Hannah's 'Raspberries & Lime' Quilt

As well as working on Jacob's quilt I'm also sewing Hannah's quilt. I usually have two (sometimes more) projects on the go at the same time as often one pattern is more complicated than the other. I like to have a pattern that I can take with me and sew when I'm waiting at the doctors, on the train or at Brink the craft group I go to.

I love the colors of Hannah's quilt. The green and red on a white background give it a fresh crisp look. Most of my quilts are in the traditional floral and country prints so it's been nice to make something a bit different. As soon as I saw the pattern in the Country Patchwork & Craft magazine I wanted to make it for Hannah and set about getting the material.

The pattern is called "Raspberries & Lime" by Anam Cara Patchwork and the fabric is by Max New Australia. I searched all the local patchwork shops for the fabric but in the end I had the fabric sent to me from a patchwork shop in Sheparton which is in country Victoria. I didn't buy the pattern as I was able to work out the templates and sizes from the picture in the book.

I've cut out all my cardboard templates and material ready to sew each block. The quilt is made up of two types of block patterns. One block has a big square with a thin strip of stripped material around the edge and the other block has a small square in the centre surrounded by smaller squares and rectangles. Both blocks are as hard as each other to put together as the thin strip is quite fiddly to sew onto the square.

I've made up eight blocks now and have sewn them together. It's great seeing another quilt coming together.

Hopefully by the end of winter I will have both Jacob's and Hannah's quilts finished and will have started on the next ones. Which ones I am yet to decide.

A great time of year for sewing

I love this time of year. The days are warm and just right for doing some gardening, going for a walk or just sitting outside in the sunshine. This morning I took Charlie for a walk down the street and this afternoon it was nice being able to get outside and do a bit of gardening.

The evenings are long with the sun setting early - by 5.30pm it's dark outside. I love the long evenings as I reckon that there is nothing better than getting into my pajamas early, cuddling up under my quilt with Charlie beside me on the chair and sewing.

I've been making the most of the long evenings spending most of them working on my quilts cutting out material and templates ready to sew them together.

I have now sewn four blocks of Jacob's quilt and still have a lot more to go. It's exciting seeing Jacob's quilt taking shape.

Dealing with great news and the alternatives

I saw my doctor on Thursday night and came away with mixed feelings. On one hand the sense of relief knowing that I don't have a tumour or aneurysm and wont have to have surgery on my brain was enormous but the feeling of relief was tempered by the realisation that I don't like the other alternatives either.

The 'alternative' means that I probably have a degenerative eye disease. The biggest and most immediate impact on my life is that I am not allowed to drive. What the future holds with regard to my sight is unknown at the moment and another few weeks of waiting for more tests and results.

Not driving is a big change to life style and my independence but at least I am well and whatever this is it is not life threatening and doesn't require major surgery. For that I am so very thankful.

Waiting for test results

This past week I have felt like my life has been in limbo waiting to see what the future will hold. I have lost peripheral vision in both eyes and am not allowed to drive because of it. I've also got a fracture in my foot (a lady trod on it on a bus last year) so am finding it hard to walk and have been been wearing a big boot thing instead of plaster on my foot.

I've been told that I may have another aneurysm, a tumor or some kind of degenerative disease where I may eventually loose my sight. I don't like either option and am praying that maybe there will be a third option. If I do have a tumour or aneurysm then I'm told it can be treated and I may get my peripheral vision back and be able to drive again. If it's not either of these things then it is unlikely that I will drive again.

Not being able to drive in itself is a life changing thing. Like a lot of things in life we don't realise how much we rely on being able to get in our car and drive down the street. It's only been just over a week and I really miss not being able to get into my car and drive to work, to the shops, to church, to craft or to friends houses.

Tomorrow I get the results of my MRI and bone scans. I don't know what news I want to hear. I just want to know what I am dealing with.

It's the not knowing that is hardest and scariest thing to deal with.

A new journey ahead

I try and live life a day at a time but there is always something planned for the next day, next week, next month or even next year. We live life assuming that there will be many more days ahead where we can fulfill our dreams, finish something we have started, visit someone, go away on a holiday or even do something mundane like bath the dog, vacuum the floor or clean out the study.

I have a dream to make a quilt for each person in my family. Somehow because of this dream I have thought that I have many more days and even years ahead and that I have plenty of time to fulfil my dream.

On Friday I was given news that made me realise again that life isn't endless and that I don't have forever to make the quilts for my family.

I don't know what is ahead for me in the coming days, weeks or months as I face this new challenge in my life. I'm scared for what I already know. I am scared of the unknown. I am scared of not being able to fulfil my dream of making a quilt for everyone.

I pray that the doctors have got it wrong, maybe the machine wasn't working properly, maybe it isn't as bad as they say. Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and find it was all just a bad dream.

For now though all I can do is my best. Deal with the things I have to, accept the things that I cannot change, make the most of what I have and what I can do and trust that somehow things will work out fine.

As for my dream - all I can do is continue sewing every stitch of every quilt with the same love and care that I always have but maybe now with the realisation that I may not have 'forever'.