Perfect Brightness of Hope String Quilt

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

As has happened several times in my long, exhilaratong life adventure, the start of a new year has brought with it a very annoying and exremely inconvenient challenge for me.  A third brush with breast cancer (yikes) has put me in cahoots with doctors, tests and all the things that go along with making sure my cancer is gone, hopefully for good this time.  To say that it has been  unnerving is an understatement, but my past experiences with it have taught me a lot about faith, healing, resilience and empathy.  One thing I know for certain...God knows each one of us personally and we need only ask for him to help us through our hardest battles.

Usually, when I'm in the midst of my struggles, I'm not in the mood to share, but I'm always happy to reflect on the lessons resulting from my ordeal when I'm back on solid ground. So here's the scoop.  I had surgery to remove my cancer (and the implants from my previous reconstruction surgery) a couple of weeks ago and I'm feeling great now.  The surgery went well and now I just have to follow a treatment plan with estrogen blockers and maybe a little radiation when I'm healed.  It's all doable and I'm looking forward to a long, cancer free future.  I know God's plan for me will be a good one, no matter what it is.

When I first learned about the return of my cancer, I was understandably devastated and you might say a little inconsolable.  That is, until I turned things over to God and retreated to Nannyland in search of a mindless project to keep my thoughts from spiraling into negative territory.  With not much creative mojo happening, I pulled out the box of scraps I had been saving to make a strip quilt and just blindly started sewing.  Strip after strip on block after block, I calmed my mind as I lived through some dark weeks anticipating my PET scan results.  Then came a bone biopsy, ultra sound and ultimately surgery.  The results, both medically and spiritually, have been nothing less than miraculous and my future is looking hopeful and bright.  And, in the end, I have a gorgeous quilt to remind me that nothing is impossible when God is at the helm.  I have appropriately named my masterpiece my "Perfect Brightness of Hope Quilt" after one of my favorite scriptures. 

This colorful quilt was a joy to sew using scraps from many years of fabric bliss.  I loved wandering down memory lane as I remembered countless fun projects, many of them from when I was selling handmade items in my Etsy store. 

I'm definitely NOT giving this one away...it will live on my quilt ladder to remind me of a time when miracles surrounded me and faith, hope and maniacal sewing kept me going. 

It's amazing to see how sewing a hodgepodge of seemingly unrelated fabric scraps can come together in such a harmonious array of awesome color, not unlike the experiences we have in this beautiful patchwork we call life. 

I'm so blessed to have my peaceful Nannyland retreat to escape to when the world gets overwhelming.  No therapy needed here...just prayer and all things artsy. 

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit. 

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply