Heads at Ease pillowcase project - our motto is: ALL OR NONE

glad to hear that Terry made it home.  better slow than not get there.

Matt's mom, that is a priceless memory and I am so sorry for your loss of a good friend.  

Exhausted and have a sore throat.  hope it is just weather changes in AZ and not a cold/flu from kids who come to school sick.

have a great day ladies.  nothing from Ray's doc yet and he did call yesterday.  I am irritated too.  haha.

hi ladies,

Ray's doc called yesterday afternoon and no one was home!  yikes!  he did say that he just recieved the report on 10-19.

had a Tucson sewer come and get some fabric today and I mailed more out. 

have a great evening!

Cindy Congrats,  I see Baby Blanket and pillowcases.

Got The rusults on Teddys MRI, it is within normal limits, will find out more come Wed.

Cindy!  whoohoo!  great news for you!  

ME, that does sound like good news.  does Teddy see a diabetes doc as well?  

Hi Everyone, I'm having one of those days. So, I thought I'd ask the question...How do you know when its time to walk away from the sewing machine? So far today, I've sewn the bottom of a pcs and it should have been the top (a one way pattern).Then I changed the bobbin thread and forgot to thread the needle. Worse yet, I didn't notice!

So, when do you all know when its just not the day to sew? 

well Lyn, for me it's when I have the urge to throw the article to be sewn on the floor and stomp on it.  and I have done that.  haha.

You need a break when you make mistakes.  maybe not the whole day, but when I do silly things like sewing the pc together wrong, I put it down, get a cup of tea or coffee and do something else-like read.

no harm in that.  And then there is stomping-it relieves alot of stress I've found.

and yes, I have sewn the pcs togehter wrong.

Lyn, can you post the female marines in the marine unit too.  thanks!

Lyn I can't tell you how many times I have sewn the bands on wrong and sewed the pillowcase all the way around and went to turn in right side out and couldn't get my hand inside cause I sewed it closed. Thats usually at like 2am so I just wad it up in a ball throw it on the top shelf and go to bed, it does stay there a day or two before i have to sit and take it apart. So baby walk away, yell and scream go have a drink what ever you want and go back later and try again.

Oh don't forget to thread the needle LOL

Sue, I posted the picture of the pcs for the female Marines in the Marines discussion.

love the "sewing gone bad" stories.  that sounds like a song.  Any songwriters in the group.  I'll have to mention that to Ronnie ahah.

thanks for posting the photo Lyn!   quilt, what did you decide about the dragon book?

nope, you aren't alone Paymaster.  I do eventually pick it back up and go to work on fixing the mistake.'

my most recent sewing mistake was a granny square afghan.  Once I get the squares made, I lay them out for sewing.  I then gather them on a diagonal line, rubber them the squares and number them.

I am soooooo slowly working on one that is a graduation gift, due this past June.  No road trip for me this summer-that's how I get alot of them done.  Anyway.  

I took it to the doc's office while waiting for Ray.  I got 1 row on fine.  Then started another.  The 1st square didn't seem right, but I can't remember every square that I put into it.   BUT did I double check it??????   NO!

So I sewed the entire row on, then laid it on the floor to look at it and realized my mistake.  I was not happy.  And since I was in a doc's waiting room, I couldn't stomp on it but I sure wanted to. ahah.

I just started to take it apart.  I sew it with black yarn on black yarn so have a hard time seeing the stitches sometimes.  I did get it ripped out and am happy to report it has been re-sewn on it, but that took over 2 weeks to get done.

have an awesome day ladies!

SO glad to hear others have those days with the sewing.  And does it always happen when you need to get something done?  I can sew for hours and never have a problem...until the PC's are due in the mail tomorrow!

Have a good sewing day! No deadlines right now!!

thanks for telling me Natalie.

Ray finally got to talk to the doc tonight.  He does have prostate cancer.   The doc wants us both to come in and talk about the options.  Ben is going to come too.

thanks Lyn.  We are anxious to meet with the doc and see what the treatment options are.

how's the sewing going today?

you're right ME.  I need him to carry my boxes to the PO.  I can take my own to Office Depot cause the have CARTS!  I tell them that every time I go.  I love the carts!

thanks for praying.

Sue, did you know there are 6 panels (for books - I will need to relook at that and see how a book would be made?)?? I might use them and make toddler size nap-quilts (easier for me). Let me know if we find a toddler in need. When I get my sewing machine back from the shop I will be much happier! Of course, if my husband found a job I would be really happy not to have him underfoot all the time!

Still praying for Ray, Teddy, etc.  My son comes home this weekend for 10 days (his first time home since BC)!

exciting days for you quilt!  you use that book anyway you want.  and again, if you make something and can sell it, put the money towards shipping, fabric etc.

You are so handy with these kinds of things, I thought you were perfect.  And since I was able to ship you a bigger box, I just considered it a bonus.

Without my machine, that's what I have been doing. Cutting and planning which bands go with which body! Two dozen put together so far. I love the flanges on the pcs, but it takes so much room so I am putting a stripe on the band next to the body to "simulate" the same look.  This one is a two inch strip, I think I will try making some only one.

This was partially sewn before my machine went to the shop.

Sue,  Do some Internet research on prostate cancer.  From what I have heard recently some of the new recommendations are watch and wait because most forms are slow growing and other things will  get the patient first.  I have not done research and I realize that it will depend upon the specific type of cancer that Ray has.

The watch and wait ("W&W" -- watch and worry) approach is difficult to wrap your head around but many times it is the best.  I know that many times for indolent types of lymphoma it is the treatment of choice.  I have a friend who was on W&W for 19 years but is now under growing treatment because it has advanced.  I was on W&W for four years before my lymphoma turned aggressive.  That did require chemo.

In any case, Ray will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Maryellen, I hope that your husband soon gets his meds straightened out.  I can only imagine how scary that must be!

Lyn, may your husband soon be on his feet again.  Rest is so healing for the body.

It's a lovely, sunny day here today.  The temperature is quite chilly and the leaves are about gone.  Fall has definitely arrived.

Hit pay dirt yesterday. At one of my stops in my continuing search for fabric I found race car fabric AND checkered flag fabric. Enough for at least 15 pc's. All for $5.00. WooHoo.

I've been reading the posts for the past week or so and think it's time I chime in. You all sound so wonderful and the doctors and appointments you all have had have kept me holding you in my heart. When I sew I can think of you and lift you all up. Here's to health and happy trails. Sending my love from a Colorado Mom.  P.S. I agree with DC. Do research. There is a lot of research in the alternative medicine area. Just food for thought.

Dori, glad to hear from you!  How is your wrist and C.W. all faring?  A little girl in my kinder class is flying to Maine today.  Her mom has a new job at the University there.    What a shock that will be to them.  the town is on the coast, further north and starts with a "T"-at least I think so haha.

The doc did tell Ray that there are more options than surgery and seeds, so we'll see what he has to say on Friday morning.  I am so glad that my boy is home!  I need his support.

Sorry to hear that your hubby is ill Lyn. Will pray for him as well.  Cutting is good.  I like to take a day to cut as well.

today is my long day at school.  have an awesome one today.  Only 75 here today. yeah, fall has finally arrived!

beautiful quilts Lyn!  what is the "T" pattern called?  it does feel good to get a project done!

ME, that is great news!  Keep us posted on what the diabetes doc says.  perhaps, he needs to see a diabetic nutritionist as well.

Natalie, all 55 yards washed at one time!  yikes!  that is alot of ironing!

Sue Our insurance will not cover the nutritionist but if he smoked they will cover a hypnotist to get him to quit lol. Our doctor is helping us with that and only charging us our $15 copay and we go over it when we come to see her so its working out good right now.

Lyn, your quilts are very pretty.  I can see the Kimonos in that quilt.  Now the pattern makes sense.  It didn't before because I kept trying to make it into crosses but not complete for that.

Maryellen, have you tried arguing with the insurance company about the lack of coverage for the nutritionist.  Learning to control diabetes better with diet certainly can reduce costs in the long run.

Sue, my wrist is getting stronger all the time.  Vacuuming is one thing that really bothers it and that is on CW's forbidden list.  Of course, he follows that restriction but the gardening, mowing, etc.  well, that's another story.  He starts rehab on Monday and I will be glad to find out how he does react to activity.  That is a more objective test.

We are supposed to get some snow ... probably wintery mix ... tonight.  I doubt that it will stick but it might make the roads slick in the morning.  Tomorrow, I go for my pre-op work-up.  Kind of scary because it makes the surgery more real.

Your student will be in for a change in weather but so far it has not been bad.  Last night it was 39 but it is supposed to be below freezing tonight.  I suspect your friends will have an adjustment in the short winter days.  We are already really noticing it.  In December, it is fairly dark by 4:00 p.m.

Have a good day.

hello all!  What a day and I changed hats many times!  More trivia for you:

Whose birthday is today and she is 125?  Lady Liberty.  One kinder said to me "it can't be her birthday, how does she grow?"   haha Out of the mouths of babes.  The book called it the 125th anniversary of her opening.  

I have a foam hat but couldn't put my hands on it, so wore my paper hat that I made years ago with kids (who else).  It got lots of reactions and it was another teaching moment about our great country.

Dori, thanks for the website and Ray did look at it.  He has opted for surgery.  The doc said that we have been in the wait and watch mode and it is time to take action.  He is in stage 1 cancer, but the numbers are creeping up.  It will be a robotic one.  Hoping to get it done in mid Dec, so that I will have 2 weeks off for Christmas break.  I so appreciate all of the prayer.  The meeting was very informative and we were happy to have Ben along.  He did recommend that Ben be checked by age 35, 40 at the latest.

Quilt, 5 dozen pc sets!  awesome!  how is the shoulder today?

My afternoon job had a fall festival.  They wanted the workers in costumes so I got out my Noah's Ark costume that I made in 1989.  One gal said "that's the year that I was born".  haha.  It is a full body dress, blue sky at the top, the ark is next, then Mt Ararat, the green grass.  I have the animals coming out of the Ark by 2s.  And of course, a rainbow hat.  And dove on my shoulder.  Noah is at the top of the ark-he's a green army guy with binoculars.  

Dori, snow!  yikes.  We were in the 80's today.  That will be a change for Kara.

sounds like you 2 are on the mend!

Lyn, I thought they looked like "T"s.  but now I see the kimono.

Please add Jake Bantlin to your prayer list.  He is the youngest son of my teacher.  He's a sophomore in high school.  He has mono, but had to be admitted to the hospital on Tuesday for vomiting. He is not doing well.  Thanks!

I am heading to bed.  I am wiped out 

Found out that my shoulder problems is multiple, a tear in a little bitty muscle, the bicep tendon is inflamed and twisted. My Sailor arrived home for his first visit since BC and while waiting for him to arrive, our youngest daughter called to say she was in an accident on the freeway and the car is pretty badly damaged, the front wheel/axle looks to have broken apart while she was going around 45 miles (she was moving over a lane to exit, and someone pulled in front of her, when she braked, the wheel/axle possibly snapped, sent the car spinning). She was fine until another car hit her, both our daughter and the other driver are basically uninjured, but my daughter is very sore. Now tonight, our furnace has decided to not work properly... please pray for the Banner's tonight! We very much need your intercession!  Praise, my husband did get some more free-lance work and reconnected with someone that says he might have some job leads for him (they exchanged business cards at the airport)!

Mary Ellen Products is on Facebook, coupons if you are interested in those come up frequently!

Quilt, so sorry to hear of your troubles.  Will pray for you all.  PTL your daughter wasn't hurt more than aches.

did you go to the doc today?  sounds like you need to let the sewing rest for a bit.

Thankful your sailor made it home safely!  And work for your hubby.

DC, I have been on the phone with them at least 1 aday for the last month. They hate it when I call they know Im going to tell them that it is part of preventative medicine and they give the all to famous run around. The doctor has been fighting and writting letters say that because he is a diabetic that a nutritionist is medically necessary and they say NO its not. We have an appeal in but it looks like we might loose. But they said if he smoked they will pay for him to quit, go figure.

Quilt prayers going your way for all the troubles going on. We are here if you need us honey.

Lyn, I wish I was in Spain!  Took daughter to chiropractor because of pain from accident (glad we have Personal Injury Protection on that car). She will need some help getting through the stress of the accident, not sure how the insurances will handle everything, will let them work it out. Car did not have collision insurance, so we are waiting to find out if it can be repaired and the costs... or do we just buy another!

My shoulder is healing slowly, massage therapy is wonderful (my neighbor)!

Still waiting for my sewing machine's return... I want to sew all those pc sets I put together!  My son wants me to start saving for his first deployment! I explained that HAE will be willing to help when the time comes!  He looks so wonderful and has been a big help around the house during all this mess.

Praying still for everyone! <3