Crummy Timing

A warning before anyone scrolls to see the photos in this post: Some people might be disturbed by the content, but my checkbook can attest to a veterinarian's intervention into the matter.

On the morning following Gus's departure across the Rainbow Bridge, I scooped Victor von Bunn up from the floor to put him back into his house. That's when we found this.

Given the lively chance he'd led me on in the attempt to not be put back in to his cage, and his horse-like appetite and resulting Pez-dispenser-esque bottom, the apparent injury came as quite a shock. A all rabbit lovers know if a bunny is playing, eating, and pooping then things are a-ok.

However this was not fine. A call to the vet's got us an appointment first thing Monday morning. The we waited... not calmly except for Victor. He was quite non-pulsed.

We went to the vet expecting to find a corneal scratch. Instead we found an eyeball full of pus. IF we'd been able to get rid of the infection with medication he'd still be blind in that eye. I didn't want to have the stress of trying to fight an infection in what's supposed to be a closed-off place... and Victor didn't need that stress either.

So the vet and I agreed the best course of action was to remove the eye. He did so that afternoon because he was very concerned. Victor's appetite showed the first signs of declining that morning and we didn't want to be dealing with gut stasis on top of the infection.

As to how the eye became infected... a cat's claw, finding a splinter whilst poking his nose where it really shouldn't be (he thinks barriers are a puzzle game to be figured out and beaten), we'll really never know. But for bacteria to get into an eyeball a piercing jab is required.

After the surgery was over the vet called me himself. There were minor complications making this procedure even more challenging. Enucleating a rabbit is more difficult than a cat or a dog in general, but Victor's surgery was more so. The major issue was abnormal dilation of the blood vessels along the optic nerve and the accompanying artery.  The vet explained there are only two reasons for that to happen: a nasty infection or cancer.

He wanted to take xrays while Victor was still groggy enough to hold still. I agreed and waited. I wasn't as worried about Victor's recovery at this point. He was waking up from anesthesia just fine. And the eye was out so either infection or cancer, he'd be more comfortable.

I was able to bring him home the following afternoon. Other than looking a bit like a lapine Harvey Dent, he was just fine. His appetite had come back and he was relaxed enough to give himself a bath. The surgical site was swollen and red, not surprising though. He's munching on fresh dandelion greens in the photo. While he was away, I moved his cage upstairs to make it easier to keep watch during the week.

The xrays didn't show any signs of metastasis, so we opted to not send the eye to histology. That cost would've sent the bill to over $1000... and we still need to pay Gus's last bill when we collect his ashes. The other reason we skipped the histology is our vet told us any cancer in such a young rabbit will be, "quick and devastating." Knowing ahead of time won't do a single thing for him.

So whether it be 12 weeks, 12 months, or 12 years, Victor is loved and cared for.

This morning he's looking quite well. The swelling and redness is gone. I think he'll make quite the dapper pirate once the fur grows back.

The worst part of the ordeal for me is the timing. The worst bit for him is getting medicine twice a day. He feels well enough to fight it, which is fine. That means he's getting better.

That's all for now. I'll hopefully get back to posting about fun and creative things next week. Fingers crossed for no more disasters!

Forever A Good Boy

Augustus Octavian, "Gus," my constant companion for the last two years has gone to sleep forever. 

We've been battling the onset of dementia for several months now. Various medications and new routines were implemented to mitigate symptoms, like accidents in the house and wandering at night. Nighttime was the worst... sort of like when humans with Alzheimer's "sundown," Gus would behave strangely at night.

The latest cause for concern was him snapping at me when I tried to get him out of the garbage by grabbing his collar after vocal commands were ignored. That behavior was so atypical I called our vet to discuss it. Our concern was not for the humans in our household, but for Artie, Pixel, and Victor. Gus would never knowingly hurt one of them, but with dementia getting worse we couldn't take the risk.

So last night we had a party with steaks, bacon, gingersnaps, and sugar cookies. Today we went for a drive and got ice cream (which I sprinkled peanut butter bone cookies onto) and cheese curds.

Then the three of us went and played at the park for a bit. It was pretty apparent that Gus was in more pain than we thought. Watching him walk around the park was painful as he was quite stiff and moving very slowly.

But now he's no longer in pain, no longer confused, and no longer afraid.

And my Gussie will be a good boy forever.

A Few Hours Early

In the hopes that I can hit the ground running in the morning, I'm posting now before I go to bed. I wasn't feeling very well this week, so I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.

But the sea horse row and the goldfish row from last week are sandwiched and I have another row ready to sandwich. It's from Charlottesville, Virginia.

I also got the appliques for this row ready to sew on. They're pinned in place and ready for me in the morning... or the evening.

I've got fabrics picked out for a row that's all piecing, so I may start on it in the morning instead. There are also a couple of rows that I have kits for that might pique my interest. We'll see what mood strikes me once the sun is up.

A Day Late

Apologies for missing Sunday. Saturday was so busy that blogging completely slipped my mind. I spent the day displaying some miniature scenes at a "makerfest." That's a term for a group of people who come together to show off their various talents/projects and talk about how the made them. The makerfest itself was part of a larger arts festival which included a car show and live performances by local dancers, singers, etc.

Last week's progress on the quilt was slowed down a bit by getting ready to display at the show, but I still got some good work done.

The Freemont, CA row is ready to be sandwiched. I'm very pleased with how it's turned out. I'm planing on adding some more texture details to the sea horses with the quilting.

The Grantsville, MD row is also ready for sandwiching, although in this picture threads need cleaned up. I did that last night, so it's truly ready to go.

I decided to added appliqued eyes to the Morris, IL row instead of just embroidering them. The fish are large enough that I was able to trace around quarters to make the applique templates. This row is already sandwiched and waiting on me to finish blind-stitching the label on the back. I started that last night and am almost finished.

Two other rows are also sandwiched and in the stack to have their labels stitched on before quilting.

I did work on a couple of other projects last week as well. In the effort to reclaim some of my safety pins for sandwiching rows, I started the quilting on some things that have been waiting for attention.

These are the halves of what will be a large tote bag/diaper bag. It matches a quilt a friend and I started for another friend's baby. The link will take you to the post with the quilt top if you're interested.

This is the pile of safety pins I reclaimed, just from those two sections.

I also started on one of the twin chevron quilts. I still need to finish the quilting in the white sections, but I did enough work to get all my safety pins back from it and gave my shoulders a good workout.

I'm hoping to get caught up with all the rows that are ready for quilting this week and then get started on a few more. I have family who've been collecting patterns for me and they'll be mailed soon. If I can be finished with what I already have before the next round gets here, I'll be ecstatic.

That's all for now. I have a busy day of sewing and laundry waiting on my presence. See you next weekend!

Progressing

In order to get back to work, I need to keep this post short and sweet.

Three more rows are quilted now.

I pieced another row that needs appliques attached. This one is from Grantsville, MD, and is one that my neighbor picked up for me during her road trip. I had to add the strip of brown to make the row the same height as all the others. The fish appliques are needleturn but there will be fused applique grasses as well.

The row I showed last week was a surprise row sent by a friend who was visiting California. She didn't even put her name on the return address (her son's home), so I had quite the mystery on my hands for a few hours! It still needs some work on the needleturn applique. The seahorses will be fused applique and made from the brown fabric sitting next to the iron. It's from Color Me Quilts in Fremont, CA.

Two more rows are ready to quilt.

And I finished a row that ultimately needed to be taken apart because it was 4 inches too long. Needless to say I was irritated. The directions left quite a bit to be desired. I use scant quarter inch seams, but 4" is too long for even that. Plus it started out too narrow as they'd designed it at 6.5 inches wide, so I needed to add the sashing. I also made the row vertical whereas the original was horizontal. So it's waiting on me to find out if I"m getting a specific row from Albuquerque, NM that will be used in place of this row vertically before I make any changes.

I have to get back to work now. See you next weekend!

A Weekend Off

I've given myself the weekend off from sewing and whatnot. I needed some time to let my mind wander where it wants to. I'll be back next weekend with more rows and pretty pictures.

Here's a peek at what I've been playing with this past week.

See you later!

Lots of New Rows!

My neighbor who I made the Dresden tea cozy for came back from her annual road trip this past week. She had volunteered to pick up patterns for me along the way. There are so many that I'm just going to list them. If they're for the Aquarium Quilt, I've put an asterisk before the shop name.

Quilt Quarters in Caramel, IN.
The Quilting Bee in Georgetown, IN.
The Crazy Cousin and Quilt and Sewing Center in Fredericksburg, VA.
*Jinny Beyers Studio in Great Falls, VA.
*Cottonwood in Charlottesville, VA.
*Circle Sewing Studios in Woodbridge, VA.
*Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, VA.
*Rachel's Quilt Patch in Stauton, VA.
The Quilt Patch in Fairfax, VA.
*Four Season Stitchery in Grantsville, MD.
*Tomorrow's Treasures in Crofton, MD.
The Smocking Shoppe and The Cozy Quilter in Louisville, KY.
Q - First in Quilting in Lexington, KY.
*Sterling Thimble in Mount Sterling, KY.
Sneed's Vacuum and Sewing Center in Charleston, WV.
Itchin' 2 Be Stitchin' in Beckley, WV.
Sew Chic in Fairmont, WV.

I headed south again to help my mom and see my aunt who was visiting from Louisiana. While I was there I had time to pick up patterns from Heyde Sewing Machine Company in St. Louis, MO and the Fariview Heights, IL location for Jackman's Fabrics. The Jackman's row is going in the Aquarium Quilt.

My aunt picked up the kit from All Stitched Up by Angela in Slidell, LA for me before she headed north to visit.

Nonnie's Attic in Pekin, IL finally received their row patterns from the printer. There was an issue with the printing and everything was delayed for weeks. They had to get special permission to mail their pattern out to people who walked into the shop from the officials at Row by Row.

A friend who lives in Hawaii, and is a fabulous quilter, sent me the kit for the row from Fabric and Quilting Delights in Kailua-Kona, HI and the pattern from Kilauea Kreations in Hilo, HI. The Kilauea Kreations row is going into the Aquarium Quilt. I'm not sure about the other one. I love it and may do a wall quilt with it and the row from Lexington.

And yesterday FH and I took a mini road trip to Galena, IL and visited Phat Quarters for their row. We also took some time and wandered Main Street and checked out the various shops. It was a nice little getaway.

On the progress front, I've quilted two rows (Rochester, IL and Normal, IL), sandwiched three more, and finished the row from Mt. Vernon, IA.

I've also figured out fabrics for most of the new rows for the Aquarium Quilt and traced out templates on vellum for the paper-pieced rows and on Templar for any appliques.

Today I'm doing laundry and working on rows. Lots of work to be done! See you next week!

Aquariums and Acquisitions

It's been a busty week here on the Row-ing front. I'm going to list the shops where I've acquired new rows first, so if you just want to see gorgeous fabrics you should scroll on down to the pictures.

I ventured out last Sunday and drove all the way to Normal, IL to visit the Sewing Studio and pick up their row. [It's finished!]

A couple of stitching friends have moved to Florida in the last two years. The friend in Naples, FL decided to purchase the kits for me instead of just picking up the patterns. Thank you again, Carol! The Naples shops are: Flash Sew and Quilt and Sew Studio. The row from Flash Sew and Quilt is for the aquarium quilt. The other row kit is stashed for later. [Flash Sew's row is started and pictured below!]

The friend in Clearwater, FL went hopping with members of her quilt guild and she sent me patterns from:Country Quilts and Bears in Clearwater, Happy Apple Quilts in Palm Harbor, Crafty Threads in Tampa, and Rainbows End Quilt Shop in Dunedin. All these rows patterns are stashed for later.

Dear family friends in Tennessee volunteered to pick up the two row patterns from Goodlettsville, TN. Originally I wanted these rows for a quilt featuring geometric rows, but since one of them decided to mail me the kits, I've decided to use a few geometric rows in the aquarium quilt. There's the added bonus of now needing as many rows that feature fish/frogs/turtles too. The Goodlettsville shops are Quilter's Attic and Sewing Machines Etc. [Spoiler alert: both of these rows are finished and pictured below!]

A friend of a friend happened to live close to Helios Stitches N Stuff in Mount Vernon, Iowa and mailed their row to my friend here.

A mini and fiber friend in Idaho really liked one of my fish patterns, so I went and picked up another copy for her. In exchange, she sent me the pattern from Stitches and Petals in Moscow, Idaho.

FH came home from his business trip bearing two rows from The Quilters Studio in Fairfax, VA. One is the pattern, the other is a kit. The kit features fish and will definitely be making an appearance in the aquarium quilt. The other is a gorgeous waterlily design. [Another spoiler: the fish row is finished!]

Now for the really fun part!

The Rochester, IL row is finished!

I figured out the layout for the quilt and as a result some of the rows needed to become squares. The South Elgin row was easily altered and the row from Jackman's in St. Louis is now square as well, and waiting on it's applique to get done.

Sewing Studio's row is completed. I kitted up this one myself instead of buying their kit. Their colors were gorgeous, but I wanted to make sure I had consistency of colors in the overall quilt. I know you haven't seen most of these fabrics yet, but the blue and brown are already slated to be prominent in more rows. The yellow fish is made from leftover batik from the South Elgin, IL kit. The orange fish is made from extra after making the Rochester, IL fish.

Flash Sew and Quilt's row has the applique in progress.

The background for Sanibel Island, FL's row is put together and is waiting on me to cut the applique pieces out..

The rows from Goodlettsville are finished and gorgeous! The row from Sewing Machines Etc looked like it would become a square nicely. Only eight more rows that can become squares needed!

Quilter's Attic

Sewing Machines Etc. I added tow more wave sections because the square really needed a bit more wave action.

My present from FH again took me out of my preferred comfort zone of needleturn applique, but the fabrics in the kit really needed to be fused and the raw edges covered with satin stitching. The pattern designers encouraged us (all the quilters playing with their pattern) to really play with it and make it our own. I decided to add some grasses at the bottom. When I quilt this, there will be bubbles int eh stitching.

And finally a sneak peak at the next row going together. All cut out and waiting for me to start piecing.

Oh and in case people were wondering, there has been quite a bit of snoop-ervision going on around here.

See you next week!

Rowing Along

First off, I want to thank the friends who reach out to me after my father passed. Your words of friendship and comfort meant, and still mean, a great deal to me.

Since I've been home, I've been keeping busy with piecing more quilt rows. I'm lucky enough to have friends and family all over the country who are taking great delight in mailing me row patterns from quilt shops near them. One dear family friend who I've known since kindergarten decided to send me the kits and not just the free pattern! Oh and for those who are wondering if they missed something, I'm participating in this year's Row by Row Experience shop hop. It's huge!

My neighbor, I made the Dresden tea cozy for her, is on a road trip currently and has been stopping at quilt shops in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland! She's having a blast seeing all the different quilts and picking up rows for me. I didn't even ask her to, she just volunteered. I've been getting semi-regular texts from her asking me to look up quilt shops along whatever route she's planning on for day trips.

FH is on a business trip, as of 4 o'clock this morning, and has already acquired a row kit and another pattern for me. I've even been lucky enough to make two new friends in different parts of the country (one in Hawaii) because of this event and we've been gathering patterns (originals, no photocopies)  for each other and mailing them.

I've finished up two more rows since we've gotten home and am working on two others. I'm going to start the list with references linking back to my first posts about these rows and provide the names of the shops where they can be picked up. I wasn't thinking clearly when I wrote up that post two Wednesdays ago. These will be in order of completion.

Row 1 is from Peoria, IL. The shop is called Prairie Points and is one of my favorite places to visit.

Row 2 is from Morris, IL. The shop is called The Fabric Center and is right down the street from a great little bakery. I just want to say what a lovely shop this is and if you're visiting the Chicago suburbs, you really, really want to visit it.

Row 3 is from Winfield, IL. The shop is called The Quilt Merchant. Another lovely shop in the Chicago suburbs.  This row took me out of my comfort zone with the fusible applique. I always do needleturn because I prefer the look, but this kit came with the applique pre-cut and with fusible web already attached. I think it came out alright, despite me getting a single square turned 90 degrees int he wrong direction. A friend quipped that that fish is now a "Nemo" fish due to having a wonky fin, and I thought it was funny enough to let it be.

Row 4 is from South Elgin, IL. The shop is called The Twisted Stitch and is kind of hard to get to, but totally worth the effort when you get there. So many bright and colorful fabrics! I decided to make one fish who doesn't follow the crowd in this row. I think the "Nemo" fish from the Winfield row had an effect on me or something. ;-)

Rows 5 and 6 are in the works currently. Both feature applique, so are taking a bit of time.

Row 5 is from Rochester, IL. The shop there is one of my all time favorite shops in Illinois! It's called Peace and Applique and of course many of the quilts there feature applique! As you can see, I've gotten two of the three fish sewn down and the third placed. There will be seaweed in between the fish, but I changed the way it's done. In the original they made the seaweed fuzzy and textured, but I was afraid it wouldn't hold up to washing, so I drew up some quick designs to needle turn instead. Finishing this row is on my to-do list for today.

I needed a break from hand sewing yesterday so I began piecing the background for Row 6. It's from another all-time favorite quilt hop, Jackman's Fabrics, specifically the St. Louis, MO location. I haven't had a chance to get the row pattern from their Fairview Heights location. Currently the background is in 6 strips that need sewn together. Another project for today.

In the course of hopping around and gathering row patterns, I've also visited the following shops: The Quilted Fox, The Quilted Cottage on Main, Nonnie's Attic, and Harvest House Quilting. Quilted Fox and Quilted Cottage's rows aren't going in the aquarium quilt. Quilted Fox featured the Eads Bridge and is being stashed away for a different project. Quilted Cottage did a lovely trapunto applique design with seashells, starfish, and sand dollars, and is embellished with beads.

Nonnie's Attic did a cool paper-pieced turtle design, but the printer they sent the design to messed up the size of the paper-piecing guide. They had to get the all clear from Row by Row to take the names and addresses of people who walk into the shop and mail the rows to them once the printer fixes the mistake. This design will eventually make it into the aquarium quilt.

Harvest House's design is also going in the aquarium quilt. I just haven't started it yet. Oh and talk about a dark horse shop. It's a hidden treasure located in the basement of the owners' home! They used to do the big trade shows and then stopped for health reasons, but they're still in business! Such a fun little shop full of wonderful and beautiful things.

I also have been given or sent patterns from a few people that are burning figurative holes in my stash. Patchwork Plus in Wood River, IL features the meeting of the waters, i.e. where the Mississippi and Missouri rivers meet. I'm saving this design for a future project.

My in-laws were vacationing in Sanibel Island, FL when Row by Row started and picked up the pattern there for me. Three Crafty Ladies is a shop I hope to visit in person some day. That would require having the time and being invited to go to Sanibel with them ;-) Their row featuring some adorable turtles will be going into the aquarium quilt.

And finally a friend went to a wedding in Cedar Rapids, IA and popped into The Cotton Creek Mill in West Branch. She says we need to road trip there sometime together because the shop is so cool! I asked her to pick up their kit for me because it features a panel design of a barn, with barn quilt, and a windmill. It's being stashed for another project.

That's it for now. I'll post progress pictures and list the places where new patterns and kits have arrived from next weekend. Ttfn!

Thoughtful Melancholy

It's been a week now since my dad passed. I'm still processing everything and wondering what path my grief will take. It's difficult to be shattered over the death of a man who lived a long and full life. And up until the last few months he was enjoying life, even with the difficulties and discomfort he dealt with.

We thought we'd loose him so many times over the last decade. His health was one of the reasons I didn't go to grad school... the program loosing funding was the main reason. But it would've been hard moving across the country then, not knowing how much longer he'd be around.

I do know I'm glad his heart gave out before the Parkinson's took his mind. Dad had a great mind, sharp and witty, and if we all had to watch that be eroded away by a disease I'm pretty sure things would've been harder for all of us. And I know the Parkinson's was getting worse. He was becoming more and more childish and not remembering things...and people. He was also starting to see things... like his brothers calling him from across the street to come play ball.

I also know any of us will be lucky to reach the age of 94. Even luckier if we're still mostly mobile, comfortable, and mentally sharp.

There are people out there who will scoff, but I think my cousin was right. Grandma just decided it was time for him to come home. I also think she sent her other boys to call for him.