A Six-Letter Word

This week marks the anniversary of my receiving the news that I had breast cancer.  Cancer is a six-letter word that has much more impact than any four letter word that I know.  Of course, when you hear that six-letter word applied to yourself or one of your loved ones, more often than not, several four-letter words ensue.

I am very happy to say that I have been cancer free for nearly two years (that anniversary is July 30^th!).  But I wanted to share a special event that I recently took part in – The American Cancer Society’s “Relayfor Life.”  This fund-raising event is a “relay” event that lasts 12 hours, with someone walking at all times. ACS Relays are held in towns throughout the United States.  The ACS provides support 24/7 for people affected by cancer.  They also fund a great deal of research.  In the past two years not only myself, but two sisters-in-law, my father, and four friends were diagnosed with cancer.  My father passed away.  I walked in this relay in honor and in memory of them.

SIDEWALK ART

I am not a fundraiser.  I hate asking for money.  But thanks to family and friends that supported me financially, and those that joined me at the relay, our team, named “Survival is NOT Enough… Find a Cure!” raised more than $1,800.00!!  I was thrilled to have to keep raising my goal because we kept meeting it!  The “Relay” in Honeoye Falls, NY raised nearly $62,000.00. 

 

Our team "tent" with Matt, Chandra and Chris

The "Survival is NOT Enough" Team!

Front: Sue, Joan, Lisa, Chandra, Chris, Barb, Jo, Katie;

Back: Scott, Brandon, Matt, Kathy (Me), Bruce, Steve, Eric;

Missing: Kaitlyn and Tyler

My husband Bruce and daughter, Lisa, surprised me with team t-shirts.  I think they helped us win the “most team spirit” award.  That and my sister, Chris, and I played one of the games in which we were the only adults that took part – we kind of stood out as 50+ year old “youngsters” amongst the kids!  ;-)   

My sister-in-law, Sue, walked the “Survivor’s Lap” with me.  Quite an accomplishment considering that just a year ago her sacrum (the bone that connects the hip to the spine” was removed and she had reconstructive surgery.  My friend, Chandra, brought us chocolate-covered strawberries.  I think my son, Matt, had two strawberries for every lap he took!  Chandra kept track of the laps she walked and figures she walked about ten miles!! 

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LUMINARIAS

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the luminarias in the staging area - this is only about half of them

At dusk we lit luminarias in honor of or in memory of family and friends, and then walked a candle-lit lap.  It was very moving.

Chris and Matt lighting a luminaria - what teamwork!

The reason we keep Matt around is because he can reach the top shelf (that and we love him)

only a few of the lined up luminarias

more luminarias

As I said in an email I sent to friends and family, I am sick of the slicing and dicing, the chemotherapy and radiation.  There has got to be a better way.  I think it is time to eliminate that six-letter word and find a new four-letter word… C U R E!!  Please consider supporting the American Cancer Society, either through support of a friend who is taking part in a “Relay for Life,” or by donating directly to the ACS.  If you wish to support the “Survival is NOT Enough” team directly, you can do so by visiting this website and entering either our team name or my name (Kathy Rosier) in the appropriate box on the right hand side.  If you’re not able to help financially (believe me, I’ve been in that boat!), support us with prayers, hugs, uplifting words, or even chocolate-covered strawberries.  It is all very much appreciated!

We all need hope.

Ladies, do your breast self-exams monthly and get your annual pap smear.  Don't be afraid to call your doctor and say "it's not exactly a lump, but it's different than normal."  The life you save may be your own! 

Okay, getting off my soapbox now and getting back to the regularly scheduled program.  :-)



PS Sorry about the weird picture layout. I keep trying to get more than one picture on a line (pictures side by side) but it messes everything up.  If anyone had suggestions I'll take them!

Martin's Quilt

It's about time I get caught up here - like that's ever going to happen.  I never could write regularly.  Do you remember getting a diary for Christmas - the one with the tiny gold key?  I remember thinking, "I'll write every day!"  It never happened back then, I usually managed to get a week's worth of entries written before losing interest.  And I'm sure I'll continue to be lagging behind here too.

Anyways, I thought I'd post pictures of the baby quilt I made for my great-nephew, Martin. 

He's a real cutie! (I made the bib too).

I promised it to his parents at his baby shower in January 2011.  I managed to get it done for his first birthday this year in March!

I saw the pattern at my local quilt store, Mt. Pleasant Quilting, and thought I could figure it out myself.  It is, after all, just squares and rectangles.  I wish I had written down who designed so that I could give them credit!  I searched my stash for brightly colored juvenile prints (as opposed to pastels which the parents didn't want), and found some really fun ones.  Of course, I had to make a shopping trip because I didn't have enough variety (I can come up with any excuse).  The border fabric is all ants and the backing is cars and trucks - perfect for a little boy!

my husband said we need an exterminator

On some of the squares I used the "stack the deck" method of piecing.  It was really easy.  Stack 5 squares; cut them randomly; shift 1 piece, 2 pieces, 3 pieces, 4 pieces, from the top to the bottom of each stack; sew them back together; and trim.

I put my new found free motion quilting skills to good use and quilted loop-de-loops in all of the sashing.  I left the squares plain.

Martin seemed to really enjoy his quilt. He, and it disappeared later that evening.  His mom said he was cuddled up under the quilt, fast asleep, upstairs!

Martin and his Uncle Fred

I love it when my quilts are so appreciated.

Until next time,

Kathy

The Power...

So, my old sewing machine finally bit the dust.  It was a Singer that was nearly 30 years old and it had been a floor model before I bought it.  I made a t-shirt quilt and quilted it myself - my first foray into free motion quilting.  Then I pieced and quilted a baby/toddler quilt for my great-nephew.

She's a goner :-(

I finished that one, but when I went on to the next project - practicing for the Free Motion Quilting Challenge, the machine just wouldn't work.  It was making a horrible grinding noise and I couldn't get the tension set right.  I had just had it in for service to the tune of $100.  I don't think the machine is worth that much!

So I went shopping for a new machine and have purchased a beautiful, new Janome 6600 from Marie's Sewing Center in Lockport.  Linda, one of the sales girls there, let me play with one for more than an hour.  I took my own sample fabrics and sandwiches and tried a bunch of different stitches.  It took me another two weeks to decide to plunk down the money, but around Mother's Day, I brought my new baby home.

My new baby!

Now, true to form, I sat down next to my new machine with my 93 page instruction book, and went through everything, step by step.  I got all the way through the table of contents... the parts list... how to plug it in and turn it on... when I came upon page 7, and one of my most hoped for features - the automatic needle up/down button.  Of course I had to try it out so I pushed the button and heard a loud ka-thunk!

Oh no, what had I done?!!  I looked down to find that the needle had, very neatly and easily, penetrated 86 pages of the instruction book!  What power! The needle didn't even break!  I think this machine will have more than enough punch for whatever I'd like to do.

There's a needle hole right above the "i" in finishing...

...all the way through the back cover!

I did tell my husband that it was now impossible for me to return the machine (like I was going to do that!) because I had defaced the book ;-)

I've had the machine for a couple of months now and it is working beautifully.  I did purchase the blue arrow bobbin case for free motion quilting as I was having problems with shredding and breaking threads and I didn't want to mess with the bobbin tension all the time.  It has helped to clear up those problems and I would definitely recommend it.

Now, if the weather would just cool down so my sewing room isn't 100* I could go play.  

Until next time,
Kathy R.

 

May's FMQ Challenge

Last month I mentioned that my old machine had gone kaplooey.  It really wasn't worth getting fixed.  Well, this month I have a shiny, new Janome 6600.  It works like a charm!  I'll have to sit down when I have a bit more time and tell you how powerful it is.

I really need to get going on these challenges sooner!  I'm squeaking in just under the wire... again.  This month's Free Motion Quilting Challenge teacher was Leah Day.  I was thrilled when I heard she'd be one of the teachers because I had already visited her site and knew what a wonderful teacher she was.  

Leah showed us how to do some stippling on a "foundation" line. Then she changed it up slightly by using straight lines instead of squiggly ones.  She called these "railroad tracks."

You start by making a widely spaced, free-form line...

 

My foundation line

Then you go back and "squiggle over it.  Here's my stippling piece.  It looks pretty good from the front!

stippling on a foundation line

Unfortunately, I forgot to check the tension.  The machine wasn't making any funny noises to alert me, but I ended up with "eyelashes" on the back.

eyelashes :-(

Eyelashes are where the bobbin thread pulls the top thread too much and the top thread ends up showing on the back.  In a worst case scenario, you get what looks like eyelashes when you go around a curve.

I adjusted my tension before I started on the railroad tracks.

railroad tracks

I like regular stippling better than stippling on a foundation line, but thought that the railroad tracks were intriguing.  Someone on the forums suggested sewing a parallel line to the foundation line so it would look more like tracks.  I'll have to try that.  I bet it looks neat.

The tension was better on this piece.

 I still need to play around with my machine to get the right combination of needle, thread and tension.  I suspect this needle may have gotten dull and "pushed" some of the batting through.  But I was pleasantly surprised to not see very many tiny little blobs of thread where I kept sewing but didn't move the fabric sandwich quickly enough when I changed directions.

The pieces that my fellow FMQ Challengers have done have been downright amazing.  And the encouragement given to beginners is wonderful.  What a great group of people!

Until next month,

Happy Quilting!

Kathy R.

The Tulle Tool

Whew!  I'm squeaking in just under the wire this month with my Celtic knot cross!  It turned out really neat.

Finished Celtic Knot Cross

Our guest "teacher" for the Free Motion Quilting Project for April was Don Linn.  He showed us a neat marking technique that uses tulle.  Basically, put a piece of tulle (fine netting) into an embroidery hoop, trace your pattern with a permanent marker, heat set it (so it doesn't smear all over your nice fabric!), and then use that as a pattern to trace onto your fabric, with a removable ink pen or chalk pencil.

My Tulle Pattern

Someone on the FMQ Challenge Facebook page suggested putting the tulle into a cardboard frame instead of the embroidery hoop.  I really liked this idea for a couple of reasons.  I didn't have to be so careful about not stretching the tulle out of shape, and it will store nice and flat.

Pattern traced onto my fabric

I really wish I had known about this before I marked the t-shirt quilt.  I think it would have been a bit more accurate than what I did. 

I didn't have a chance till the end of the month to work on the challenge because my sewing machine is still down and out.  I borrowed one from our sewing group.  What a difference compared to my old machine!  This one is no spring chicken either, but my old machine would break thread every ten minutes and I just couldn't keep the tension consistent.  This machine, an Elnita 250 by Elna, works so much better. 

The cross is qulted!

 

I quilted the cross, and then decided to stipple around it, hoping to make it stand out a bit more.  This is the first stippling I've done other than a bit of practice.   On the back side I used up an off-white bobbin.  It was a bit darker than what I used on the front.  The cross really stands out better.  Unfortunately, I ran out of that thread less than a quarter of the way through so I can't use the back for the front.

with the stippling, before I washed out the purple disappearing ink

I was all set to look for a new machine two weeks ago, but then our car got hit - took the bumper off the back and smushed the rear quarter panel - and needed some major repairs.  Luckily the insurance covers it, but we've got a rental car that only my husband can drive.  Which means, I can't go far unless I want to man-handle the gas-guzzling truck.  I'm so glad I've got the sewing group!  Hopefully by the end of next month I'll have a new machine.

Until then, 

Happy Quilting!

~ Kathy

My March FMQ Challenge

Wow, I had a great quilting month!  I finished two quilts - a double-sized T-shirt quilt (that I've already posted about), and a "somewhere between crib and twin"-sized quilt for my great nephew (pictures coming soon!).

I didn't get much practice in on Ann Fahl's tutorial.  I thought I'd do some practice pieces this week, since I had finished the two projects that I had deadlines for. That didn't happen.

Luckily, on my quilts, I had used two of her suggested patterns.  One small square with stars.

stars and loops on the T-shirt quilt

And the entire twin quilt with loop-de-loops.

loop-de-loops on the crib/twin quilt

The reason I didn't get any practice pieces done this week is because my machine decided it wanted to make bird's nests instead.

 

 

 

 

bird's nests

I don't know why this is happening.  The machine worked fine quilting the twin/crib quilt.  And it worked fine when I sewed the binding on it.  But a day later I can't get it to work for anything.  Maybe (hopefully!) it's telling me it wants to retire and it's time for me to get a new sewing machine. :)  If it is, I'm going to need to find one soon so I don't miss out on April's FMQ Challenge.

Happy Quilting!

Kathy

The T-shirt Quilt Adventure!

In October our pastor asked our small quilting group if we would consider making a T-shirt quilt for his daughter from t-shirts collected from various United Methodist youth gatherings.  The group agreed and we were given 13 t-shirts with 36 images!  None of us, as far as I know, had made a t-shirt quilt before.  The shirts sat, gathering dust, for a month before I finally bit the bullet and volunteered to take on the project.  If nothing else, I figured it would be good practice - my daughter has been saving t-shirts for several years!

The good part!

I'll get to the good part first... I finished it!  It turned out so much better than I expected.  Here's what it looks like.  I'll post close-ups too.

Kelsey's T-shirt Quilt

And now, for the rest of the story...

Since I hadn't made a t-shirt quilt before, I started searching the internet for instructions.  I knew people that had made them, and understood the basics of cutting them into squares and putting sashing around them so they'd all be the same size.  I had heard how I would have to stabilize them with iron-on interfacing before sewing them together.

But then I found Too Cool T-shirt Quilts.  They had a unique setting that really gave the quilt pizzaz!  And I didn't have to use the interfacing, which I've never liked even in my regular clothes sewing (I use the sew in kind).  I ordered their book and I was off on my adventure!

The first thing I did was make a sample quilt from my husbands old t-shirts and several different types of batting.  The batting was scraps from my friend, Millie's, longarm quilting business.  

Top to bottom - fluffy poly, flat poly, cotton blend, cotton.  Right side spray basted, left size pinned

I also tried June Tailor Quilt Basting Spray and pin basting.  And then I tried my hand at some free motion quilting, which I had never done before either!  Leah Day inspired me with her designs, her clear instructions, and her encouragement, all from her website!  It didn't turn out half bad.  I decided I could actually do this!

I also put this sample through the wash on laundry day.  I wanted to see if the basting spray washed out, and how much those battings would shrink.  Well, the glue stuff was still a bit sticky, and made the finished product more stiff than I liked.  And the cotton definitely shrunk up too much for what I had in mind, so I decided to go with a polyester batting and pin basting.

Kelsey

The first question I'm asked when I show the quilt is "You didn't use interfacing?  How'd you keep it from stretching?"  Well, I spray starched the bejeezus out of each shirt before I cut it!  And I moved my squares as little as possible before sewing.  Instead, in order to lay out the quilt, I took pictures of each shirt and imported them into Microsoft Publisher, where I re-sized the images to the exact size, cropped them, and moved them around.  I managed to use all 36 images (only had to trim one down) and had to add one blank block.  My friend Joan, embroidered Kelsey's name on it for me. 

puzzle pieces

Next up, batting.  I had it all picked out, I just had to find it at the store.  Remember, my sample was a cast off from Millie... and Millie had flown south for the winter...  Two quilt stores and three trips to Joann Fabrics later and I couldn't find it anywhere!  On one of the trips to Joann's, I purchased a batting, but when I got it home I decided it was too thin and not an even thickness. So back I went.  I finally settled on a wonderful 50% rayon (from bamboo), 50% cotton batting by Fairfield.  This stuff is soft and cuddly and drapes really nicely, and can be quilted up to 8" apart.  I must have been at the store for an hour and a half going "should I or shouldn't I..."  I did get sticker shock when I checked out.  Original price for a queen-sized batting was $57.00!!! Thank goodness for the half-off sale plus a 30% coupon on top of that. :-)

Michelangelo - Creation of Adam

I was still worried about the cotton shrinkage though.  So, I filled my bathtub with really hot water and let the batting soak for a half hour.  Unfortunately, when I drained the water I found that there was no way I could get the water all squeezed out of it.  It would take a year to dry!!  I took a chance and put it into my front-loading washer to spin out... Oh no!! My washer doesn't have a spin only cycle!!  It has a rinse and spin, but no spin only.  Praying (appropriate for this quilt!) I sent it through the rinse cycle on the comforter setting, and then sent it through the dryer.  Thankfully, it came out fine!

Methodist Cross and Flame symbol

 

My new found free motion quilting skills!   

Some of the squares lent themselves naturally to tracing the design.  

For the others, I looked for simple clip art of Christian symbols.

Once again, I took them to Publisher to enlarge them to the correct size, and I printed them on regular computer paper.  Then I “sewed” on the lines with no thread, to perforate the paper, and “pounced” baby powder through the holes to mark the pattern on the quilt.

"pouncing" the pattern

baby powder pattern

I found that the powder brushed off too quickly though, so I traced the powdery designs with a marking pencil or water soluble pen.  About halfway through quilting I started worrying that all the powder, chalk marks, and marking pencils and pens might not wash out completely.

pattern traced with a chalk pencil

one border all marked!

 

the finished flame

The border is actually the Methodist flame with a mirror image of it.  It looked really neat as a single flame chain, but that left too large of an area without quilting.  Some people thought that the pattern was a weird flower.  Others saw uplifting hands, and still others saw a dove coming down.

     

butterflies

For quilting I used Coats and Clarck 40 wt. tri-lobal polyester because I really wanted the sheen of the thread.  I tried several different types of sewing machine needles from embroidery ones to jeans needles to ball point needles specifically for knit fabrics.  The thread just kept shredding.

 

 

winds of change

 

I settled on the size 16 jeans needle because it seemed to work the best.I started with a variegated rainbow color but decided it really didn't look as good as I thought it would, so I switched to gray on top and red on the bottom (to match the backing). 

Add caption

 I used the "people" on this block as a pattern to fill in the large, unprinted area.  My daughter thinks this little guy is "creepy."

 And that brings me to the end of my saga with the t-shirt quilt.  I love the way it turned out. The quilting isn't as good as I would like, mostly due to thread problems, but it's great for my first try!

Hope you enjoyed my adventure!

~ Kathy

Even more pictures!

lamb

 

freehand squiggly lines

Sonshine!

pitcher, basin and cloth

bread and cup

I know I already have a shot of this square, but I liked how this picture turned out.