A New Year's Challenge: Consider the Children

Already, we're a week into the new year!  My, how time flies when you’re having fun.  Happy New Year everybody!  I’m 'sew' inspired from reading the many year end/new year posts, I haven't been able to stop sewing long enough to write a post of my own!

First up is a Dog Gone Cute block update!  I’ve been working diligently, and am confident I’ll make my self imposed deadline to have everything completed and delivered by midFebruary.  I can’t tell you what a pleasure it’s been working with all of your blocks!  I’ve pieced group quilts together before and have never had every single block be so perfect!  Thank you all!  Pictures will definitely follow in a future post.

Next, I’m excited to tell you that I am participating in a blog hop next month, and I hope to see you there!  In between working with all those cute pups, I’ve been stitching away on my project, and the more it grows, the more excited I become.  My day is scheduled for Feb. 8, so be sure to pop in for a visit!

This post wouldn’t be complete without talking about some goals for the new year, except I don’t really have any.  But I do have some plans I hope to follow through with during the year.  I always pack my largest piece of luggage with fabric and needed notions for my summer sewing season up on the island.  This year will be no different, except instead of buying random fabric just because I like it, I’m going to choose three to five patterns I’ve either purchased or won, and kit them up.  It will be novel to have everything I need at my fingertips.

Finally, I’m determined to use my scraps as I generate them this year, instead of letting them build up to overflowing, which leads me to my New Year's Challenge: Consider the Children. 

Quilters are the first to respond with compassion to the catastrophic events that occur over and over again.  But what about the silent sufferers?  Those victims we hear little to nothing about?  The children. The children who are exposed to crime, domestic violence, abuse, fires.......the children who are removed from a scene by the police for their safety, the children who don't have a voice in the media.

My plan is to make as many Owlivia pillows as I can, from my scraps, to donate to my police department, for them to have on hand, to give to children for comfort when they are frightened and need something to hug.

I have made several of these easy, sweet pillows in the past, many as gifts for family and friends, which I've coupled with storybooks about owls.  I've even enlarged the pattern and made bigger ones.  A few years back, I donated a box of them for my local RCMP department to distribute among their cruisers to have on hand for such occurrences as mentioned above. 

They are no bigger than an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper, and each one has it's own personality.  And did I mention, easy?  With all of the bright, bold, colorful fabrics being marketed today, the possibilities are endless.

Dare I challenge you to consider doing the same, or something similar?  Do you belong to a group that's looking for a year long project?  Can you spread a little love and give an innocent, frightened child a perpetual hug to help navigate through a difficult situation?  Will you Consider the Children, too, when generating scraps from your quilty projects?

I'm looking forward to a wonderful, funderful new year!  

I hope you are, too!

XO

At Last!

Greetings from Texas!
Finally!

There was no time during this past month

for blogging or sewing, and I only managed to read a few blog posts.

I stayed with my elderly family friend

and she has a very large family.

I certainly got my family "fix", and now I'm totally drained,

so it might be a few days 

before I set up my sewing area(s).

I'd like to thank everyone who checked in with me
during the month!
You're all too sweet and I am very blessed.

During the summer, one of my goals was to learn to sew curves.

And here's my final project,
hanging sweetly on Crafty Daughter's wall.
I tried to include a little glimpse of her drapes so you could see how well it matches.  I am stunned every time I step into the room.

It measures 30" square and was constructed using Free Spirit Solids.
Each block is machine quilted differently and I think if you click on the picture you will be able to see the quilting a little more clearly.  It was lots of fun to make.
I have named it Urban Crop Circles.
I got the inspiration from Quilts My Way,
although I didn't use her templates.

And that's all for now,
until I settle in and spread out!
First up?  Dog Gone Cute blocks, courtesy of all my lovely quilty friends!

Hope your month is off to a grand start!

December already.
Geesh!

Scraps Equal Lots of Little Gifties

 Last night was Halloween.

We don't get kids anymore.  They all grew up.

So sad.

Well, since finishing Linda's birthday surprise quilt,

(Happy Birthday, Linda!  Today's your special day!)

I've been winding down my sewing,

and getting ready for my annual migration south.

My summer scrap baskets were full to overflowing,

so thought I'd make a few zippered pouches

to gift my very large extended family

in Massachusetts.

17 pouches later,

they didn't make a dent in my scraps.

Either that, or they kept multiplying each night

while I slept.

Here are a few closer up.

If you click the pictures, you can enlarge them.

I've also finished up some small projects

that kept getting shuffled to the bottom of the pile(s).

Sometimes even for a couple of years,

shame on me.

This little 12" square mini

is called The Forgotten Five

by Easy Patchwork.

It was fun to make and was a flimsy immediately.

But it took me all this time to quilt it.

I played "What If" and tried making a Granny Square block

with 1.5" squares.  It measures roughly 4.5" square,

was fun to do, and I will definitely be revisiting it again!

And I threw in a couple of key fobs,

just because I could.

Actually, I needed one.

The family I'm gifting the pouches to have 10 daughters,

and one older teenage son.  I had to make him something, too,

and I wasn't too sure he'd appreciate a zippered pouch.

Well, maybe if it was made from camo fabric.

(I showed the Ranger my yard of camo fabric, and it disappeared.

Hmmmm.)

Speaking of gifties,

there are still a few retractable scissors keepers left

in my daughter's Etsy shop.

Free shipping in the US.

Christmas is coming!

I love mine, 

and don't know how I lived without it all these years.

That's enough for now.

Next week I head to Boston for a few weeks,

then on to TX for the rest of the winter.

Hope I decide on a good hand project between now and when I leave

because being away from my sewing machines for almost a month

is going to be excrutiating!

Oh, one last thing!

Check out this adorable Raggedy Ann that

Sheila made for my great niece!

She made one for big sister a couple of years ago.

Some traditions are worth keeping alive!

Thanks, Sheila!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

XO,

karen

Too Much Fun in a Nutshell

The NSQBQ girls,

Linda, Sheila, Lesley, and myself,

gave a quilt show at

the 10th Annual Fibre Arts Festival 

in Amherst, NS

this past weekend.

Our venue was the town hall lobby, 

so space was at a premium,

but we made the best of it!

A special thank you to the Town Hall personnel

for tolerating us on such short notice.

We didn't make it easy!

Can you just imagine the four of us buzzing around

trying to set this up right under their noses?

It was quite the flurry of activity.

~

In the meantime,

I've been doing some secret sewing,

and now I can show and tell!

Linda has a very significant birthday coming up,

so I invited some friends and her modern quilt guild

to, as Lesley so aptly phrased it,

"give her a birthday hug by making a block"

for a special birthday signature quilt.

The other Karen, from Sugarfree Quilts, drove down to Amherst

to see our show, and, as prearranged, 

lured Linda away for a little while.

I pinned her quilt over another quilt, 

so it would be the first thing she saw when she came back in.

Upon reentering Town Hall,

she spotted this quilt right away and said,

"What's that quilt?  Where's my wedding quilt?"

"Oh," said Sheila, "we sold that and put this one up in it's place."

Half believing her, Linda approached the quilt with trepidation,

and started looking it all over

.

and then the light dawned

at which point I lost it,

started to cry,

rushed in for a hug,

and missed any more photo opportunities.

Linda did email a photo of the wonderful back,

the paper pieced panel contributed by Karen Chase.

I added the right hand column

which consisted of the label and a special block signed by Karen

before I brought it up to size.

That was our weekend in a nut shell!

I'm sure when you visit the other NSQBQ members,

you'll learn more about it.

I know we all agree 

that too much fun equals exhaustion!

Hope you had a wonderful, funderful weekend, too,

and are looking forward to a great week!

XO,

karen

"Sew" Much Gratitude

I am truly blessed

with some pawsitively awesome quilty friends,
worldwide!

As I visit one blog, and then another,

or take an extra minute to check out Instagram,

I'm seeing Dog Gone Cute blocks

popping up everywhere.

Here is a very poor,

and I apologize for that,

picture of the blocks I've rec'd from 

my Canadian blogger friends,

with a few smaller blocks thrown in by me.

Thank you all!

I will be basking in the afterglow of my birthday

for months to come, when I return to TX,
unite with the rest of them,
and get to work.

I couldn't ask so much of you without giving back.

I've made, and sent, two blocks

to Kat & Cat Quilts.

"...this blog, written by Kat, sponsors an ongoing project called Covered in Love. Kat is a nurse in a med-surgical unit at East Texas Medical Center. She supports the dying process for some of her patients. Knowing the comfort it provides the patient, and the family of that patient, she tries to provide a quilt for patients nearing the end of their life in the hospital. As the family transitions and grieves the loss of their loved one, they are able to keep the quilt as a treasure to bring them comfort."

Bernie/Needle and Foot

                                One more thing before I go:

Here is the best recipe

for peanut butter cookies that I've ever made.

You'll want to double the batch!

So, again, thank you all 'sew' very much.

Now, I'm off to research a photo editor to replace PicMonkey!

Any suggetions?

Making a difference, one block at a time, with your help,

~Karen

Disaster Relief Comes in Many Forms

Oh, boy, Mother Nature's wrath shows no mercy.  As I write, I'm worried about the southeastern population of the US and concerned about those already affected by Hurricane Irma.  I can't watch the news because I find it so upsetting.

I know we all want to help, somehow, and it's frustrating to know how.  The needs are overwhelming.

As many of you know, my daughter and SIL reside in Texas.  Although affected by Hurricane Harvey, their home was on the northern fringes of the storm and escaped any devastating damage.  I'd like to thank everyone who reached out with concern for their safety!  It meant a lot to me.

They found a unique way to help by adopting a family in ravished Rockport, TX who lost everything. They made phone contact with them to assess their immediate needs, reached out to their community for donations, then loaded a box trailer full, and personally delivered the goods.  Because of the proximity of her location, only a 2.45 hour drive, this was possible, as will returning to assist with the rebuild of the home.  Genius.  I thought it was a TX initiative, but discovered that they did it on her own.  If more localized families and groups did the same, it would make an incredible difference in any area affected by catastrophic weather.  And we seem to have lots of that.  Florida, you are in my thoughts at this very moment.

My birthday is next week.  I have but one wish.  I want blocks.  Dog Gone Cute blocks.  Lorna had a quilt along awhile back, and offered each of the 8 different dog blocks for free.  They can be stitched up in two sizes.  I'll take either size, any colors.

Here's the link to block one and two,  three and four,  five and six, and blocks 7 and  8.
             
Why, you ask?  Well, after a lot of searching, Crafty Daughter was able to hook up with this family through the nonprofit agency that traveled the 350 miles from Granbury, TX to take on the pets and keep them safe until they could be returned to their families.  I have been asked to make a doggie themed wall hanging for this agency to auction off to help fund their efforts.  Their job isn't over yet.

A wall hanging.  One wall hanging.  While I was showering, where I do my best brainstorming, I thought, "I can do better than that!"  So, here I am, asking for your help.

I would love for you to send me blocks, and will provide a mailing address upon request, but.....this isn't the only pet rescue agency that stepped up to the plate, and if you want to make a few blocks into something for your own pet rescue agency, or any other that you have been made aware of, go for it! And share with me!

I would like to make up sets of placemats, wallhangings, and who knows, maybe even a quilt or two for them to auction off!  These blocks have so much potential and like all of Lorna's blocks, are easy and addictive to make, like eating potato chips.  Thanks, Lorna, for always sharing!

Okay, that's all for today.  

Thank you for reading through this.  

Every little bit helps along the way!

Stay sweet!

~karen

  

Ma'm, Put Your Hands in the Air...

"Good Morning!  It's Sunday, July 9th.  My name is Jane Pauley, and this is Good Morning America!"

What?!?  July 9th?  How did that happen?  The quilt show is only one month away!  I'd better start finishing some quilts!

And so it began.  Quilt Central.  One month of focusing and no playing allowed.  If I wandered from my goal, I was afraid I'd hear heavy footsteps, and then:  "Ma'm, put your hands in the air and step away from that machine."  "But officer, I just wanted to try this one block...."

Well, the quilt show launched yesterday, 

Photo courtesy The Cuddle Quilter
To see more, go HERE!

and I'm pleased to say, I made it. I walked in on Wednesday morning with a laundry basket chuck-a-lucka-full.  Never thought to stop and document this in photographs.  Even my blogging instincts were quelled while I quilted.  And quilted.  And quilted.  If you know me, you'll understand that I am a very pokey quilter.  If it takes you a week, it takes me a month!

I brought ten pieces, but 6 of them were baby to crib size quilts.  Only four were of any substantial size.  Three were UFOs, only one was new this summer.

This is my new quilt, Preppy the Whale.  My goal was to make 72 whales.  When I reached 36, I said, "Enough is enough."  I sewed them together, then waited for weeks to find just the right backing.  The whales are all Free Spirit Solids, but the back is Cotton and Steel.

A winning combination!

Now, I hate to admit this, but by the time I had this all together, I was  d-o-n-e! So I called my local long armer, arranged to have it edge to edged (which I'd have done, anyway), and practically threw it at her when I dropped it off!  "Take this!  I'm sick of working on it!"  Lucky for me, her machine was free at that moment and it was returned to me just a few days later!  Thanks ever so much, Colleen!

Also included in my laundry basket full of goodies were these two quilts, both UFOs.

This quilt was a 'to go' project 8 years ago.  Thought it was time to finish it up!  The back is a black batik with yellow to red dots.  Very pretty.

Sometimes, what we see in our mind's eye isn't what we get.  Such is the case with this quilt.  But it still came out okay.  Different.

A little tip:
I was cleaning up threads from the back of a finished top....and remembered a suggestion that a quilter had written into a magazine.  I cut a little piece of a batting scrap and pinned it to the end of my ironing board.  It was a great way to collect all my little thread pieces in one place, eliminating a messy clean up when I was finished!

And last but certainly not least, another scrumptious recipe to share.  Sheila made this for our Round Robin Exchange, and I couldn't get enough of it.  She was kind enough to send me a link to the recipe.

Butternut Squash and Cranberry Quinoa Salad