What Happens In Florida Doesn't Stay In Florida: Fabric Shopping, Slow Stitching, and a Splash in the Pool... Oh, and Open Heart Surgery.

Well, hello there, blogosphere!  I've been in Naples, Florida all last week visiting my in-laws and just got home in time for Maundy Thursday church services.  While in Florida, my darling husband offered to take me to the local quilt shop, Flash Sew and Quilt.  And once we got there, and I started picking out fabric, he was SURPRISED.  Isn't that funny?  What did he THINK I was going to do at the quilt shop -- just pet the fabrics and then leave empty-handed?!  Silly man.

Fat Quarters, Layer Cakes, Charm Packs, and Kona Solids Skinny Strips

The assorted green and blue fat quarters are for my remaining six pineapple log cabin blocks, because I'm bored with the fabrics I've used on the other blocks.  Plus I want as much variety as possible so no two blocks in that quilt are identical, and it would be great if I could lay out my blocks so no patches of the same fabric end up adjacent to one another.

Work In Progress: Pineapple Log Cabin Blocks on My Design Wall

The purple and hot pink Kaffe Fassett fat quarters will be for clam shells and for my 6" sampler blocks.  The Moda dotted layer cake is going to mix in with some of those other big, bright prints in my Farmer's Wife blocks. 

Another WIP: 6" Sampler Blocks, Farmer's Wife and Others

The white charm squares and the charm pack with the cat food novelty print are for my clam shell quilt, too -- either that or for a tumbler quilt yet to be started -- because 5" charm squares are the perfect size to cut with my clam shell and tumbler Accuquilt GO! dies.

Cutting Out Clam Shells With My GO! Baby Die Cutter

I know I will have lots of leftover blue and green 1 1/2" strips left over once all of those pineapple blocks are complete.  The roll of brightly colored Kona Solids 1 1/2" strips will be mixed in with these leftover blue and green strips for some other project yet to be devised.

Current 1 1/2" Pineapple Strips, Leftovers Will Mix with Kona Solid Strips

After cramming all of these textile goodies into my suitcase, I was able to spend some time relaxing with some slow stitching -- my Frankenwhiggish Rose needle turned applique project:

Slow Stitching in Florida: Needle Turned Applique

I'm working on appliqueing the stacked petals that I assembled off-block to the remaining 8 applique blocks for this project.  I'm having some difficulty lining the pieces up properly when I pin them in place, however, as you can see in the above photo where the bottom petal doesn't touch the adjacent stems like the other petals do.  It's hard for me to tell where the stitching line is in relation to the stems when the seam allowance is still sticking out, covering up the stems!  Ah, well -- antique applique quilts aren't perfect, and this one won't be, either.  Going forward, I'm trying to feel for the bump of the stem and line up the petals that way.  We'll see if that works better.  After all, the whole purpose of this project is LEARNING new applique techniques.  

Here's my husband and son, splashing around in my father-in-law's pool a few days ago:

Bernie and Anders in the Pool

Hard to believe that Bernie is having open heart surgery this coming Wednesday.  Just within the past few weeks he was diagnosed with mitral valve regurgitation caused by a congenital heart defect that has degenerated over time, going unnoticed all these years (during which Mister Tough Guy rarely set foot in a doctor's office -- he has maybe been to the doctor twice in the last 20 years).  Until it got so bad that his heart was enlarged and only pumping blood with 40% efficiency, was short of breath, having chest pains... And finally this 6'8," presumably healthy and very active 48-year-old man was told that he was at risk for congestive heart failure or stroke and needed open heart surgery ASAP.  Very bizarre and surreal; we keep thinking this is a weird dream and we'll wake up tomorrow and laugh about it. 

Bernie's Case Is Severe, Like the One on the Right

Again, Bernie's In the Severe Category

This is the best article I've found that explains about the prolapsed valve regurgitation thing, a condition which my family has (not so)fondly nicknamed "Vomit Heart": Mitral Valve Prolapse Regurgitation. 

Bernie's surgeon is 90% confident that he can repair this defective valve (rather than replacing it outright) and he is also going to do a surgical maze procedure where he will create scar tissue to disrupt the wacky off-beat electrical pulses that have been making his heartbeat go haywire (Atrial Fibrillation, see cool animation here).  That's why he's going in through the breastbone rather than one of the less-invasive side-access surgeries they can do for valve replacement or for bypass surgery.  He wants to be sure he has access to completely fix the whole heart so Bernie won't need to go back for a surgical encore.  So we're hoping for a full and complete recovery after surgery.  Wish us luck, please!  Warm and fuzzy thoughts and PRAYERS are greatly appreciated.

On My Mind

So this Easter, while I'm singing "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today," I'll also have little earworms in my brain looping "Change of Heart" by Cyndi Lauper...

...and "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" by Danny Gokey:

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Weekend to All!

I'm linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Making, and Moving It Forward.