Breast Cancer Awareness Quilt

Today's features is of Suz from Inspiring Creativeness...and her first ever quilt!!! Not only is it her first quilt, but she's donating it to an auction for Breast Cancer Awareness, nothing more appropriate than featuring her this month!  Suz has had many many people in her life effected by cancer...this is her way to help those effected and spread awareness.  Hopefully this can make us all more aware and thoughtful.  Thanks to Suz for inspiring us to not only have fun creating but to also do good!!


When I was 18 or 19, after visiting my ex-husband's (he was just my boyfriend then) grandma and seeing quilts in process of being quilted, I decided that I wanted to make a quilt and have her hand quilt it.  (She was one of those church ladies that you could 'hire' to hand quilt your quilt for you.)  She never made quilt tops, that I know of, but she quilted a bunch for other people.    Well......  THAT never happened....  I didn't have anyone to teach me how (I bought a pattern and fabric and - using scissors - cut out each individual piece, one at a time.....  what the heck was a rotary cutter???  I didn't know!!  I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure I didn't even get 1 block done......) and then after we got married, the kids started entering our lives, and with kids comes more things that take up spare time.......... 

Next month, I will turn *ahmm* 45......  (really???  THAT just CAN'T be possible!  Didn't I just tell you the other day that I'm only 24???  *wink* *wink*)....   Anyway - - I'll be 45, so I guess that it's been 26, 27 years or so that I've had the desire to make a quilt. 

Had I not started my blog and had I not started blog-stalking all of you wonderful quilters out there, I don't know if I EVER would have tried to make a quilt.   You guys gave me the courage to try.  And my MIL has been one of my cheerleaders!!  She told me that I could hand quilt it......  and she was right!!!  And all of the tutorials online for every step of the way also have helped me!!

And I am so impressed with myself that I started it and finished it, not only in the same YEAR, but in the same SEASON!!!  You crazy quilters out there that get MULTIPLE quilts finished in a year truly amaze me!!

OK OK - - here she is......

The front...... 

The back.....

Close up of the back (above) and then the front again (below)

A little better shot of the washed-up crinkly goodness...

My label........

I made my binding out of left over pieces of fabric from the blocks.  I think my favorite binding is the 'scrappy' binding.  This quilt turned out so well - - I'm so proud of myself.............  (And I want to thank you guys for:  A: urging me on and supporting me  and   B:  allowing me to tell you that I'm very proud of myself.   Seriously, if I were to go up and tell someone at work that I'm proud of myself, or tell one of my friends.......  wouldn't they think I was boastful, or at least weird??  but I can tell you guys and you relate!!!   I {heart} my blogging buddies!!)

When I finished it, I washed it.  It was AMAZING to pull it out of the dryer.......  So warm and cozy and soo crinkly - - just the way I wanted it to turn out.........  BEAUTIFUL!!!  yep - - I said the "B" word!!!  (I don't think I told any of you......   I don't like Pink......  so I purposely made the quilt Pink so I wouldn't get so attached to it.......  it didn't work......  I like Pink now.........  I'm such a goober!!)

I took it over to Sandy's house Sunday night after I washed it.  I REALLY wanted to sleep with it Sunday night but I figured that if I did that - - it wouldn't end up as the first item for the raffle.....  It wouldn't be in the raffle at all...........  It would be staying at my house...........

When I gave it to Sandy and she read the label, she got all teary-eyed.......  She lost a sister to Breast Cancer..............    Sandy's hubby is my boss.  Monday he started asking questions like "what's it take to make a quilt like that?"  "How much would you charge to make one?"  I told him that it would depend on the pattern, the size, and the cost of the fabric...........   Then he asked me if I thought I could make one for Sandy for her birthday........  Her birthday is Friday.  Yep -- like THIS Friday...   September 16!!!  I told him NO!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for accompanying me on the journey of my first quilt.  And please understand.....  I will be posting about this quilt at least one more time.  Probably on October 5....  I'll have to let you know how many raffle tickets were sold ($1 each or 6 for $5....  any takers???  :-)  )  and I'll have to post a picture of the winner with the quilt......   Every story has a happy ending, and I want to make sure you guys get the whole story!!  (I just hope that the person that wins the quilt appreciates what it was made for and understands that it was made with love and that they cherish it for many years.....  you know??)

Have a happy day!!

Hugs ~~ Suz  

Leslie from Fluff and Nonsense a quilt for a friend

We have featured Leslie from Fluff and Nonsense before, great stuff. I found this quilt linked up to our Fabric Tuesday's party, and just had to make sure you all not only saw the quilt, but read the great story behind it. She made this beautiful quilt for a friend fighting cancer...

You can never really know what is going on in the lives of the people around you, can you? The struggles others go through behind closed doors are often unknown to the people around them. I live in a very small community and had the privilege of lending a hand and a little comfort to someone that needed it. In turn she gave me inspiration.

She is such an amazing woman, fighting breast cancer and being all the things all women wish to be. Strong, beautiful, inspiring. She is always cheerful and happy in spite of everything. Her love for and relationship with God shines through her.

When i first heard what she was going through i kept asking myself what could i do? how can i help her? My skill set is quilting...so, I presented our homeschool group with the idea to make this quilt for her and was pleased that they wanted to take part and participate by writing personal messages to her. I just pray that they do not fade or wash away...i wanted to have the chance to wash it first to see if there were going to be any great catastrophes but i ran out of time. Pray!! pray hard.

I could not bring myself to quilt through any of the personal messages so i just outlined each box in pink. Then i spent what felt like forever straight line quilting, of random sizes, the rest of the quilt. It looks beautiful but was a lot more time and work than i anticipated.

I also wanted to hand stitch in some things that would be personal to her so i did a pink on pink breast cancer ribbon...a purple on purple cross...and the names of her husband and children, so that they would be with her when she used this quilt no matter when or where. I had not originally intended to make it pink but it turned out that they were her favorite colors. What a perfect coincidence.

She in turn gave me a gift...the gift of gratitude and appreciation(and a few tears) which really meant a lot to me. It is hard to know what people really think when you make something like this and then mail it away...and kids don't necessarily love getting a blanket.

This is ironically Breast Cancer Awareness month. What a perfect time to honor her fight by bringing her this quilt. If someone around you opens that door a little and lets you in consider it a privilege to do what you can....what seems so small and insignificant can mean so much to someone that is struggling. I know you don't know her but if you think of her take a minute and say a little prayer, every single one counts!

Breast Cancer church group quilt....

We recently got a really sweet quilt submission from Sarah. She is a busy crafty quilter! Head over to  her blog confessions of a fabric addict for inspiration... Here is a sweet quilt she worked on with other's in her church group for a sick friend....

We recently started a quilt ministry at our church, making quilts for people with serious health issues. This is the story of one of the quilts we made.

Our daytime children’s ministry director, Tammy, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and advised to have a double mastectomy right away. One of the members of the quilt ministry, Cassie, is also a teacher in the daytime children’s ministry, so we wanted to be sure to make something extra special and memorable especially for Tammy.

I had recently been feeling a leading to make a quilt in soft pastels, something definitely out of my comfort zone, and realized that this color palette would be perfect for Tammy. I had a charm pack of Moda’s Kashmir II that I had picked up a while back, so I unearthed it and paired it with some pastel solids from my fabric stash. Using a disappearing nine-patch pattern, I created this simple soft pastel quilt.

While I was working on piecing the top of the quilt, Cassie took the back to the children’s classes. Each child’s hand was traced on the quilt back, with his or her name inscribed inside the outline. This gave us a quilt back that would be very personal and special to Tammy, plus it made the children feel like part of the process too! The assembled quilt sandwich was quilted with straight line quilting on either side of the seam lines - it gives it a simple grid-like pattern that doesn’t detract from the simplicity of the pattern itself.

The completed quilt was given to Tammy at the children’s graduation celebration. I’m pleased to say that Tammy is doing very well and is hopefully on her way to making a complete recovery! Our quilt ministry is as much a blessing to those of us who participate in creating the quilts as we hope it is to the people who receive them. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to do what you love and help others at the same time!

Sarah, good luck to your friend Tammy. What a sweet gift to give to a friend in a scary place in life. Thanks for sharing your story...

Linking at http://www.amylouwho.com/

My three Sons...Panaceia's Mantle...

Angela From My Three Sons made this beautiful bright happy quilt for a dear friend with cancer. What a kind friend to make this. Make sure to visit her blog for a lot more inspiration. Thanks Angela, and blessings for your friend!

Panaceia is the greek goddess of cures and healing. I made this quilt for my friend Liesl (I love her name!) - she is starting chemo this week to battle breast cancer. It's 53" x 62"

As soon as I heard she was diagnosed, I had to make a quilt. I imagine during and after chemo, feeling tired and chilled, and giving her something cheery to cover up with. Another reason to go with a greek goddess in the name, I got the blue/orange/yellow from an Olympic coach. His uniform jumped out of the TV at me!

I loved Amy's 'Peas and Carrots' the first time I saw it - actually the first thing I ever faved in flickr. It looks so happy! She made her quilt as a kit for the local shop and kindly sent instructions that went with the precut pieces. I modified it a bit to eliminate the boarders and turn the panels into my own little improv creations.

I used all my favorite Heather Ross cuteness - very happy little prints for Liesl. And I experimented with skinny boarders and solids. This block uses Kona school bus and tangerine - my favorite orange combo!

This fishy block has Kona turquoise as the darkest blue. The other two were pulled from pieces I bought before learning to label the cuts. It was also the most improv. I pieced/cut/added/cut/moved....I was thinking about Gwen's philosophy of add some if it's too small, cut some off if it's too big. I love how it turned out.

 

A bunch of my favorite fabrics, and a new fave. I LOVE the bees and honey comb of Miller's Flora and Fauna.

Originally the sashing was going to be snow, but thought the coal would give it a little more sophistication.

I love the light/dark thing that was going on with the Kona, so charcoal was the perfect choice for the binding!

I quilted it with invisible thread on the top so it wouldn't stand out against either the dark solids or the light prints. I loved every minute of making this quilt!