Finished!

I finally finished both floral quilts today. This one is laying on top of a quilt my grandmother pieced for me. How do you like the sashing? It's a Madras plaid that I think really works well with the blocks. The binding is purple, sewn to the back, turned to the front, and machine sewn with a feather stitch to the front. This is my favorite way of attaching a binding. The corners are mitered by the Eleanor Burns method. The backings are gingham check flannel, one in lavender and the other in lime green. I'm really pleased with them.

DH went to the oncologist yesterday to get the results of his tests. To our relief, they were all normal, so he did not need to receive the injection. His feeling sick is evidently not Carcinoid syndrome, but a result of the damage already done to his intestinal tract. He is scheduled to have some scans done next month--if those are okay his cancer will be considered to be in remission.

This is an enormous load of stress off my shoulders. Dealing with cancer in a loved one changes your perspective on everything. Advance planning goes out the window. You tend to re-evaluate what you want out of life; day-to-day existence changes from running the rat race to just living in the moment. There are things my DH and I have always wanted to do but didn't think were viable options; we are re-thinking all of that. For DH that meant going back to growing plants. It has given him something to look forward to, a hope for the future. Now it appears he will have the chance to see his plants (and his nursery business) bear fruit.

I have been reading lots of other blogs lately, mainly those of art quilters, surface embellishers, and fabric dyers. I am getting lots of inspiration from them, and wish I could be as talented as many of them obviously are. I want to be able to express myself artistically but I have a hard time doing it. So far I have made things from other people's patterns, but I have been really nervous about stretching myself into the unknown. I think it's time to try some new things, and to experiment with art.

I suppose one of my problems with art is that I have a very logical mind. I am good at organization, and I like everything to be in its place. But art is not like that. It is free-form and spur-of-the-moment, an intuitive process. The pieces that most impress me are full of bright color, but still recognizable as what they are meant to represent. Abstract art makes little sense to me. I will have to really push myself to work outside the patterns. We'll see over the next few months if this effort pays off.