Helping Others

I mentioned the other day that Gudrun http://gudrun.typepad.com/ had put out a call to help quilters that lost so much in Cedar Rapids, IA due to floods.

So here is my box and tommorrow I shall ship it out.

It feels pretty heavy!

QUILTERS IN NEED - CAN YOU HELP?

I was reading blogs this morning and happened upon Gudrun Erlas' blog. I am not familiar with her but she is a designer. She has put out a message on her blog to help the quilters in Cedar Rapids,Iowa and surrounding areas that lost so much in the recent floods. She is looking for donations of quilting supplies to help those quilters that lost it all!.
You can go to her blog and read more about it and maybe you also can donate.
You can click on this link and the post is on July 11, 2008.
http://gudrun.typepad.com/

LUSTING

Oh yes, that's right. I am lusting...and if BFF is reading this from the new province then she had better be lusting also. We both lusted after Keith Urban..but he is old news and ever since he got married he has turned into a girl...HOWEVER, I will never fall out of lust with my new love - GARY ALLAN.....he will never turn into a girl..and I will think of him everytime I am in an airplane. I have spent about 2 hours now reading his bio from every available site that had any actual info on him and listening to his music. I have pretty much watched all his videos on You Tube also... I heard about Gary Allan last year when my daughter went to see Rascal Flatts in Toronto and he opened for them, and she told me his wife had died and the song he sang was one he wrote after she passed away..but selfish..terrible me...I was too busy quilting to pay attention..when I should have been consoling him. You can check him out here if you wish:
http://www.garyallan.com/
Did I mention how much I am lusting after him?
Must go - Gary is waiting!!!

GOBSMACKED !!!

So I put in a full week without taking care of my bosses wife...Weird..I did not know how to work for a full 8 hours. For the last 6 months I have only been getting 3/4 of a days work in as the rest of the time was taking care of Carolyn. It will take me a bit to get back in the swing of things I think. On Wednesday I mailed for them ...get this...450 thank you cards..and they were waiting for their order of another 200 thank you cards from the funeral home!. Wholly.........who knows that many people?? Just think...those thank you cards only went to those that made donations to a charity or sent flowers....Seriously....who knows that many people???? They used 2 guest books at the funeral home....I am gobsmacked..................... Like I said I was there 10 years and I am thinking...where the hell were all these people for the last 10 years and why did you not come and see or call or send cards in the last 6 months of her life?

On the quilting front - I have not done any sewing.....but I think I shall work on my daughter's quilt. That would be the RIGHT thing to do. BUT...... Oh I know...I shall go to the quilt store in town in the morning to see what else I can buy that I don't need.

Last time I went there they had fat quarters for $1.00 and yardarge for $5.00 of Northcott Fabric Line called Hanky Panky by Ro Gregg. Who could resist those prices and they had some of the entire line. So with them I have put together this pattern called Porch Swing by Bella Moon. I had seen it made up at the Creative Sewing Festival Spring show in Toronto with April Cornell "Sunshine Fabric".

It was gorgeous made out of the Sunshine Fabric Line so I bought the pattern. HOWEVER, I was quite surprised to find out that the whole thing is made only with one block - and a LOG CABIN block at that. How did I miss that? I didn't need a pattern to do that. So when I got the Hanky Panky fabric so cheap I decided I would use that. I still have a final border to put on it. Maybe that will get done tommorrow???? So here it is so far:

Here's a couple of close ups of the fabric.....Geez, I take awful pictures....The colours are much nicer in person. My daughter has the same camera so she is going to have to show mama how to take a proper picture. I've seen her pics and they are nice..must just be me or our lighting here.

Then again..I really should pull some weeds before the neighbours think I have abandoned the house. I hear they send the city in to clean up the yard and send you the bill after it becomes an eye sore so I could wait for that....wonder how much that costs? Probably more then I would save on fabric - even if they had more at $1.00 a fat quarter.

Have a great weekend..thanks for stopping by.

Back in January I went with my daughter to Ikea in Burlington. On the way I HAD to stop at a quilt store in Waterdown. Well they had a sample of this quilt hanging up with these exact colours and my daughter asked me if I could make that for her birthday, which is in January. Well OF COURSE I can, lets pick out the material! I want those exact colours she said. Well I was surprised but said to the lady "Can you collect me the exact same fabrics as your sample?"

So she did, we left, I put the top together and there it sits UNFINISHED. I think she should have been a bit clear on which birthday year she wanted it.

The pattern is Cheese 'n Crackers from Atkinsons Designs and if I had not seen the pattern made with these colours I would probably never would have purchased the pattern. The colours shown on the pattern cover is not very enticing at all. Goes to show you - it's all about colour!!. It was such an easy and fun pattern that I will do another one....eventually.

The first picture is from the package and the second is the one I made for my daughter.

I actually just love the colours in it. They look wild but go together so nice. I think it is the white that makes it stand out. Love. Love. Love. It.

Another Journey

I work in a small construction company's office..the office being attached to my employers house and have been there for 10 years. I became the adopted daughter. Two years ago my bosses wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer and it had held its own until this past January. After a few days in hospital her wish was to come home to live her final days and it was at this time that her palliative care started. Between my boss and I, we have taken care of her since then. I looked after her the most, probably because the office is right there and I certainly could not just shut the door and pretend she was not on the other side. Her family did what they could, when they could but the main care was from me and my boss. She passed away July 1 at age 64!
This is the message she was given at the cancer centre when first treated: Any women who spots blood after menopause needs to have their doctor prove to them that it is NOT CANCER. before allowing them to prescribe progestrone for spotting. Unfortunately by the time she had her hysterectomy it had spread to her adominal cavity. It was a rare form of pappillary serous carcenoma and she was diagnosed at Grade 4. Her only symptom was spotting.
In fairness to her doctors..it was suggested to her that she have a hysterectomy about 8 yrs ago but she did not want to have that done ( no one had mentioned the "C "word only that she did not need her uterus any longer ) so she was quick to accept whatever treatment they prescribed to her in the early stages that did not involve surgery. Would the outcome be any different? Who knows.

Today is a Gift.....Tommorrow is promised to NO ONE.