Saturday, May 10, 2014

For Pinks Sakes Blog Hop!


Hi, all!

I’d like to thank you for joining me for the first day of the For Pinks Sakes blog hop!  When Anna, who blogs at Life Sew Crafty, first contacted me about a blog hop that would spread awareness of breast cancer and, more specifically, help out her mother-in-law who is batting this disease, I was happy and excited to join in.  As you know, this is a cause near and dear to my heart.  Here, in her own words, is her story...

“My mother-in-law, Tina, was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2012.  She’s been through radiation, chemo, and several surgeries since then.  All of this has resulted in enormous amounts of medical bills, despite decent insurance.  She’s such an amazing woman, smiling through all of the treatments and staying upbeat.  She is a medical technician and gives back to her patients when her medical issues don’t keep her out of work.”

She has asked each of the participants in this blog hop to create a pink block and share the tutorial for the block.  The blocks that are made by the participants will be sent to Anna.  She will take them and make a quilt that she plans to donate to the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion in Grand Rapids, MI, where Tina has had all of her treatments.  By the way, you too can join in the creation of the donation quilt - if you want to send her a block to be included in the quilt, check out Anna's post here for the specifics!

And if you’d like to help out with Tina’s medical expenses, you can make a donation by clicking on this link (www.gofundme.com/85ao94)  No amount is too small - I hope you’ll take a few minutes to visit the site and help her.
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Did you know that although deaths cause by breast cancer increased slowly from 1975 to 1990, since 1990 breast cancer deaths have decreased by 34%!  This decline is due to improved breast cancer treatment and early detection.

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And now, here are the blocks I created for the hop! I tried to limit it to one, but all three of these kept coming up in my drawings and wouldn’t go away!  After I played around with them a bit in EQ7, I realized that they worked well together, so I’ll be sharing some of those quilt designs after I show you the blocks.

The first two are pretty simple - just scrappy patchwork blocks with various size patches.

Block #1


Here’s the blow-out of the block, showing how it’s assembled.  


The center is made of 1.5” squares, the next ring is 2.5” squares, and the outer ring is 3.5” squares.  The finished block should measure 12.5” square.

Block #2
Here’s the blowout of this block, showing how it's assembled.  


In this block, the center is made of 3.5” squares, the next ring of 2.5” squares, and the outer ring is made of 1.5” squares.  The finished block should measure 12.5” square.

Block #3



 Block #3 is a bit more complicated.  Here’s the blowout of the block.  In this block, the center is made of 1.5” squares.  


Now take a 3.25” square and cut it diagonally in both directions to create 4 triangles. 

Sew two of the triangles to opposing sides of the four patch unit.  Press.  Sew the remaining two triangles to the other two sides.  Press.  Trim the block to 3.25”, or square up by trimming the block to leave a 1/4 inch seam allowance beyond each of the points of the center 4-patch.

Using your 1 7/8” squares, sew together two strips of 3 squares.  Sew one 1 7/8” square  to opposing sides of the center four-patchpiece you created in the previous step. Press.  Sew the 3-piece strips to the remaining two sides.  

Now take two 5” squares and cut them diagonally in one direction to create four triangles (two from each square).  


Sew two of the triangles to opposing sides of the four patch unit.  Press.  Sew the remaining two triangles to the other two sides.  Press.  Trim the block to 8 3/8”, or square up by trimming the block to leave a 1/4 inch seam allowance beyond each of the corners of the 1 7/8” square strips.

Using your 2.5” squares, sew together two strips of four squares and two strips of six squares.  Sew a four-square strip to each of two opposing sides.  Press.  Sew a six-square strip to each of the other two sides.  Press.  Your block is finished!

And here are some quilts you can create using one or more of these blocks.
Using Blocks #1 and #2
Blocks #1 and #2 on point
Block #2 on point

Blocks #1 and #3 on point
Block #1 and #3

Block #1 and #3 on point

Block #3 on point

And then there's my personal favorites, the chevrons!
Block #1

Block #3
Block #2

Can you tell I really enjoy playing with EQ7?  

Be sure to check out the other stops on the blog hop!  


May 10
May 24

June 7

June 21

July 5

July 19


And remember, if you'd like to contribute a block to Anna's efforts, you can find the block specs and mailing info here.  She's having a giveaway on 8/2 to celebrate the blog hop, and each block sent in earns one entry.  There are also entries for donations to her mother-in-law's fund.  You can read more about the giveaway here.
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Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoy the blocks!  I really appreciate your patience, too, as I learn to use some diagramming programs to create tutorials.  It's quite a learning curve!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow, too - Karrie Lyne of Freckled Whimsy will be our guest blogger as part of the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  I cannot wait to see what she's come up with - she has such great quilt designs!

Hugs!

Sarah
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Friday, May 9, 2014

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Catching Up, and a Winner!!!

Hi, all!

 It's Friday again, summer is almost here, and the weather is finally gorgeous!  I attended Lilli's kindergarten program tonight - it's hard to believe she's finishing up her first year of real school!  She did a great job - quite an improvement from her 3-year-old preschool program, when she danced behind her classmates, laid down on the steps of the stage, and generally created mayhem!

 So - - - are you ready to get your whoop whoop on?  I think I'll share mine first, then announce the winner of last week's giveaway.  I've got a few finishes that I'm particularly proud of to share this week!

This quilt is a great example of God making sure we have exactly what we need when we need it!   We received a request for a quilt for a man who was just diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.  He in his 40s, works repairing Harleys, and his favorite colors are black and orange.  When I went to see what was available for a quilt for him, I found this great stack of American Chopper prints and panels, and the black and orange flame print!  A little drafting on graph paper, a few solids and voila!  A great biker-friendly quilt!

Next is the swoon quilt - completely finished and ready for gifting!    I had fun quilting this one - some of it still looks drunk but it was an enjoyable experience.  And it has great texture!


And then there's the Celtic Solstice quilt - blocks pieced and donated by Sharon, and I put it all together and quilted it!  This quilt is so beautiful - I already took it to church to remove the temptation to keep it!  It will be a wonderful quilty hug for someone in need very soon...

  
So - - - can I get a whoop whoop??

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And now, the moment many of you have been waiting for!  First of all, let me say that I appreciate every one of my followers, and wish I could send each and every one of you a big prize package to say thank you!  But since I can't, let's find out whose name was chosen by Little Miss Random….


I love the Pam Kitty fabrics, I fell hard for the "morning" line, so I would say a supply of all of the Pam Kitty lines from the past, the present and the future would make me super happy.

Just in case: (m3reyna at gmail dot com)

Monica, I'll be contacting you by email today to get your snail mail info!  Congratulations!
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And now it's your turn!

What's made you dance the happy dance this week?


Share - we want to dance along with you!

And remember - it doesn't have to be a finish -
just something that makes you happy!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - Be sure to stop by tomorrow for the For Pinks Sake Blog Hop!  



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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Upcoming Blog Hops!


Hi, all!

 I wanted to take a few minutes to give you a heads-up about some blog hops I will be participating in during the month of May…
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This coming Saturday, May 10th, this blog will be one of the first stops in the For Pinks Sakes Blog Hop, hosted by Anna of Life Sew Crafty.  The purpose of this hop is to increase breast cancer awareness and help raise funds to cover her mother-in-law's medical expenses in her battle with breast cancer.   The hop starts May 10th and new posts will go up every two weeks until July 19th.  The blocks made by each of the participants will be sent to Anna, who will turn them into a quilt to be donated to the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion in Grand Rapids, Michigan in honor of her mother-in-law.  You can also participate in this worthy cause by creating and sending blocks to Anna.  You can read more about this endeavor by clicking here.
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And then there's the American Made Brand blog tour!  Designed to take you on an inspired (and inspiring!) trip across the USA, the blog tour visits all fifty states over twenty-five days, from May 19th to June 20th. 

 Bloggers have been chosen from each of the fifty states to represent the state they call home.  I'm so excited to have been chosen to represent the great state of Tennessee!  We are each designing our version of our state's 12" x 6" state license plate in a finished block of the same size, using American Made Brand solid cottons. You'll find all types of blocks, and you're going to want to collect them all!

 The full schedule of the blog tour can be seen by clicking here.  Tennessee's block will make its grand debut on May 28th - I hope you'll stop by then and let me know what you think!
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 So there are some exciting things happening here this month - a little out of the ordinary, but it's all good!  

 Hugs!

 Sarah

 PS - There's still time to enter my 1000 Followers Giveaway!  You have until Thursday at 6 pm CST to enter - winner will be announced on Friday's Whoop Whoop Linky Party! Click here to throw your name in the hat!!
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