Scenes of Summer

Hi everyone. How was your summer? Mine was filled with extraordinary moments shared with extraordinary friends, like Wanda Hanson of Exuberant Color, who surprised me with one of her signature batik color-wash quilts. Isn't it stunning? Read more about it here. 

Of course, visits from quilters are always welcome, especially when they bring "show and tell." Here's Sheila with her Sunflower quilt and me with Wanda's Zig-Zags.

Jenny graced us with fresh-picked basil and cherry tomatoes from her garden. Jean shared delicious peach cobbler (made with real Georgia peaches) and the best homemade blueberry pie I've ever tasted!

Local troubadour, Bill Glaysher, serenaded me one afternoon. Swoon! I even got a copy of his CD!

Which enabling friend helped make this online purchase? I couldn't resist a few new American Jane fabrics in summer hues.

My friend, Bev, volunteered to read aloud to me. If you've never heard To Kill a Mockingbird read by a veteran English teacher, you don't know what you're missing!

There was a delightful new quilt book too: The Magic Forest by Gwen Marston.

 

Jim and I even attended a bridal shower, hosted by friends, Mark and Linda, for their daughter and son-in-law to be. What lured us out on a 97-degree day was the promise of mango mimosas and eight different kinds of cake. Believe me, it did not disappoint!

I can't thank my friends enough for so graciously sharing  their time and talents. We certainly made some great memories, didn't we? Love you all!

Reality Check!

It’s been a long, lazy, uneventful summer. I’ve been sleeping a lot, reading too little, not writing at all, and taking way too much comfort in my complacency. 

I forgot that MS can pull the rug out from under me at a moment’s notice, which it did a couple weeks ago. I haven’t had an exacerbation in years, so didn’t recognize the symptoms of a flare-up (severe pain in hands, wrists, and arms), until my left hand (my only functional appendage) suddenly stopped working. That got my attention!

Three days in the hospital on IV steroids restored function to my left hand. I can scratch my nose now, give a feeble wave, feed myself finger foods, type o-n-e  l-e-t-t-e-r  a-t  a  t-i-m-e with a pointing device, use the TV remote, and even hold a cup of coffee, if I’m lucky enough to get one. 

I've also been assigned a series of hand exercises to practice daily. Hopefully, they’ll make me strong enough to erase “complacency” from my vocabulary, and live each day with more purpose and intention.

Take good care of yourselves, everyone!

May Baskets

Hello everyone, and happy spring! Mother's Day! Mine was filled with simple pleasures but felt very special

It wasn't our son''s visit or the pancakes and bacon he fixed for breakfast. And it wasn't the phone call from our other son and daughter-in-law. Naturally there were big smiles for those things, but this particular grin came later... with!

A refreshing walk was my surprise, and I welcomed the opportunity to soak up as much springtime as I could. The cloudless blue sky and lilac-scented breeze were accompanied by a peaceful quietude uncharacteristic of our family neighborhood (Where was everyone; church, brunch, Grandma's house?). There were flowers to enjoy in every yard--big bushes of lilacs, red climbing roses, deep purple iris with golden beards, cheerful clumps of white daisies, each one prettier than any bouquet I could have wished for. All in all, it was a glorious stroll! 

 

We even found a spot to photograph my "May Baskets" quilt. It’s one of three quilts made from blocks swapped by Piecemaker friends (and generously shared with me). Although we started with the same 3" baskets, look how different our quilts turned out.

Mine is set in a block-to-block arrangement with baskets alternating direction in every other row. I like this simple layout and the subtle interest it creates.

Originally, I added a muslin spacer between the baskets and sawtooth border. It gave the baskets some "breathing room" but friends convinced me otherwise. Now, I wish I'd left it in. The final layout looks a bit cramped to me.

Oh well... all the more reason to keep the quilting simple.

"May Baskets"

30” X 39”

Sheila Lewis patterned her quilt after one in the collection of the New England Quilt Museum. The solid red alternate blocks make a striking setting, don't they? Can you spot where the baskets change direction? Right down the center of the quilt!

Barb Vedder grouped her blocks by color, then arranged them into four-basket sets.

It reminds me of a popular U.S. postage stamp from the late 1970s. Remember these? 

Barb enlarged her quilt with bold sashing and generous borders. You can read more about it here.

Thank you, my friends, for including me in this swap and for helping me get my quilt together!

Final Issue

A few months ago my friend and editor, Julie Golimowski, asked me to write about my experience as a quilter with MS. The article is part of a feature on Multiple Sclerosis in the summer issue of Designer Quilts magazine.

Since hiring me as a pattern proofreader four years ago, Julie has shown concern about my health and the impact of MS on my life and work. Does the stress of deadlines increase my muscle tension and fatigue? YES. Is my ability to concentrate good enough to check math, diagrams, and wording for ten quilt projects an issue? MOST of the time. Am I able to climb stairs to get to the computer where I do my work? NOT ANY MORE!

Over time, her questions have become more specific. What was my first symptom? NUMBNESS and tingling. Am I in pain? SOMETIMES. What kinds of medical tests confirmed my diagnosis? MRI and SPINAL TAP. What medications do I take? DAILY INJECTIONS and PILLS for everything from muscle spasticity and incontinence to anxiety and depression.

Julie’s interest became more than concern for a good friend when she herself was diagnosed with MS. She revealed her condition to her readers in this latest, and last issue of the magazine. Her husband Joe writes:

Designer Quilts Magazine (formerly Designers’ Quarters) has ceased publication. In 2006, Julie, the editor of Designer Quilts Magazine and my wife, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. MS is an incurable disease that attacks the central nervous system. Lesions in the brain and on the spine cause a variety of symptoms from blindness to the inability to walk. Julie has relapsing and remitting MS which means that her symptoms come and go without warning and it is no longer possible for us to publish our magazine. Sincerely, Joe Golimowski Publisher, Designer Quilts Magazine

There's no predicting the path MS will take for either of us. In spite of that, Julie and I maintain good attitudes. That's half the battle in managing this debilitating disease. It's been an honor and pleasure working with Julie on Designer Quilts Magazine. Now, if we could only edit MS out of our lives. 

This is my brain!

Do you remember that 1987 anti-drug campaign with the fried egg? You know the one: "This is your brain. This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs." I wondered if I could find a similar metaphor to illustrate how MS affects the body. I did; this little quilt represents me ~ me with MS.

Let’s say those dizzying squares of psychedelic fabric are nerve cells in my brain or spinal cord. Some of them have been damaged by my body’s own immune system. The resulting scars or lesions impede the messages my brain sends to other parts of my body. Sometimes these messages (the black sashing strips) get garbled; sometimes they don’t get through at all. In other words, my brain might want to quilt, or walk, or eat soup with a spoon, but if the message can’t reach the appropriate muscles to perform the task, it ain’t gonna happen!

See those wonky quilt blocks? They represent symptoms I deal with every day: numbness and tingling, poor balance, weakness in the limbs, muscle spasms, fatigue, sensitivity to heat, loss of bladder control. Just as each of these quilt blocks varies a bit from the others, my symptoms vary from day to day. Not only are they unpredictable, they also differ from those of someone else with MS.

Let’s see, how can I tie in that big purple border? I know. Those strips symbolize everyone who supports me: family, friends, doctors, therapists -- all vigilant caregivers who manage my daily needs. Their love surrounds me and frames each challenging day of my life. If you’d like to become a member of my support team, please consider making a donation to the National MS Society HERE.

Feeling Wonky

This is MS Awareness Week, and many crafters, quilters, and bloggers with MS have been asked to share their stories. particularly the impact it To illustrate some of my early symptoms, I pulled out a quilt I was working on just before my diagnosis.
  here's the quilespecially how it impacts their creative endeavors. I did one better, I dug out the I was working on when I first began experiencing symptoms

Block Party

37" x 51"

machine pieced and quilted

© Diane Burdin, 1997

The mid 1990's were a particularly stressful time for me. Since stress aggravates MS, I’m not surprised that it lead to my first serious exacerbation, a curious numbness and tingling in my arm that lasted for months. Over time, other unusual symptoms began to appear: fatigue, dizziness, depression, all of which my doctor attributed to stress. His advice? Slow down. Make a concerted effort to relax. See a therapist!

Meanwhile, some friends had organized a quilt challenge. I joined in, hoping the creative exercise would help me relax. Typical of these design challenges, the theme fabric was a hard to use print,  a wild "op art" pattern that made me dizzy if I looked at it too long. That became the theme of my quilt -- feeling "wonky."

It was the perfect opportunity to try Gwen Marsten's liberated piecing techniques for constructing wonky quilt blocks. I started with houses:

My first attempt wasn't nearly wonky enough.

Now I was getting the hang of it. No right angles here!

I tried a church with stained glass windows and a wonky sun.



Here's our house, with William peeking out the upstairs window.

Once I'd made enough blocks for a little neighborhood, I arranged and rearranged them like pieces of a puzzle. If a block was too small, I added to it. Several house blocks, for example, were enlarged by adding trees. If a block was too big, I simply trimmed it down.

For interest, I scattered bits of theme fabric throughout the quilt and also included other types of blocks -- all "liberated" versions of traditional quilt patterns: log cabin, nine patch, flying geese and stars. 

The thing about making a quilt this way is, you never have more than a general idea of how it will look when finished. Much like Multiple Sclerosis, it's hard to predict the course it will take. When faced with a challenging fabric or a challenging symptom of MS, the strategies for coping are much the same -- add a little something, trim a little something, adapt, change the plan. Chances are, you'll still create something beautiful.

Sweet Surprises

Thanks for your kind hopes for my recovery. I haven’t been able to get to the computer as much as I’d like, so if I haven’t replied to you personally, I apologize. Please know that each visitor to my blog and each comment left there is precious to me. I’m continually surprised by the encouragement and support of people I've never even met. Amazing!

Progress is slow, but I’m already walking better than I did before my hospitalization in December. The other day, I was surprised by how far I walked and had my son measure the distance -- 25 yards!

That very same day, a surprise arrived in the mail-- this sweet cupcake quilt. Amy at Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts made it to commemorate her 100th blog post and I was the lucky winner! She used gorgeous fabrics and artfully quilted it with freeform feathers. Those happy springtime colors will keep me smiling throughout the winter months. Thanks Amy!

Look Ma, No Hands!

Things are already looking up for 2008! For those of you following my recovery, here's an exciting update. Two days ago, my sons helped me stand and support myself with the walker. I tried taking a few steps, albeit baby ones, and ended up taking ten! Yesterday, the home therapist came to evaluate me and I was able to take 16 steps. As an encore, I did a 360 degree pivot, all without anyone hanging on to me. It was a triumph that gives me great hope for recovery!


As everyone else puts their Christmas decorations away for another year, I’m just beginning to enjoy ours. Many of these holiday treasures evoke sweet memories of crafting with our young boys. These special handmade gifts were stitched for aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, some of whom are no longer with us. They’ve become irreplaceable family heirlooms.


We made this Christmas wall hanging when the boys were 7 and 10 years old-- just old enough to use a needle and thread. I satin stitched a simple Christmas tree to a background and let them embellish it with buttons. Their handwritten quilt label is just as precious as the tree itself.

The Christmas That Never Was

Belated holiday greetings to you all! Unfortunately, I missed the festive season this year by spending the entire month of December in hospital/rehab. The closest I got to celebrating was seeing holiday lights out the rear window of an ambulance!

I had a debilitating reaction to an MS medication I’ve taken routinely for years. For some reason, it started giving me high fevers and muscle spasms so severe, they nearly did me in.

Christmas was long over by the time I got home, but we kept a few decorations out to make up for what I missed. With its cheerful colors and folk art charm, this Christmas Tree is always a favorite! It’s a Gwen Marston pattern from the Nov/1993 issue of Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts Magazine.

William’s Christmas Tree

16” x 22”

 Diane Burdin, 1999

To make my quilt more personal, I swapped Gwen’s tree with one our son, William, doodled when he was six. I also changed the colors to match the funky Japanese fabric I used on the back.

Here’s Gwen’s version. It looks like I copied her quilting to a T.

*Incidentally, I’m on a new medication now and physical therapy is helping restore my strength and ability to walk. Nevertheless, prayers for my continued improvement are welcome. They may be the intangible factor that makes all the difference. Thanks!

Page Fright!

My friend Julie, editor of Designers’ Quarters quilt magazine, asked me to write a column about my experience as a quilter with Multiple Sclerosis. I feel more comfortable working “behind the scenes” as a pattern proofreader, but decided it was a good way to increase awareness of what seems to be an increasingly common disease.

The thought of having my words appear in print started giving me page fright. So, I decided to look at the assignment as a blog post, to be read by only a handful of my most faithful blogging buddies. That got the words flowing all right. Only now, I’m actually going to impose upon you to read the essay. Thanks!

Pins and Needles

Ask any quilter what “pins and needles” mean to her and she’ll reply that they’re indispensable sewing tools. Ask me the same question and I’ll be more likely to describe a peculiar “pins and needles” sensation in my hands and feet. It’s just one of many symptoms such as numbness, weakness, dizziness and fatigue associated with Multiple Sclerosis, a potentially disabling disease of the central nervous system.

When I was diagnosed ten years ago, I became one of at least 300,000 Americans afflicted with MS, more than half of whom are women. Many of us are also quilters, understandably concerned about this unpredictable disease impacting our needle skills. In my case, I’ve lost much of the strength and dexterity needed to quilt, but I’ve never lost my passion to create.

I’ve learned to quilt in new ways, adapting sewing tools and techniques to my changing physical needs. A new sewing machine with loads of stitches has replaced the sewing I’d previously done by hand. My physical therapist introduced me to ergonomic sewing tools and was even able to modify my rotary cutter to make it easier to use. The latest fabrics are conveniently delivered to my door with one catalog or Internet order. But it’s my friends who really keep me quilting, with their willingness to do those things I can no longer do alone. All it takes is a phone call and they’re here to help cut fabric, press blocks, stitch bindings or finish some long neglected project that I just can’t manage myself. These gracious women inspire, encourage and motivate me to keep stitching.

I used to worry that I’d have to give up quilting because of Multiple Sclerosis. Instead, I’ve found that my strong passion to create actually helps me cope with the challenges of MS. Quilting gives me a positive outlook, a sense of purpose and pride, and a connection with other creative women. And that “pins and needles” sensation? I still get it from time to time, only now it’s in anticipation of my next quilt project!

Perfect From The Start

Remember the awkwardness of learning a new skill as a child, like struggling with clumsy fingers to tie a shoelace, or write in flowing cursive, or use both hands to play a simple tune on the piano? For years, I was convinced I had a klutz gene, when what I really lacked was the patience to practice. Why couldn't I just be perfect from the start?

As a novice quilter, I often felt “all thumbs.” In fact, the first time I tried a thimble, it refused to stay on my finger, let alone push the needle through all three layers of quilt. And what about those impossibly tiny, even stitches I’d read about—twelve to the inch! REALLY? Perhaps this wasn't the hobby for me, because I still wanted to be perfect from the start. 

Now, I'm a seasoned quilt maker and my thimble feels like a second skin. I've made many quilts over the years, all with small, even stitches. The handcraft has brought me nothing but joy. Unfortunately, Multiple Sclerosis has sapped the energy, strength and dexterity I need to continue quilting.

My advice to anyone coping with an impairment like MS is to continue doing what you’re passionate about in any way you can. Stay creative! Since I can’t sew with needle and thread any more, I’m going to try stitching words and pictures together, to chronicle the quilts I've made and collected through the years.

While I’m at it, I might as well give blogging a try. It feels a bit awkward, writing for an audience that may not even exist. So, if you stumble across Persnickety Quilts, why not leave a comment and let me know you're out there? I'd love to hear from you. Together, we can make this perfect from the start!