Not a mad cow

Yesterday we went in to the local Red Cross blood center to fulfill a little goal of mine.

We'd tried to give blood as a group back on 9/11. It seems everyone else in our area had exactly the same idea, so the blood center was swamped, and since my type O+ sister was pregnant (with Liam) and could not donate, and none of the rest of us had especially useful blood types, they told us to come back another day.

The next time I tried, they'd put the Mad Cow disease restrictions in place. I had spent a quarter abroad, which meant, I thought, that I was no longer eligible to give at all. I felt downhearted, but consoled myself that my type AB+ blood could only be used by 3% of the population anyway.

However, while having a conversation with my friend Katie, who works at a blood center, I learned that, while AB+ isn't that useful as whole blood, it is actually the universal donor for platelets and plasma (components of blood). Once I heard that, I had to see if there was any possible way for me to donate. (After all, platelets are used to help cancer patients, and this could be one more thing I could start to do in honor of my Finny.) NB: I believe that AB+ actually is only the universal donor for plasma, although there is conflicting info on this online.

So I wrote to my overseas center to see how much time I actually did spend in England. The response I got back was crystal clear: quarters are always exactly 11 weeks long. I was safe by a week!

I thought I would see if I could get DH to donate blood at the same time so we could make a morning of it. He was reluctant at first, and finally admitted to a fear of needles. But after some negotiation, we struck a bargain, and he agreed to give it a shot.

Yesterday was the day. We both passed the screening, so he headed to the general area to wait to donate blood, and I went off to give platelets. I will spare you the details as I know some people don't like to hear about medical things, but I will just say my experience wasn't too much different from giving regular blood, except that it took longer. DH was able to go and drop off a box of Linus quilts with our coordinator while I was still lying back in my comfy chair watching the movie they'd set up for me.

When I was done, I walked over to see DH talking with one of the receptionists. They were talking about the next time he was eligible to donate - seems he had gone ahead and started booking his next appointment on the spot! Apparently he not only got around his fear of needles this one time, but has moved past that fear for good! :)

Blocks and socks

The people from the no-kill shelter called me back today. I am glad I spoke with them before I got started, because I wouldn't have made the snuggle blankets big enough otherwise. (The website says the small size snuggle blankets are about 14" square and the medium 20", but the woman said that 24" would be ideal for them.)

I think I will try making a big nine patch made out of crazy quilt blocks alternating with plain blocks. Maybe I can make some progress on using up some of those random scraps in my scrap bag. I am sure my enthusiasm for this will wane once I see how many hours it actually takes to make crazy quilt blocks, so I have a plan B in mind - to make some Disappearing 9 Patch blocks.

Anyway, this is all for the future. Tonight's plan is to get the sock monkey quilt layered and pinned.

Charities

I was going through some old email and ran across this link to an article and video on Project Linus, which is the charity for which I make quilts. They are wonderful, and I always want to do more to get the word out about them, so take a peek: Project Linus brings comfort to Kids.

Based on a comment from someone on one of my quilt groups, I am also looking into the Snuggles Project that makes teeny snuggle blankets for shelter animals. This seemed like a great opportunity to use up some of the things in my scrap bag that I don't seem to be able to find a place for in other projects. I called our local shelter last weekend to try to get information about what size they prefer, but haven't heard back. If I still haven't heard back from the time I am ready to get started, I guess I can just measure Eisa and Echo and make the size that would best fit them!

Surprise for Kira (Shh!)

My sister and BIL are planning to have Kira start on the cello after she turns 4 in August. (She has met her proposed teacher and has observed a few lessons, and is completely on board with this plan.)

She'll be learning via the Suzuki method. The first piece they always learn is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." So when I found this tiny child's locket on Amazon, I couldn't help but buy it for her. My plan is to send it out as a little surprise after she learns her first song.

Do you think I should print out a tiny photo of her to put inside of it (even temporarily, to establish the idea that it can contain something)? Or should I just leave it up to her to decide?

Blocks for the kitty quilt

Tam requested that I share where I am on the kitty wall hanging for Finny's cancer clinic.



I am still pretty uncertain about how it is coming together. Sometimes when you are auditioning fabrics, there is a moment where the colors start to sing. That's when you know you are good to go. I haven't gotten to that point (yet) with this one.

I may pull some of the individual blocks and substitute others. (For instance, I need to move past my crush on the stars and moons background fabric in the upper lefthand corner so I can admit the color won't really work unless I add at least one other warmer blue into the mix). The hyacinth blue sashing between the blocks is also not set in stone, and the potential border fabric is so up in the air that I am not even showing it.

Part of the struggle is that I really want to get the emotional tone right. The colors need to feel calm and meditative, and avoid coming across as unthinkingly cheerful on the one hand, or brooding and dreary on the other.

Of course, it is all on hold while I work on the monkey quilt!