Tingling fingers and more...

I have had limited success with my CQ stitching this week. My hands have been giving me problems... tingling fingers and cold all the time. I have had troubles with carpal tunnel in the past so I knew I needed to be careful and limit my needlework time. I didn't even stitch until Thursday, and then I just did one seam. I managed a couple more this weekend, and here's where I am at this point:

I like some of the seams and others are kind of "eh." I think I'm gonna pick up a couple of wrist splints from somewhere this week and that should help to alleviate some of the problems with my wrists.

Since I couldn't really do alot of stitching I've been doing other things that have come along. One of these was to work on the old display case that I refuse to get rid of. It's made of oak and has some lovely carving on it. Although it is certainly not Danish modern, it has a lovely patina and nice, square form that fits in despite itself. I wanted to put some of my vintage fabric in the bottom of the case, since the floor boards are just a tad bit warped. Placing my ceramic vases directly on them could lead to disaster. So, we ventured forth amongst the masses and returned with some particle board for the bottom and two red oak shelves for the top. We wrapped the board in the vintage fabric and here it is in the bottom of the display case. Click the picture to get larger sizes via Flickr.

Here's a closer picture of the fabric... I just love it.

I see this print and it's variations on eBay about once every six weeks or so. I have one other piece in a nubby green barkcloth with the same print and I'm hoping to incorporate it in this room, also. I have a collection of green/olive/turquoise/aqua ceramic vases, etc. that will be going in the display case when it is finished. It may be kinda weird but I like weird so it's OK with me! ;0)

Last Tuesday we went to a jazz concert at Arizona State University (ASU). Our nephew, Mark, was playing the sax in the Jazz Repertory Band. Although he isn't a music major, he made the band, a fact that makes his proud papa (my brother) very happy. Since Mark's parents couldn't be here I took lots of pictures for them. Unfortunately, only a few came out because apparently I don't know how to use my camera... guess I need to practice more! I got a few good ones and I'll share one of his solo with you.

It was a fun concert and we really enjoyed it. Later we went to dinner at a really fancy restaurant... not! Actually we went to the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) to eat. We each had a huge omelet... not a good idea at 9pm. We didn't get to bed till 11:30! We almost turned into pumpkins! LOL!! We don't get out much... can you tell?

I've also tackled my sewing room. It had gotten so bad in there that I could just barely get to the sewing machine. This is not a good thing. I picked up a lot of nice clothes (silks, rayon, linen, cotton and polyester) at estate sales recently for crazy quilt fabrics and they were just piled up in there. I got most of them ready for use and sorted by color. There's lots more to do but at least it's a start. My hope is if I rest my wrists this week and then use splints, the tingling, cold fingers will go away. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Well, that's pretty much a roundup of the week's happenings. I hope everyone is having a glorious week! See you in a few...