Went down to drop off the four Snuggle mini-quilts today. None of the people there had any idea what we were talking about. I showed them some information, and recognition still did not dawn. (We ended up waiting 30 minutes for the shelter manager to show up, and she, at least, knew what they were for without the explanation.)
It got me to thinking about how the way that people or organizations receive your gifts (be they material items or gifts of your time) makes a big difference.
Our Project Linus coordinator does a wonderful job with this. She sends her volunteers photocopies of the thank you letters that the hospitals, shelters, etc., send to PL so we can see that what we do is making a difference. This keeps us feeling positive and enthusiastic about the organization and about our roles in it. It makes us feel appreciated.
I think there is probably a lesson in here for me about trying to show more appreciation when people spend time and effort on me as well.
So, for starters: it means a lot to me when people respond to my posts here. It makes me feel that you are listening, and that you care. It also inspires me to keep going here, so if you enjoy my updates, know that your responses help to make them happen! Thank you all, very much!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
PJs
We went to JoAnn's last night to pick up some thread. Of course I could not get out of the store without browsing. In the sale section, I found some flannel for $3/yard, and we were able to stack a 40% off coupon on that, which made it a very good deal indeed.
The flannel is ice blue, and has little white kitty faces and fossil fishes in pink and aqua and white, as well as a non-standard rendering of feline speech - "meiow." The fabric was manufactured overseas, so I am just declaring that to be a regional dialect of Cat ;) [Found a semi-blurry pic online, if you are curious]
I bought 5 yards intending to use it to back Snuggles, but I've kind of fallen in love with the idea of using some of the yardage to make PJ pants too.
(Even Stacey and Clinton can't taunt me too much for age-inappropriate garb if I just use it as PJs, right?)
The flannel is ice blue, and has little white kitty faces and fossil fishes in pink and aqua and white, as well as a non-standard rendering of feline speech - "meiow." The fabric was manufactured overseas, so I am just declaring that to be a regional dialect of Cat ;) [Found a semi-blurry pic online, if you are curious]
I bought 5 yards intending to use it to back Snuggles, but I've kind of fallen in love with the idea of using some of the yardage to make PJ pants too.
(Even Stacey and Clinton can't taunt me too much for age-inappropriate garb if I just use it as PJs, right?)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
You are what you quilt
Here's the first round of tops for the Snuggle quilt(let)s:
You'll notice that I did end up doing a bunch of Crazy Quilt blocks in the end. They may be slower to sew, but to me, their spontaneity and randomness makes them more fun to make than Disappearing 9 Patch blocks. Plus I get to use all the tiny pieces that have been sitting in my scrap bag forever!
You'll notice that I did end up doing a bunch of Crazy Quilt blocks in the end. They may be slower to sew, but to me, their spontaneity and randomness makes them more fun to make than Disappearing 9 Patch blocks. Plus I get to use all the tiny pieces that have been sitting in my scrap bag forever!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Whee, flying monkeys!
The monkeys and their quilt are currently flying on their way to Michele, and should be there tomorrow before noon!
Here is a shot I took immediately after I tied off the last knot in the thread I was using to stitch the back of the binding. (If you click on the image to see the larger version, you can see a bit of a dimensional look to the squares. That's what happens when you stitch "in the ditch" between blocks. It is a pretty neat effect.)
Here is a shot I took immediately after I tied off the last knot in the thread I was using to stitch the back of the binding. (If you click on the image to see the larger version, you can see a bit of a dimensional look to the squares. That's what happens when you stitch "in the ditch" between blocks. It is a pretty neat effect.)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Not a mad cow
Yesterday we went in to the local Red Cross blood center to fulfill a little goal of mine.
We'd tried to give blood as a group back on 9/11. It seems everyone else in our area had exactly the same idea, so the blood center was swamped, and since my type O+ sister was pregnant (with Liam) and could not donate, and none of the rest of us had especially useful blood types, they told us to come back another day.
The next time I tried, they'd put the Mad Cow disease restrictions in place. I had spent a quarter abroad, which meant, I thought, that I was no longer eligible to give at all. I felt downhearted, but consoled myself that my type AB+ blood could only be used by 3% of the population anyway.
However, while having a conversation with my friend Katie, who works at a blood center, I learned that, while AB+ isn't that useful as whole blood, it is actually the universal donor for platelets and plasma (components of blood). Once I heard that, I had to see if there was any possible way for me to donate. (After all, platelets are used to help cancer patients, and this could be one more thing I could start to do in honor of my Finny.) NB: I believe that AB+ actually is only the universal donor for plasma, although there is conflicting info on this online.
So I wrote to my overseas center to see how much time I actually did spend in England. The response I got back was crystal clear: quarters are always exactly 11 weeks long. I was safe by a week!
I thought I would see if I could get DH to donate blood at the same time so we could make a morning of it. He was reluctant at first, and finally admitted to a fear of needles. But after some negotiation, we struck a bargain, and he agreed to give it a shot.
Yesterday was the day. We both passed the screening, so he headed to the general area to wait to donate blood, and I went off to give platelets. I will spare you the details as I know some people don't like to hear about medical things, but I will just say my experience wasn't too much different from giving regular blood, except that it took longer. DH was able to go and drop off a box of Linus quilts with our coordinator while I was still lying back in my comfy chair watching the movie they'd set up for me.
When I was done, I walked over to see DH talking with one of the receptionists. They were talking about the next time he was eligible to donate - seems he had gone ahead and started booking his next appointment on the spot! Apparently he not only got around his fear of needles this one time, but has moved past that fear for good! :)
We'd tried to give blood as a group back on 9/11. It seems everyone else in our area had exactly the same idea, so the blood center was swamped, and since my type O+ sister was pregnant (with Liam) and could not donate, and none of the rest of us had especially useful blood types, they told us to come back another day.
The next time I tried, they'd put the Mad Cow disease restrictions in place. I had spent a quarter abroad, which meant, I thought, that I was no longer eligible to give at all. I felt downhearted, but consoled myself that my type AB+ blood could only be used by 3% of the population anyway.
However, while having a conversation with my friend Katie, who works at a blood center, I learned that, while AB+ isn't that useful as whole blood, it is actually the universal donor for platelets and plasma (components of blood). Once I heard that, I had to see if there was any possible way for me to donate. (After all, platelets are used to help cancer patients, and this could be one more thing I could start to do in honor of my Finny.) NB: I believe that AB+ actually is only the universal donor for plasma, although there is conflicting info on this online.
So I wrote to my overseas center to see how much time I actually did spend in England. The response I got back was crystal clear: quarters are always exactly 11 weeks long. I was safe by a week!
I thought I would see if I could get DH to donate blood at the same time so we could make a morning of it. He was reluctant at first, and finally admitted to a fear of needles. But after some negotiation, we struck a bargain, and he agreed to give it a shot.
Yesterday was the day. We both passed the screening, so he headed to the general area to wait to donate blood, and I went off to give platelets. I will spare you the details as I know some people don't like to hear about medical things, but I will just say my experience wasn't too much different from giving regular blood, except that it took longer. DH was able to go and drop off a box of Linus quilts with our coordinator while I was still lying back in my comfy chair watching the movie they'd set up for me.
When I was done, I walked over to see DH talking with one of the receptionists. They were talking about the next time he was eligible to donate - seems he had gone ahead and started booking his next appointment on the spot! Apparently he not only got around his fear of needles this one time, but has moved past that fear for good! :)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Blocks and socks
The people from the no-kill shelter called me back today. I am glad I spoke with them before I got started, because I wouldn't have made the snuggle blankets big enough otherwise. (The website says the small size snuggle blankets are about 14" square and the medium 20", but the woman said that 24" would be ideal for them.)
I think I will try making a big nine patch made out of crazy quilt blocks alternating with plain blocks. Maybe I can make some progress on using up some of those random scraps in my scrap bag. I am sure my enthusiasm for this will wane once I see how many hours it actually takes to make crazy quilt blocks, so I have a plan B in mind - to make some Disappearing 9 Patch blocks.
Anyway, this is all for the future. Tonight's plan is to get the sock monkey quilt layered and pinned.
I think I will try making a big nine patch made out of crazy quilt blocks alternating with plain blocks. Maybe I can make some progress on using up some of those random scraps in my scrap bag. I am sure my enthusiasm for this will wane once I see how many hours it actually takes to make crazy quilt blocks, so I have a plan B in mind - to make some Disappearing 9 Patch blocks.
Anyway, this is all for the future. Tonight's plan is to get the sock monkey quilt layered and pinned.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Charities
I was going through some old email and ran across this link to an article and video on Project Linus, which is the charity for which I make quilts. They are wonderful, and I always want to do more to get the word out about them, so take a peek: Project Linus brings comfort to Kids.
Based on a comment from someone on one of my quilt groups, I am also looking into the Snuggles Project that makes teeny snuggle blankets for shelter animals. This seemed like a great opportunity to use up some of the things in my scrap bag that I don't seem to be able to find a place for in other projects. I called our local shelter last weekend to try to get information about what size they prefer, but haven't heard back. If I still haven't heard back from the time I am ready to get started, I guess I can just measure Eisa and Echo and make the size that would best fit them!
Based on a comment from someone on one of my quilt groups, I am also looking into the Snuggles Project that makes teeny snuggle blankets for shelter animals. This seemed like a great opportunity to use up some of the things in my scrap bag that I don't seem to be able to find a place for in other projects. I called our local shelter last weekend to try to get information about what size they prefer, but haven't heard back. If I still haven't heard back from the time I am ready to get started, I guess I can just measure Eisa and Echo and make the size that would best fit them!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Surprise for Kira (Shh!)
My sister and BIL are planning to have Kira start on the cello after she turns 4 in August. (She has met her proposed teacher and has observed a few lessons, and is completely on board with this plan.)
She'll be learning via the Suzuki method. The first piece they always learn is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." So when I found this tiny child's locket on Amazon, I couldn't help but buy it for her. My plan is to send it out as a little surprise after she learns her first song.
Do you think I should print out a tiny photo of her to put inside of it (even temporarily, to establish the idea that it can contain something)? Or should I just leave it up to her to decide?
She'll be learning via the Suzuki method. The first piece they always learn is "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." So when I found this tiny child's locket on Amazon, I couldn't help but buy it for her. My plan is to send it out as a little surprise after she learns her first song.
Do you think I should print out a tiny photo of her to put inside of it (even temporarily, to establish the idea that it can contain something)? Or should I just leave it up to her to decide?
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Blocks for the kitty quilt
Tam requested that I share where I am on the kitty wall hanging for Finny's cancer clinic.
I am still pretty uncertain about how it is coming together. Sometimes when you are auditioning fabrics, there is a moment where the colors start to sing. That's when you know you are good to go. I haven't gotten to that point (yet) with this one.
I may pull some of the individual blocks and substitute others. (For instance, I need to move past my crush on the stars and moons background fabric in the upper lefthand corner so I can admit the color won't really work unless I add at least one other warmer blue into the mix). The hyacinth blue sashing between the blocks is also not set in stone, and the potential border fabric is so up in the air that I am not even showing it.
Part of the struggle is that I really want to get the emotional tone right. The colors need to feel calm and meditative, and avoid coming across as unthinkingly cheerful on the one hand, or brooding and dreary on the other.
Of course, it is all on hold while I work on the monkey quilt!
I am still pretty uncertain about how it is coming together. Sometimes when you are auditioning fabrics, there is a moment where the colors start to sing. That's when you know you are good to go. I haven't gotten to that point (yet) with this one.
I may pull some of the individual blocks and substitute others. (For instance, I need to move past my crush on the stars and moons background fabric in the upper lefthand corner so I can admit the color won't really work unless I add at least one other warmer blue into the mix). The hyacinth blue sashing between the blocks is also not set in stone, and the potential border fabric is so up in the air that I am not even showing it.
Part of the struggle is that I really want to get the emotional tone right. The colors need to feel calm and meditative, and avoid coming across as unthinkingly cheerful on the one hand, or brooding and dreary on the other.
Of course, it is all on hold while I work on the monkey quilt!
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