Welcome March!

 

Winds of March, we welcome you. 

There is work for you to do. 

Work and play and blow all day, 

Blow the Winter cold away!

Well the biopsy was done on Feb. 26th finally after waiting since July to get some answers, now I just wait for results and go from there.

I just ordered the Kathy Schmitz Bunny Bunch panel from Spoonflower, I thought it would be a nice addition to the Ostara decorations.  They only had it in green which is fine for what I am planning to do with it.  I will use spring colors for the embroidery. 

I am still working on the winter goddess slow stitch piece which seems to be taking me forever to stitch. I am just about done with the horizontal stitches, with a few strips on the head and the arm to complete. Then I will start the vertical stitches so she is secured and ready to be cut off the fabric and added to the background fabric so I can embellish it.  

I would like to have this done before Spring arrives but I am not sure that will happen.  We have much going on here and some days I'm too tired to see what I am stitching.

In the busyness of life, we are moving the business out of the house and into a warehouse. Finally found a place and only about 10  minutes from the house.

I am crocheting 2 baby blankets for twins, the first is done. This one is for the baby boy, yes that is gray yarn which I never thought I would use in a baby blanket but I love it.

 Well that's about it for now, lately I tire easily and sitting is still a bit uncomfortable for long periods of time after the biopsy, not from the procedure, its the after effects of the medication that causing the cramping.

 

I wish you a wonderful March and hope you are seeing early signs of  Spring here in the northern hemisphere.

Slow Stitching the Winter Goddess

Another month moving at a rapid speed, it seems like only yesterday I was light a candle for Imbolc and here we are half way through another.

The days are growing noticeably longer which is a sure sign Spring is on her way which I am looking forward to.  I finally had the time and energy to begin the Slow Stitch Winter goddess piece after gathering fabric scraps nearly a week ago.  I laid out the arrangement and pin each piece down on the backing fabric where I had traced the goddess template. This is the easy part of creating one of these goddess pieces.

For the winter goddess I am using fabric in the colors of the winter skies I see throughout the winter months here in Florida. Here is the fabrics pinned down.

This time the fabric scraps were not placed randomly, I selected each piece changing the layout and the colors until I liked what I saw. I pinned every piece down before I began to stitch.

I would first stitch each piece down across the center to be sure each piece was attached to the backing fabric, then I stitched around the traced line of the template from the back of the fabric so I know where my cut line will be once all the the stitching is complete.  I usually stitch horizontal and vertical lines of running stitch through the entire piece.

I'm just glad I have all the pieces in place once all the stitching is done I will cut her off the backing fabric and attached her to the background fabric and the embellishments can begin.  It's a slow process.  

I have another wonderful embroidery kit from Missouri Star Quilts Company, as soon as I laid eyes on it I knew I had to have.  It includes everything you need except the fabric. At first I thought I would just use the stick and stitch pieces on different embroideries but the more I looked at the pattern booklet and saw the set in my newsletters I bought the fabric kit as well.

The kit includes everything you need to make a  62” x 76 1/2” quilt.  The embroidery kit includes:

10 Missouri Star Perle Cotton 10-oz floss colors and 140 pre-printed Missouri Star Peel & Stitch designs,  7” birch wood hoop, embroidery scissors, two needles (#3 and #6), a needle threader, and a magnetic needle minder (1”).  

The Fabric kit includes:  Includes the quilt pattern, a large hexagon acrylic template, 99 precut 10” squares— Essex Yarn Dye Curry. Essex Ivory, Robert Kaufman Essex Natural and 5/8 yard of Essex Natural by Robert Kaufman for binding.  The fabric kit is also available in denim colorway.

This week I am reading the newest book in the China Bayles mystery series.

I had my consultation in Gainesville on Thursday after waiting 5 months for the appointment to set up a D&C so they can do the biopsy the other office couldn't do because of a miscommunication of a pill I was supposed to take before the procedure that could have been done in the office.  I was told to take it before the ultra sound which was wrong.  Anyway, this doctor is going to do the biopsy in his office, has given me proper instructions of when to take the medications so that I can hopefully avoid a hospital out patient surgery.  This is all fine and dandy but I am a bit miffed at why my doctor could just reschedule the biopsy for another time, on the record it just states it couldn't be done, so the doctor never inquired what happened with the Physician Assistant. 

I initially had to have the consult because I am high risk and my Gyn didn't want me to have the D&C at out local hospital.  

Where Does The Time GO?

 How are we on the 10th of February? (I have become so neglectful of my blog posting) It seems like only yesterday I was lighting a candle for Imbolc and bringing in a few yards of fabric I had lain about the shrubs for Brigid's blessing.   Here is a little info of why I do this:

It is believed that On midwinter’s eve (Imbolc) place a piece of linen or cloth outside. You could also lay out a shawl. It is said that on this night Brigid travels all over the land and if she sees this cloth she will bless it and give it healing powers.

Here is a blessing you can use when laying out your cloth: Let the cloth of life be mended. Let the thread be linked again, restored, cleansed. May we be blessed, and through our lives, Bless.

I will use this cloth as I have throughout the years for projects like these hand embroidery pieces I made over the years, both prayer flags for friends in need at the time. 

I finally have the consultation with the Gyn at Shands hospital on the 13th, I was so relieved when I  finally heard back, I've been waiting since Oct. 7th to have yet another D&C and biopsy.  Because of the blood thinners I take my Gyn thought it best to have this done at Shand's hospital rather than in the office surgery center.  I am considered high risk, I think I will be considered higher risk because of the Atrial Fibrillation which is nearly constant.  Either way I just want it done because at 69 having a menstrual cycle after being in menopause for over a decade just sucks.  You can not imagine how I wished I had the hysterectomy back in 1999 when the endometriosis was so bad, if it's an option now I will take it because I don't want to keep having to go back for another D&C or having periods at 80.

So far this year I have read the following books:

We had snow in the Florida panhandle Pensacola getting about 5 inches, I only wished it would have come down to the north central area, we did have some deep freeze days.  Now we are in the mid 80's with upper 80's by the end of the week.

Even though the day has passed, I wish you all a Blessed Imbolc.  I tend to see Imbolc as a seasonal time and not just a day.  The image is one of my favorites by Bonny Hut.  Spring is in the air, even if the ground hog saw his shadow.  The daylight hours are growing longer.

Happy New Year!