a woman's gotta do...

what a woman's gotta do!

My sewing table is set up in front 

of the window

where on a clear day...

one can see the

Nashville skyline...

Too foggy today though...

Tory and Ken have set up a makeshift

work area in the family room

off of the kitchen...

T-Bug's hard at work...

filling hundreds of orders

from Quilt Festival

and PIQF...

She's making Black and White Whimsy Lane kits

today...

For now...

the fireplace is the only 'seating' we have

except for 3 chairs...

Ken went and picked up.

He was thrilled with the chair he found for me...

I told him...

"Ken....this is a handicap shower chair!"

Men!

We brought in all of our 'show' tables...

so we'd have something to work on...

Fabrics I am using to design Buttercream Summer

I will be one blessed woman...

once I get my things...

and can properly set up shoppe!

But for now...

beggars can't be choosers!

Now to tell you about the 'people' in Nashville...

they can't be beat folks!

One sweet blogger who I happened upon in Blog Land...
 Confessions of a Fabric Addict!

Lives in Tennessee!

I emailed her...

and what a sweetie...

she gave me her phone number

and told me to call her when I got to town!

I did...

and I can't wait to meet her.

Make sure to check out her great blog.

She is involved in a Quilt Ministry

and has even invited me to come

and sew with her group!

She also gave me some ins and outs about

Nashville.

Like....this isn't East!

This is South!

They are not Easterners here...

They are Southerners...

I've been telling everyone that my dream

to move back East has finally come true.

I stand corrected!

I am now a Southerner...

And oh so proud of it!!

Can't wait to meet you Sarah!

Thanks so much for welcoming me

to your wonderful state!

The neighbors stopped in yesterday...

he is a TV producer

and his mom owns a hair salon

down the road.

She's in her 80's

and quite a hoot.

She lives behind us...

he lives beside us.

They were showing us where Lee Greenwood

used to live...

2 houses up from us...

and pointed out where 

songwriters live...

and other

'music wannabes'

I told them I'd bring them a fresh load

of bread

once I get moved in and can do some baking!

Now...

I am off to the sewing studio...

I must finish tracing this 4th block

in Buttercream Summer

so I can work on it while traveling.

I figure I have about 55 hours in the car

over the next week...

once we leave to head back to Utah

for a load....

and to meet up with family for Thanksgiving.

Just think of all the handwork I will get done!

If you didn't read my post yesterday...

here's another pic

of the other hand piece

I've been working on.

I've decided I am going to make this into 

a big quilt...

Queensize!

I will keep you updated on my progress!

I'm off to sew....

Hexagon Tutorial with PLASTIC TEMPLATES

Finally....my 'Hexagon' tutorial

everyone has been asking for...

 So here goes...

 I do a lot of my sewing in the car while traveling...

so I rough cut my pieces out while in the car as well.

I cut the templates 3/8" larger all the way around the template.

Most people tell you to cut them 1/4" larger...

but with the plastic templates...

if they are cut out like that and are not dead on center...

the templates will start to pop out.

They tell you to cut 1/4" larger because

they are figuring on most people hand quilting this project when it is completed...

and any bigger than that leaves an extra layer of fabric to quilt through.

My solution....go in and trim up any excess.

Also...if you cut it at a 1/4" larger and don't have it completely centered...

you will have weak points in your quilt...

where it isn't quite a 1/4" seam.

Place a pin through the middle of the hole and back through

to hold the piece while you work.

Fold over the first corner until you have a crisp edge

and tack two tacking stitches.

(Just a basic whip stitch)

Now with the same needle and thread

travel over to the next point...

fold it over crisply...

and take two stitches at that corner...

Continue around until you come to the last point

before the edge where you started.

At this point take out the pin...

I then kind of pull it tightly

so as to pull out the indentation

from the pin holding the fabric and template together.

Go to the place you started...

take one more stitch

and knot off.

Now butt two templates up side by side

and whip together about 1/8" apart

starting at the very points of each hexagon...

DO NOT HOLD THEM LIKE THIS!!!

NO! NO! NO!

Now I know I may offend other bloggers and hexagon hand piecers out there...

but this is my 'humble' opinion.

I travel across the country doing shows

30-36 weekends a year...

and I see all kinds of quilts.

99% of Hexagon Quilts....

have 'stitches' showing through to the front.

To me...

if one is going to go to all of this handwork...

the last thing you want...

is for your stitches to show through!

This is why I LOVE the plastic templates.

If you place them side by side and stitch them

instead of like the previous picture...

your stitches will NOT show through!

Add another petal to flower center and starting at the top like shown in the picture below...
whip stitch all the way down that template
as well as the previous petal you attached.

The striped piece is the Flower Center

Continue until all flower petals are added.


When you get to the last one...
it is a little  bit funky to hold it...
but this is what I do....


I stitch the petal side to the center of flower
and continuously through the 
adjoining petal.

Then I go back and stitch the sides of the first and last petal together...
finishing the flower.

Wa la....
Your flower is finished...
and you can start adding the pieces all the way
around it to make a path...

The templates pictured here are 1" Hexagons

Now to take out the templates so you can reuse them...
You must always keep the templates on the outside
edge of the piece you are working on at all times... 


Once you have completely enclosed a template
all the way around with templates
whipped stitched on each edge..
you then can pull out that middle template.

I go to each one of my basting threads
that I originally secured the plastic template with...
and clip them.

This will release the template so you 
can gently take it out...

Now on this piece...
I can go take out all of the templates
except for the raspberry colored hexagons
on the outer edge...

And then you have your final unit
all completed...

These little templates are addicting.
I love them because 
they travel so easy.


Also...with the PLASTIC templates...
once you invest in them...
you never have to purchase them again...
or keep remaking them like the paper ones.


If you  would like to order some to try out...
CLICK HERE!!!

Hope this helps ladies!

Until Next Time....

4th Mystery Block on the Drawing Table...

 Okay...ya'll...

I've been playing around with some hexie's...

trying to figure out how to incorporate them

in this next Mystery Block of mine...

for the 4th block in the series...

Buttercream Summer.

Here are some sketches...

This block is going to be large and at the bottom of 

the quilt...

around 33" X 11"

The bottom hill part is going to be in fabric.

Here is the original 'rough' sketch...

 I will be working away on it...

so I can get it out to you sometime in the first part of 

December!

Now I know you all must be wondering....

if I am still "HOMELESS"!?

Nope!

The Guitar Man came through...

and found me a pad...

Here's my new house...

I took this picture this morning...

it was a foggy, cool, luscious Fall morn...

Here's a side view...

I'm in love with the large porch!

Now...it's time to trek it back across

the good 'ole US of A

to get our stuff.

We are trying to time it so we get back

there for Thanksgiving with the family...

but it means another week...

of no chairs...

one bed...

(that we actually went out and bought)

a few groceries...

and some cheap pots, pans, dishes

from Target to get by.

I never dreamed how much...

my 'stuff'

was a part of my world!

So since I can't actually do anything about the move...

I will sit and sew, sew, sew today!

I wanted to tell you about this 

Friday Night Sew In

I found here in Blog Land.

I don't know where I will be Friday night...

maybe in the car...

truckin' along.

But anyway...

I thought it might be fun to join up.

Go....HERE!!   If you want to join the fun!