One Day at A Time...

Quote for the Day:

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.”
 ~Linda Grayson 

I've been out of commission for the last couple of days.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I was having enough break-through back pain that it was time for another epidural injection.  Unfortunately, they make you go off of any NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) that you are on for 5 days before the injection because they can cause/prolong bleeding.

Last Saturday was my last day of my NSAID's.  Sunday was fine.  We went to an auction and I got a cute little vintage typing table on wheels to use in my sewing room.  

I paid the grand sum of $2.00 for it!   It has a couple of scratches near the front edge that you can see in the picture, but otherwise is in great condition.  I'm thinking of spray painting it bright cherry red to coordinate with this cart that I recently got from Ikea for my sewing room.

I actually went to the auction to bid on a Singer Featherweight sewing machine, but it went too high...$310.  I never even got a chance to bid, and by the time the bidding slowed enough for me to bid, it was more than I wanted to pay.  Bidding had been very slow and low on items up till then, but it was like piranhas on a piece of meat when the Featherweight came up for bid!  LOL

That was Sunday.  Monday was a totally different story.  It was my second day without my NSAID and I was in pain of 10 out of 10 from the moment I climbed out of bed.  :(  I took my non-narcotic pain pill and went to work anyway.  I got through 9 hours of my 12 hour shift before I had to leave.  The pain was too great, never going below a 5 out of 10.  (In the USA we use a pain scale of 0-10 and ask patients to rate their level of pain based on that scale.  It is more accurate than "a little pain" or "some pain" or "a lot of pain".)

Tuesday was more of the same, but since I stayed home from work I was able to medicate with a narcotic pain pill that worked better on my pain.  I was feeling horrible and out-of-sorts, when a friend came by and brought me some flowers.

That was so thoughtful of her and I appreciated it so much!  I smile every time I walk past them!  Who wouldn't smile seeing them?  :)


About the only thing I've been able to do is take my pain pills, watch TV, and work a little on this...

 ...crocheting on a baby gift I'm working on. 

My epidural injection is scheduled for tomorrow morning and I am counting down the hours.  I know that when I leave that hospital, I will be virtually pain-free, if everything works the way it has in the past....which I am counting on.  In the beginning, when I first started getting these injections a year ago, I was scared and nervous.  But now I know how much better I will feel almost immediately, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's injection. 

Say a prayer for me that all goes well, and I'll be back with more quilting news soon...when I'm having less pain and can work on my quilting again.


Until then, I'll leave you with this picture of Ginger that I took last night...

Maybe it's time for a bigger dog bed!  LOL



Loretta

Oh.My.Goodness!!!!!

Quote for the Day:

"Behind every quilter is a big pile of fabric."

~author unknown

Well, well, well...what a weekend!  Whew!  

Okay...let me start from the beginning...

On Friday night Andy & I went to an estate auction that advertised a "sewing machine" and "quilt frames".  Well, you know when you see those things listed together that it is probably a quilter's estate and there will probably be quilt-related items there.

Heavens to Betsy, you wouldn't BELIEVE what was at the auction...and what came home with me!!!  Let's just say that it is a good thing that we had taken both Subaru Outback station wagons...because they were both packed to the brim by the end of the night!  (Andy had come from home and I had come from work so we had both cars there.)

Let's start with the sewing machine...MY "new" sewing machine...a Husqvarna Viking 936 Huskylock, about 3 years old, originally $1400+...AND the custom-fitted sewing table (would not have been included in the $1400 price tag)...AND boxes upon boxes of quilt-store-quality fabric...AND, not one, not two, but THREE sewing baskets...one of them is a Longaberger sewing basket with liner and protectors (paid $6 for the box-lot that one was in!!!  WOOHOO!!!).

This lady must have been ultra-organized because all of her stash was in organizer totes with the pattern tucked inside...all nice and neat.  And let me tell you from the get-go that only about 1/10 of the stash they had for sale there came home with me.   I've spent all of Saturday and Sunday going through all the totes and measuring fabric and organizing it into my stash.  Some of the patterns she had chosen were not my style, etc., so that fabric got taken out of the tote and refolded into my stash.  There were 9 projects in various stages of completion...one was not started at all, a few were partially done and a couple were almost finished...I left those in their totes with the instructions and I hope to finish them off.

These nine totes hold the projects that I hope to complete.

Now for pictures of the fabric that I added to the stash this weekend...

These are the 1/8 up to 1/4 yard cuts...

The 1/4 up to 1/2 yard cuts...

The 1/2 up to 1 yard cuts...

And the greater-than 1 yard pieces...

There was one "jelly roll"...

And one "layer cake"...

And twelve "charm packs"...

And not to be forgotten...2 small Christmas wall quilt kits...

Three quilt panels...

 And the flannel fabric...

 Fifty-six spools of Mettler embroidery thread...

These two rolling sewing machine totes...the one on the left is empty and is for my current machine...the one on the right contains the sewing machine I bought at the auction.  I haven't set it up yet and am not sure if I will keep it or resell it on Ebay...I can double my money if I put it on Ebay!  :)

Totes and totes full of quilt patterns, miscellaneous pillow panels, sewing notions, and cross-stitch supplies, etc., that I will be putting up on Ebay...

 

I am just starting to go through the non-fabric items and so far have found no less than 6 pair of scissors...2 of them Gingher!  (The BEST on the market!)  I've also found 3 Ott-lites so far!  LOL   From my figuring, I spent about 50 cents/yard for quilt shop quality fabric that normally runs $8/yard!  I think I did very well!

And just the cost of the 22 totes alone (that the fabric was in) is over $100!!

Here is what I still need to go through...

In the above picture you can see a box of yarn that was in one of the box-lots.  We will take it to Andy's mom next time we go to Maine.  :)

I've already listed 4 items on Ebay and will continue to do so as I go through and categorize things.  

Andy bought 3 box-lots from the auction and got some nice things in them...including a Sony Walkman MP3 player and a ventriloquist's dummy!  :)   haha  That dummy is hysterical!  We are calling him "Chuckie" and he is sitting on top of a tall box in the living room right now.  If he moves or starts talking HE.IS.OUTTA.HERE!!!  ;)

It's been like Christmas around here...going through the boxes and finding all the little "goodies" in them!  :)  We are planning a yard-sale in August or September, so what we don't want and don't sell on Ebay will be gotten rid of then.

I have a box of miscellaneous craft, clothing and upholstery fabric "Freecycle" and another small bag of fabric to pass along to a friend.  

While going through this haul of fabric it made me realize that if I don't make a concerted effort to use up my stash, my family will one day have to go through it...just like this person's family did.  It made me resolve to myself to "shop my stash" and not buy any fabric for a LONG time!    I can truthfully say that I am "set" for quite a while with my quilting!  :)

Loretta