Retreat quilt

I sometimes host retreats for other quilters and this past weekend was one of those retreats. There was no "theme" or instructions given, just finishing UFO's. Which means I get to sew! I still help the others quite a bit, but I did get some personal sewing done too. I finished the Row by Row quilt that I taught all year (from Sept. to May). I just need to add borders. This was made entirely from my stash. Mostly from leftovers from other Christmas quilts. My bin does NOT look like it has gone down ANY! Looks like I'll get a few more quilts from my scraps! I do have to buy the last border as I don't have enough of any one fabric to do the border. PS..do you see the one block on the bottom row that's different? LOL I didn't notice it until later. I tried to justify keeping it in. If it were in the center, I might have gotten by with "I meant to do that!". But I knew better. So I spent an hour yesterday picking the block out of the row, correcting the center and inserting it back in the row. I'm happier now! My students get a charge when they see me make a mistake. I tell them that I make all the mistakes first, so then they don't have to make their own! Actually, I think it boosts their moral a bit when they see me make mistakes. They realize that's just part of quilting. You laugh, take it out, do it over and go on.














This is one of my students who qualifies to be a real Stashbuster! She finished a class project (the Pineapple quilt) and then wanting to use the rest of the fabric and the "boo boo" blocks, she made her backing and busted ALL her leftover fabric from this quilt. Me? I would have hoarded the rest of the fabric, thinking I could put it in other projects. Which is why my closets and bins are overflowing. I love her backing, it almost makes it a reversible quilt. Way to go, Linda!
On a non-quilty note, I have been struggling with my sciatica nerve being pinched by a herniated disc. It started flaring up when I was helping my husband after his injury. I thought that once I quit lifting his legs, etc. it would get better. Well, it's gotten progressively worse to the point that I'm living on painkillers and anti-inflammatories to get through the day. I am NOT a pill taker, so it bothers me that I'm masking the real problem. My leg is numb down to my toes. Two nights ago, I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and got stuck. Couldn't take a step because I was in so much pain. My hubby jumped up, got me to bed and got my drugs. I knew I had to do something. All the research we did on my problem all stems back to the compressed disc. Chiropractors haven't been able to help. Someone else suggested a Back Clinic that you lay on their tables and they stretch you out, getting the pressure off your disc. I didn't want to be tied down to running to doctor's and clinics all the time to get relief. So I ended up buying an inversion table (the ones that hang you upside down). Well, come to find out, you don't hang there for more than a minute, you oscillate back and forth, getting the spinal fluid moving. And you don't start off hanging straight up and down, 60 degrees is the one that you normally use, but you work up to that. I started at 20 degrees, and that wasn't enough, so I'm now using the 40 degree angle for a while. It felt good to be stretched out that way. I was hoping for a miracle and would wake up this morning free of pain, but I'm not. I don't know if it's my imagination or wishful thinking, but it seems as if it's not quite as painful. I know, this has taken 2 months to get to this point and it's going to take a while to get better. Let's just hope that I've found something that will truly help without using drugs.