I'm Doing A Happy Dance ~You Can Too Giveaway

Earlier in the week I got a call from Barbara Murdock, a former president of the Utah Quilt Guild, letting me know that she had 10 large bags full of quilts for Happy Chemo.  Man was I excited!  It took me until now to get up to her place to collect them.  And when I got there, there weren't just 10 bags but 12!  Barbara had gone to Cali on a trip so her hubby and I stuffed my Suburban from front...

 to back with quilts.  There was just room for me.  And I had to open one of the bags and stuff the quilts in holes I could find so I could see out the passenger side window to drive down the canyon on my way home. 

 It's been a dream of mine since I started this to be able to fill my Suburban with Quilty Hugs and today I DID IT!!!!  So to celebrate I'm having a give away.  If you can guess how many quilts I stuffed in my Suburban today.  This fun charm pack will be yours.  If more than one person guesses the right number I'll put you all in the pot and pick one lucky winner.

Good luck to each of you!  May you soon join Ginger, Happy Chemo founder, and I in a big ol' happy dance!  I'll pick the winner next Friday, Aug. 5th.

Squeezin' It In

What happened to the lazy days of summer?  July is almost over and I'm yet to find them.  N is in driver ed and taking a photo shop class and needs rides to and from. (He gets to drive but until he gets his license he needs me in the car.) Josh got stung by a bee while riding his motorcycle home from work.  I gave him benadryl and claritin and after dinner he fell asleep.  I guess between working all day and the benadryl he was pretty wiped out.  When he woke up the next morning to go do work his one eye completely swelled shut and the other was not far behind, poor guy.  So I made an appointment with the doctor.  After some steroids and a more powerful histamine the swelling has come down a lot and he can see again.  But all this running has left little time for sewing.  I was however able to squeeze in these two 15 minute play blocks.

 A good stress release after driving with a new driver and visiting the doctor.

Love Is In The Air

Love is in the air as evidenced by the amount of wedding invitations on my fridge at the moment. Neighbors, family, I even have friends with children getting married.  Does that mean my children could be getting married soon?  I can't be that old.  They were just babies.  At any rate, in an attempt to keep up with them all.  I've been busy sewing more stuck on you dishtowel sets.

 Don't they look so happy on my neighbor's clothes line. 

May they add a dash of color to small newly wed apartments. As they sit privy to wonderful life experiences that small apartment kitchens get to behold; new diner recipes (success and otherwise), cookie baking, dirty dishes that lead to sudsy bubble fights, late night studying, etc.  What joy is in store for them and their recipients.

Helping Me Bring Happiness

My first visit to the chemo lab, like anyone else was scary.  I had gone in for what I thought was a routine blood check only to find out that my counts were dangerously low.  The doctor said that they had found that Retuxun, a chemo drug they use for leukemia, had helped other ITP patience.  He wanted me to try it immediately.  So I found myself in the chemo lab.  I was worried about what this meant for me and when I found out how long the treatment was I worried whether I would be home when my kids got home.  Then in pops Ginger, bald and boobless, smiling and say how cancer sucks and we need to do something to make it fun.  Then before her treatment she handed out prizes.  She really did bring a little happiness to the chemo lab and for a while cancer sucked a little less.  That was about five years ago.  Now Happy Chemo is nation wide.  And thanks to my quilt guild 7 more people will receive quilts as their prizes.  

Just look at the beauties they made for this great cause.   

Thank you, Sue, Vivian, Lorri, Norma, Jean and Michelle.

A Little Fairy Tale

It is a joyous day at the castle stitch.  Feasting and frivolity are under way as preparations are made for a great journey.

 To a far off lands in order to unite kingdoms. 

Drawing on the strengths of all

 to create a beautiful union

In the land of Virtual Quilting Bees.  Where they will live happily ever after.

(Or in other words my new bee blocks are on their way to be part of some beautiful quilts.)

My Baby's Making Her First Quilt

DD has decided to do her room in her favorite colors, purple and green.  We've painted the walls, made curtains and now she needs a new quilt to match.  Since she has made pillow cases, a back pack, and curtains for her playhouse.  I figured she could make a quilt for her bed.  We went through my stash and picked out greens and purples.  I didn't have a lot of purple so we got to go fabric shopping a pick out a few.  Here are all her pretty fabrics.

 I figured my Charming Quilt pattern was a good beginner quilt.  No bias edges and no seams to match.  We've arranged the blocks on the design wall.   

Now she just needs to start sewing.  I'm so excited for her.  Hoping she loves it as much as I do.

They All Live Together In A Little Crooked House

While making fabric for the blocks in the previous post I noticed that some of the pieces were looking like houses.  So for fun I started making a few.  These little guys were the first.  My engineer son thinks the one on the right is not a house, but I must admit it is my favorite.

It reminds me of this nursery rhyme:

There was a crooked man

And he walked a crooked mile

He found a crooked six pence

Upon a crooked stile

He bought a crooked cat

That caught a crooked mouse

And they all lived together

In a little crooked house.

When I was finished with my 15 minute play blocks I had also finished these crooked little houses.  I might have to make a whole crooked little village.



From Small and Simple Things

I've been playing in my scrap bin again.  Taking all the little pieces, sewing them into a bigger piece, cutting them up again and sewing them into blocks. 

 I'm really liking the way the pieced fabric looks with the solid reading background.

 It is making me very excited for this quilt.

 If you would like to join along in this fun BOM visit 15 minutes play for the instructions.

You to can make something great from your small and simple scraps of fun.

Goosey, Goosey, Gander

I've been making lots of flying geese in different sizes and fabrics.  Using this method.

Then I put them together in this Dutchmen's Puzzle Block

 And this just random flying geese block. 

These two will be going to Shannon in my Twice is Nice Bee.  But I had so much fun making them I see a flying geese quilt in my future.