Heartwarming and up lifting

When you turn on the news each night, you hear all the bad things that happened that day. Some days there isn't even one story that would be considered heartwarming or up lifting.

Well, this is that heartwarming, up lifting story.  I received a message last week from Cindy Wilson, a long time friend and quilter. She wanted to know if Fabric Town collected pillow cases for "ConKerr Cancer". She had a box of cases her Mother , Pauline Tyrrell, had made to donate. I responded that we did and would be glad to take the box and contact them for pickup.

The photo you are looking at is what was in the box...100 pillow cases. There are ones made in fairy fabric, trucks, robots, angels and many, many more.  All washed and pressed ready to be given to a child fighting to over come Cancer. 

I got a message back to Cindy, wanting to know if I could put her Mothers name and a little bit about her on our blog. This is what Cindy told me about her Mom.

Pauline has been making pillow cases for over a year now. She has already made 200 and has 70 more cut out and ready to sew. She enjoys going to quilt shops to pick out fabrics to make the cases. Her partner Perry makes it a team effort, he enjoys picking out the fabric for the boys cases. Then they work together to pick out the trim and cuffs.

With the economy in such a state and all the nastiness you hear about on the news, it's nice to know that there are still people like Pauline and Perry out there.  Knowing that Pauline's cases will help make 100 children smile is what I call a heartwarming, up lifting story.  


Thank you Pauline, your generosity and efforts are appreciated by every family your pillow cases touch.

Make it take it Day.

I have been working on a few ideas for quick, inexpensive classes to help pass the blustery days of winter.

Here's a question for you... would you be interested in a "Make it Take it" class? That would be a project that you would be able to completely finish in 3 - 4 hours.  It would be a small wool project, you'd have two options to chose from. 

I always enjoyed doing Make it Take it's. I like the chance to make something that I could get done in an afternoon, and it was usually something I would not normally do.

I've been working on a special - surprise project for a retreat I'm going on, each of the attendees will receive one. Several have seen them and asked if I would teach them to make one. It's a great introduction to wool, fast and very pretty.  After my retreat, when all have gotten their surprise  I will post the photo of them.

I'm thinking of having the class on a Sunday afternoon and then again on a day during the week. What would work best for you?  The fee would be minimal, just for the supplies. The project I have in mind would be approximately $9.95 and that would include Coffee and Tea while you create.

I would appreciate your input...  

Patti

Christmas plans are made..

Tonight is Christmas Eve. I'm hoping everyone's ready and can spend the next few days enjoying time with family and friends.

For the first time in years Jeff and I are going to his brothers house for Christmas Eve. We usually have to stay around here. My Mother's in a nursing home and I can't go away on a Holiday with a clear conscience  and leave her alone. She says it doesn't matter to her, she'll watch TV. That's not my idea of celebrating Christmas. So, today I'll go over and visit her in the morning. My sister will come in the afternoon and open gifts with her and spend a little time.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, I'll go back to open the gifts Jeff and I purchased for her.  I'll watch a little television with her, I'm sure there's a John Wayne marathon on... next to my father that was the love of her life. So needless to say, she never misses any of the marathons. 

Jeff is heading up North to his Mothers, the family is having a dinner and it sounds like almost all are coming. It's a 3 hour drive to their house and I am not able at this time to drive that long. It's been quite awhile since I have gotten together with all his sisters and brother. He has the most fantastic family, I lucked out in the In-Laws department.I love spending time with them all. 

Until Jeff comes home, Quahog and I have a plan for our night. After I leave my Mothers, we're going to finish up a little sample I've been working on for the shop and then watch a little TV ourselves. (for the record - NOT John Wayne)

Well, that's the plan for my holiday. I hope everyone has a peaceful and relaxing time. If you're traveling, be safe.

Merry Christmas to all....

Patti

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Floral Block-of-the-Month.... almost ready.

This is my new Block-of-the-Month that will be starting on January 15th. "Amy's Sampler" by Brandwine Designs.

I've wanted to do this quilt for 2 years. I even went as far as to pick out all the fabrics and put them along with the pattern in a hutch at the shop.... planning on doing it as soon as I got the time.

Well.... here it is !!! I've got the blanket stitching done (by hand) on all but two of my blocks. I'm not much on doing alot of handwork. It's pretty well known that Becky does all my binding. For some reason, I truly enjoy this kind.

One of the things you can't really see in the pictures, I did a little embellishing with glass beads on some of the flowers. It just gave a little sparkle to the blocks.

Tomorrow I hope to get my pieced blocks done. Then I can finish up the stitching on the last two blocks and bring it into the shop.

This block and the hedgehog block below are my last two to stitch. Isn't the hedgehog adorable. I think it's one of the reasons I wanted to do this... I have always wanted to have a pet hedgehog but if you know anything about Boston Terriers... absolutely NO rodent kind of animals in the house.  So this is as close as I'm going to come.

If you shy away from applique, this is the perfect project to start with. I really think you'll enjoy it. We will be taking sign-ups January 1st, we have a limited supply of kits so don't wait too long to reserve yours.

Resting & Recouping at home with Riley Blake

Been waiting til I felt up to sitting for a longer period to sew.  Today was the day. I got the cutting board and my featherweight out and decided to give it a go.

When we got in this line "Daisy Cottage" by Riley Blake and I just fell in love with it. There were several different patterns we could use but one kept sticking in my head.

When Shelley was here from "Pieced Tree Patterns" she had a sample made up of  this pattern and it was really nice. "Roll Play" is designed for Jelly Rolls - or basically 2 1/2" strips.

I got my strips cut and started.... before I knew it, I had 22 blocks done. Riley Blakes jelly rolls are only 22 strips vs Moda's which have 42. So, I have to go get another one at the shop before I can finish it. With two rolls, it will be 48" x 60" - without borders. Once I get it put together I'll decide if I want to border it, I'm generally a Border lover. I think it just finishes the quilt. Once it's done, I'll post a photo of it. I think it's going to have that "Groovy" feel. Oh boy... I just dated myself.