I am a member of a quilt guild, and we just had our biennial show. It’s a tremendous amount of work to put on a show, requiring many volunteers. On Tuesday, we had “judging day.” We had over 190 quilts this year, so I knew it was going to be a long day, so I brought my travelling kit with me (insulin, shots, infusion sets, etc). I have been having a rough time lately with my bg, so I am testing like 10 times a day or more. It is very exciting to see paid professional judges give their opinions on quilts, especially your own. No talking is allowed, and everything is done with precision and intensity. My job was to be a fanner/runner/holder. Basically you hold up the quilts in certain ways so the judges can inspect them. White gloves must be worn at all times, to keep the quilts clean. So naturally I didn’t want the juges to see me testing my blood! They probably would have thrown me out if they saw a minute drop of blood! I was running high from all the excitement and stress of the competition, so I just kept testing and bolusing. I had entered five quilts, and ended up with three ribbons, including one first place for my “Falling Leaves.”
Saturday and Sunday were show dates, and we were all running around most of the day. The hardest jobs are setting it up, and take down, because the quilts have to all be hung on these metal poles high enough so they don’t touch the ground. I was going hypo throughout the day, and looking back, I should have lowered my basal, but I just didn’t think about it. I did preplan my infusion site for the weekend, and I’ve been saving this one spot for a special weekend, and this was it. It was virgin territory, which is rare on my bod, but I am contorting myself more in the effort to branch out to new sites. It lasted until today, sorry the party’s over with this new site. Guess I better put on my Emla cream. (love the stuff)
Being with all my good buddies was a high. I don’t like to make generalizations about whole groups of people, but quilters usually are friendly, warm, helpful, and supportive, and especially our guild! We have some members that don’t really quilt, they just enjoy the fellowship. I even had a chance to mention tudiabetes! - a friend mentioned her daughter’s teenage boyfriend has T1 and a CGM, so I wrote down our website for him. Another guild member has already joined, and I have another pumping sister there that may join, so Manny, I’m passing the word!
Good thing they wash…