Thursday, May 24, 2012

NEED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING

This block just finished on Tuesday is Row 2-8 of the Civil War Diary Quilt is called “Union Soldiers”.

row2-8 union soldiers

Because of its title, I chose to use colors found in Union soldiers’ uniforms, blue and gold/yellow. 
My shoulder is giving me fits now since I’ve done so much foundation paper piecing in the last week. 

neck pain

There’s a lot of trimming with a rotary cutter as you go along so I’ll give it a break for now.  I have a couple of hand-piecing blocks ready to make for the Just Takes 2 quilt and a couple of quilt tops – the Civil War Block of the Week quilt and the Friendship Triangle quilt –that need to be sandwiched and readied for quilting on my domestic machine. 

Pin basting always gives me a different kind of pain -- in my lower back – but if I do it in short blocks of time with frequent breaks there is usually no lingering problem.   It’s a totally different problem with my neck and shoulder.  About 12 years ago I had surgery to remove an meningioma (cyst)  near my cervical spine so there is significant scar tissue that easily flares up if strained.  Just need to take some Aleve and give it a rest for a couple or three days.  And change the rotary cutter blade so I don't have to press to hard to get a clean cut.  Why do we wait too long to change our blades?  That's crazy!

Here’s to taking a break. I think I’ll watch the Texas Rangers play the Seattle Mariners.  That’s an excellent break activity.
a red Signature
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

4 comments:

  1. A good lesson to all of us Donna, to have lots of different projects so we can vary activities:-) I guess it is important to know when to change what we are doing.. before the chronic pain grabs. I get so frustrated because now i have time to sew the aches and pains stop me, Must go change that rotary blade, thanks for the reminder.
    Hope you are feeling better soon

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  2. Gorgeous block Donna! You deserve the break!
    Hope your neck feels better soon.

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  3. Step away from the rotary cutter!!! Sounds like its time for a break! And congrats on the new baby!!! What a joyful blessing!

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  4. Donna, your blocks are comng along very nicely, and your new grand-niece is beautiful!! I love newborns; I'm sure everyone does.

    I have a question about the first block in the CWD quilt-Alarmng Conditions. I tried paper piecing it and I am having a %^&* of a time. Can you help a quilter out here? It's those single triangles that are making me crazy!!

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Hey, leave me a comment so I know that I'm not talking to just myself!