Progress

The Churn Dash quilt for Quilts of Compassion "Quilts for the South" quilt drive is completed. Finally. I had these blocks already made. (That's the thing about churn dash blocks - they are a tiny bit addictive once you start making them.) I sashed, cornerstoned and bordered those blocks, then got it quilted, trimmed and bound. Now it is ready to go. That makes two completed from me.

This one was made by my friend Phyllis. She thought it would make someone happy to have a western-themed quilt, and I'm sure she's right. It is such a vibrant quilt. I wish you could see it in person, and don't you love that red wood plank fabric she used as backing!

I also very much like the label Phyllis put on this quilt.

Meanwhile out in the back yard, things are growing still, even in the heat and one of our silly chickens is trying to hatch a stone egg. The center photo is figs on that tree behind the chicken in the photo on the left. They are juicy and delicious! I've canned a dozen half pints of fig preserves. Some of that is on its way to my mother. It is one of her favorites, so I'm very glad we have had a harvest this year. It was so dry the past few years that there were very few figs. This year, thank God!, we've had plenty of rain, so the tree is loaded with figs.

And.......Miss Ru is being transferred to the Houston Medical Center this morning, as I type, for evaluation as a possible lung transplant recipient. It's just the first step of a very long process, but it IS a start.  Thank you all so much for your kind emails, thoughts, and prayers for our family during this time. It means so much to us all. I show Ruthie your comments and emails and she is so grateful. I wish you could see that gorgeous smile in person!

I am so thankful for so many things. We had a pastor years ago who used to tell us not to expect "to float through life on flowery beds of ease", and that's certainly true. There is a reason the Apostle Paul told his son-in-the-faith Timothy (1 Timothy 6:12) to FIGHT the good fight of faith. Life is often a fight. But the good news is we win!  I've read the back of the Book.

If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I truly hope and pray that you get to know Him, because the day will surely come when you will be glad you do!

Hugs and kisses and lots of love,

Thursday Update

To start off on a lighter note, this is why I cannot have flower arrangements on the table in the hallway. Dinah rearranges them. She pulled that one flower out of the vase a bit and was attempting to rearrange it to a more pleasing design when I spotted her.

I have sewn some of the leftover rows of coins from this quilt, with purple sashings this time, to make another quilt. I'll add a border or two and get it done for the Quilts of Compassion.

I also had some leftover churn dash blocks which I sashed with cornerstones, and it is quilted. Not trimmed or bound yet, but there is progress. I really wanted to get a lot more done by this point, but life interfered. 

Miss Ru has been hospitalized for almost four weeks. She's been in intensive care this whole time - first in a regular hospital and now in a long term acute care facility. This beautiful smile is still showing up quite a bit even in the midst of the things she is going through.

Ruthie was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis just before her second birthday. The doctor at that time called my husband out into the hallway and told him not to get his hopes up, that she would not live to see her tenth birthday. I'm happy to say that he was wrong. She just had her thirty-second birthday, even though she was in the hospital when she had it.

The bottom line right now is that her lungs have been so damaged by the disease that a lung transplant is the only medical option if she wants to live. She does want to live. To that end, she will be transferred to the hospital in the Medical Center here in Houston that does lung transplants as soon as a bed becomes available. She will be evaluated to see if she is a viable candidate for a transplant, and then the waiting will begin.

I know this is not touchy-feely, happy talk, which we all try to do a lot of on our blogs. I am sharing all this with you because so many of you have become friends over the years, and because we can all use your care, prayer and just plain old love right now. I so appreciate each and every one of you who have stayed close.

Hugs and kisses,