April Recap and May Goals

 

Blooming daffodils

Even though our spring has contained plenty of snow and hail showers, our daffodils managed to bring color to our yard. I think of them as bits of sunshine! 

The last few days of the month were glorious with summer temperatures. Today, we are back to gray skies with the threat of rain.

My April goals were:

✔1. Keep up making and inserting EPP blocks into the temperature quilt. ---I did correct the incorrectly sewn block.

✔2. Prepare lecture notes for my EPP "Beyond the Flower Garden" class.

✒3. Finish piecing the project for the book, "River of the Gods--Genius, Courage and Betrayal--in Locating the Source of the Nile" by Candice Millard. Between the scraps for this project and the bulk of the Lone Star quilt on the quilting table, my flat surfaces are covered! I need to make enough progress to reclaim my cutting table and ironing board!---I've pieced 19 of the 24 blocks. Watch for a post about my journey in a few weeks.

Working on the last 12 blocks of the maze quilt

✒4. Stitch a Christmas stocking for the youngestgranddaughter. I have a pattern in mind. Next steps will be to locate it and select fabrics. I plan to shop my stash first!---I found the pattern and selected the fabrics which were all from stash. Next will be to prewash the fabrics, copy the foundations and sew. I do want to do something special with the centers of the paper pieced blocks.

✔5.Continue playing with the embroidery module/software for my machine. I need to document my experience last month. 

Four of the six rows of the maze

✔6. Begin filling in the areas with free motion quilting that I've outlined in the Lone Star. My body still rebels against quilting so I must be mindful about taking breaks and completing a little rather than a lot. If I do too much, I set off pain to my head, neck, back, hip and arms! 

✔7. Document my recent trip to London in Wednesday posts. I'll likely start with a post about making my first meal after my return. Scrap Cooking, London Adventure Day 1, London Adventure Day 2, London Adventure Day 3. --I'll be posting about the trip for a couple more months. I've enjoyed reliving our experience writing the posts!

Stocking project

While I didn't make as much progress as I had planned, I still moved the projects forward which is all good! 

On the health front, I continue to make progress. I'm in the normal range for turning my head side to side. I am working to get a little more range of motion looking to the left so that turning my head in either direction is more balanced. Rarely do I cause neck spasms when turning or stretching now.

Lone star quilting progress

I've been incorporating different back exercises for the pain I get under my shoulder blades when I machine sew. I can't tell if the exercises are helping. . .yet. For the last two weeks, I've been able to raise my arms in an arc and bring my palms together. (It is a motion similar to jumping jack arms.) I hadn't been able to do that motion since the day after the car accident. So, while my shoulder is still sore, it is improving too.

I still get the numbness in my fingers when I've chopped or stirred too long. Machine quilting also is a culprit for numbness. I don't know if I can improve more to lessen or delete the numbness or not. Knee wise, the cortisone shot helped. I still need to ice it several times a day and I take ibuprofen for the swelling/pain twice a day. When I try to skip either, my pain level rises as does the swelling!

The best news of the month was that last week, I passed my American Red Cross Lifeguard, Lifeguard Instructor and Lifeguard Instructor Trainer physical exams. Being the role of the victim, didn't cause me additional pain to my shoulder or neck. At the end of the class, I was exhausted and sore; but, my spirit soared to still be able to complete the skills as well as the swim and the time tests. 

When I returned home and after hanging my wet suit and towel to dry, I did ice on my neck, back and knees. (I have several ice packs.) I did do some gentle stretching. The following morning, while I was tender in places, I wasn't so sore that I couldn't move easily. 

EPP preparations

Five inch square project

I look forward to swimming now that I can turn my head to the side without pain to side breath while swimming freestyle. I loved being able to move my left arm through the water without shoulder pain. 

All the acupuncture, physical therapy, massage and chiropractic sessions have been a big part of the healing process. I've also spent time and effort doing the homework. . .exercises, etc.

For May, my goals are:

1. Keep up with the temperature blocks. 

2. Continue piecing my maze quilt top.

3. Continue to free motion an area of my Lone Star quilt.

4. Sew a Christmas stocking for my youngest granddaughter.

5. Play with the embroidery unit on my machine.

6. Teach a Zoom class on EPP.

7. Teach an in person class on EPP.

8. Play with the five inch squares I won from Preeti.

9. Document more days of our March London trip.

I'm linking up to Cynthia and Oh Scrap/Quilting is More Fun Than Housework because my maze project is all scraps!