Found it!

 ....and here is the link!  http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2006/10/crazy_about_qui.html

I'm off to sew and hopefully finish my quilt top! Yay!  Not much in the way of instructions but enough to finish the 

top. I'm going to add sashing between the blocks anyway. I may even add some plain muslin areas too, but right 

now I sew!

......later....I've finished 12 more blocks. Now to square them up and add sashing.

            

So, I have two quilts on the wall now but I'm only working on the one. The other waits...for what I don't know.

The blocks kind of run together without sashing. Laura likes the colors so maybe it will be given to her when

It's done.

Jules is helping me today, laying on the fabric I've chosen for the sashing - a vibrant orange! Actually, not very 

helpful at all!

My dd was somewhat nauseous today after her Friday chemo (the very last one) but took an anti-nausea pill 

and came out to a movie with me today. We saw the new Matt Damon movie, a futuristic drama with machines 

that could cure illnesses. Oh, if only we had them in this day and age...an ionizer to zap disease!

Searching!

I started making this quilt from a pattern on my iPad. Everything was going well until I got busy with other things....and now I can't find the pattern. It's a quick quilt to make....and that's why I started it. No fussy cutting, just some wonky blocks that make the quilt top look interesting interspersed with some plain squares.  Easy, right?

If only I could remember how to make these blocks. I know that it involves stacking 9 squares, then wonky cutting them but it also involves moving different pieces of the cut block so that each block is different when done.

To lose a pattern! When your top is almost complete! How infuriating is that? Grrrr.....

Oh well, I've hunted through all of my bookmarks and don't see it so I guess I should just get on with it instead of complaining.

ps: my dd did do a final chemo and seems to be doing well, except for those numb feet. 

An update - Back Soon!

My lovely dd completed almost all of her chemo treatment but wasn't strong enough for the final one.  She was happy to be done with the drugs. Saw her doctor on July 16th and is back on chemo through August 9, 2013. She is not a happy camper right now.

White blood cell count way down so she was given a shot that helps build bone marrow - she's aching in every bone right now, so hoping that pain is over soon. The neuropathy in her feet is the worst - burning, numbness and swelling. She's taking B6 and Neurontin but has just started  that new drug....hopefully she will have no side effects.

But even so, Laura is enjoying the summer sunshine and beautiful flowers.

Remission ....come on! Please! So she can have a break from these horrible drugs.

My Sewing Room

I sew in a very small corner of my dining room. The dining room table does double duty as a layout space as well as for eating. I just remove the flowers (or centerpiece) and it's all set.

But here's the other side where all my sewing equipment resides, and I mean everything except for my fabric stash, which resides in a cabinet in my bedroom. The room has a cubbyhole (maybe meant for a sideboard. It's 48 inches wide.

My work table (Ikea) has a side table pullout, which was probably meant for a computer but is perfect for my sewing machine as well as a small cutting mat. My display wall is an old white-ish bedspread that I stapled to the wall. It's so useful and can't imagine life without it.

My threads and pinup wall is opposite my display wall and is very crowded right now. Maybe a redesign is in order!?

Stash being worked with

Under table storage area

The featherweight stored temporarily under the dining room table

Side table cutting mat

All electricals are on a strip and when I click it off, it's all off at once.

Doing some quilting

OThis is not the final layout; it's only laid out on a bed top so we can visualise the entire quilt and the individual blocks. As you can see, the quilt we're making is really eclectic and bright. I like my quilts like that, but this one is for auction so I wonder if many others will like it.

You'll recognize that some of the blocks were made for a quilt I was making last year - my red and white quilt. They have been requisitioned to make this quilt which we will auction off to raise money for my dd who hasn't been able to work because of ovarian cancer. Can't tell you how much I hate the C word!

Anyway, my eldest dd is doing most of the work with some block help from friends and family. You may recognize the red and white blocks from a quilt I was making last year; I donated them to Laura's quilt. I'll post pictures when it is complete and ready for sale.

Life...Life...and more Life

This is a new post using the Blogger app on my iPad. Want to see if it makes it easier to write and post. So let's catch up....

My youngest dd has ovarian cancer which has taken my life in a new direction. Laura has always been a huge support to myself and her older sister so the changes have been monumental to our lives, and poor Laura is having a difficult time coping with the changes which is only natural. First, there was the shock of hearing the diagnosis after thinking that having a hysterectomy was the worst thing that was going to happen to her. Then there was the stunning news that she had stage IV which is the worst. 

For the first 6 weeks after the hysterectomy, I was completely certain that she was strong enough to beat that cancer down, but after 15 weeks of chemotherapy with the resulting damage to her body, I'm starting to question why the doctors are putting her through that...poisoning her until she has no strength left to do much of anything. Her feet and fingers have nerve damage, her mouth has sores, her memory has been impacted and she's unable to sleep at all many nights. Can you imagine what her thoughts are in the middle of the night given her diagnosis?! But Laura believes in her doctors who said they could probably guarantee her a good 26 months if she goes through all of this so I have to be all right with it too. Supportive...that's me! 

What I would really like to do is rail...rail against the lack of any kind of cure for ovarian cancer. The silent killer! Listen, they say, it whispers. Well at the beginning of the whispering should be a test...PAP smears don't work...why are women diagnosed so late that they can only poison themselves to knock those finally yelling nasty cells out? It's what doctors rely on, surgery (horrible if you're at child-bearing age) and then chemotherapy so strong that it cripples you...and you die anyway! 

Do you know the color for ovarian cancer...probably not, but I'll bet you know the color for breast cancer! Why is that? Breast cancer is well advertised and all women know what to look for; it gets lots of money thrown it's way. A 20 year old on facebook has her friends and family wear teal on Tuesdays...her way for her loved ones to show support for her. So, wear teal on Tuesdays, I do. I explain it to as many people as I can because no woman should have to go through what these women are going through. They're alone with something incurable inside them...not fair at all! There has to be a cure...but where's the money going to come from?

So yes, I hope for a cure. As long as Laura is alive I will. 

That's what's been happening in my life but I'm still quilting when I can. Laura's sister and I are making a quilt to auction off in the next month or so; I'll write a bit about that next time. Cancer is not only nasty, it's really expensive!

Raw Edge Circle Quilt

I'm back after almost 4 months and a lot has happened.

I doubt that most people are interested but because this is kind of a diary blog for me, I have to list events.

1.  My oldest son, his new wife, her son and Martin's two sons and his one daughter came to visit and it was wonderful to see them all.  Lora is wonderful.  They have just celebrated their first anniversary and are buying a house now in San Diego...with a view of the ocean!
2.  I had another birthday and my kids had a nice backyard party with lots of kids, dogs, chickens and badminton games. It was fun!
3.  My brother's lovely dd had her baby on August 30th.  I had already started a quilt for him so I've spent some time finishing it up.
4.  I celebrated with my grandson in September as he turned 13 years old.  He's well read, polite and talented, the perfect companion.
5.  Can't fail to mention that we had a long, hot summer and fall.  I was looking forward to cold weather.  And we've had a lot of rain in November. lol
6.  And, last but not least, I'm now 33 lbs. lighter than I was in March when I started on My Fitness Pal.

So, this entry is to show the making of Gavin's baby quilt.  I actually visualised him using the quilt at pre-school or as a floor mat more than a quilt.

 Always willing to lend a paw, Jules was there throughout the process....

 Lots of different fabrics were needed for this quilt and I tried to find lots of blues and greens.














But lots of lighter colors were needed to keep the quilt bright.

Half of the fabrics were cut into squares and the other half into circles.

 I finally figured out that it was much easier and quicker to use a circle template that I cut out of cardboard, and my rotary cutter.

I put four to six fabrics together, pinned them securely, then cut on the drawn line.

 Then a circle was matched with a square and sewed on.  It took some time to determine which fabric circles looked good with each square.

 Then the circles were sewn onto the squares and then..... the square with the attached circle was cut into quarters!










And finally, the circles were sewed back together
so that no circle looked the same.

I got my daughter to help with arranging the various circles.  The colors had to be mis-matched everywhere and just when we thought we had it, we would find a couple of touching fabrics that were the same.  Mostly it was only a matter of turning the offending block but it took some time.

Jules was a trouper

 The edges of the circles were raw so after I washed it, I added more circular stitching to be sure the edges wouldn't shred.

To quilt it, I sewed each square just to the side of each seam.

The quilt, unbound above and with multi-colored binding below.

B 

 The back of the quilt showing the white embroidery thread that was used to quilt the circles...in the middle and again around the outside edge.  Both white and dark blue embroidery threads were used depending on how it showed up on the backing of the quilt.

So that's how I made the Raw Edge Circle Quilt for my new nephew.  I liked the wrinkly look of it after washing a couple of times.

Jaik is still hanging in and has put on a few pounds but he's not looking so good....bony boy is what I call him.  But he chased the laser light the other night so I have high hopes that he'll recover to live a little longer life.

Jaik, my bony boy

Ta ta, and thanks for reading.  Hope you enjoyed my long post.