Thank you, everyone.

I'm doing a lot better than I expected, I think because I got to say good-bye, and also because I had done a lot of the "crying it out" in advance. (Particularly, Sunday before last, when she was so bad - she was dehydrated and not acting normally and I assumed the end was very close - I insisted on mowing the lawn (usually a job my mom does; she says she needs the exercise) because I both needed to do SOMETHING and also because it gave me a way to be alone, outside the house, and if anyone saw me they would probably assume the water on my face was perspiration.)

I've read that cat years are roughly equated to 5 human years (cats live longer than dogs and seem to age more slowly). So she would have been close to 110. Which seems not unreasonable.

The funny thing is, I've not knitted since I came back (I usually knit a little every day). I think I kind of burned myself out on it a little bit, both because I knitted so much (pictures to come later) and because of circumstances. The same thing happened back in 2004, when over Christmas break I learned my dad's diagnosis, found out that a cousin killed himself, and found out that a good friend lost the man who was probably her true love to a heart attack. I knit like crazy then - partly to keep myself occupied - and then couldn't knit for a couple weeks (IIRC) when I came back after the break.

Fortunately, though, I do feel like doing some hand quilting and hand-piecing. I pulled the Grandmother's Flower Garden stuff back out and mostly finished another patch for it (I need to start laying these out to figure out how many more I have to make; I may have enough fabric cut already). I also worked some on the quilt in the frame.

However, part of the reason I'm motivating myself to quilt more is that I have a second quilting frame on the way. And plans to set it up - yes, have two quilts going at once. I think what that will do will allow me to "trade out" projects when I get bored with one - I seem to be more motivated to work when I have multiple projects going.

My mother's friend Faith, who died last fall, left behind one of those PVC quilting frames (a "Q snap" frame is the brand name).  None of Faith's children quilts, so they didn't quite know what to do with it, so they offered it to my mom. She already had one of those frames but asked me if I wanted it.

I thought about it, and decided I did, for the reasons listed above. (Also, q-snap frames are really light and are relatively easy to transport - so, if, for example, a friend decided to get into quilting but needed to borrow a frame in order to decide if s/he liked it and wanted to buy one, it would be easy for me to lend my extra frame. And it would be easy to take with me - in my car at least - if I ever wound up getting to go on a quilt retreat).

Unfortunately, the longest piece of the frame is about 3' long, so I couldn't easily stow them in my suitcase for the trip back. So they're on their way to me via UPS and should be here Wednesday. I've already decided that I'm going to do the necessary repairs on a vintage top I bought some years back (I only paid $35 for it; probably because it was unquilted and the color combination isn't what a decorator-type would likely go for). It's a Spools quilt, and I think the spools in it are made of feedsack prints. When I get the couple of little repairs made, I'll photograph it - I think I had a picture up here before, but I've noticed some new things recently looking at the fabrics, some fabrics that deserve close-ups. 

The repairs are fairly minor - a couple small holes in the pink background fabric, and I have a matching piece of pink, so I can reverse-applique a patch onto the holes (put it on the back, turn the edges of the hole under, and stitch it on that way. I think one of the feed sack fabrics has a small worn spot that I can probably darn.

I already have a backing for the quilt, and I think I have a batting tucked away that will fit it (I'm going to use a thin cotton batting). If not, the local quilt shop sells batts so I can get one there. I like the idea of using it in the q-snap frame because I think that frame is "gentler" on fabrics (not putting stress on them) than my wooden frame is.