Thursday 5 January 2012

One's Loss is Another's Gain

As is the way of life and all its unpredictabilities, no sooner did school start than poor Helen needed to stay home. This was not a ploy on her part to avoid returning to school because she loves it there, and would much prefer to be there than home alone with me. Since she is home alone with me, she wants me there by her side. Not elsewhere being busy. Her loss of freedom is Emily's gain in this case.

Because I am keeping Helen company I have opted to do the hand quilted sewing during the daytime. This allows me to still sit and chat with her, watch a film, be there for a cuddle. At the same time as allowing me to accomplish something so that we are both happy. Because I think I would go doolally just sitting there all day doing nothing.

So all you concerned individuals (you know who you are) who wanted to make sure that I got on with Emily's quilt, I am - much more quickly than I thought I would be. Stitch by stitch I am making slow but steady progress. This might be the first finish of 2012, not the Terrain quilt, if the current situation continues.

All five of the applique hearts are now stitched.
I am working on the bit that is a partial Irish chain.
And the border has stitching on both sides now.
Emily is home from school now, so I have been allowed the freedom to come to the computer. I am far behind in my blog reading. For those who have noticed a lack of comments from me - I am not ignoring you, just having to prioritise here. Normalcy will resume as soon as possible.

Thankfully the unpredictability of life does not preclude good post from arriving. I have received the first of my orders to upgrade my Heather Ross collection in aid of the future quilt.

I now have some bicycles.
And a couple of wee scrap extras that the vendor put in which I do appreciate.
Signs indicate that I will most likely be hand quilting tomorrow as well. All in all, if that is the worst thing that befalls me then life is pretty good. I just wish that this wasn't happening due to poor Helen's unfortunate encounter with germs.

Susan

24 comments:

  1. I hope Helen feels better soon (is she snuggled under her new quilt?) - and it's kind of Emily to keep her company so you're free for a quick catch up! Love the quilting you've done so far, you've done a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope all is well soon. Take care.

    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love your hand quilting. Makes me want to try it, instead of only machine quilting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awwww poor Helen! Hope she feels better soon. I love how Emily's quilt is looking. I really love traditional applique, combined with perle stitches it is just beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's good to know every cloud has a silver lining! Hope the wee missy is feeling better and the mad dash to the pharmacy was successful this morning :) how long did the Dr say she would need to be off school? Glad you got a little respite too :) chin up! Oh and another thing.... :) love the quilting you've done on Emily's quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're quite right you know, if tomorrows prospect is just sitting with Helen, hand stitching Em's quilt, then life really aint too bad! Hope Helen feels better soon though :-) x

    ReplyDelete
  7. I sure hope Helen bounces back quickly. I know this is not an easy thing to get over. Take care and give her another California hug from me.
    ps...love that bicycle print fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Poor wee lamb! What a dedicated mummy you are. And enforced hand stitching isn't such a bad thing when you are so good at it! Jxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beaut handstitching - hope Helen feels better very soon. Good to see progress continues apace anyway!

    PS those wee bicycles are so lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your hand quilting is beautiful, one day I will have to have a go at it. Hope Helen is feeling better today. Hugs x

    ReplyDelete
  11. it's looking lovely so far Susan and is well worth finishing - Terrain will still be there when Helen goes back to school, which I hope is soon for her sake and yours!

    ReplyDelete
  12. see how we women can multi task in any situation!! Hope Helen starts to feel better soon

    ReplyDelete
  13. Truly gorgeous quilting!! I'm wanting to hand quilt this year and I'm praying to get as good!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I hope Helen is feeling better soon.
    Love your hand stitching, Emily's quilt is going to be fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  15. At least you're making the most of having a sick Helen :( Hope tomorrow is better for her and you keep up the fab stitching :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your hand quilting looks beautiful, Susan! It's so nice to have mum all to yourself when you're poorly - and a great way to avoid the housework if you're anything like me!
    Wishing Helen a speedy recovery and you a speedy hand finish :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh dear, poor Helen, hope she doesn't share the germs though! Although that might be completely Emily's gain if you have to nurse the entire family one at a time...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Poor Helen, hope she is feeling better in time for the weekend! Your hand quilting is lovely and the hearts are so pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  19. how serendipitous for you - great excuse to sit and hand quilt (not so great for helen though - hope she feels better) i was watching the hopman cup on the telly (tennis has arrived in oz big time - it's the oz open soon - yippee!)and could have been hand stitching - but i'd picked a kilo of green beans from the vegie patch so sat and prepared them for the freezer - would rather have stitched!

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a nice way to cuddle with your sick girl, under such a beautiful quilting project. I hope she feels better soon and that you have loads of nice cuddles until then.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Isn't it funny how you can have a project sit there for a while and in your mind you think the task ahead is huge so you don't start it. Then when you do actually knuckle down it seems to progress much kicker than you thought it would! I love that little surprise and feeling of accomplishment :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Fantastic quilting, I understand the doolally bit!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Beautiful hand stitching - how amazing you`ll feel when it`s done and Helen will have it always. x

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I read them all and I love them all. I do my utmost to reply to comments as often as possible. If you comment and never receive a reply from me there is the possibility that you are a no-reply commenter.