WIP Wed: Block and Cover ;-)

It's Wednesday, so once again, I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced WIP Wed.  Come see what others are working on!

I finished up another block for the Solstice Star Series.  I also made another block for my "Scrap Attack" quilt.

Mostly, though, I've been working on some new Kindle covers for my Etsy shop.

Other non-sewing news is that our main computer, with all of my pictures from last week back crashed over the week-end.  Luckily we have another computer.  It's super-slow, but it's better than nothing!  I'm hoping that we can get it back soon, and that the tech will be able to save all of our data!!  It's backed up, but of course it'd be best if all can be fixed.  Wish us luck!!

WIP Wed: New Projects!

It's Wednesday, and as usual, I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced's linky party!  Come join us! 

I'm afraid we've had some nasty respiratory bugs here in our house, which has kept me close to home, but luckily I've managed to stay healthy!  One good thing (I guess) about working in a hospital is that I think it really exposed me to so many viruses and such that I've built up quite an immunity to them.  Same is true for school teachers, I hear... It also taught me the importance of hand washing and surface cleaning...  I still have one home from school, but at their age, they don't need nearly as much "care", (but just as much TLC).  So, I've been able to get some sewing done.

My only "old" project in the works this week is my Summer Sampler Series Quilt.  I found some really cool clearance fabric to use for the back.  It's a map, and some of the town and city names are where I have relatives, which is pretty neat!  I bought all that they had left, which was about 2 2/3 yard, ALMOST what I need for the quilt back.  I hope to get the back sewn up, and then pin baste the whole thing this week.

As I was going through my stash, figuring what to make next, I came across a few fabric block panels that I bought in Michigan, and had thumb tacked up on my wall there.  We don't have nearly as much wall space here, so I decided to make a quilt quilt from them.  It's the first time I've used a panel, although I own a growing collection of them.  The quilt came together so FAST!  I ran out of the green fabric though, so I just need to buy a bit more to finish the borders.  I literally made this in one afternoon!  I love crows and ravens, and this will make a good Christmas quilt, but won't be so "festive" that I have to put it away in January!

I've also been working on Kindle Covers, but all of the wide black Velcro in town is sold out.  I'm guessing someone else bought it all to make things for our big craft fair.  I was hoping to drive to the nearest Jo-anns to get more (an hour away), but with a sick kid, I haven't been able to.

So I started cutting out a few more quilts instead.  I'm planning this one for my MIL.

But I'm really excited about this one!  Yes, that's the only fabric that will be in it!  If all goes well, I may have a super-easy nerdy quilt to blog about really soon!  Thanks for stopping by!!

WIP Wed: Postcards and Binding (and Kindle Covers)

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced, WIP Wed.  Come join us!

Lately, I've been busy making postcards for my October swap, and trying to make up more Kindle Covers for my Etsy shop. 

The Kindle covers take a lot of binding, so I've been making more for those, as well as binding for a few quilts I'm trying to finish up.

I don't want to spoil the surprise for the October swap, but did get my final postcard for the September swap ("Wind, How it Blows").  This is what I sent off:

Here's what I got back!  Aren't they fantastic?

I also thought I'd share a postcard that I made for my Bengal-fan, Brother-in-law's Birthday!

 Get it?  LOL  He loved it!  So what are you working on?

Fun-a-day 12: Fetal hemoglobin stain, and WIP

OK  Babies are fun!  One of my favorite "special stains" to do in the lab was a "Kleihauer-Betke Stain" (KLB).  It stains only red blood cells from fetuses or newborn infants (that contain fetal hemoglobin).  The stain is an incredibly vibrant hot pink that's a lot of fun to look at.  We do it on an "Rh negative" blood type mother, when there has been a confirmed fetal-maternal bleed that surpasses the "normal" amount that a regular dose of "Rhogam" would take care of.  Make sense?  I didn't think so.  Rhogam is a drug, created to prevent a potentially horrible condition called "hemolytic disease of the newborn", luckily a disease that has been mostly wiped out due to Rhogam.  This happens when an Rh negative mother carries an Rh positive baby, and is exposed to their blood, usually at birth.  The first baby is fine, but because of the exposure, the mother will develop antibodies, or disease-fighting proteins that target and destroy future Rh positive blood cells, so if she becomes pregnant again with an Rh positive baby, the mothers immune system can literally attack its blood cells.  Rhogam prevents this from happening by binding up all of the Rh positive fetal or baby blood cells before her body can detect them.  I hope that makes sense.

When we do a KLB Stain, we determine by actually counting the number of fetal cells (seen as bright pink) vs the number of maternal (the mom's) cells (see in the black as thin rings, because the stain lyses them).  We give this to blood bank, who then can determine how many additional vials of Rhogam to give to the patient.

I have a personal story about Rhogam.  It was first used in Spring of 1968, just a few months after my twin brother and I were born.  My mom is A neg, I'm O pos, my brother O neg.  After birth I had severe jaundice (which can be a sign of hemolytic disease of the newborn), and was given a complete blood exchange transfusion.  My brother was not.  I know my parents tried years later to have more children, and my mom never got pregnant, so I often wonder if this exposure happened with my mom.

On another note, I'm linking up with "Freshly Pieced" blog's WIP Wed.  I thought I'd show you what else I've been working on.  I made some Kindle covers for gifts for Christmas, and the response was so good that I decided I'd try to see some.  Here's what my kitchen counter looks like today.  You can see my sewing set up in the background... I use our dining room table to sew on.  I do a lot of shuffling things around here!

My "design wall" (ie our bed) has a quilt that I'm itching to finish.  I started it in October, then put it away for after Christmas.  It's a "twisted 9 patch" quilt that was so easy to make, looks great, and all I have to do is sew the blocks and rows together.  Hopefully today, because my bed is also where I fold clothes and I have about 4 loads going today.