Cancer Update

Every time I get a CT scan, I think about posting my results, but there is not much news to report.    The good news:  my cancer hasn't spread; the bad news:  it doesn't seem to be improving. My tumor markers are off the charts, but they are finally stable.   My white counts are consistently down, but I haven't gotten any secondary infections.  My pain is better than it was last summer thanks to regular acupuncture visits.  I don't have to take pain killers, other than the occasional ibuprofen.

The chemo is outrageously expensive.  My co-payment for the oral chemo is $5000 a month.  That is just my portion!  This drug costs about $15,000 a month!  On top of that I have 3 injections a month, 2 hormone blockers and one for  bone-building.  We estimated that it cost the insurance company about $70,000 a month for the first 3 months of my care.  I met my $6000 personal deductible the first week in January.

I will be on some sort of costly treatment for the rest of my life.  I do not 'look' like a cancer patient.   I still have most of my hair, and I still work a couple of days a week.  But the hormone blockers are causing me to age quickly.  My hands are pealing, and my nails are brittle.  I have fragile, old lady skin now.  I bruise easily, and take a long time to heal.

I have a brain MRI scheduled for next week because I've been having headaches. It was actually scheduled for last week, but the tech couldn't get the IV in, and he was the only one in the office other than the receptionist.  I am trying to get an appointment at a different facility because I'm so mad at that place!                                

Sedona

I completed 2 more rows of Sedona this weekend. The two rows on the left are officially June's and July's.  When I have the entire pattern at once for a BOM, I have a hard time not working ahead on it.

I also got the entire Sew Many Strips quilt top sewn together and pieced backing for it.

It is chilly out today and rainy, so I want to just stay inside and sew.

Stash Report:

Used this week:  11.75  yards (Sew Many Strips top and back)

Used year to date: 68.50 yards

Added this week:  0 yards

Added year to date: 57.50 yards

Net Used 11.0  yards

Linking up: http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2019/05/design-wall-monday-may-13-2019.html

Good Fortune, Quilted and Bound

My version of Bonnie Hunter's Good Fortune has been quilted for many weeks.  I finally got around to binding it yesterday.  I bound this one by hand in hopes of preserving the triangle points on the outer border.  I cut off a few, but I'd have cut off more of them if I bound by machine.  The binding is   purple grunge that was leftover from another project. This quilt is 70"x 71".

Debbie Cooper of Finish My Quilt did the longarming.  The quilt is too busy on the front for much of the quilting to show, but it looks great on the back!  The back is an extra wide shot cotton, so it is very soft.  I am so happy with the way it turned out that I'm keeping it!

Stash Report:

Used this week:  4.25 yards (Good Fortune back)

Used year to date: 56.75 yards

Added this week:  0.675 (Will's Quilt binding)

Added year to date: 57.50 yards

Net Added: 0.75  yards

Linking up: http://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/2019/05/home-awaits-quilt-kit-finished-or-not.html

Sew Many Strips

I have not been posting the past 2 weeks, but I have been madly sewing.  A friend of mine found a pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting that she thought was perfect for me, Sew Many Strips.  She knows me well!  There is a Facebook quilt along group for this quilt, but I did not have the magazine, and I did not want to buy it.  A few days later, my boss gave me a copy.  I figured that was a sign, so I started this quilt the second week of April.

So far, I have the borders pieced and most of the center put together.  One more seam to go.  I love this pattern!  The cutting is simple, mindless 1/1/2 inch strips.  The block is simple:  just a rail fence.  The pieces are small, so that this pattern looks great super scrappy or controlled scrappy as I have done.  I have seen dozens of versions of this quilt, and I like them all.  I rarely make a pattern more than once, but I am very tempted to do this quilt again with a black background or with a different color scheme.

Linking up:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2019/05/design-wall-monday-may-6-2019.html

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2019/05/lets-bee-social-270.html

RSC, Teal

I have worked at a quilt shop long enough to know that one person's teal, is another person's aqua, is another person's bluish green or greenish blue.  Whatever you call this color, here are my April RSC blocks:

These blocks are for my End of the Rainbow quilt.  I'm halfway done with the blocks now!

I was a little worried that there wouldn't be enough contrast between the green and the teal, but when I put them together, I can see that this is going to work. 

Sedona, April and May

I cheated a little and worked ahead on Sedona.

April's row is the fourth one from the top, and May's is the fifth.  April's row was a challenge for me.  There was a lot of curved cutting and squaring up at the end of each step.  I liked the diamonds without the white center the pattern called for, so I didn't add those.  May's row was easy by comparison, no curves in that one.

Linking up:  http://whatahootquilts.blogspot.com/2019/04/boms-away-devons-dahlia.html

Will's Quilt, Top Finished

I worked hard to get Will's Airplane quilt top done this weekend.

As much as I agonized over this quilt, I'm happy with the way it turned out for the most part.  I like the way you have to hunt for the planes.  There are things I would change if I made it again, but I'm not making it again!  I had a huge problem with some of my shot cottons raveling.  I will not use shot cottons again when I'm making triangles or flying geese.

I also ran into the issue of it being bigger than I had originally intended.  For some reason, I can't seem to make a throw sized quilt.  This one is 88"x73", which is wide for an extra long twin.  

I'm very happy with the fabric I found for the backing.  

It doesn't have anything to do with airplanes, but Will is also a long distance runner.  This fabric is a Timeless Treasure print.  

Linking up:https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2019/04/lets-bee-social-267.html

http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2019/04/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-its-my-turn.html

Stash Report:

Used this week: 5.0  yards (Will's Airplane Quilt)

Used year to date: 52.5 yards

Added this week:  13.5 yards ( Will's quilt and 6 yards Tula Pink)

Added year to date: 56.875 yards

Net Added:  4.375 yards