Flying Fingers

I've been on a quilting binge ever since I learned that my friend Terry had a malevolent sarcoma on her left arm. The news left me with an overwhelming desire to sew tiny green pieces of fabric together. I did so for two days, crying all the while, and then I decided that I might as well be in South Carolina where I could see and talk with Terry. She's come a long way since then; the arm was amputated about two inches above the elbow three weeks ago Friday. She's determined that she'll be driving again by the end of this summer.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, when I got home I kept sewing little pieces of green fabric. Eventually it turned into a quilt/blankie, mostly greens, with six or eight patches showing pretty teapots -- fabric I picked up at Mary Jo's Cloth Shop in Gastonia, NC, while I was down that way. The backing is a white fabric with scattered daffodils. The title is "The race is not always to the swift," because I used racing fabrics for one edge of the backing-- people in a foot race, hermit crabs, and some nice pirate fabric.

We're all recovering nicely, and Terry loves her quilt. I was headed back south to see her and also celebrate a baby shower for my sweet niece Jessie, whose baby is due at the end of August. That didn't work out, and I was so disappointed I decided I might as well finish getting my 2008 tax information together. I also made a few more blankies while I was at it: one for my compadre's new grandson, one for his granddaughter, another quilt with greens and yellows, and a chicken quilt for Mary Flowers' husband. Oh, yes, and a blankie for Jessie's baby. Now I'm finishing one for my sister's grandson, the amazingly precious Carson, whose second birthday is next week. His is cowboys and things with wheels -- just right for picnics and playing peekaboo.

PS I just realized that I wrote malevolent sarcoma rather than malignant. I don't want to personify a cancer and yet both adjectives seem appropriate.