Friday, August 28, 2015

Chemo Quilt - Start to Finish







A friend of mine's wife was recently diagnosed with Cancer. Stay tuned to see how her story and this quilt turn out - all in one post!















She is an oncology nurse, so she sees this kind of thing every day.....only now she has to experience it first hand.

I decided to make a quilt for her, to keep her warm at the hospital during her treatments. 


The quilt starts simply - rows of squares - each row with 3 squares of the same size and lots of white space around them.













I asked her husband (my friend) what he thought she would like in colors. He said he thought she would enjoy bright colors and a more modern style.

I used bright, cheery batiks.


















The next step was to cut wonky squares, with plenty of white around the edges. It was helpful to have a 9.5" square and to move it around, until I got the "tilt" I wanted. 

Then it was a matter of deciding the placement of the squares, being careful to balance the sizes, values and colors.




Next, sew the squares together. The smallest squares are raw edge applique.





I added sashing and border and a flimsy was born!



Now onto Millie for quilting. I chose a swirly pantograph, because I wanted to soften the straight edges and give it a definitive feminine side.










A few close-ups.









I used a black/white tiny polka dot on the back. The photo makes me a little cross-eyed to look at, but it looks good in real life.












The full quilt, hanging on the Millie frame.



So I gave the quilt to my friend (the husband) who cried when I gave it to him. He couldn't believe it. He carried it around the office and I am told showed it to everyone. He was very happy.

His wife - just as happy!





He brought back stories of how all the nurses and other patients in the treatment rooms were SO jealous!









This quilt is a happy quilt, that deserves a happy ending - don't you think?

Well, it got it's happy ending. A few months after she started, she was given a clean bill of health! YAY!!!!!!!

I like to think the quilt helped her a little. :-)








Ladybug gave her seal of approval and added an extra prayer, before it was delivered.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Something a little different

I have been working on a little crochet project. It is called Sophie's Universe, which was a crochet-a-long that was finished quite some time ago, by those who actually did it as a crochet-a-long.







I don't like surprises, so I tend to wait until I can see the full product, before I start something.








I do the same thing with "mystery" quilts......collect the patterns, to make sure I like it.









I have to say this has been fun though, the many different stitches and varying colors make me want to skip a night or two of sleep, just to see what is coming next!








What about you - have you ever truly participated in a mystery - dove in, not knowing what it would become? Did you like the process?

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