Ok… This is the longest I’ve ever gone without posting.
And that means it has been the longest I’ve ever gone without QUILTING.
I am a horrible, no good quilter.
But at least give me a chance to explain myself!

After well over a year I am back working on my Hawaiian quilt!
I know.
I can’t believe it either.

All I have to say about my long absence is, 2008 certainly was a long, long year.
In addition to two surgeries, the last of which took me quite a few months to recover from, my family and I relocated. My last surgery, as you may know, was foot surgery, and I didn’t walk for over a month. When I did begin to walk again, it was not without the constant burning pain of RSD. Yes, I still have RSD and believe I will continue to be riddled with it for the rest of my existence. For this reason, this realization, I have finally moved on. Yay! So, once again I am a college student, and once again I have taken up the hobby of quilting. YAY!

Right now my only project is my Hawaiian quilt. I am currently basting it together and am also counting my lucky stars that the pins that have resided in the quilt for so long haven’t rusted the fabric. The basting is going to take me some time, but I will certainly rest easier once those pins are out of it. I definitely look forward to the time when the hand applique process can start. For that is my absolute favorite part of the Hawaiian quilting process. I find peace in the needle-turn applique technique. And it’s a good thing, too. I expect it will take me a very long time, years even, to complete the applique process.

Until I have more pictures to show you of my Hawaiian quilt’s progress, I noticed that there are a few quilts that I have neglected to blog about. The first is the Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I made for my little girl before she was born. I love Sunbonnet Sue (or Holly Hobby for those acquainted with it in the 70’s) and my favorite color is red… Hence, the creation of this quilt.

This next quilt is what I believe is called a “stack-n-whack” quilt. I took this class with my MIL and my little sister finished it (she sewed together the blocks, assembled the top, and quilted it) for her senior-project in high school. Of course, I am the one who taught her how to do all that so I think that I should get some of the credit for this quilt as well. (I mean, after all, I am the one who cut out all the pieces, pinned all the layers together, and I put on the binding. Not to mention I taught a seventeen year old to quilt. Gah!)

Anyway. That is that.
I am working hard on my big HUGE Hawaiian quilt and I will post more pictures of it soon.
Who knows? Maybe I’ll start working on my block of the month from 2005 again!!
We shall see!

I was recently sent EIGHTEEN POUNDS(!!!) of fabric scraps!
Holy moly, right?
I received the box yesterday and when I opened it, I was shocked speechless.

This is your basic “dream come true” situation.
You see, I run a blog called “Aunt Scrappy”.
And that blog has that name for a reason…. other than the name just rocks.
Just read the “about” section to your right and you’ll see what I’m talkin’ about.

I KNEW there had to be at least ONE quilter out there that would love to give their scraps away instead of having fabric scraps sitting around, never to be used again. (And what quilter worth her salt would ever even DREAM of throwing those precious scraps away?!?!?! Quilt blasphemy. That is what that would be, in my opinion.)

Well, my Mother in law found me that one quilter.
Marie!! Thanks SO much for contributing to my habit.

I promise you that your leftovers are safe with me and will be used very SOON! You, and anyone else for that matter, are completely welcome to unload fabric scraps on me anytime you please. You have my address… or at least know where to get it! As for anyone else who wants to unload… let me know. We’ll talk. You’ll send. I’ll be happy. You’ll be happy.

Funny that my MIL is mentioned in this post because she is the BIGGEST, most prolific, perpetrator of my quilting habit. Part of that EIGHTEEN POUNDS of fabric scraps were sent by her. I’m pretty sure that ever since she took me to my very first quilting class, that she hasn’t been able to enter her local fabric shop, “The Patchwork Pig”, without leaving with some sort of an assortment of fabric for me. I would say that a good 90% of my fabric has been donated to me by the MIL. Apparently she loves me…. and knows that every woman needs a big fat fabric stash! And now I’ve got her on board with my mission to collect fabric scraps from wherever I can get ‘em. With her on my side I know that I will have enough fabric to quilt the world over by the end of this year!! (Not that it will be enough… I’m just sayin’…)

Before I go away again, I just wanted to give an update and try to explain why I’ve been MIA. I got the carpal tunnel surgery and have been recovering. Next Friday will be the two month mark. I am still healing because my hand still has a way to go before I get my strength back. The other reason for the absence is because I haven’t been quilting. What you saw in my last post is really the last time I’ve done anything. The Hawaiian quilt is still pinned and waiting to be basted. I’m hoping to pick that project up again very soon.

However…. I am getting another surgery next Friday. I am getting surgical hardware removed from both of my feet. And as one of my feet in RSD ridden, there will most likely be some complications. I hope not, but the Doctor tells me to prepare because chances are so high that he all but said it would definitely happen.

For those that don’t know what RSD is and what I am talking about, I’ll try to give a short version of “my story”. RSD is a painful nerve condition that I’ve had for almost two years. I broke my foot one morning in August of 2006. The fracture took 16 weeks to heal, and about halfway into that nightmare my foot decided to swell up every time it was not propped up and then it would turn a loverly shade of purple that made it look like my foot was choking. I have undergone 16 sympathetic nerve blocks to try to snap that particular nerve out of it’s current major freak out mode. My foot hasn’t been purple in a little over a year, but it still is a tad swollen most of the time and if the color changes, it only changes to a reddish hue. I still suffer from pain in that foot and it really sucks. I am only grateful that I have gone into remission this much. But now it looks like I will rapidly return to square one next week. And before you ask, yes. I do have to get this hardware taken out. The screws are working their way OUT of each foot. And that in itself is painful. Put that sick situation on top of a nerve that is flipped out… and you get an increase in pain and suffering. Seriously… if I could sue this nerve, I would.
And that, is “my story”.

I’m hoping that while I’m in recovery from this upcoming surgery that I will drag my huge Hawaiian quilt into bed with me so I can baste it while watching movies. We’ll see if that happens.

Hopefully I will be posting more often now.
Because that will mean not only that I am that much closer to completing my Hawaiian quilt, but that I am using up some of my new fabric scraps!!
~Crossing my fingers for the energy to quilt often~

**Forgot to mention that as of last week The Husband and I have been married for 7 years!**

Happy Anniversary to us… And many, many more!