A Soft ReStart

Temperature quilt project

Happy New Year!

It's been eleven weeks since my last post. Being rear ended at the beginning of September continues to cause me lifestyle issues. Sigh. . . . I've tried to piece with good success. I've had limited success with both machine quilting and rotary cutting. Pushing and pulling the fabric during the machine quilting process, fatigues my arms. My strength to use the rotary cutter is not what it was before the accident and my arm/hand fatigues after a few cuts. Both activities also cause tremors to my hands.

Chilhowie project fabrics

I'm still working through the pain/body issues of my head, neck, back, left shoulder and left thumb and left index finger. Our youngest daughter and youngest granddaughter did come for Christmas early in December. Two days after they arrived, I came down with the flu. I had a temperature for a week and for that week, I stayed in bed. The second week, I managed to spend time in my chair and the third week, I actually got dressed every day. 

I've been coughing for three weeks. The cough wracks my body and leaves me breathless after the coughing impulse  has subsided. I haven't left the house since December 10! I hope that next week, I'll be able to return to my physical therapy exercises. I also plan to return to massage, chiropractic and acupuncture treatments. I'm still weak. For example, walking more than a couple hundred steps makes me feel like I've been walking for three hours! 

Beyond the Flower Garden class sample

Since my last post in mid-October, I have worked on my temperature quilt. I started the Bonnie Hunter Chilhowie mystery. I made a baby quilt. I've progressed no further with the studio revamp. 

I've spent a lot of time trying to focus on what I can do rather than grieving over what causes me pain. While I've missed keeping up with my blog and reading other people's blogs, I did notice that my headache has been less severe when I lowered my screen
time. My memory continues to improve although, I still have moments when the word I want to say won't come to my tongue. 

We did celebrate Christmas with our immediate family and my mom. We did have freezing rain and cold temperatures 18-30 degrees Fahrenheit a few days before Christmas; but, it warmed up enough that the ice melted and family members could safely travel. During the holiday break, our oldest daughter came down with COVID. On day nine she was still testing positive. She wore a mask and ate in another room; but, we were able to be together. No one else contracted COVID. Interestingly our immediate family members, my youngest granddaughter, her dad, my husband and I are the only ones who haven't had COVID. 

I've been thinking about what sort of goals I could set and attain for January. I decided to set three goals:

1. Keep up with the temperature quilt.

2. Make progress on the Chilhowie mystery.

3. Make an example for my "Beyond the Flower Garden" class which is scheduled for May.

For the first month, my plan is to post once a week on Sunday. If I can tolerate that pace, I'll post on Wednesdays in February.  

Of course, Cynthia over at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework continues to motivate me use what I have! The mug rug above was made with scraps from past projects combined with machine embellishment stitches. It was a fun project!