In quarantine for a week.

I am in quarantine for seven days!

I can't believe that on top of everything else I am now being treated for a suspected case of the swine flu. When I get sick Sue, my sister always says I must have killed a china man. I'm not sure where that saying came from but I think I must have killed a whole village of china men!

One good thing is that I have plenty of time to work on my quilts. I only have two more blocks to do on Jacob's quilt and then the hard work of laying it out and hand quilting it begins. I have a lot more to do on Hannah's quilt as the blocks are smaller. I have been sewing the material onto the cards so that I can sew some more blocks together.


Rhonda, (my other sister) has chosen a design for her quilt. I am going to make it an 'Asian' theme in black and white cotton prints and black and red silk. I have been buying pieces of material off EBay and found a beautiful piece of silk like material in black with a red 'Asian' design over it.

The quilt will be a fairly simple design with a larger centre block of black and white geisha women surrounded by a border of red satin. This will then be surrounded by smaller squares of black and white fabrics then a larger border of the black with red print satin. It will be a challenge sewing the satin material by hand but one I'm keen to try.

I've decided to make a different quilt for Sarah. I saw a pattern in a quilting magazine that I loved more than the quilt I had first chosen to make. Like with Hannah's quilt I had to have the material sent to me, this time from Adelaide. Quite by accident the material for both Sarah and Hannah quilt's is from the 'Max New' range of fabrics. I hope that Sarah (and Ruth) like this pattern and the material. I guess if they don't I'll just have to keep it for myself.

Using time to sew

Over the past few weeks I have had many doctors appointments which usually mean lots of time waiting for doctors and a lot of time traveling on trains getting to the appointments. Rather than sitting twiddling my fingers wondering how long I will have to wait I take my bag of sewing and work on my quilts.

On Thursday I went to see the eye specialists at the Austin Hospital. I spent over two hours traveling on the trains and nearly 3 hours hours waiting to see the doctors. It's hard having so many appointments but rather than sitting doing nothing I try and make the most of the time traveling on trains and waiting to see the doctors sewing.

While waiting to see the doctors on Thursday I was sewing more blocks for Hannah's quilt totally unaware that I had an audience watching me until one lady came up and asked me what I was making and asked if she could show one of the blocks to her mother. The block was then passed around the waiting room with people making various comments and talking about things they sew or knit.

It was interesting to see people, both men and women who had been sitting silently next to each other for nearly an hour start talking to each other. It was as though the room had suddenly come alive all because of a quilt.

In going to see the doctors at the Austin hospital I was hoping that I would finally have a diagnosis but that was not to be. I was told that that I had been sent to the Austin Hospital from the Eye and Ear Hospital as the doctors had expected to find an tumour or aneurysm however as my MRI results showed neither the cause is still unknown. My eyes themselves are healthy which apparently indicates a problem with the optic nerve. I am now waiting to see if I have to have more tests including another MRI and a lumber puncture. I'm also waiting for an appointment to see a neurologist to investigate if there is any damage to the optic nerve.

I feel a bit like I am in limbo waiting for a diagnosis so that I know what I have and what I can expect in the future.

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'.

Life changes a day at a time

Sometimes I think that life is like a garden - seeds are planted, over time they grow and it seems that suddenly you have a garden full of plants and flowers .... some expected and some you didn't know you'd planted.

Like a garden, things in our life change daily but often it's not until we sit down and think about everything we realise how many changes we have had in our lives. For me the past few months have been a time of new developing new friendships, finding a new church, reconnecting with old friends, going to a new craft group and starting a new job.

I would never have thought a posting on the Melbourne Freecycle Cafe for information about an Alpha group followed by an offer of some potatoes would have led to the forming of new friendships and finding a new church but little did I know that a question posted on the 15th January was going to lead to such a big change in my life. It was from these postings that I met Andrea and after a few emails back and forth about the church she went to, I was invited to tea and met her husband, Richard, their daughter Siobhan, and some of their friends.

In addition to the emails back and forth I was also given the church's website to look at. This is where I was amazed to see the face of a man I met at a school christian program when I was about 15 years old at school in Bendigo. This man, Harley gave me a booklet with his name on the back. I had never forgotten him even though I had not seen him since that day. I'd kept the booklet all these years.

The co-incidences continued as it turned out that Harley is the brother of Dave, one of the directors of 'OI' the 'church/sect' I had left 18 months before after going there for 37 years. One long chapter of my life ended talking to one brother and a new chapter began with talking to the other brother.

I made a big decision and went to my first meeting at Truth & Liberation Concern (TLC) on the 1 February 2009. After leaving behind 37 years of my life - my friends, beliefs and all the things I was used to I am now rebuilding new friendships, discovering what I believe and enjoying life again.

As well as starting new friendships the past few months has also been a time of re-establishing some old friendships. Through Facebook I have meet up with people who have also left OI. We are all at different stages of rebuilding our lives and it has been so valuable being able to talk to other people who have been through the same experiences.

Since going to TLC I have also started to go to the craft group Brink. It's run by TLC but is very much open to the community. People go there to knit, sew, paint or just to meet other people. I love going and spending a couple of hours a week on sewing my quilts, knitting and meeting new people.

Tomorrow I start another new chapter in my life. I will be starting a new job as a part time (2 days a week) bookkeeper for a computer retail store in Ringwood. Things with my boss in my current job aren't going very well. He suffers depression and has gone away on a 'holiday' leaving his family and business behind. It's been hard to say that I can't and don't want to work for this guy anymore but for my own health it's been a decision I've had to make. Until he comes back and a decision is made about the viability of the business I'll continue working there for one afternoon a week.

The past 3 months have been full of so many changes - I'm looking forward to seeing what the days, weeks and months ahead hold for me.

Sewing up blankets for Chicks with Sticks

Just before Christmas last year I was thinking about things that I could volunteer to do in the community. I looked at a lot of different things such as dog walking for elderly people, helping deliver meals on wheels, providing administrative support for different organisation, and driving people to appointments. There were so many things that I would have been qualified to do and would have loved doing but everything required someone who was really able to guarantee that they would be able to take a person to an appointment, walk their dog or deliver meals. I felt that with my various illnesses I was not able to guarantee that I would always be available when required.
A few weeks after thinking that there really wasn't something that I could do a lady posted a request on a cafe website that I use asking for people to sew knitted squares into blankets.

I felt excited as this was something I could do and it was a way of doing some kind of volunteer work for the community.

I sent an email to the lady offering to sew up the knitted squares into blankets. My offer was accepted and I was given two huge garbage bags full of knitted squares. Some squares are big and some are small. The squares were to be sewn into a size to fit on the top of a single bed.

The lady was a member of a group called 'Chicks with Sticks' which knit blankets and sets of hats, gloves and scarves for homeless people and people in nursing homes. The group meets every week but as I work I haven't been to a meeting yet.

Chicks with Sticks website:
http://www.freewebs.com/chickswithstickseasternsuburbs/index.htm

I've now made four blankets from the larger squares. I tried to sew the squares together but have found that it was easier and neater to crochet the edges together and then crochet around the edge of the blankets to finish them off.

I'm enjoying making the blankets knowing that they will be used by people who need them and am so pleased that I have found some kind of volunteer work that I can do from home.

Putting together the smaller squares will be more of a challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with them.

Three little 'Settler girl' cardigan's finished

Yesterday I finished knitting Olivia's cardigan to match Sarah and Hannah's. I've never knitted the same pattern three times in a row and have really enjoyed knitting these cardigans for my great nieces.

As I still have Sarah and Hannah's cardigans here from the exhibition I decided to take a photo of all three together. I think the girls will look really cute in their matching cardigans.


The pattern is called 'Settler girl motif' and is one of my favourite patterns. I've knitted this pattern for different little girls over the years so with these three cardigans finished I've now knitted it 7 times.

I've enjoyed knitting the cardigans for the girls and hope they enjoy wearing them.