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It is time to get this comfort quilt

under the needle...

      Two comfort quilt packages went out recently. I had not had any requests for a while, so I was glad to move these out! Pixel Chain and Wanda's Butterfly Quilt were bagged up and delivered to the people who had requested them for someone they knew. Both were for women with sudden stage 4 cancers.

 For some reason, I was really in the mood to sew this week.  It was too hot or rainy outside so I spent my time in my sewing room, playing with fabric.  I finished hand quilting my Put a Ring On It wall hanging, trimmed it and added the binding by machine.  I will work on hand stitching the binding tomorrow. I can't believe how much I enjoyed hand quilting this project...maybe I will have to do some more hand quilting again soon. 

I also finished the cross stitching on my Lupins project and I have started the ...

       Sort of a record- three comfort quilts went out the door in one week to three different people. The quilts were all quilted, but needed to be washed (I wait until I get a recipient before I wash, dry and immediately bag), sew pockets on the bags, make pocket quilts and complete labels. I had been praying for recipients for those quilts, but was surprised by so many requests at once. Unfortunately, all were cancer situations.
     I am very privileged to be a quilter and grateful to secure the resources to make comfort quilt kits. Every quilt is needed and ...

      One of the joys of life is receiving fabric in the mail. Knowing someone trusts you enough to make comfort quilts with it and sends it to you is an awesome humbling position that I have blessed with. Gwen has sent me fabric, especially backing fabric, before and it has so helped me to complete quilts to give away.
     Her latest box had all kinds of goodies in it. How exciting! I sorted by size and type, color. It got my brain thinking.

      In making comfort quilts, there are times that, I hate to say, I worry about having the resources to keep making them and the bags to give away. For a number of years, I repaired and gave spa days to vintage sewing machines people needed help with. I only asked for a donation so I could purchase what I needed for the quilts and it was totally up to the machine owner to give as they wanted. I was able to finance buying batting, fabric, thread, the bags and books, etc. to keep providing comfort quilts on referral. During the ...

I spent some quality time with my sewing machine this week.  The Elgin Piecemakers Guild makes comfort quilts for adult chemo patients at our local hospital so each month, we each have to make a block in a certain colour scheme.  I have my first four blocks for 2023 made.  Here they are:

January:  Blue and white.

February: Red, white and blue

March:  Purple, pink and white

April: Blue and purple churn dash. 

 I have been missing in action the last couple of Sundays for my weekly blogpost.  Our Christmas took some unexpected turns this year ---as the saying goes, life happens when you are making other plans.  Our daughter's dog, Finn, had surgery on Dec 19th to remove a broken tooth. After the surgery, he went into kidney failure and was in the animal hospital for 10 days in intensive care to receive treatments to improve his kidney function.  Thankfully, his kidneys are now working normally again and he is home and feeling much better.  The vets at the hospital called ...

      Sometimes, a great idea is only as good as how well thought out it is- how to accomplish it and what it will actually entail. I get great ideas, foreseeing how to make them work is where I get into trouble.
     My dear friend was diagnosed with ALS in August. Went to lunch in September, she drove. She is the one who chose the Blue Bargello. By October, she had to sell her car and had to be helped to her feet and supported walking. By November, she is in a wheelchair, unable to move or reposition herself sitting. And ...

 I have been working on some secret Christmas sewing all week.  It is a hand stitching project and I just love how it is turning out!  Unfortunately, I can't show any pictures until after December 25th. 

This weekend, Christine and I are going on a retreat with the Oxford Quilter's Guild.  I spent a couple of hours Wednesday evening gathering projects to take with me.  I like to bring a variety of things with me so I have a choice. Of course, I have a couple of projects to work on by hand, including this cute sheep ornament ...

 I was in need of a comfort quilt 

for a dear friend...

I spent the weekend in the Thread Shed

and stitched up this floral quilt:

I am guessing this isn’t news to all quilters who happily participate in Hands 2 Help each year but the event is being coordinated by Mari of Academic Quilter this year. Sarah has a lot going on right now and rather than having to skip a year of making quilts for deserving people and organizations, Mari has stepped in and is hosting the whole event! We are all grateful to Mari for taking this on but most especially grateful are the staff and families at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, California. To read the details about this year’s Hand ...