Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone no matter where they are in the world! Enjoy!

Cancer Awareness: Good News!

Spoke to my mom yesterday. She went to the doctor's Tuesday and they told her the lump was pretty much gone, even to the point that they couldn't feel it!

They said that they'll do surgery to make sure they get any remaining tissue, etc., but she probably won't even need the plastic surgeon at all now.

My mother said "Thank you all so much for all of your prayers because God has truly sent his blessings."

Wow, this is such good news to hear that I don't know what more to say right now!

Fashion School Flashback

Right after I got out of GW, I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City for a short while. I had a great time there and loved being surrounded by so much creativity everyday. I had a really nice room too, with our own bathroom and kitchen that connected two bedrooms. My roommate Fifi (Fiorella), was a Goth and one of the nicest persons I've ever met.

I was so fresh & new to fashion illustration then, lol. Those are my professor's notes along with mine on the sketch. My "B-" grade, lol, had a lot to do with the fact that while I could draw, I was also being graded on my muslin toile and clothing construction was something I was in the process of learning.

My classes were challenging and I loved them (except patternmaking, which I hated). My only problem was that, while I was good at designing, at that time I wasn't that great at sewing on a machine. It was also pretty stressful too. A lot of hard work. For me, I was living out a dream, but it was at the cost of my health. The better and better I was doing in classes like draping, illustration, and sewing, the worse and worse I was feeling, due to a heart problem that caused me a lot of chest pain. I ended up having to withdraw due to my health, which made me very sad.

While helping to clean my grandmom's basement earlier today, we found my draping class work--muslin toiles complete with the sketches. I couldn't help but sit there touching them and looking at them, as I had very little from my time there up to that point. It almost felt like a dream. I am so glad we found it. It felt like finding a little piece of myself...

A Little Bit of Shadvina's Heart

This is Shadvina. This beautiful, 16-year old high schooler was the younger sister of my very good friend, author Chesya Burke. In August, Shadvina collapsed after working out at her Atlanta, Georgia-area high school gym and died en route to the hospital. Her family was stunned to find out that it was from a congenital heart defect that they didn't even know that she had.

Chesya and her family recently did a local news interview to let everyone know about what they are doing to make sure this doesn't happen to other students. They have started a foundation called "A Little Bit of Shadvina's Heart" and are promoting Smart Heart scan screenings for student athletes. This positive effort has already helped ID two student athletes who were unaware of their possible conditions!

If you have or know a student athlete, please encourage them to get checked out ASAP!!

Quilting Hand--Got That Itch!

My hand's doing a lot better! I think I'll be able to start quilting again very very soon! YAY!

Sew Chick Go Boom! OW!

I had a really nasty spill on Thursday. I was crossing the street at work and hit a groove in some uneven pavement in front of my building. BOOM! I went down. Hard. 4 or 5 kind folks rushed over to help me up I hit so hard. My hands and knees caught the brunt of it and I scraped them all, gouging out some of my right hand. I hurt so bad that when I tried to get up, my legs buckled and I fell again. I couldn't believe how hard I fell!

I was wearing all black, so my pants ended up being covered in gray construction dust. You have to imagine what I looked like--bleeding and dusty-dirty--getting onto the elevator. Despite the pain, I held onto my lunch the whole time and back at my cubicle told my open-mouthed co-worker "Wow. I smooshed my sandwish, but I'm gonna eat it anyway!"

What wasn't bruised, stings. What doesn't sting, aches. All over. Badly. I went to the doc yesterday and it's nothing that rest, compresses, soaking, and some painkillers won't help, but geeeeeesh! It's safe to say I can't quilt until my hand's better!