Blogger's Quilt Festival, #2

 

This is my second entry to the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Thank you Amy from AmysCreativeSide for hosting and coordinating this amazing event.


This is my first Angel Quilt.  I made it to sell, and donate all of the profits to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  I am part of a group of family & friends called Joshua's Angels. The group name was created for the team walking in the Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis.  Joshua is a 5yr old boy, diagnosed with CF at 11 days old.
One weekend, while he was in the hospital for an infection he could not shake, I was feeling very helpless. I came up with the idea to make quilts and sell them to benefit him.  It would be my way of helping a little bit more.  With this quilt I was able to donate $110 to CFF.

 

 

It is machine pieced and quilted by me.  Measures approximately 45"x54". Made of 100% cotton, with 100% organic cotton batting.  The patchwork top is Comma by Zen Chic for Moda. The border, Kona Bone. The binding, Kona Tangerine.  It is backed in a moss green, with an almost paisley-like print, from Joanns.

 

Is he not the cutest kid ever?? And with my favorite quilt, makes these pictures all the more special to me.

 

He is an amazing little boy with a huge heart. With a family that is doing all they can to find a cure for him.

 

I ended up making a second quilt just like this one, but a different patchwork layout.  It was to be given to Joshua's family the day of the walk, but I was unable to finish it.  What ended up happening, a long, complicated story, is that I gave this quilt to them.  They were so suprised and so happy. Joshua's Dad absolutely loves this one.  And his Mom too.

 

 

Look at the smile on Dad's face.  Priceless.

 

I am so blessed to have such amazing friends.  So much love was sewn into this quilt.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

It has been a while since I have posted.  I have been very busy making my Angel Quilts.  It is time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  What a better time to get back to blogging!! 

This year we are allowed to enter two quilts. And I know just the two.  Here is the first, entered into the  Baby Quilt catagory: 

 I made this quilt for a friend who had a baby six weeks early.  When I heard, I just had to make something for her.  So I asked her what her favorite colors were (pink and orange, oh and green she said), bought fabric and got to work. I was able to put this together in four days.  Tried to get it to her before they left the hospital but with the baby in the NICU it was difficult.  I ended up giving it to her at a baby shower that our work had for her.  Mom and Dad love it. 

 

It is very simple but love how it came out.  I used the pattern Around the Block that I found on pinterest.

 

The back is a pill free fleece. It will be super cozy when she gets a little bit bigger and can snuggle with it.  

 

  This picture isn't that great. I think I took it on my cell phone, but I wanted to you be able to see the target quilting design that I used, a little bit better. The binding isnt even on it here.

 

And a quilt roll, one of my favorite pictures...

 

 And how can we not have a picture with Baby E?

(hehe - that's what mom calls her on fb)

 And check out this smile.  She is a doll.



Sewing Machines

I need a little help please.  I have a very basic sewing machine, actually got it for $50 on Black Friday. Yeah, I know, crazy. It works and I am happy with it but would love something better and more heavy duty. So....

 

A friend found this Singer 9960 and posted it on my fb.  Told the husband I was thinking of looking into getting a new one and he was ok with it. Yay!! Started looking a bit and got totally overwelmed.  I can't go crazy money wise, but dont want to waste my money on something either.  Do I really need 600 stitches? Probably not.  I found this Brother HC185 too... Are either of them any good? I definitely want an extension table, and love that they come with a good number of feet. 

 

I have seen a lot of bloggers talk about Janome machines too.  Singer, Brother (the maker I currently have), Janome, and more... which should I choose?

 

I mainly quilt, have made 2 dresses for my daughter and hope to make more clothes for myself, boys and daughter.  

 

Please help!  Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated

Angel Quilt #2

I finished the top of my second Angel Quilt.  It is a bright and beautiful day here. The colors kind of get washed out in the sun.  They are greys, blues and yellows.  I am not totally loving it yet but think once I get it finished with a dark blue binding I will feel better about it.

 

 

On another note. Today is my oldest's 10th birthday.  I can't believe it. Time flies so fast!!!  He is an amazing boy.  Smart, loving, caring, and a great kid.  He has decided this year that in lieu of gifts from his friends and family, he would like donations to the Cystic Fibrosis walk we are walking in later this month. I am so proud of all he has become and look forward to seeing where he goes in life (just as long as he takes him time getting there for now :). 

Angel Quilts

 

 

 

I am so proud of this quilt.  I have put so much love into this quilt.

 

 

 

I will be having a silent auction to sell this quilt.  I am donating all profits to the Great Strides Walk for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 

 

Cystic fibrosis is a disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States.  The disease causes mucus to build up and clog some of the organs in the body, particularly the lungs and pancreas.  There is no cure.  (source: www.cff.org)

 

I am part of an amazing group of people, Joshua's Angels. Together we walk to raise money to help find a cure for this disease. 

 

 

Is he not the cutest little boy you have ever seen?!?

 

 

If you are interested in bidding on this quilt or donating to Joshua's Angels and Cystic Fibrosis please leave a comment and I will get in touch with you on how you can.

 

Thank you so very much!

 

 

 

Linking up with randi at i have to say 



Bloglovin

Not sure what the deal is with this but....

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I am claiming my blog.

Don't like that they are getting rid of Google Reader...makes me sad.

Basting Fail

I have been sewing for about 2 years.  I am working on my 5th and 6th quilts. One is for my son and the other is my Joshua's Angels/Cystic Fibrosis quilt.  I have been on the hunt for the perfect fabric to back this...

Sorry for the repeat photo from my last post.

After searching my local fabric store and the internet, I still couldn't commit to a fabric let alone a color.  I had moved on to grey instead of orange. (That I planned on using that for the binding now, thanks to Randi from i have to say 's recommendation.)

 

I took another trip to my local JoAnn's and finally found this...

 

Not the greatest picture of it, but I was sure this was perfect. Well, ok, I was sure after I spoke with two random ladies I saw in the store and heard them talking about backings and bindings...I knew they work working on a quilt too.  They loved it.  And I was even able to help them out with a suggestion for the backing of what they were planning.  Yay!

I hadn't considered green before.

 

I'm sure you notice the four little charm patches on it...I had those left over from the front and thanks to my oldest son's idea decided to place them randomly on the back.  I love it.

 

I almost forgot to tell you... I got a phone call from a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Development Manager last week.  She wanted to meet with me! Me! Can you believe it?  I was so excited. She thanked me for being such a great fundraiser and wanted to get me some posters for this years upcoming walk and chat.

 

Now I had a goal in mind, I wanted to bring my first finished Joshua's Angels/CF quilt with me and share with her the idea, finish this quilt by Tuesday night. Totally doable for me.

 

So I started...  you know how it goes...taped my backing to floor, them put down my batting and them laid on the top.  I had forgotten to get more spray adhesive again.  So I took out the safety pins and pinned away.

 

 

Unfortunately my tape was not sticking to the backing very well.  I found myself reapplying it at times.  Uh Oh...

 

I kept on plugging along though.  Thinking that it would be ok.  It was looking great on top.

 

 

I finished, pulled up the tape and turned my quilt over.  Boy was I wrong.

 

Look at all those bumps.  I was so disappointed.

 

 

Horrible angle, but you get the point.

 

Major FAIL!

 

My first major fail.  I was so disappointed.  All that time wasted.  I picked up the quilt, sat on the sofa and proceeded to take all the pins out and separate my layers. 

 

I was done for the day. I had other things that need to get done and I was so frustrated to look at this...

 

 

We had another big storm here on Tuesday.  My local fabric store closed for the day due to the snow.  No getting adhesive spray there on Tuesday.  My husband could tell I was feeling down and out about the whole thing and told me to make the trip to JoAnn's.  Would you believe it if I told you they closed early because of the storm.  It wasn't that bad out!!

 

Now I was feeling totally defeated.

 

I had my meeting the next morning (this morning actually) and brought my finished quilt top and she loved it.  Wish I could have shown her the whole thing.  Shrug. Oh well, next time.

 

Please tell me this happens to you. 

 

 

 

P.S. I bought spray adhesive today...never again will I not use it. 

 

 

 

Linking up with i have to say...