PROGRESS ON ELLIANA THUS FAR

 

SUNDAY SPINSTER BLISS

 

If it's possible to have a craft day hangover...I've got one. I feel like I've been hit by a big fat bus full of glue guns and fabric remnants and scraps of ribbon.

Ugh.

But...I am happily settled into the Happy Chair with Moonstruck on the TeeVee, a big glass of iced tea with lemon, and puzzles and stitching. Absolutley nothing to complain about.

My Jersey Boy is headed back that way to see his mom this week, and that means I have a few weeks of Single Spinster Shenangins to look forward to. This time I AM writing a list, and I fully intend complete at least one or two things on it. Most critical on that list will be a clean-up/re-org of the cube room studio. I have been dumping things in there for months now and the little cubes have gotten completely out of whack.

Come to think of it...there's a lot that's out of whck with me, so maybe I can concentrate on getting back IN whack and get on with the Fall.

Masks will be shipping at the end of this week, hopefully, so I can start packaging them and getting them out to you. Thank you for the support! I hope to have another item for sale shortly.

Well, Dearies...I'm going to turn off my tiny little brain for a bit and get some stitchy time in while JB is at the golfing. I suspect that we will head to the swimming for a bit when he gets home, so I should enjoy a few more hours of laziness before I start flapping around doing my big girl exercises in the water.

I hope your very own Sunday is peaceful, lovely, happy, healthy, and as long as you need it to be! 

Ciao, for now!

CRAFT DAY GONE AWRY...

Me and the hot glue gun? 

Maybe not so much.

All I wanted to do was sit down and make thread boards (the quilt design boards that I figured out you could use to organize all of your working threads).

Definitely NOT in the cards today for this portly spinster. I finally quit in utter disgust with myself that no matter how hard I try, I just can't make it nice.

(That's for all you Dorinda Medley fans out there).

I have three suitable boards...two that are from the Fat Quarter Shop, and the one that I made for Elliana:

For now, this will have to do. I am showered, in clean pj's, and ready for a long night of stitching!

I know I promised a full progress picture when I took her off of q-snaps to serge the edges of the fabric, but given my disaster today, methinks I should keep the sewing machine put away for another little bit.

So here is a partial progress pic:

That's it for me, Dearies! I hope your weekend is off to a very swell start! Do something successfully crafty and come tell me all about it!

 

 

HAPPY NATIONAL DOG DAY

 

HELL WEEK

Gird your loins, Dearies!

This is going to be a tough week of treatments, appointments, colonoscopies, mammograms, and other unpleasant shenanagins.

And the cherry on top of the sundae is the weather...temperatures in the high 90's and low 100's with beastly humidity to boot.

Ugh.

But...today has dawned and Buzzy and I are doing our thing here in the d-chair. My poor tech is fretting because my arm is so swollen she can't get the needles in without having to push with all her might, thus sending me into orbit when she finally breaks through.

Jiminy Crickets.

I made really nice progress on Elliana, but alas, forgot to take a picture. I willtry to do so tonight when I take her off the q-snaps and run the edges of the fabric through the sewing machine. I was so excited to get her started that I neglected to do this, and now the fabric is fraying.

Yikes!

Nothing else to report. I might be hit and miss with the blogging this week, but please don't worry. I promise a full reportas soon as I'm able!

IT'S A DAMN PIECE OF CARDBOARD, SPINSTER...NOT A KIDNEY

I made my first thread board today and have been sitting here playing with it like a fat kid with a bundt cake on Christmas.

The batting that I had didn't work, so I grabbed a piece of interfacing left over from project bag making days.

(Aunt Chrissy made the bags.)

(I supervised.)

Anywhoose....I learned a lot, not the least of which is that I have no business using a hot glue gun without adult supervision. As a matter of fact, I think this was the first time I actually did use a hot glue gun without adult supervision. 

Definitely not for me.

I placed a small order in the amazons for some felt and some Aileen's tacky glue. I am using ribbon for my edges...Miss Lori Holt uses quilted basted edging fabric strip thingies.

(Nope. Not the correct terminology.)

So now I have three boards...two from the Fat Quarter Shop and one that I made. Dearies, I have to say that these silly things have done more for my stitchy peace of mind than almost anything! Who knew something so very simple could be such a huge game changer?

Yes, my fingernails are nekkid. The hot glue gun melted most of my polish off. 

And stuck three of my fingers together.

And ruined a perfectly good Hanes old man undershirt from 1987.

Now for some stitching! It's almost 10pm and I have yet to poke something! Yikes!

WHEN THE SIZE OF YOUR COLD BREW IS PROPORTIONAL TO YOUR D-CHAIR HANGOVER

 

Ugh.

Super rough treatment followed by a hard nap followed by dinner too late followed by passing out on the couch until 7am followed by another hard sleep in the big girl sleigh bed until 2:00 this afternoon equals one out of sorts spinster.

I was just thinking about how much I want to return to Guild and how my Saturdays need to go back to spending time with my stitchy friends and other shenanagins with Miss Charlene and Miss Jane....but nope...Crash City.

(Apparently you just can't depend on me for anything but unpredictability.)

The weather has returned to hot and sticky, and I am totally convinced this is more than part of my problem. The minute that humidity goes down and the windows go open and the breeze goes floating by I seem to feel 100% better.

(Damn weather.)

Today will be some pool time followed by some design board making time followed by some stitching time. I wish I could adequately express how much I am enjoying this piece, as well as how much complete stitchy peace has finally settled over me. Who knew the organization of working threads was always such a huge issue for me?

I hope that you very own weekend is wonderfully swell and that you have some stitchy peace of your very own! The mask orders continue to come in. Thank you for that! According to the manufacturer, they should ship to me the week of September 4th, and I am ready and waiting with envelopes addressed!

Cheers, Dearies! Do something wonderful for yourself and come tell me all about it!

 

NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE SPINSTER STITCHER KIDNEY FUND SHOPPE *UPDATED*

USD$20 for shipping within the US

USD$25 for International shipping

PAYMENT:

PayPal: spinsterstitcher@aol.com or paypal.me/spinsterstitcher2

Cash or check: Coni J Rich; 244 Toscana Blvd; Granger, IN 46530

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR COMPLETE MAILING ADDRESS

The first batch of orders will begin shipping in approximately two weeks and every day thereafter.

All of the proceeds from the sale of this mask will be deposited into my kidney transplant fund to help offset costs of transplant once a kidney becomes available! Thank you for your love and support!

 

THURSDAY

 

Hello, Dearies!

I am happy to report that I actually survived yesterday quite nicely. After dialysis, I came home and stitched, had a lovely dinner (Cobb salad), and then stitched some more until 2am. 

Boy, did that feel good!

Today has dawned bright and perfect, and I am having my damn good before heading down to the pool for some exercise. Groceries have been delivered and put away and I will organize and chop and mix and stir until something suitable pops up.

(I'm thinking grilled shrimp and salad.)

What's on your agenda for the day?

WEDNESDAY

 

Happy Wednesday/Futzingday, Dearies! Buzzy and I are in the d-chair doing our thing on an absolutely beautiful day here in Hoosierville! I had a good sleep with a nice cool breeze coming in the open window, and I am determined to have a wonderful happy day.

Yesterday was a lot more productive than I would have guessed, and I did everything I wanted to do. I was even able to get to the pool and have a nice long swim before the crowd descended and sent me scurrying for home.

Damn crowds.

After dinner and a lovely cool shower and crisply freash pj's, I settled in with Ellia and got a little more completed:

Her colors just blow my skirt up, and I can't wait to see how she starts to come together as I get more and more done! For my first Mira, I don't think I'm doing too bad....especially now that I have the working thread situation figured out:

This is a total game changer for me! 

(If you're interested in making your own, Lori Holt and The Fat Quarter Shop have an excellent tutorial on the YouTube. Just search for "quilt design board".)

Salad for dinner tonight. In my futzing yesterday I managed to organize the fridge and make a tossed salad, tuna salad, and a Greek mix with tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta, and olives. My JB isn't crazy about anything except the tuna, but I think he'll be OK with whatever I serve him. (She says optimistically.)

Happy Wednesday to one and all! Come tell me all about your corner of the world!

A LITTLE TUESDAY HOUSEKEEPING ON THIS HERE BLOG

Hello, Dearies!

It is a gorgeous day here in Hoosierville, and I've just finished my second cup of damn good. The nice men are outside cutting the grass, and the smell of it freshly cut is wafting up into CS2 and making me feel very...summery.

As soon as I finish visiting with you I am going to do some tidying and chores, have a dip in the pool, and then get stitching. I am not quite up to par physically today, but really need to go to bed tonight feeling like I accomplished at least one thing.

It seems I've been all over the damn place and have several things to correct, as well as several questions to answer. I wish I could figure out how to reply to the comments as they are submitted, but this will have to do for now. If you have asked me a question and I have not answered you, please accept my apology and ask me again and I will try to do a better job of answering you.

MARYBETH asked me about the white edging on Come Tary. I think you're looking at the grime guard, Marybeth. This is a fabric covering that goes around your q-snaps to hold excess fabric and to prevent the fabric from getting dirty from your hands. I have purchased several on the etsy in all sizes, and get positively giddy when they match my project bag.

mj asked if I have had Buzzy replaced, or if he just gets a good cleaning out every now and then. He's still the original, mj, but with some modifications. He's had a stent and a few coils added, an aneurism removed, and a LOT of angioplasty to keep him open. He is literally my life line, so I try very hard to take good care of him and pray that he lasts until I find a new kidney.

The biggest response I got via email was regarding my brilliant idea of labeling the design board and working threads. As mich as I would love to take credit for this, Toni and Unknown gave me the idea. And nope...that's not a label maker. It's actually DMC bobbin stickers!

I have several packs of these and found them yesterday during a rummage through the very disorganized cube room studio. Why I never thought of this before is completely beyond me, since it solved my problem just perfectly! So thank you Toni and Unknown! You have no idea what a game-changer this is for me! 

(And yes...for those of you who are addicted to That's So Kelly's Bitzy Bobs...this idea works perfectly there too!)

A lot of you sent me emails regarding Patti's comment. First of all, let me be clear that I have no problem whatsoever with Patti's question and did NOT find it offensive. It is my opinion that I have been the recipient of huge generosity, and am therefore obligated to be completely transparent about how that generosity will be used. I also appreciated Patti's question because it gave me the chance to do a little research to confirm my information, and I discovered several excellent sources.

On that note...Joan pointed out that I had a bad address for information on transplants here in the United States. The correct address is transplants.org ... with an s. Thank you, dear Joan.

chris asked how she could find my shoppe. I'm sorry chris. I guess I was trying to be cheeky by giving it an official name. There is no shoppe, sadly. I have just done a couple of things these last few years as fundraisers for my kidney fund. Someday, I hope, I will get my act together and have a real shoppe, but for now, it's just occasional offerings.

And finally, susanb asks how to order a mask. Here are three ways to do so, susanb:

1. PayPal   My PayPal address is spinsterstitcher@aol.com

2. paypal.me/spinsterstitcher2

3. You can also send your order to me via mail:

            Coni J Rich

            244 Toscana Blvd

            Granger, IN 46530

Several of you who have ordered masks (THANK YOU) asked when they will ship. They are printing now and should arrive here ar CS2 within the next 10 days. I will then pack them up and mail them off to you immediately. 

So that's it for housekeeping, Dearies. Like I said earlier, if I have not answered your question, please feel free to email me. I try very hard to respond to every note I receive. My email address is spinsterstitcher@aol.com.

I'm off like a herd of turtles. I'll leave you with a pic of my newest nail color. The name of it is Aquaintance, but it hit me last night that it is actually Tiffany blue! I have to say...I am really enjoying doing my own nails. Toes, not so much, but doing my nails has become something I really look forward to on Sunday nights. I use cnd Vinylux polish...three or four coats and I'm careful to seal the edges, and then I finish with a nice thick coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat. For clean up I use an eyeliner brush dipped in acetone than I keep in a little pump bottle.

Ciao for now! Come tell me all about your little corner of the world!

SOLUTION!

 

FAT MONDAY

 

Buzzy and I are doing our thing, but I am out of sorts, twitchy, and shooting nasty looks at the loudmouth next to me who has been hollering into her phone for an hour and a half about absolutely othing at all.

Phooey.

Well, so much for behaving myself this weekend. I thought I was being super careful, and even managed a good workout in the pool on Saturday, but I arrived here this morning fat.

As in super fat.

As in swallowed the Buick fat.

My tech and I have decided to stop looking at the darn numbers so much and concentrate on how I'm feeling. If I'm feeling poorly (which I am), then there is obviously something amiss and not for me to fret over. If, however, I'm feeling well (cannot remember when that was), then I need to take a better look at food and fluid intake.

So at least we have a plan.

I am so anxious to get back to Ellia. She delighted me for hours this weekend, and as she starts to appear, I get more and more excited to imagine her completed and hung somewhere special.

I am so very grateful for the mask ordes, Dearies! They should arrive here in about ten days or so, and then I'll pack them up and post them to you forthwith.

Also....thanks to a very astute reader, I was made aware that I gave you a bad site to learn more about transplants here in the US. It is indeed transplants.org...not singular. You can always go to the Indiana University Health site to learn more, and I have no problem with you contacting them to confirm that I am, indeed, a patient there (as Betty has done a few times now). My coordinator's name is Jane. She's a complete peach!

So there you have it...kind of a "meh" day for me here in Hoosierville, but the sun is shiming, the birds are sweetly tweeting, and I am too blessed to be stressed. Methinks a post-treatment nap will be just what the doctor ordered to snap me outta da funkenty funk funk!

Happy Fat Monday to one and all! If you're celebrating, please do so responsibly!

DEAR PATTI *CORRECTION*

Thank you for your comment on my post selling masks for my kidney transplant fund. I can't respond to you directly for some reason, but your question is an important one and is surely on the minds of several people.

I can only give you information based upon my own experience as a patient in the Indiana University protocol. The exact numbers may vary from state to state or from transplant center to transplant center, so please take that into consideration.

The cost of a kidney transplant is indeed borne by insurance. In my case, it is Medicare. Unfortunately, because of my age at the time I accessed it (I was in my 40's at the time), a full-coverage Medicare/Medigap policy was not available to me. This type of coverage would have guaranteed 100% coverage of all of my medical expenses in addition to transplant. I have, instead, a Medicare Advantage policy accepted by IU. This policy is excellent, but does have both a deductible and co-pay responsibilities.

The total cost of a transplant will be in excess of $2 million. Of that, I will be responsible for 20% of various costs like immunosuppresant therapy, housing and transportation, and any recovery related costs not fully covered by my Medicare policy. I was initially advised to "save as much as I could" and offered assistance with fund-raising, but I opted to manage that aspect of this journey on my own.

The website transplants.org is an excellent resource for more specific information if you would like to check it out. Their estimate for out of pocket costs for a kidney transplant is $82,000. 

As for disability income, you are correct. As a dialysis patient, I am considered to be fully disabled and thereby entitled to collect the money that I contributed during my working life. I'm happy to give you all of those details privately, but suffice it to say that this income provides me with monthly living expenses and nothing more. I am grateful for it and am blessed to have made a nice living when I was able, but these funds are not sufficient for me to self-fund my transplant savings.

I really do appreciate your question and hope I've answered it adequately. I am painfully aware that the acceptance of such huge generosity carries the responsibility of complete transparancy, so I thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide it!

QUESTION... *UPDATED*

Thank you for all of the excellent suggestions! I just had a big DUH moment thanks to them....stick DMC bobbin stickers in each of the thread circles with their color number on them! I have a set somewhere in the cube room, so as soon as I fish it out...problem solved!

When you're stitching a piece with a LOT of different colors, how do you manage your working threads? For example...I'm stitching Ellia from Mirabilia. There are several dozen colors. I pull the skein I need, pull off an arm's length, strip out one ply, and...then what?

At the moment, I'm using a design board and wrapping the working length into a circle and sticking it onto the board, but there is no way to know what's what. 

What am I missing?

Suggestions/guidance greatly appreciated, Dearies!

 

WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS REMIND ME OF STEWEY?

I'm just home from dialysis and am going to stitch a bit on Come Tarry before dinner, I think. For some reason this piece always reminds me of Stewey...maybe because it's soft and sweet? 

(Either that, or it vexes me a bit since I screwed up the wording and stitched them all together in one paragraph rather than split them between rows.)

(Stewey didn't vex me, exactly, but he did have the uncanny ability to pee on the drapes the very second I got them re-hung after a thorough washing).

Damn dog.

Treatment went better that expected today. The day after a procedure is usually a rest day for my arm because it's so sore, but I gritted it out and was happy that the pain was much much less than expected. Apparently Buzzy was blocked by as much as 90%, so the timing of getting it done was perfect. 

(Blockage is a very normal thing, by the way. An AV fistula is not a normal construction for one's body to readily accept, so it does its best to close it off.)

( How, though, I was managing to get good clearances with that much blockage is beyond me, but what do I know?)

Nothing else on my agenda for a few days, Dearies. I'm going to let my JB fend for himself in the kitchen tonight, and tomorrow I will sleep in, have some bed coffee, and video chat with Dr Melfi at 1:00. I'm hoping for a swimming pool day to get some exercise completed, but won't be too heartbroken if I have to stay in the Happy Chair stitching instead!

Thanks for bearing with me during my recent grumps. I know I've been out of sorts lately, and I haven't really figured out why, but I didn't want you to think I was trying to sneak it by you. Sometimes you get the bull. Sometimes you get the horns, I guess.

(Speaking of bulls and horns...am I the only one out here obsessing about Rip on Yellowstone?  I never thought myself a cowboy kind if gal (especially given my proclivity for JB), but...hubba hubba. You gotta be some kind of dreamy to pull my attention away from Mr Costner, I tell ya!)

OK. Time to go behave myself for a bit. Happy Futzingday, Dearies! Come tell me all about what's got YOUR attention today!

MY BUZZY IS SUCH A LITTLE TROOPER!

 

NIGHT NIGHT

So much for having a productive Tuesday. Buzzy and I were up at the crack of dawn for his three-month roto-rootering, and I am just wiped out. The poor surgeon got quite a workout trying to get through the stent and pushed hard enough to almost send me off the table and into the next room, but it's over now and we can rest.

There hasn't been any stitching the last few days, Dearies, so you'll need to bear with me until I get needle and thread back in hand. I did manage to get a piece of fabric ordered from Miss Linda at the House of Stitches for a new start, so as soon as it arrives I'll get it on the q-snaps and get going.

Time for bed, I think. There's still enough goofy juice in me that my eyes are heavy and my head is a bit swimmy. 

Happy Tuesday! I hope things are swell in your corner of the world! Come tell me all about it!

 

BY WAY OF EXPLANATION...

Sorry to confuse everybody with this whole weight thing.

The bottom line is that I need to get back to the 240 range and be very careful to only gain 1-2 pounds of fluid in between treatments.

I gained a lot of weight quickly and missed a few treatments, so we figured a lot of it was fluid...thus the big attempt to pull a lot of fluid. 

Turns out, though, that the weight was actual body weight, so pulling that much caused me to crash because it was below my "dry weight".

OK.

Now even I'm confused.

Here...let's make it easy on ourselves, Dearies.

I am being super duper careful again so that the post-treatment weight on Fridays goes down each week. Being super duper careful means watching what I eat, limiting my fluid intake, and increasing my exercise.

Today I had an egg white/turkey sausage English muffin sandwich, swam/flapped around in the pool for a half hour, and had rice cakes and a little cucumber/tomato/feta salad with balsamic for lunch. 

So back on track...heading in the right direction, and determined to get there!

Cheers!

OPERATION GET IT BACK TOGETHER

 Today's weight: 252

IU transplant weight: 246

Goal weight by year's end: 199

Ultimate goal weight: 150

FRIDAY

 

BLUE HEART WHITE FLOWER FEE NEE

Painted canvas by Melissa Shirley

Stitch guide by Paulette Paquette

This is one of four in a set purchased from Family Needlework Shop

I have to say, Dearies. This was truly a joy from start to fee nee. My fingers are a little sore from tugging ribbon through canvas, but the results are totally worth it in my humble opinion. I might jump back to cross stitch for a minute or two before proceeding on with the next one of these, but I am sure glad I did this when I did...I needed the boost of a fun finish!

Good healthy day today, I'm happy to report. Egg white, spinach, veggie frittatas for breakfast with an artisan roll and a Panera salad for dinner. Plus! I managed a good thirty minutes of old lady arm fat exercises in the pool, so my net calories for the day were exactly where I needed them to be.

Now I'm off to bed very very early so I can resist the temptation to snack my way to midnight.

Night, night!

THURSDAY

So there I was, minding my own business in the vestibule to menopausal hell, when suddenly the doors swung open and I was ushered in without so much as a how do you do.

Twenty pounds.

Twenty #;'g+*$# pounds back on my portly little self in the space of about a week and a half. 

OK. Maybe it's a little longer that a week and a half, but the fact remains that I have bloated up like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon and I am completely and utterly miserable. Every ounce if it is in my mid-section and every ounce of it is screaming at me that I am a miserable failure.

Dr Melfi tells me that this is all 100% cortisol/stress related, and that recent events took more of a toll on me than just a few weepy sleepless nights, and that I shouldn't look at this as a failure but rather as an opportunity to remind myself how strong I am.

I love Dr Melfi.

We pulled nine pounds of fluid off during treatment yesterday, but that was just about enough to kill me. Literally. Blood pressure of 90/40 and lots of oxygen and hollering. Not gonna do that again. Nope. Just not gonna do it.

I'm giving myself precisely twenty minutes to wallow....that's a minute per pound for you more astute observers, and then I'm going to put my old lady sneakers on and go for a twenty minute walk around the apartment complex.

With a mask on.

Tomorrow is Friday, and I will record and report my after-treatment off-weight on this here blog to keep myself accountable, and I will be super super careful about my food and drink choices. There is no way in you-know-what I'm going to lose that kidney transplant. I just know that my kidney is out there somewhere, and when we find it I am going to be ready for it come hell or high water.

Enough of that.

On the stitchy front, I am happy to report that it all comes down to the silk ribbon flower today. This is perfect, because I have a nice long quiet day to stitch this carefully and enjoy learning something new. I haven't worked with silk ribbon very often in the past, so I want to take my time and do this right.

Here's the progress from yesterday:

So there you have it, Dearies. A tale of woe, a fist-shaking promise to bounce back, and a plan for the day. And all executed before 9am.

What's new in your neck of the woods?

WE NEED TO TURN THIS LITTLE GOAT RODEO RIGHT AROUND, DEARIES

I am damn, drat, and phooey today for about a hundred different reasons, but I'm picking up my shield and magic bracelets and tiara and getting on with it. The hundred things are just too stupid to mention, but suffice it to say I need to gird my loins and get back on track.

In the meantime...happy progress on my latest project:

Happy Wednesday Futzingday to one and all! Come tell me all about life in your corner ofthe world!

I COULDN'T RESIST

After the big finish of the patriotic piece, I was a bit stymied as to what might delight me as much. I decided to stick with canvas, and my selection didn't disappoint! I had to pry myself away from this last night to go to bed, and I am rushing through my to-dos today so I can get back to it!

This is the first in a series of four, so it looks like I might have fun for a little while yet! I originally saw the ad for these in Needlepoint Now, so I guess we have Miss Elizabeth and Co. to blame for the inspiration!

I hope you have a wonderful day! We finally opened the windows for fresh air, and I am just loving the breeze! Nothing else new to report, Dearies. Come tell me all about life in your corner of the world!

PATRIOTIC SQUARE STATES FEE NEE

Patriotic Square States

Stickideen Von Der Wiehenburg

Needlepoint Now July/Aug 2020

18ct white mono canvas

Threads: DMC 311, 321, 322, white, 640, 644. 

DMC jewel effects E815. 

Silk Lame' Braid SL09

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS

A homemade Starbucks cold brew with sugar free syrup and a splash of cream, a stitchy project almost complete, and Julie & Julia on the TeeVee.