I appreciate your thoughts and prayers

I want to say how much I appreciated your thoughts and prayers during this time.  I feel like so many of you are my friends, because of our love of sewing and our sharing together of that passion through our blogs.

Today there is a more of a sense of normalcy again.  We held my father's funeral Monday.  The weather was very accommodating and in the low 70's.  I was able to reconnect with many relatives on my father's side that I had not seen in years.  I feel at peace knowing that he is not suffering anymore.

Today I shopped for all the foods and such that I need to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for DH and me.  I always love to cook for Thanksgiving.  I think it is because I have plenty of prep time to fix the dinner.

I spent time this afternoon finalizing the fit of the Vogue jacket and then cut out the fabric.  All of the zippers I ordered online arrived this week.  The zippers from Sew True proved to be the best gray color for the front separating zipper.  I have decided not to sew the pockets.  I can change my mind when I begin as I do have the zippers necessary for the pockets.  I am just not feeling the need for them.

I am currently waiting for DH to come home.  He has decided to stop and get us Chinese food for dinner.  The perfect before Thanksgiving day dinner tonight.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you a pleasant and thankful holiday.  If you are not celebrating, I also wish you a pleasant day on Thursday.  More later.

A time of loss

I am so thankful that I was able to travel to see my father on Friday.  He has been suffering from Alzheimer's for about 6 years now.  He became very ill about three weeks ago and was in the hospital for nine days before being sent to a short term care nursing home.  I was truly stunned when I arrived on Friday to visit with him.  He was still very ill and had lost so much weight.  The dementia had gone into overdrive.

Saturday morning I received a call that he had passed away.  For this I am also thankful because I know he has gone to a better place with my hope that his mind and soul are now at rest.

I have lost both parents to this horrible and life taking disease.  It is so very difficult to lose them to such an illness that leaves them as a shell and they no longer know themselves and no longer know who I am.

So this week I will be thankful that he no longer suffers with trying to form sentences, or trying to remember how to walk or trying to eat or even understand.  I know he is in a better place and hopefully whole again.

Vacation and Holiday

Today I begin my vacation and holiday time off!  I really am looking forward to the break.  My mind and soul needs rest and time for creativity.

As much as I would like to begin the time off today sewing, I am traveling to NC to see my father who has been moved into a nursing home providing some needed skilled nursing services.  Fortunately he has been moved closer to where I live so the travel will not be as lengthy as it was previously.  This will allow me to visit more frequently.

I will be back home early evening and plan to begin the pattern fitting process for the new jacket.  Zippers that I ordered have not arrived yet, hopefully today.

More later.

Resuming regular broadcast! and Thank You!

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and concern.  The funeral for my MIL was on Tuesday and it went well.  Today DH and I are starting to feel more normal now, returning to work helped put us back on track.  We still have some things to take care of but need the upcoming weekend for R&R.

I am looking forward to the weekend to rest and to sew.  I know I am returning to a more normal state of mind when I am able to once again think about sewing and actually plan my next projects.  I should be able to finish the KS jacket this weekend.  I have to say I am truly pleased with the pattern and how the jacket is shaping up.

I had ordered some fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics prior to the family issues and have yet to take photos of the fabric to share with you.  Of course they are gorgeous and I ordered with making a dress.  More about that later.

Update 3-6-2011

I have been MIA.  I want to thank everyone for your comments, thoughts and prayers.  My DH and DSIL made a courageous decision to have their mother removed from the ventilator based on the negative prognosis and a face of reality of her situation.  She passed away several hours later in no pain and with dignity and her family beside her.  I commend the nurses and doctors for the care they gave her and our family.

We have spent time each day traveling back and forth dealing with funeral arrangements and the like.  The funeral will be graveside on Tuesday.

Life is a little upside down at this time.  Today we are staying at home and taking care of day to day tasks that have been pushed aside.  Again thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. 

No progress

I have not been able to do more with my February Jacket of the Month.  My MIL continues to be in critical condition in the hospital and prognosis is still not good.  So my focus is and needs to be elsewhere as we go through this family health issue.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Family update

DH and I had to be at hospital this AM at 6:30.  He had back surgery at 8:30 and I had him home by 1:30.  He is doing very well, lower back and leg pain are gone.  Discomfort now is from the back incision.  I truly appreciate all the positive thoughts and prayers sent our way.  We are both glad to have this procedure over and done. 

I will be playing nurse for a few days and hopefully will return to work on Thursday.  DH is not able to drive or travel for 10 days so I will be busy as errand person also.  In between will plan some sewing projects.  More later.

Health Issues

I normally don't go into a lot about personal, non-sewing related information at casa Danvillegirl.  I have had my little wrist issue for a couple of weeks now, and today I can say it is getting better. 

My DH has had some sciatic nerve pain for some time now (over two months) with lower back pain and loss of feeling in his left leg.  For a man with a pain tolerance factor of -10, it takes him forever to go see his doctor.  He finally did so about two weeks ago and he was referred to an orthopedic physician specializing in back pain issues.  Last weekend he completed a MRI which we took results of that to the doctor yesterday. 

Long story short-he has to have surgery for a herniated disc.  Amazingly it is done as outpatient surgery and he goes home same day.  He will not be able to drive or travel for about 10 days.  He will be out of work for over 6 weeks.

So life has taken us in another direction.  We will get through this, though household budget does take a hit.  I am thankful for my fabric and pattern collection as I will be modifying my sewing spending habit for a period of time. 

Now knowing what the health issue is and the prognosis for him, he and l both are able to get some focus around casa Danvillegirl.

Family time

Sewing has been creeping along this week.  I have done a few minutes of sewing here and there.  Today we will visit my MIL in Danville as we will be going on vacation next weekend and want to make sure everything is set for her while we are away.  SIL does a lot for her as well, but DH is the oldest son and she still leans on him a lot.

I hope to get some sewing in, late evening when we return.  I am hoping my design idea with the flounce is going to make them look better than they would with a narrow hem with this particular fabric.

Not sewing this AM

We are off to visit family in Danville today. My jacket is patiently waiting to be completed. I still do not have buttons yet. Once I can get as far as I can with the jacket until buttons materialize, I need to work on some tops-knit and woven.

Roaming others blogs or Flickr photos, I am inspired to sew tops. I like to wear skirts and pants when cold but I always feel I need more tops to change up the look. I actually have some TNT's and have several new ones to try as well.

Got to go, DH is giving me that "time to go" look.

Monday sewing update

Blouse is progressing along. I ran into some fitting opportunities. I had high hopes of finishing the blouse yesterday. Making fitting adjustments and then DH having a dental emergency took taking me away from sewing for a period of time.



Fitting opportunities included:

1. Taking a deeper shoulder seam.


2. Adjusting darts in back by taking a deeper dart-I have a narrow back.


3. Making the vertical front darts deeper.


4. Taking a deeper side seam from under arm to waist.


5. Trimming the sleeve cap by 1/4 inch to allow for deeper shoulder seam.

I also had to redo one side of the invisible zipper as the center back pieces did not line up correctly after inserting the other side of the zipper. In the past I may have let this go, now I find it unacceptable.

My plans this AM are to finish the blouse, provided DH's dental situation does not require some of my time.

Imaging

In some recent training classes I have attended, the instructor spoke about "imaging" and how by doing so, the person was able to succeed in accomplishing their goals. They are able to visualize themselves doing certain things to accomplish the goal at hand. I think we sewist do that a lot when it comes to sewing. We set a course to achieve a certain garment look. Sometimes with great success and sometimes we have to revise the course.

Yesterday my DH and I had to travel to Danville as my MIL continues to be plagued with pneumonia and some other health issues. I took along some sewing magazines-Australian Stitches-to keep my sewing mojo going. I also began visualizing another dress using the Simplicity pattern I just completed. In doing so, I began thinking about the steps I needed to take to accomplish what I wanted. I began making my list of things I have and do not have to accomplish this new garment. I then began focusing on plans for the two knit dress patterns laying on my cutting table. The trip to Danville went by much faster, though my DH complained that I did not talk enough. He does not appreciate the quiet moments that I do.

Sewing on my mind

I had visions of completing the dress as well as the knit cardigan. Family situation arose and off to big D today instead.

Yet I want to let you know that I spent 10 minutes here or there before going to work each day to do a little something toward completing the dress. The top stitching around the armhole bias binding was completed yesterday before going to work. My plan when we return this evening is to turn up the hem band and stitch in place. Then stitch down the back facing to zipper tape.

Fast forward>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>It is now 10:42 PM and I am happy to tell you that all is complete with dress except the back facing stitching. Yeah!!!!!!! Tomorrow AM I will take some photos of the dress. The knit fabric for cardigan has been washed and dried. It feels even nicer since washing. I read through the instructions for the cardigan; it has a turn back shawl color. I plan to do all the hemming with my new coverstitch machine. Finally will get to use it for real sewing--not practice. It appears to be a straight forward, easy pattern. I still need to pin fit the pattern to determine best size. I am hoping that I can get back with minimal changes.

Later.

Family

Most Friday evenings I do the grocery shopping along with DH and then we have a quick bite to eat. When we get home, I usually go into my sewing room for the end of the week, start of the weekend sewing. Not this Friday though.

Yesterday was my dad's 80th birthday! He is in the early stages of Alzheimers. He lives in an assisted living facility in NC. My uncle and aunt live 10 minutes away from him and do a great job of looking in on him and taking care of many of his needs. I am so appreciative.

Because it was his birthday, they brought him to Danville, VA for a birthday dinner at a local seafood restaurant to be with other family and friends. I left work a little early to travel to Danville to join in and to celebrate his birthday. We had a great time and it is good to spend time with his side of the family as we have at times been estranged from each other.

So sewing will start sometime today. My goal is to finish the dress!!!!! I am still on the fence for the jacket.

He's back!

I am happy to say my DH is home! They allowed him to come home yesterday afternoon. He will be out of work for about two weeks, maybe more. He is doing well and we are beginning to have a sense of normalcy again.

I researched more information about the "coumadin" medication that he will be on for probably rest of his life. There are many herbal and nutritional supplements he should no longer take. Ironically some of those items he was taking was to prevent heart attacks and stroke; i.e, to improve the blood.

He was most encouraging to me to go and "play" as he calls in my sewing room. Perhaps I was hovering too much. So I did.

I really appreciate again all the thoughts and comments from my Internet sewing friends. When you are feeling blue it helps to hear from others.