Finn's New Years Eve Challenge 2009

I'm in like Finn, and joining her "New Year's Eve Challenge." While Finn is Crossing the T's and Dotting the I's... I'm just trying to count up to 19.

NINETEEN???? I told Finn that I could get 19 projects done by New Year's Eve??

My magical awakening at 3 am and its resulting sleep deprivation has pushed me over the proverbial edge but I continue to hold on...and as I've always proclaimed "My best work is done at the edge, holding onto one world, and yet fully walking in another;)" But honestly, I have a huge '(want) to do' list, and as I looked at what had to be done in the next 3 months and counting all the small ones, and all the baby sized ones, and all the too big to fit in (but I will ones)...yep, 19.

And no, that did not include my Christmas gifts...I'm talking charitable donations, here except for one birthday gift and one new baby gift! And no...that is not what you see on my 'to do list'....it's larger than even that!

Last year I signed up for her challenge... and as soon as I did, I headed for Alaska to help out my parents. I stayed a month and then I then I was barely home again and got called back with Love and Hope to help my parents in another emergency health situation for another 2 months!

So, on New Year's Eve 2008, I was on an Alaska Airline's plane to Seattle, and then a Horizon plane to Portland, Oregon and no additional projects were even done.

But I had worked harder than I've ever worked in my life care taking my very, very ill parents, with medications and side effects, and personal care, and constant fetching and carrying and of course...cleaning, cooking, doing diabetic shots, getting the rest of my family up to Alaska for Christmas in the middle of a snow storm...finding every single person in my extended family a gift.....you name it. I am a (; doing and gifting over-achiever ;)

So I didn't feel guilty...just sorry, that I didn't get to play along! Finn, bless her heart, let me make mine 'late' and she added me to her sidebar anyway. So, you see...we're all winners no matter what! So, add your name to her list and join in the fun!

Here are Finn's NO Quilt Police Allowed, No Rules, Rules":

As Finn says "Anyone can join and play along. The purpose to clear the decks of a few more unfinished projects before we begin 2010! Each quilter (or cross-stitcher) selects how many projects she wishes to finish between now and New Years Eve."

All you have to do is commit to 'x' number of projects and then show photos and track them and let her know as you go along......it's great fun...and help us all get committed (er, feel committed...er, be certifiable, oh..you know what I mean ;) Last year, many of us were over-achievers, but that was o.k. We still tried!

So join us and check her sidebar for who has signed up so far, and for how much and how many projects!

Making a Heart Pillow: Breast Cancer, Cardiac or Recovery of Any Kind

Making a cardiac heart shaped pillow for those undergoing bypass surgery is a quick and easy gift and a wonderful way to show that you care! Whether you make one for a loved one or many to donate to your local hospital, they can be as simple, or as complicated as you wish!

As I wrote in my post Heart Felt Wishes for Comfort and Care a firm pillow is an essential aid for recuperative cardiac care. Many major hospitals actually provide a heart shaped pillow, either a sturdy balloon-like pillow or a volunteer created fabric one.

Patients hold the pillow against the sternum while moving or coughing in bed, or even while walking, later on. And since patients must be deliberately encouraged to cough to clear their lungs of acquired fluids to prevent pneumonia, pillows become an essential part of their recuperative care.

For cardiac patients, it is used when they are moving or coughing in their hospital beds and later it can be placed under a car's chest seat belt when riding home, to both protect and to defend from the often painful pressure of the chest strap of the seat belt upon a chest wall that has literally been cracked open.

The one that I made for my BIL's post cardiac bypass care involved strip piecing fabric on a foundation piece and then turning that into a back opening pillow with a velcro closure . I also made an inner lining pillow to enclose the fiberfill stuffing.

If you are making them for charitable donations, use the idea with single fabrics and skip the lining and velcro.

Cardiac 'Cough and Hug' Pillow Photo Tutorial:

1. Cut out a simple heart shape out of fabric of choice...big enough to clasp to one's chest. Mine is approximately *15"x 17". I chose to make a hypoallergenic fiber filled inner pillow, with a strip pieced outer pillow that opened with velcro for removing for laundry etc. But an easier way is to simply use one fabric for front and one for the back and fill it up with fiberfill and stitch closed ;)



2. String Piecing: strip by strip across the pillow top. See my post String Quilting (Primers and Patterns if you've never string pieced and would like to make this version.



3. Begin strip piecing process, laying one strip after another (r. sides together) and stitching on...one after another. I didn't photograph all of the strings ;)




4. Cut out backing piece either a solid section, or an overlapping velcro'd closure section if using an inner pillow.

5. Stuff your pillow with fiberfill; turn right side out; stitch opening closed.

6. Finished pillow with velcro opening shown on back edges.

My own dear BIL came out of his surgery, just fine after about 4 hours in the operating room another hour before being brought to post-op care where his family could be with him.Unfortunately, due to complications,he was only able to receive a triple bypass instead of the quintuple one he required.

If no viable blood vessels can be found in legs, neck or arms, surgeons are forced to make do with what they can find. In his case, they found three they could use. He is still heavily sedated so visiting is limited to immediate family willing to just sit and wait patiently and quietly. Extended family has been asked to wait until the second day after surgery for visiting, at which time we will pick my dear MIL and bring her into town to see him.

The hospital staff will attempt to get him to walk this evening about 24 hours since major open-heart surgery!

Please continue to send positive thoughts for a good recovery as they are so very appreciated! And hugs and blessings to all of you for your caring comments!

Update again! Visited him, bringing his mom, my 93 year old MIL along, too. He was genuinely happy to see us, thanked me FIVE times for the quilt and pillow, he looked good, was feeling pretty good except for nausea from elevated blood sugars (common after such surgery) and surprised all of us in general! 6 weeks of bedrest/no lifting/no driving will drive him crazy! But the next 6 months after that when he wants to be himself right away will be another challenge!

And I have to add the nurses and doctors all understood the heart pillow and they can actually provide volunteer donated ones when they have them available . Theirs are much bigger than mine but obviously people come in all sizes, too!

So, if I make more to donate, I will make my future ones in different sizes from 15x17 up to 18 x22, I think!

And remember! It's always a good idea to use hyperallergenic (i.e. new and not out of old pillows etc. fiberfill stuffing!)

Links:
Make this heart shaped pillow in pink for breast cancer patients!
[PDF]

With Heart and Hands Breast Cancer Heart Shaped Comfort  Pillow

My Own Heart Shaped Comfort  Pillow for Breast  cancer. Catho-Port Chemotherapy Seatbelt Protection and Aids in Comforting Pain of Coughing (clasp to chest as with heart surgery patients who are told to bend into a pillow as they cough.

 

1.Tape 2 sheets of 8 5" x 11" printing paper together.
2.Fold back into 1 sheet using taped seam to draw a half elongated heart shape, just like cutting school Valentines 

3. Cut out both halves at once. Open and use as your pattern.

4. Using 2 pieces of fabric (front + back) sew together, leaving a 6" opening  for filling with stuffing.

5. Turn right sides out. 

Stuff with polyester fiber fill, buying new in bag from a fabric store  or using  recycled stuffing from any fluffy pillow.

6. Once fully stuffed. Pin opening edges together and hand stitch closed.


For chemo-port or post mastectomy patients,  place heart pillow below one breast angling center curve of heart underneath that area. Seat belt crosses iver tge body if the pillow when in use.

  

Another option: Make small tiny pillows to tuck under places seat belt rubs. Count mt squares by inches for approximate sizing. Anything in this range works.

With straps version.

 For a free pdf pattern, click on –

  Port Softies for Chemotherapy Patients

Bigger Pillows:

Making a Heart Shaped Pillow

Make Breast Cancer Comfort Pillows for anyone who needs a little love. 

https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2019/07/its-all-i-have-to-bring-today-this-and.html

These are also wonderful for those recuperating from chest surgery of any kind, as one does after Cardiac Surgery etc. See, my pieced pillows ormake your own from solid fabric or fleece using my link above.

 Another source
Pillow Specifications

image:

 http://www.allfreesewing.com/master_images/FaveQuilts/Charity/Heart-pillow-hot-pink150.jpg







Or The Hands-On-Heart Pillow

Free Patterns for Cancer Awareness: Quilts, Ribbons, Quilts, Caps, Pillows, Pouches, and other Projects

 

Heart Felt Wishes for Comfort and Care

With my brother-in-law going in for a quintuple heart bypass surgery tomorrow, not only is my own heart filled with thoughts and prayers, but my heart and hands have been as equally busy this week creating a special 'Heart Healthy Hugs Pillow' and a coordinating quilt.

Filled with strips showcasing bandanna neckerchiefs, pony skin spots, cowboy boots, stirrups, hats and gloves. It seemed perfect for a man who's owned and ridden horses, mules and donkeys for many, many years...and loves all things western.

Quilts wrap us up with love, keep us warm and comfort us, but its amazing how a simple pillow, held tightly against the chest, comforts us by pressing a release from the pain held tightly in the heart chakra. And this works equally as well for both physical or emotional pain. The heart, in this sense, is truly the center of pain and grief, and its acupressure point can be held for the releasing of both the emotional and physical pain...for both kinds of 'broken hearts.'

Research has shown that a cardiac patient's post surgical care involves keeping the body as active as is possible...the heart, the lungs, and the circulatory system...but also to give them something to hold onto...emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Many major hospitals actually provide a heart shaped pillow, either a sturdy balloon-like pillow or a volunteer created fabric one. Patients hold the pillow against the sternum while moving or coughing in bed, or even while walking, later on. And since patients must be deliberately encouraged to cough to clear their lungs of acquired fluids to prevent pneumonia, pillows become an essential part of their recuperative care.

For cardiac patients, it is used when they are moving or coughing in their hospital beds and later it can be placed under a car's chest seat belt when riding home, to both protect and to defend from the often painful pressure of the chest strap of the seat belt upon a chest wall that has literally been cracked open.

It is quite amazing to discover just how much a small pillow can help........something one can do and be in control of...during a very challenging and quite painful recuperative period. As I wrote in my accompanying gift card...." And each time you use it, remember how much we all care! It holds lots of hugs, love, prayers, good thoughts, and best wishes...and they are all passed on to you, with each and every heart healthy hug!"

Please send prayers, well wishes, and thoughts to my B-I-L, who at age 63, has already had two previous heart attacks. During our last heat wave, he passed out while climbing up a small hill after cooling off in a creek. Because of the loss of consciousness, he tumbled down that hill, hitting his head, gashing it open, and resulting in a surprising amount of visible blood loss.

Because of this fall and the gash, he was taken to the ER, where the doctor was able to discover that not only did he require 16 stitches for his resulting head wound, but his heart had five clogged arteries...2 at 80%, 1 at 90% and 2 at 100%. In effect, that loss of conscious may have saved his life. Without it, he most likely would have simply suffered a third heart attack without previous warning of the severity of his cardiac condition.

Accessing his situation, they will be removing usable veins from his neck and arms (those in his legs were too small ) and transplanting those into his chest during open-heart surgery. It is a quintuple bypass because 5 valves will be replaced (if it ends up being possible) in five locations. Cardiopulmonary bypass with a pump oxygenator (heart-lung machine) is used for most coronary bypass graft operations. His heart will literally be stopped while the machine works for him, during the surgery. Later, his own heart is jump started to begin the process of working on its own using the newly grafted veins in their new locations.

Please bless his cardiac surgeon with a clear mind, skilled hands, and the ability to create new channels that once patched together will create the fabric and the foundation for a new and stronger heart....just as my strip pieced pillow took bits and pieces to construct a new whole.

May this dear man be comforted and protected, and may his surgery not only be successful, but give him a chance at a better and longer life. Making a (Cardiac) Heart Pillow

The Phantom Bridging of the Autumnal Equinox

Today, is one of only two days in the entire year when the sun rises due east and sets due west. Today marked our calendars as the 'Autumnal Equinox', yet strangely enough, it is not truly a day when day and night are of equal time or value, as many of us have been led to believe.

According to Geoff Chester, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the true days of day-night equality always fall after the autumnal equinox and before the vernal, or spring, equinox. The difference is a matter of geometry, atmosphere, and language.

Day and night would each be exactly 12 hours long on a spring or fall equinox only if the sun were a single point of light and Earth had no atmosphere.But the sun, as seen from Earth, is nearly as large as a little fingertip held at arm's length—a size known to astronomers as half a degree wide.

Sunrise is defined as the moment the top edge of the sun appears to peek over the horizon., while sunset is when the very last bit of the sun appears to dip below the horizon.

The vernal and autumnal equinoxes, meanwhile, occur when the center of the sun's disk crosses what's known as the celestial equator, an imaginary line that projects outward from Earth's Equator. And because Earth's atmosphere bends sunlight when it's close to the horizon, it makes the sun appear to rise a few minutes earlier than it actually does.

"Those factors all combine to make the day of the equinox not the day when we have 12 hours [each] of light and darkness," Chester said. Never the less,the equinoxes are the only days of the year when a person standing on the Equator can see the sun passing directly overhead.

On the Northern Hemisphere's autumnal equinox day, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, signaling the start of six months of darkness. And on the same day, a person at the South Pole would also see the sun skim the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight.

And strangely enough, the equinoxes aren't even midway between the solstices, which are the days of greatest and least light of the year, like many of us believe.

The Earth's orbit is not a true circle, it is actually slightly elliptical orbit.The elongated orbit means that Earth goes faster around the sun in January, when it is closest to the star, than it does when it is farthest away from the sun in July.In effect, we arrive at the September equinox a day late, because we were going a little bit slower in July, and then we arrive at the March equinox a day earlier.

Another equinox oddity: A rule of the calendar keeps spring almost always arriving on March 20 or 21—but sometimes on the 19th, and in the fall, Autumn can arrive on September 21 or 22, or even 23rd; depending on astronomical conditions, the calendar year and whether you live north or south of the equator.

Nowadays, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, equinoxes migrate through a period that occurs about six hours later from calendar year to calendar year, due to the leap year cycle.

The system resets every leap year, slipping a little bit backward until a non-leap century year nudges the equinoxes forward in time once again.

So with all of the magic and mysticism and symbolic representations in nature (and my dear friend, Junie Moon has done a lovely job of discussing those already) and in spite of major changes to our calendars over the years, we're still forced to bridge the different affects of space, time, geometry, atmosphere and language!

Time to go wildcrafting and gather up the magical gifts of nature's bounty!

shown above:

Oregon's amazing 'Phantom Bridge'...a naturally arching stone structure which divides a lovely forested canyon and one which my husband, son, and my visiting brother crossed just as one season crosses over into another. The mist and the fog of this day might have hid the magesty of the moment...and you have to look closely to see the true depth of the canyon...but walking along the bridge's edge made for enough excitement...all on its own! A wonderful excuse to 'keep looking up and forward' instead of down and back ;)

World Alzheimer's Day and the AAQI

World Alzheimer's Day (September 21st of each year) is a day on which Alzheimer's organizations concentrate their efforts on raising awareness about Alzheimer's and related dementias. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, a group of disorders that impairs mental functioning. At the moment, Alzheimer's is progressive and irreversible.

 Today, it is estimated that about five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and about 360,000 people are newly diagnosed every year. Alzheimer's affects about 10 percent of people ages 65 and up, and the prevalence doubles roughly every 10 years after age 65. Half of the population ages 85 and up may have Alzheimer's.And if you have relatives who have the disease, as I do (on both sides of my family!) the figure jumps to a 60% chance of my someday having this disease, as well.

Because the population of the U.S. is aging, the number of people with Alzheimer's will continue to rise unless something can be done to stem the increasing torrent of cases. At current rates, experts believe that as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease by the year 2050.
In honor of World Alzheimer's Day, as recognized by the Alzheimer's Association, and supported by groups worldwide, I have several projects (shown here) on my art quilt design table and others (not shown) in progress, elsewhere that are being donated to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) is an Internet-driven, grassroots, totally volunteer effort to raise awareness and fund research through art. Located in Michigan, they are a nonprofit corporation with tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. All profit is used to fund Alzheimer's research. Since the AAQI began we have raised more than $285,000 for Alzheimer's research.

The AAQI currently administer two major programs. The first is a nationwide traveling quilt exhibit called "Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece By Piece." It contains 52 quilts each interpreting Alzheimer's in some way. So far, more than 200,000 people have had the opportunity to see this exhibit. It will continue to crisscross the country until 2010. A book and a CD of the exhibit are available for purchase.

The second is the "Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts" project, so named for the urgent need for research dollars and the requirement that these quilts must fit into a cardboard USPS priority mailer without folding. They are small works of art no larger than 9 inches by 12 inches, auctioned on the first day of each month (see below) or sold outright on the Internet or at selected venues across the United States.

And third will be the newest project, in process now. The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative is in the process of creating a new traveling exhibit called "Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope." It will be exhibited at venues throughout the United States from January 2011 through December 2015.

This new exhibit will replace the current exhibit "Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece" after it retires at the end of 2010.

"Alzheimer's Illustrated" will feature 182 quilts, each measuring 6 inches wide by approximately 7 feet tall. The long and narrow 'Name' Quilts will be made from 55 purple patches sewn together wrong side out. Each patch will be marked with the name of a person who has/had Alzheimer's disease. These names have all been provided through the The Purple Patch Project

Founded by Executive Director, Ami Simms (her own mother was one of 5.2 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease), the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative was founded because Ami believed that it was possible to make a difference, one quilt at a time. But it takes the power of each individual who participates, to make that difference, and that dream, possible.

Links:

• Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

• Please check out The Priority Alzheimer's Project for learning how you might make a small quilt donation of your own. The two sizes are shown on my art design table above.
  

• Send in patches with the names of loved one you know with alzheimer's to:The Purple Patch Project .

• To read my post that Ami published on her website, click on:From The Heart of a Quilter

• Join us at AAQI in making a small quilt, mail in a monetary donation or just do some Goodsearches today !!!

In Honor, Memory, and Healing

Today, marks the fateful anniversary of September 11, 2001, a day that changed not only thousands of affected families lives, but the collective life of an unconscious nation. Nineteen terrorists and 4 commandeered airplanes created loss and havoc in their lives, their families' lives and our lives, forever.

It was the wake up call heard around the world. One whose repercussions we had not yet heard, or even felt. One which was misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misjudged. But it doesn't matter who fires the shot, throws the first stone, pilots the airplanes, or even what specific cause or religion or rationalization is used for creating death and destruction.

What matters is that suddenly this nation, through the collective suffering of thousands of families, realized just how connected we all truly are. And in that almost instantaneous understanding, we woke up....maybe not completely, maybe not permanently, but something inside of each of us woke up.... and felt a deep down universal pain.

Yet, from that awful and deeply connected pain came the most amazing and universal feeling of genuine good will, pride, and patriotism that those of us in the U.S. had felt in a very, very long time.

In honor and in memory, I think of that event, of those losses of that tragic day in history and in that memory, I created a healing quilt. Titled 'Rose Colored Glasses', it is my way of making lemonade out of lemons, joy out of sorrow, peace out of war, and healing out of the collective subconscious sea of pain.

Made up of patches of many colors, many shapes, many sizes, and many differing choices among them, it represents the community of many who are different coming together to create a whole that is stronger than the sum of its parts. So, up front (quilt front) we may appear as the disparate many, but we are backed up (quilt back) by a unified body of one. The twin towers may be no more, but the unified power of one towers above, about, and around us all.

Like quilts made in honor of those who had died of other national tragedies and disasters, from disease or famine or quilts made in memory or recognition, my simple little quilt is just for me. Something to pour my own healing energies into, to combine the colors of my heart chakra with the colors and frequencies of change, momentum, and hope into something whole out of many things separate.

I named my quilt "Rose Colored Glasses" because that is the positive energy of hope, of change, of unity, and of healing. Not in a dreamy, overly optimistic way, but with the creative force of intention, will, desire, and action. If we can change the way we see the world, the way the world sees, will change as well. A new vision, a new clarity, a new direction for in-sight.

Today, I think of all of those many and varied parts and pieces that created 9/11. All of those who lost their lives and all who loved them. And I am grateful to them for what they gave to all of us with their deaths. There are many who say they are all our angels now. Maybe, they truly are, and maybe the angelic order doesn't actually work that way. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that they sacrificed their earthly lives and created a universal opening in our national consciousness. And for that I am deeply grateful.

In honor, and in memory, please pause today and think of all of them, of all of their families. In honor and in memory, think of all of those who have sacrificed their lives for the good of others....the policemen, the firemen, the rescue workers, the doctors or nurses or teachers or just those who went in to help and are paying, in many different ways, for that sacrifice now and tomorrow.

Think of them today and be grateful.

NOTE:
This year the annual commemoration of the attacks in the US has been given a new name - the National Day of Service and Remembrance. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have called on Americans to carry out community service as a way of honoring the heroes of that dark day.

shown above:
"Rose Colored Glasses: Visualize Healing a Unified Heart"

09-09-09

At 9:09 AM and 9:09 PM on 09-09-09, we mark, not once but twice, another digital phenomenon.

The dates and times line up in perfect order for a numerological synchronicity.September 9 is the 252nd day of the year, 252 adds to 9, 09-09-09 = 27= 9.

09-09-09 is the last of the single digits dates for another century, and it falls on a 9 letter day...Wednesday, in a 9 letter month...September.

Modern numerologists — who operate outside the realm of real science — believe that mystical significance or vibrations can be assigned to each numeral one through nine, and different combinations of the digits produce tangible results in life depending on their application.

As the final numeral, the number nine holds special rank. It is associated with forgiveness, compassion and success on the positive side as well as arrogance and self-righteousness on the negative, according to numerologists.

Everyone from brides and grooms to movie studio execs are celebrating the upcoming calendrical anomaly in their own way.

In Florida, at least one county clerk's office is offering a one-day wedding special for $99.99. The rarity of this Sept. 9 hasn't been lost on the creators of the iPod, who have moved their traditional Tuesday release day to Wednesday to take advantage of the special date. Focus Features is releasing their new film "9," an animated tale about the apocalypse, on the 9th.

For fans of The Beatles, 09/09/09 will mark a new invasion.Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music have announced thaThe release marks the first time that the first four Beatles albums are being made available in their entirety on compact disc, and it also coincides with the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game. It as the date for the release of the entire original Beatles catalogue, digitally remastered.

Though technically there's nothing special about the symmetrical date, some concerned with the history and meaning of numbers ascribe powerful significance to 09/09/09.

For cultures in which the number nine is lucky, Sept. 9 is anticipated – while others might see the date as an ominous warning.

As the final numeral, the number nine holds special rank. It is associated with forgiveness, compassion and success on the positive side as well as arrogance and self-righteousness on the negative, according to numerologists.

Numerologists do have a famous predecessor to look to. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and father of the famous theorem, is also credited with popularizing numerology in ancient times.

As part of his obsession with numbers both mathematically and divine, and like many mathematicians before and since, Pythagoras noted that nine in particular had many unique properties.

Any grade-schooler could tell you, for example, that the sum of the two-digits resulting from nine multiplied by any other single-digit number will equal nine. So 9x3=27, and 2+7=9.

Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those will also break down to nine. For example: 9x62 = 558; 5+5+8=18; 1+8=9.

Sept. 9 also happens to be the 252nd day of the year (2 + 5 +2)...

Both China and Japan have strong feelings about the number nine. Those feelings just happen to be on opposite ends of the spectrum.

The Chinese pulled out all the stops to celebrate their lucky number eight during last year's Summer Olympics, ringing the games in at 8 p.m. on 08/08/08. What many might not realize is that nine comes in second on their list of auspicious digits and is associated with long life, due to how similar its pronunciation is to the local word for long-lasting (eight sounds like wealth).

Historically, ancient Chinese emperors associated themselves closely with the number nine, which appeared prominently in architecture and royal dress, often in the form of nine fearsome dragons. The imperial dynasties were so convinced of the power of the number nine that the palace complex at Beijing's Forbidden City is rumored to have been built with 9,999 rooms.

In Japanese, the word for nine is a homophone for the word for suffering, so the number is considered highly unlucky – second only to four, which sounds like death.

Many Japanese will go so far as to avoid room numbers including nine at hotels or hospitals, if the building planners haven't already eliminated them altogether.Japanese emperors would have never worn a robe with nine dragons, however.So, there is a polarity or opposite, balancing side, to every side of every superstition.

And sure, other such anomalies happen every once in a while, but each time one does, I take a pause and a consideration of the role that numbers play in all of our lives.

So, glance up at the clock today, as you do numerous times each and every day. Note the numbers and any significance they hold for you in your own life, and look out for all of those synchronistic numbers and numerical 9's today!

The Internet and the Web It Weaves....

I am being tracked, followed, spied upon, and may even have a bit of a virus. And I don't even have a fever, am not contagious, and am not using kleenex (except, perhaps to wipe my emoticons off the computer screen ;)

Someone gave me a viral command that is turning all of my searches into advertisements for places to go and buy..... and not the places I want to go and just learn, and read up on, and window shop!

So far, I am removing LSO's (the acronym for 'Local Shared Object' known as super cookies) on a regular basis and each and every time I sign out which is every 10 minutes. And as much as I dearly love some of our big name dropper bloggers, their LSO's are wrecking havoc with each and every visit I make to their sites. You can 'catch' LSO's from any site that contains advertising.

{Update: The New York Times substantiated my own theory by writing :" There's been a recent rash of ads spreading malware on reputable sites as a result of ad networks farming out ads to third-parties." Remember: If you find yourself redirected to a suspicious site, close it out.}

Whether on a blog or a website if an ad is present or you are asked to check something out with a hyperlink (and it might only say...go 'here' or see 'fabric here') you have the chance to pick up a flashwave super cookie in the process. You will see a bright flash for a split second, almost as if it's under your computer page, out of the corner of your eye.

These unsuspecting bloggers and wonderful websites are not infecting us on purpose, they're just trying to earn money by placing 'adsense' or other ads on their pages. But they're being hijacked by others and we're being infected every time we go to read their posts and they don't even know it's happening and most of the time...neither do we.

The Internet may have turned 40 last week, but its advancements are aging me as we speak!

Few of us realized back on Sept. 2, 1969, that our world was about to dramatically change as 20 people gathered in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, to watch as two bulky computers passed meaningless test data through a 15-foot gray cable.

That was the beginning of the very first "Arpanet" network. Stanford Research Institute joined a month later, and UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah did by the year's end.The 1970s brought in the creation of e-mail and the TCP/IP communications protocols and the Internet was formed. The '80s gave birth to an addressing system with suffixes like ".com" and ".org" and then in the '90s, though, a British physicist, Tim Berners-Lee, invented the World Wide Web, a subset of the Internet that makes it easier to link resources across disparate locations.

The Internet blossomed, free from regulatory and commercial constraints, and greatly subsidized and encouraged by our own government, here in the U.S. which funded much of the Internet's early development. The Internet, then was a military project, and it was largely left alone, allowing its engineers to promote their ideal of an open network.

When Berners-Lee, working at a European physics lab, invented the Web in 1990, he could release it to the world without having to seek permission or contend with security firewalls.

"Allow that open access, and a thousand flowers bloom," said Kleinrock, a UCLA professor since 1963. "One thing about the Internet you can predict is you will be surprised by applications you did not expect."

That idealism is now eroding. Google and Apple are battling almost non-stop. Small companies that invented one tiny application for one program such as Word are now suing and demanding more money per app then the program even sells for. The iPhone restricts the software that can run on it. Only applications Apple has vetted are allowed.And Apple recently blocked the Google Voice communications application, saying it overrides the iPhone's built-in interface. Monopolies seek to take over and small start-ups are battling for a piece of the pie.

On desktop computers, some Internet access providers have erected barriers to curb bandwidth-gobbling file-sharing services used by their subscribers. Comcast Corp. got rebuked by Federal Communications Commission last year for blocking or delaying some forms of file-sharing.

The episode galvanized calls for the government to require "net neutrality," which essentially means that a service provider could not favor certain forms of data traffic over others.And while all of them are battling traffic controls and restrictions, as one tiny consumer, I sit at home and battle the benefits of technology and all that goes with it.

I just want to be able to get online, big boys. I just want to visit with friends and find new patterns to add to my virtual stash. I just want to share, and be, and do. Please don't let all of your in-fighting crash the Internet the same way that Madoff and the other wild dogs crashed Wallstreet.

Maybe today, they will stop fighting, stop being so commercialized and greedy. Maybe, all the nerds and geeks and hackers, and evil-doers will shape up and allow me to just come online without their ads crashing me, once again.

The Internet turned 40 this month...and I think her mid-life crisis has already begun...

To link to this, copy and paste: The Internet and the Web It Weaves

shown above:
my own surveillance system, known as K-e-r-m-i-t.

Kermit watches for spiders and trolls and using a super sharp attack system, decimates them into obliteration from her top-secret covert location. Also known for her 'spyware laundering', she spin cycles them into re-usable dryer sheets with a multitude of purposes and restores the quilted kingdom into peace, harmony and as the plaque reads "Home, Sweet, Home' once again.

AAQI: Please Do Two Online Searches Right Now!!!

The AAlzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative was picked from 82,000 charities to be today's "Charity of the Day" at www. Goodsearch.com

GoodSearch.com donates a portion of their revenue to charities and schools selected by people who visit the site. They pick one charity every day throughout the year to feature and today that was AAQI!

If you go to GoodSearch.com and type in "Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative" in the "WHO DO YOU GOODSEARCH FOR?" box and then click Verify,then every search you do do earns us a penny.

There are about 2,000 people who read this original email from AAQI's Ami Simms. If each of us who read her original email and did just TWO searches today, AAQI would have earned $40. Multiply that by every day for a year, and AAQI would get enough to fund a research grant!

I found my letter in my email a bit late, so I'm making up for it by asking YOU to help ME out! Please add the rest of your searches online today in honor of AAQI. Just be sure to go to the Goodsearch website AND use THEIR search box to type in your search inquiry!

Check out AAQI as a search while you're there, and maybe even 'The Purple Patch Project" and a click to my letter titled "The Heart of a Quilter' while you're there. Find out why I and so many others like me are so ardent about this cause!

Join us at AAQI in making a small quilt, mail in a monetary donation or just do some Goodsearches today !!!

With Heart and Hands,
Michele

Making an Adult Bib

A good friend is someone who not only gives you a free pattern, but a working model of an adult sized bib and gives it just in time for a Frugal Friday idea! Perfect for my almost completely housebound MIL who can only walk (using a walker) with a lot of pain. So, many meals are prepared and served to her as she sits in her favorite chair in the living room.

As any of you who has ever tried to watch TV and eat at the same time knows something almost always spills and often you end up ruining a nice or even favorite piece of clothing. Time to protect and defend the elderly with a 'senior' bib!

And as someone who is almost ready for a working model for myself, I know this will not only be appreciated for its feminine look but unlike a typical adult bib, or the use of a kitchen towel upon one's front but for its practicality. It's simply made of a few pieces of fabric, a simple pattern and a little trim. And it can be opened and closed with a simple velcro closure in the back.

And furthermore, it's actually two patterns in one! One side of the pattern is a ladie's version with a round collar, and the other side, a typical pointed-end gentleman's collar. Add a bow or a little ribbon for the lady (and perhaps a few decorative buttons) and a nice homemade bow tie for the man.

Enlarge photo and notice the approximate sizing for all widths about 16", length about 29" and the choice of rounded or pointed collars shown. For the body, you create your own pattern in an elongated curved shape as shown. You want it long enough to go down onto the abdomen, wide enough to cover someone's front size with a neck opening large enough to be comfortable, but not gaping. Enlarge all photos and the rulings on the mat will help you create your own 'to size' pattern.

Cut out a duplicate front and back section out of fabric #1 and a collar from fabric #2 ...using a round collar section for a woman and the pointed collar section for a man. The collar section is folded and place on the fabric's fold and only the side you want is traced and cut-out around.

Sew right sides together, leaving an opening for turning. Top stitch around edges (adding eyelet trim previously, if desired) Trim with buttons or bows and stitch on a little velcro closure...one to each side section, one up on top, one under( on the opposite side.)

As I leave this morning, to drive DH to an unexpected trip to an oral surgeon (for a painfully impacted wisdom tooth) and wisdom tooth removal surgery at 7:40 am today, I'm wondering if there's still enough time to make him a quick gentleman's version.

And if he doesn't want to wear it, I may especially after fitting in all of those ice packs, milkshakes, bowls of soup, and ice cream I'm going to be serving in the middle of an already busy schedule!

                                           Just cut down a man or woman' shirt!

Added into my plans for working at the State Fair all day tomorrow in our Mid-Valley Quilt Guild's demonstration booth, I suspect I'll be either frothing at the mouth or drooling before the day's end, not to mention that I can never, ever eat without spilling something. 

And if I'm wearing white or something brand new, or I'm out in public...well, it's guaranteed!

So, it's an absolute given that one of these might just need to fit into my life at least for private usage ;)

Until then, thanks to 'Friday' for a great gift idea and blog post for my 'Frugal Friday Freebie' pattern give-away. And if you didn't catch this, my friend's name who gave me the bib and the pattern is truly "Friday"! Practically perfect in every way!

Other versions with collars and without!

 

Want it even longer?

 

Note:

I used cotton fabrics. Some of them have a thin layer of flannel or cotton quilt batting inside, some don't.

They all worked well and food was kept off her clothes.  For extra messy foods or lots of spills, I'd use terry cloth, two layers or even a single layer of a re-purposed bath or hand towel, hemmed with bias tape around neck and  extending out for ties.

Just about anything works really. Fabric needs to be washable of course!

Here is a pdf with measurements:

Adult Bib also known as a clothing protector PDF print off longer version

Free to Use Pattern

Please try these and remember pdf files download onto your computer desktop automatically. 

They should be under your 'Download' file under documents but sometimes we all get our settings mixed up. 

Search for files beginning with the large bib, class bib, or Michele Bilyeus bibs.

But I relisted them at bottom using files from my quilt guild which also used my files only in their own format. Hoping theirs work better than my originals!

 Best of luck to you and enjoy! 

Click purple links below they will auto download for you!  

 Adult Bib 

                                                       
Large Bib    

                                         
Michele Bilyeu Page to use When teaching.   Bib                                                                 

Adult Bib Pattern.pdf

And just for fun: Make your own fabric pattern weights:

I just cut a variety of squares or rectangle shapes from doubled fabric, sew 3 sides together on wrong side of fabric (leaving a small opening for turning and filling), then turn right side out, fill with dried beans etc.(I use a little funnel for this) and hand stitch the opening closed.

Michele Bilyeu Creates *With Heart and Hands*: My Tutorial Link Lists: By Themes

https://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/p/my-own-free-patterns-tutorials-and.html

A Husband's Lament

I’ve always known that life was full of obstacles and woes.
I’ve learned to live with sickness, death, taxes, heaven knows.
I’ve taken all these things in stride, the problems and strife,
But one I didn’t count on was a Quilter for a wife.

Come home from work, the stove is cold, the dirty clothes still there,
The suit I wanted cleaned today, still laying on the chair.
“Where’s Mama, son?” I asked my boy, “This house is such a mess.
Why, all the sheets are missing, we’ve been burglarized I guess.”

“No, Mama stripped down all the beds and took the sheets away.
She cut them into little strips and pieced two quilts today.
“ Why every pair of pants I own is cut in little squares.
“I’m demonstrating appliqué”, my lovely wife declares.

I show up in the office in my boxer shorts and tie.
My secretary giggles and the clerks give me the eye.
It’s freezing cold, I’m shaking and my knees are turning blue.
My boss considered firing me, but his wife’s a quilter too.

I told him what happened and he said he could believe,
I noticed that the coat he wore had only half a sleeve.
A husband needs a loving wife to help him when he’s ill,
To soothe and comfort, mop his brow and help him take his pills.

Should influenza strike you, your life’s not worth a dime,
Particularly if it hits at Quilt Convention time.
You’ll lay there in an empty house in pain and deep despair
While the workshops and the lectures keep your wife’s attention there.

You learn to ask no questions when she smiles and drives away
Rushing to the Fabric Shop for a big sale there today.
She’s gone for hours, then drags back home all bleary eyed and down,
Now who’d believe a lie like that? She must be running round.

But I’ll get by, I always do, some days are fine, some not.
When your wife’s a Quilter you tolerate a lot.
I know that when my life is through and I pass away
They’ll have to set my funeral so it’s not a Quilting Day

(the now famous, anonymous quilter's husband)