I'm Home and a New Chapter Begins

Hello friends,

I've been away for almost two weeks in the interior of the province. I've been visiting mom at the hospital, packing up and clearing out my mom's apartment, readying things for her move to the nursing home and making  her a "welcome home' quilt. (If you like you can see the finished quilt here).

She is now in the home and her personal things are with her. Photos are on the wall (I forgot to take a picture of them) and her bookshelf is set up with her TV, small stereo system, a few books and even more CDs. Her other mobility aids are with her. They are still settling her in and she hasn't really gotten into the routine yet. Everything is done very systematically there and it takes time.

Mom is chomping at the bit to get up and around. She also misses her telephone which unfortunately took a few days to connect. She should be able to make phone calls to her heart's content after today.  I think it is hard to make the adjustments in the transition as everything is so completely different. She is now on someone else's schedule and not really in charge of herself. Someone else will decide what she can eat and a whole lot of other things but overall I think the changes will be beneficial. They already have her blood sugar at normal level. I am confident that once mom is able to get around and explore, she will be very happy there and she is looking forward to be able to get around.

As for me, I got home last night and I now have a lot of mom's things to sort through and organize to put away in my own home. Some of it will replace things I have which will go to the thrift store. I also have my own major decluttering project I am working on so this project has expanded.  As I won't have to travel to visit mom on such a strict schedule, I will have more ability to get things done at home and my visits to mom will be real visits as opposed to trips to get things done for her. I will likely also need an adjustment period but an adjustment of a different kind. I am relieved that mom is now in a place where they can monitor her and help her though to be honest it hasn't really sunk in yet as I've been far too busy.

I have been extremely tired over the past week and I can't believe I didn't go to sleep very early last night. I didn't even sleep in this morning. I'm now getting ready to go out and get my hair done as it is in dire need of a refreshing.

I want to thank all of you who stopped by to comment on my blog posts over the past two weeks. It means a lot to me. Please accept my apologies for not being able to respond to the comments or spend as much time looking at your blogs. Now that I am home and have much more bandwidth to use, I can review and comment on blogs again. I will also be uploading more photos and resuming my series on Kenya.

In the meantime I leave you with these beautiful photos of spring blossoms which will soon appear here in  my city.  I also want to wish you all an awesome and refreshing weekend.

My Quilt Project is Finished

A long view of the quilt.

A close up of the quilt.  Don't look to closely or you'll see all my errors.

This is the backside of the quilt. I just machine quilted following the different sections of the crazy quilt. You can also see the binding from the back. This approach to quilting was suggested by my instructor because I didn't want to do free motion quilting on my first quilt or I might never finish in time.  This quilt is actually ironed but I didn't have a flat surface to iron it on.

It was a challenge to finish the quilt in the timeline I had but I did finish it and was able to deliver it to mom on Thursday at the nursing home. She loves the colours and the patchwork design.  I know my errors in making this quilt but I also didn't have all the right tools so I am pleased with how things turned out. I did want to "fix" some stitching but in the end I decided it was an adequate job given the time frame and there isn't any error too great that I should delay giving mom the quilt.  I meant to take close ups of the quilt's mitered corners but in my haste to get to the nursing home I forgot all about it.

I have to say I really enjoyed making this quilt and feel encouraged to make another one. But first I have some other projects to make headway on.  If any of you are like me, afraid to try quilting, I would encourage you to take a class and give it a whirl.  It is quite relaxing and enjoyable and if I can do it, I am certain you can do it.  I'd love to see your quilt if you do make one *wink.

One helpful tip I learned from my instructor after I purchased plain fabric for the quilt back, is to purchase a fabric with a pattern on it.  This way any errors you make won't be so readily viewed. I won't forget this tip!