Thursday, October 31, 2013

Christmas Potholders and Mom Update



So this week I have been working on some pot holders for my Mom. She needs some new one's desperately.

She loves Delph blue decorations, so I thought these wonderful fabrics would look lovely in her kitchen.

So she is now taken care of for Christmas.





I love the red and blue in this one. I used a red thread for the quilting in this one. It looks great.

I love the blue and white fabric on the border.

I used a block pattern I found in the Quiltmaker's 100 blocks volume 7 book. I can not remember off the top of my head the name of the block but this is only one part of the original block and I added my own border. I like the design it created.


I like the quilting on this one. I thought it made it look more sophisticated of a look with the fabrics used.

I almost wish I switched the border fabrics between the two but they are already put together now. These are real fun to make and only took a couple of evenings to get complete.




I like how they turned out. She is going to love them. I sandwiched them with a layer of the Insul-Bright along with a layer of regular batting just to be sure she is not going to get burned using them. It quilted nicely with the extra layer too. They are stiff right now, I just have to wash them and they are ready to go.


For those of you interested in Mom's status here you go. We went in for a new CT scan since she has finished eight weeks of Chemotherapy. We went in on Friday and got the news yesterday. Her four satellite tumors went from 3cm to 1 cm. Good news, the large tumor in her right breast has not changed much at all. It has not gotten bigger or smaller. The doctor says it is because it has blocked her blood vessels in the area and it is not getting much of the Chemo to it. They are giving her a week off of Chemo and the doctor is meeting with the surgeon and a few experts this week and are going to discuss what the next step is. They are considering surgery to remove the large tumor but are concerned that it is so close to the edge of the breast and has erupted through the skin that they may not get it all. They are also thinking about doing spot radiation on the tumor to shrink it some first then seeing about surgery after. They are going to come up with a couple of choices for us to decide on next week. Mom has decided to go see her sister in California while she can for the week while she is on a reprieve. She is in good spirits but wants it to be done already and gone. She is still struggling with the fact that she is not going to be able to be cured and will have to have treatments for the rest of her life. We will see how it goes from here.

That is all this week. Hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween and stay safe out there.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Almost Finished

 So here it is all laid out on the floor. Jessica is bugging me to sew it together so she can have it.

It sits on the floor for the rest of the evening before I start putting it together the next day.

It is the first quilt that I have assembled that is a diagonal assembly. I have never done it before. It really was not that hard to do.




I started in the center with the longest line and then did the lower half first then the upper half.

Jessica has been hovering all over today waiting for it to be pieced together. She wants to try it on her bed and see if it fits. I keep telling her it will fit just fine and if not I will add borders to it for her.

She loves the colors too, I do to.


Here it is on the bed. See it fits. She is so excited she wants it finished now.

I just have to spend the next couple weeks sandwiching it together and quilting it.

I still do not know what quilting I am going to do on it yet. Some all over quilting though, it is a busy top that will need just enhancing with quilting and not make the quilting stand out, I think it would get lost with all the busy squares there are in it.



 She loves it very much, and it was hard to get her to pull it off the bed so I could put it up until I get the sandwich done on it.

She wants a flannel back on it so it will be warmer in the winter and if she gets bored she could flip it over for a more plain look. We are going this weekend to pick out the fabric for it.


Hopefully it will not take me another couple of months to finish this one, the holidays are coming and this needs to move off my WIP pile.

Until next week, everyone have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the weather.


Thursday, October 17, 2013

Easy Street Update


     Well I have been working hard the last couple of weeks and we now have a block together.

These looks kind of neat with the colors she chose. I worked the entire last couple of weeks putting them together.

We should have the top together this weekend. Then we get to figure out how I am going to quilt it for her.

She keeps bugging me to finish it for her. Jess can not wait to get it on her bed.

Hopefully it will fit without having to add extra borders. We will see.

On other news, Mom was tired this last week and pretty sick. In case you have not been reading my Mother was diagnosed in August with triple negative stage 4 breast cancer. When we took her to treatment this week my sister and I talked with the doctor and nurses and got her medications for nausea and discomfort changed for her. Turns out that what she had was too strong for her poor stomach to handle. Now that we got it changed she is feeling better. She had Chinese food when she was done with Chemo and finished more of it later on in the evening. Yeah she is eating again. We still have the website up for donations if anyone is interested. Sue Parrack Cancer Fund is still running if you wish to help.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and productive weekend ahead. Until next week all, stay safe and happy.


Hopefully 

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Next Step Easy Street Quilt



Well I got a couple of steps done this week.

I love Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog site. I love her patterns and her wonderful adventures.

So this last week I was able to get a lot of cutting and piecing done. It was great being able to loose myself in my sewing. It was a week that I am glad I was able to loose myself in it, it was rainy and stormy outside. I am surprised I got so much done because we lost our power for 8 hours on Saturday and thought that my whole weekend was going to be shot. However, it was the perfect time to do some stitch ripping that I have been putting off because I hate ripping out stitching.


I got through several steps and was starting to put things together too. I love the colors my daughter picked out for this quilt. She was even helping me cut out the pieces. It was a great time for both of us.

She was very curious how it all went together. She was actually interested in watching me use the sewing machine. I have never had her interested in sewing before, so I was grinning from ear to ear this week. She is 16 now and has always loved getting things that I have made her, but she was never interested in actually learning how to do it herself before. So for her to actually start cutting out pieces and being curious was a shock to me, but a good one.

So I was able to breeze through a few steps this week and hope to get more done this next weekend too.

As long as the power stays on, it should we are suppose to be dry and cool this weekend. I think I will have to make some Peanut Butter Cup cookies for the kids (who am I fooling, they are for me too).



Here is the last of what I finished this week. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Until later have a sew perfect day.