I managed to teach a bit in 2009 but slacked off beginning summer of 2010 while I had cataract surgery and lens implants. For the first time in my life I have 20/20 vision, woo-HOOO! When the first cataract was removed I was stunned to realize how my color-sense had degraded -- like a brown haze on a dirty window. Went around comparing the new eye with the cataract-in-waiting eye, squinting through first one eye, then the other. Looked like an old fashioned railroad crossing with lights blinking back and forth!
The less-happy news is that I've developed something called Fuchs Dystrophy -- involving cells in the cornea that become congested with fluid. Not anything like glaucoma, thank God. Treatment can hold the line up to a point, but one day I'll be needing a corneal transplant. So believe me I use my eye drops faithfully four times a day. A 5% sodium chloride solution (table salt!!!), they burn like crazy, but if that's what it takes to make my eye last, I'm all over it!
MANY quilts gone by the boards since I last posted. One I'm particularly proud of is my sister's 65th birthday quilt. First, the back -- the quilting pleases me greatly. Next the front, a simple framed four-patch with the "frames" organized similarly to a log cabin block. Makes me think of attic windows -- a nice surprise! Finally a closeup of the broderie perse appliques in the borders. She loves it!
You've no doubt heard of the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords a couple of weeks ago. Shot at close range just above her left eye, a through-and-through. I was so stunned all I wanted to do was sew -- my therapy of choice. Found myself making "four into nine" patches, ending with enough to make a small quilt. I call it the "Gabby Quilt" -- entirely scrappy, entirely from stash, and a prayer in every stitch.
After only two weeks she was moved to a premier rehabilitation in Houston so her astronaut husband could be near her and still fulfill his professional commitments. Sounds like answered prayer to me. Thank you God!
Summer of 2009 my beloved Belgian Shepherd Malinois had to have a bony tumor removed from her upper jaw. Doesn't sound like a big deal but it's a peculiar sort of cancer that invades the lungs if ignored. No way could I ignore it. The process was very hard on her, which wrung my heart, so of course I found great comfort in a quilt project that I could carry around. Ended up making a scrap quilt entirely by hand, even the binding. What a treat that was, so soothing, and I do believe the quilt itself is indestructible! First a closeup and then the whole quilt. Framed four-patch blocks, hand pieced and hand quilted.
Well dears, it's late and I'm worn out from helping my daughter move house today. Despite working on it for 20 months, they weren't able to get their mortgage modified. Got their foreclosure notice this week, found a place to rent, and moved in today! I'm so happy they have a chance to start over, and save money while they're doing so -- rent: $800 a month; mortgage payment: $1800 a month. Imagine suddenly being $100 a month to the good! I couldn't be happier for them.
More later.....
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