Link Love: Yesterday Was a Holiday

Last week was filled with appointments, frustration, excitement and a good deal of cuddles. I finally had my appointment with the specialist that’s going to help me get my Endometriosis and Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome under control. I was ready to go in lobbying hard for a full hysterectomy (my GP was advocating for an interim procedure) but the specialist suggested a full hysterectomy based on my symptoms, family history and age. I was so relieved. (Now I’m just freaking out about the surgery and recovery time!) We talked at length about what’s going to happen and to help with the procedure and with my post-procedure recovery she’s going to medically induce menopause this week.

I’m not going to sugar coat it, I’m packing my pants about menopause. I’ve heard all the horror stories (and don’t need to hear any more – thank you!) and I know what my experience has been like throughout life so I’m a little apprehensive about it. I’m grateful that the opportunity exists for me to experience it before the surgery so that if it’s really bad we can alter the course of action, but it’s still scary. I had to have a bone density scan last week to make sure that menopause won’t cause any issues to my bones (oestrogen is needed to look after your bone health, so stopping it’s production impacts on bone density as I age so it needs to be monitored from now on).  My bones are in tip top shape, which is a relief.

I had been working on some rough information that my surgery would be in the middle of June, but the date is now set as July 6 (yep, the day before #100Days100Blocks2018 kicks off… guess who’s now frantically making sure everything is set and ready to go and that Hubby knows how to trouble shoot if anything goes wrong!). So the countdown is on. I’m really grateful that my Mum is coming to stay for the week and a bit of my surgery. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders to know the boys will be in better hands while I’m in the hospital. I’m hoping that everything will be able to be done keyhole and so my time in hospital and recovery time will be minimal.

In tandem to all of this Hubby and I have had to have the hard talks about our family and my fertility. If you’ve been here for awhile you’ll know that we did 6 years of IVF to get our fabulous son. In the process of that we have embryos on ice waiting for the day we’d give them a shot at the big leagues. My goal had always been to use those embryos. I wanted at least 2 kids, but life has had other plans. My age, health, my genius decision to quilt my job, the needs of my family have all meant that we’ve not been in a position to do that and it’s been hard on my mental strength. I’ve watched much loved friends and family realise their family dreams and I’ve celebrated along with them, but always in the back of my mind was those embryos and their future. We made the decision that we wouldn’t be using those embryos and it’s been so difficult and heartbreaking. I keep thinking about the possibility that there’s another  Little Man in there just waiting to be born and it’s devastating that I can’t make that happen. I know that it’s the best decision for our family, but it still hurts. The specialist asked me if I’d like to do one last round and I sat there crying as I made the final decision and said no.

The decision has been made and so now it’s time to accept it, make peace with it and celebrate all the great things we do have (and to say a silent prayer for those that are going through infertility, that have never had their dream realised and that have finished growing their families), because I really have been blessed beyond all measure and I don’t ever want to forget that. Now it’s time to get on with sewing and making the most of this lovely day. Wishing you a fabulous week filled with love, laughter and much fabric fondling!

PS. I know the urge may be strong to email me or comment with some horror story about someone you know that had a hysterectomy. Please don’t email me or comment with those stories. I am a horrible hypochondriac at the best of times and I’m already running worse case scenarios through  my head, I really don’t need any other horror stories to add to the internal drama. I know that you do it out of a place of concern and love for me, but I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t share those things. Show you love me by helping me keep my mental game strong and free of horror stories. Thanks for your understanding, I really appreciate it.

CLOSES 31 MAY! #100Days100Blocks2018 is less than 40 days away and this year I’d like to use the event to help those that are starting out in our creative industry. If you’re a small business owner, pattern designer, author, podcaster, blogger in the creative industries then this is the opportunity for you. I’m offering free daily sponsorship spots (sponsorship of this event is normally something you’d have to purchase) to help promote those that are helping our industry stay alive and grow by going into business. If you’ve got something you’d like to promote then register your interest by clicking here. If you have any questions about being involved in this event simply drop me an email and we can talk it through. I want to use this platform to help give you a voice and see our industry flourish.

#100Days100Blocks2018 is less than 40 days away and I’ve pulled together some inspiring City Sampler quilts (and where you can buy the supplies to make them) to help you jump of the fence and join in (or work out what you’ll be making). Click here to read more.

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Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew has a fabulously quick tutorial for making a hourglass quilt blocks. Click here to read more.

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I love converse shoes and I love this simple tutorial for customising them with fabric from Polka Dot Chair. Click here to read more.

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Caroline at Sew Can She has a great tutorial for making a hanging organiser. Click here to read more.

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Love this simple and quick quilt tutorial from Erica at Kitchen Table Quilting. Click here to read more.

Have you seen the prizes on offer for the #100Days100BlocksFinishalong? There’s not a massive amount of people participating and there’s still time to join in so you stand a pretty good chance of winning one of these!

1. $200 Voucher for Quilting Services from Driftwood Quilting, and
2. $30 Gift Certificate to The Modern Sewist.

To be eligible for these prizes you must follow @DriftwoodQuilting and @TheModernSewist on instagram, tag your photos with the event hashtag (#100Days100BlocksFinishalong) and post the three required photos within the event timeframe. To find out more click here.

Click here to shop with Driftwood Quilting.

Click here to shop at The Modern Sewist.

Have you got an event, a charity drive, a pattern release, a class schedule or something else that you think my community would be interested in hearing about? Why not drop me a line and let me know – I’d love to share it with my readers. Click here to email me.

• Sam Hunter of Hunter’s Design Studio has released a collaborative quilt with Lisa Congdon called “Show Up”. It’s a really great quilt (with lots of fussy cutting possibilities) and is available for purchase by clicking here. Sign up to Sam’s newsletter as well so you can find out all the details about an upcoming sew-along to make the quilt.
• Stephanie of Modern Sewciety and Natalie of Sew Hungry Hippie have teamed up for a Dress-A-Long. June is the Metamorphic dress by Sew Liberated.  July is the Painted Portrait Dress by Anna Maria Horner. It looks to be a great event where you can learn new skills, make clothes you love and have a great time while doing it. To find out more click here.
• Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs and Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl are excited to announce that they are co-hosing the Tips and Tutorials Festival in June. The goal of the Tips and Tutorials Festival is to share and celebrate all the wonderful online tutorials that the quilting community has created recently. We encourage fresh, new content, so we ask that you link up posts that have be published since January 2017. You can find out more about it by clicking here.
• A Note About the Elizabeth Hartman Sew-along: I have closed my Elizabeth Hartman event (you can find the final details and winners by clicking here) and Anne of Said With Love has kicked off her event. The good news is Anne’s using the same hashtag and honouring all the entries from my event in her’s so you can still win big. Click here to find out the details about the new Elizabeth Hartman event.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content for free. Thank you, in advance for your support!