Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Ovarian Cancer - Blog Hop!

Thanks for stopping in to read about the recent blog hop that I had the privilege  to participate in.  I found the swap on face book and many of my guild friends were sending out the challenge to get involved!

But I must say my swapping partner got the fuzzy side of the lolly pop!!  Here's what I sent to her, okay, it might be cute, but just wait till you see what she sent to me.  Here's what I made....




I'm not kidding when I tell you I searched for hours on Pinterest!!  Looking for the perfect swap "thing".  Found this pattern from an old email that I had been saving since June 6, 2014.  Stephanie, my swapping partner, lives in Maine and this is what she told me about herself:

   "I love to display mini's in my sewing room and around the house.  Not sure what I will do with this one.  I had cancer 15 years ago and feel blessed to have had these cancer free years.  I hope I remain healthy as there is a lot of fabric that I need to put to use".  She also wrote, "I like just about all colors and styles. I love animals and the outdoors and finding time to quilt!"

Doesn't she just sound like a sweetie?  Well, she is!  
AND an amazing quilter at that!!  

Would you like to see what I got in the mail?


Isn't that just the cutest thing you have ever seen???  AND I got some super great maple candy to boot!!  I lucked out!!  Just look how cute those little kitty eyes are, and can you believe the quilting on this???  My hubbie wanted to know if she did this on a 'regular' machine!  She is GOOD!!  Very, very good!!




AND!!  She is a SAINT!!!  She's  a teacher!!  (sidenote-in my book all teachers are saints, a job I could never do and am thankful to those who can and do!)

Stephanie, I too am happy that you have had 15 cancer free years and wish you many, many, many more.  Hugs, to you my new friend.

Okay, a shout out to 
Eva Paige who did a fantastic job of the organization behind the scenes work!  

If you are on facebook  you need to become friends with the group so you can see all of the really great swap items. Here's a link:

If you haven't been to the other blogs, here's the schedule again just for you:


thanks for checking on me,
hugs,
joanne

love to hear what you've got to say.......

Monday, October 12, 2015

Swap Blog Hop - Ovarian Cancer

As I mentioned in my last post I would be back today with a few links.  Here's the week's lineup of gals who will be posting about a recent Ovarian Cancer Swap that we participated in.  Be sure to come back on Thursday when it's my turn!

Enjoy the hop, see you Thursday!!


October 14 - Teachpany and Bobbin's Lullaby

thanks for checking on me,
hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say..........

Friday, October 9, 2015

September Quilts and Cancer

September was a pretty busy month for me, even with just one machine running.  In October I'll share the quilt that took me over a month to quilt, and my hubbie's reaction was "they are paying you to quilt that and you can't see the quilting?" - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!  More on this quilt in October.

During the month of September I participated in a Ovarian Cancer Mug Rug Swap on face book.  I'll be posting on that later in the week, because there will be a blog hop and I'm scheduled to post on Thursday the 15th.  I'll be posting on Monday the complete list of blogs and their links on Monday so be sure and check back then.  I was amazed with all of the talent in this group, and I've got to tell ya' my partner was completely cheated!!  Check back to see why.  

Life seems to be slowing down a bit, thankfully.  Kids back in school (college) have lessened the noise activity level around the house a bit.  Miss them, but ready to slow things down.  With the Hulbert Retreat around the corner, I'm looking forward to a little me time with a great group of gals.  

Okay, let's get to the quilts, lots to show even with just one machine running!

Cindy did a fabulous job on this beautiful quilt!  Cindy's quilt came to me all the way from the state of Washington!  She wanted a light quilting design and I think the Woodsy Elegance from Anne's collection was just perfect! 


Sue in VT finished up another great t-shirt quilt for a young lady.  T-shirt quilts are a great way to put those un-worn shirts into something that can be enjoyed!  Love the way Sue set the blocks!


Elizabeth here in NH wanted to give the Minkee  try and finished off this cute little 1600 quilt.  She opted for no batting and this quilt is like BUTTER!! 
I adore these, having one of my own and it's my go-to quilt to take the chill off of a cool evening.  The back of the quilt shows the quilting design like nothing else!


AND!!   If that just weren't enough.....Virginia in VT sent me this wonderful top and she too wanted the Minkee backing without batting!! I LOVED the color of this backing!!  So bright and cheery, I had to do something very fun with the quilting!  What do you think??


THEN!!  Julie from CA had sent me a cute little kitty quilt with Minkee too!! Julie opted for batting which is going to make her quilt warmer than warm but ooooohhh so snuggly!  (that's snug-a-lee, I'm getting the red line for spell check, they just don't understand quilting or it would be a real word!)  Julie wanted the I Love Cats from Anne, so that's what she got!  Cute choice!


Another Julie, a neighbor I just met needed a little help finishing this adorable little baby quilt.  She did a great job on the giraffe design!!  We selected a cute little design called In The Jungle and I cropped around the giraffe for her.  I think it finished up pretty nicely!


Pat from VA pulled this cute little quilt together.  With the Kaffe fabrics you just have to have a modern design!  This is one of my go to designs when in need of a modern flowery for the new fabrics.


A different Pat from here in NH dropped off a couple of cute little quilts for me to quilt up for her.  Again, LOVE the modern fabrics on these quilts!!


Brandy has spent a little time with her machine and ended up with a drop dead stunning quilt!!  Brandy always does great work, but the burgandy, maroon matched with the grays and silvers in this quilt.....WOW!!!!


Had not seen Alex for a while and she dropped off a couple of great little quilts!  Again with the modern fabrics and Alex loves to try new things with her quilts.  The first, she mixed a pink thread with the yellows and grays for the stitching, interesting.  Alex tends to gravitate more toward the traditional designs with the stitching that she has me do, and I think it's a winner with her choices of colors and designs.  Check out the Hydrangea design on the second little quilt.



Marga in VT put in a little time with this quilt!  Tracing all of the little hands and then doing a fabulous job on the top stitching to securely hold them down.  She opted for a medium meander for the quilting since a meander does not distract from the design of the quilt at all, her little hands remain the focus of the quilt!
Cute, cute, cute!!


Marie in NH finished off this wonderful quilt!  It's my understanding the quilt is for a little girl.  Not knowing all of the details, I'm happy to see the fabric selections and even the quilting design that were chosen.  This is a quilt that will last for a long time and go from childhood past teen years and into adulthood without losing it's appeal.  


Cathie in NC!!  BLUES!!  I LOVE BLUES!! 
Isn't this just a fabulous quilt?  



Ellie L - I could tell you a lot about that woman!!  My hubbie calls her "the lady with the rings".  What I will tell you is that Ellie is a very giving lady. 
Ellie put out a request to our guild for a little help covering beds at a local Veteran's Home.  I really wanted to help Ellie out but knew I couldn't come up with a top fast enough,  so I decided to see if I could "team up" with another quilter.  I put a request out for a top, I would supply the batting, backing and do the quilting.  I would then return the quilt for the top owner to finish the binding and together we could get another quilt for Ellie.    A super, super sweet Paula S answered my plea.  Yea, Paula!!!  Here's the quilt that teamed together got Ellie one quilt closer to what she needed.  (And everything that I could tell you about Ellie would be all good, and mostly funny!! hugs, Ellie!!)


Whew!!  That's a lot of quilts and I'm not done yet!!

We have a UFO challenge at my guild and I finished a UFO, which then ended up with two finished quilts for me!  Here's a UFO that I started back in 2007!! But it's done!!


AND, because I got a UFO done, I got to put my name in for a monthly drawing!  I won a Bali Pop.  Not wanting to add to my ever growing stash I sat down and did a 1600 quilt, with a quick border and finished it off so I would not have another UFO in my stash!!  Now I have in reserve a great little quilt that I can gift if and when needed!!  Yea, ME!!  


That's almost it for September.  Yep, it was a busy month.  I've finally got both machines up and running and hope to have even more next month.  I've certainly got a few quilts ready to be quilted and they are super!

Don't forget you can see more of these great quilts over at the other blog, and click for a closer view!  Here's the link:

SplittingStitches Longarm Quilting

Check in on Monday for the details on the Blog Hop and look for my posting on Wednesday.

Thanks for checking on me!!

hugs,
joanne

love to hear what you've got to say.........