You're killing me here

I love visiting the local library every now and again to check out its selection of books, especially the ones focused on quilting, knitting and other crafts. I try not to buy many craft books, unless I know I will use them a lot. They are so expensive and these days you can find so much information for free on the Internet.

Anyway, as I was quickly picking out books this week, one of the ones I checked out was Cut-Loose Quilts, which encouraged a lot of "wonky" sewing ... free-form piecing and cutting.



Sounds pretty cool, huh? That's what I was thinking. And I liked a lot of the quilts pictured in the book. But then I started reading it.

Oh.

My.

God.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.





And this was included as an editor's note:

"With respect to Jan's wicked wayz, we have honored her use of the letter z at the end of many words, as well as her intentional misspellings of words such as "goosez." Her use of z in place of s reflects the rule-breaking freedom and poetic license of her designs."


Uh, no.

Reading that book was torture. I was done before I had barely started. What a hot mess.

Struggling

My pain has been beyond intense this week. I'm barely existing, much less getting anything productive done. I can't remember the last time I've had such a series of bad days like this. I don't know what else to try.

Wow, what a week! Now what?

I've had an amazing week so far: two concerts from two of my favorite performers - Owl City and Lady Gaga.

Owl City was in Indianapolis on Sunday and I was soooo happy to be able to go. I spent the evening with my friend Natalie, her exchange student Mia and two of her friends. Despite being pretty sick, Adam was all kinds of awesome. One thing I really enjoyed about the concert was the audience; it seemed like everyone there knew the words to all of his songs and proudly sang along. I love that about his music.

Another great thing about the concert was one of his opening acts: LIGHTS. Oh. My. God. How come it's taken me so long to discover her music? I downloaded almost all of her songs off iTunes on Monday and have been listening to it sooo much.

I haven't been listening to her solely though. Another musical obsession is Lady Gaga. Way back when the tickets for her show went on sale, I liked what I had heard from her, but really didn't know much about her and her music other than she dressed rather bizarrely. Since then though I have downloaded all her stuff on iTunes as well and love just about everything she has done. I find her weirdness fascinating - I don't ever know quite what to expect from her.

Her concert was such a great experience. My friend Amy went with me and we had the best seats! Like the first/secondish row on the left side of the stage. Lady Gaga's show was such a production and it was so fun to be in the middle of the crazy crowd that was so into her music and having a blast. It was a great night for people watching - a ton of people went to the extremes with their outfits. It would have been a perfect night except for the near-toxic levels of dry ice fumes rolling off the stage right at the level of my head. Yuck!

One thing I really admire about Lady Gaga is her self confidence in doing whatever the heck she wants. I can't imagine being able to withstand all the awful and horrible things that are said about her. I wish I was more like her in this regard. My worries about what people think of me and my actions sometimes feels nearly as suffocating as all that damn dry ice.

I'm kind of bummed that both concerts are over. Now what do I have to look forward to?

In a medical update, I had to go in for an MRI on Monday. The experience itself wasn't that bad; I'll have to come back and post about whether I can say the same thing about the results. I should have some kind of news about it Monday when I have another pain management appointment.

So far I've been feeling a bit better with the new medications, but I am so not happy about how much the new prescriptions are costing me. Not sure what I can do about it, but hopefully something. The whole medical money situation - from prescriptions, doctors' appointments, X-rays & MRIs and wheelchair repairs - is depressing as hell. I hate that a really stupid phase of my life is costing me so much. And it will likely to continue along the same path.

And now, for the obligatory quilt photo, is a picture of part of the disappearing nine-patch quilt top that I made at quilt camp. I'm really looking forward to finishing this, but I need to find a fabric for the back of it. It will end up being a lap size quilt.

Random list of update-type stuff

- They performed an autopsy on Shiloh and discovered she had a heart condition. The vet said she probably didn't suffer or anything, so that is good to hear. Daisy is really missing Shiloh though, so they put her on doggie Prozac. I hope she is doing better soon.

- It was part 3 of my dental adventure today, during which I got my permanent crown put on. It wasn't too bad of an experience - definitely less disturbing than getting the temporary one and way less traumatic of the root canal, during which the sedative did NOT work. Yes, you read that right, I was totally alert throughout the whole damn thing. I signed up for dental insurance for next year, so I hope I can go back on the dental offensive rather than defensive.

- Yesterday was my first appointment at the pain management clinic. I was worried about how it was going to go. Luckily for me, the doctor I saw seemed to be very understanding, nice and funny. She wants me to get another EMG on my legs, which is a test where they put pins in your legs to study how the nerves are functioning. I had one while I lived in Texas shortly after the back surgery, and to tell you the truth, it kind of sucked. The doctor wants to compare the old results to the new ones to get a sense of where I'm at and if there is improvement with the nerve restoration. She also gave me a bit stronger of a painkiller to try for the next month. Today has been completely horrible pain-wise though, so I really hope that's not a foreboding sign of things to come. I spent most of the morning at work crying in my office because the pain just wouldn't quit. I hope it's just a bad day. I don't think I can deal with that.

And now that all the crappy stuff is out of the way ...

- I'm going to quilt camp next month! I am so, so excited. I have no idea what I am going to work on, since I am trying hard to get some UFOs finished for the Joy in the New Year Challenge over on Jacquie's blog. I've entered 5 UFOs. I don't know if that is possible for me to finish, but I'm going to try!

- My first finish is the daisy wallhanging I made on commission for a friend of mine in Chicago. I am so happy with how it turned out! I got a lot of applique practice and also did some machine stippling. That was a first, because I've struggled getting the stippling to not look pointy or uneven. It definitely gave me a bit of confidence for my next project. Here are a few photos:

Middle-age angst

I've been in a bit of a funk lately ... it seems as if it's not one thing it's another. I've also hit a bit of a stage where I'm having a blog identity crisis - is this solely a craft/quilt blog or a life blog, where posts touch on the little life I have outside of quilting/crafting? I just have an urge to post more than just crafty goodness, so feel free to skip the verbiage if you wish!

Anyway, I'm crabby as hell. So many things are such a mess lately! I've been without my wheelchair of choice for over a month after a treacherous ride on the short bus. (And yes, I have enough wheelchairs from which to choose.) Thankfully (finally!), the repair guy is coming to the apartment tomorrow to make the extensive repairs it needs. I can't begin to explain how much I am looking forward to getting my regular wheels back. I can't wait to be back on a more comfortable seat (although after 12 hours, anything is uncomfortable) and no longer fear a dead battery while rolling amok on campus. I am crabby, however, at the thought of having to pay for repairs.

Another crab-inducing issue is the leaky window in my apartment, which spurred a potential move to another apartment. This idea was quickly abandoned after I realized the replacement apartment wasn't Christy-accessible. The idea wasn't abandoned soon enough though, because my mom and I packed up a good portion of my stuff and started moving it across the parking lot. Now my old apartment is full of storage tubs and stacks of stuff while we reorganize everything. Good fun. And it still leaks, although I am now more hopeful than I was before about it getting repaired before the first snowfall. The good part of the story is that as part of the non-move, I've decided to get rid of a bunch of stuff - so much so that I have been able to get rid of the rack of clothes in my living room. Success!

I also haven't been feeling that great, and have a regularly scheduled appointment w/ my doctor on Thursday. I am weighing my options and whether or not I want to seek a referral to see some sort of specialist that can help with the pain issues. I'd also like a decisive answer on what in the heck is up with the weird dark spots on my feet. Not sure if they really hurt or not, but they're not pretty.

Don't get me wrong, life isn't all crap, it's just been a couple of tough weeks. There are some definite bright spots that I look forward to blogging about when I'm not as grumpy, including one of my life's new loves ... Buster!

Meet Buster, my new and lovely sewing machine. It's a gift from my Sweet Baboo (totally stole that from Peanuts - and don't worry, I don't actually call him that) and it's damn awesome so far. The best part of all? You don't need to use a foot pedal to operate it! Yes, you heard me right, no more scorched thighs from holding the foot pedal between my legs when I sew. It's named after Buster Bluth, one of my favorite "Arrested Development" characters. One of his favorite phrases was "hey brother" so it seemed like a good name for a Brother machine.



Plus, here's a teaser of the fabric I am using for one of my WIP. I love, love, love this line of fabrics. I can't wait until my apartment is organized again and I have time to sew and not feel obligated to sort through magazines!

An exercise in frustration

Tonight has been completely annoying.

I was thrilled to get home after work. It was Friday and I had nothing I HAD to do, but had lots of things I wanted to do. I decided to start quilting the top of a baby quilt I am working on for a co-worker, so I set to do that right after I got home. My right foot was starting to really bother me, so I popped a few pain pills and got to work.

The machine quilting started to suck early. My stitches were irregular, my thread kept breaking, and I couldn't keep my seams straight enough for my taste. I tore out the first bit I did, but tried again. Finally, I was in a semi-decent groove and then my sewing machine needle broke. Any quilter worth her salt has extra needles on hand, and I'm pretty sure I do, but I couldn't find them for the life of me. I spent about two hours looking everywhere I could think of - and reach - and still no dice. Meanwhile my foot is still killing me. Imagine a foot cramp in the arch of your foot that returns every minute or two. Good times.

The swearing just kept getting worse and worse. It was a toss-up between whether I was cursing more about my inability to machine quilt and how shitty I was feeling.

And I still couldn't find the bloody needles. I found lots of other stuff I had misplaced, but not the needles.

Oh well. I finally gave up, got a couple of scoops of ice cream, unrolled (and fondled) my new jellyroll and settled in to watch the cheesy Miss America Countdown to the Crown show on TLC. And my foot is finally starting to feel better, thank goodness.