Surgery Quilts...

On Thursday my son had his surgery to remove a bone tumor in his ankle, so of course he had to have a new surgery quilt!  I put this together in a couple of evenings and had it ready in a nick of time.  I finished it at 12:30 am and we had to leave for the hospital at 4:45 am.  Here he is with all three quilts

 (Can you tell we are from Wisconsin?)

And he had to have a pillow to elevate his ankle.  I'm not to fond of the fabric but it's what he wanted.  He has to keep his ankle elevated for three days.  He's getting a little grouchy from having to lay around and watch TV and play video games.  And he can only walk on it for the next 6 weeks which is going to be a challenge.

And my 8 year old daughter made this the other day...

She loves beads and has made about 50 necklaces, bracelets and rings.

Diamonds in the Rough...

"Diamonds in the Rough"  seemed to be the right name for this one.  I know a few diamonds that are going through rough times right now!  It's going to into a silent auction to help a family in my hometown.  Jody fought breast cancer two years ago, so of course there had to be pink, and now she is battling stage 4 brain cancer.  I chose a backing that has gray and black flowers since gray is the color for brain cancer.

A close up of the block

And on to the next project which is going to be for my youngest son.  When I first started quilting, I jokingly told my kids that if they ever had to have surgery I would make them a quilt.  This little guy of mine will be getting his third quilt for surgery this week!  One for adenoids, one for a hernia and now one for removing a bone tumor in his ankle...  Surprisingly he is happy to have the surgery so he can recover and hopefully be ready for wrestling in December!  Leave it to a kid to be that positive about surgery!!!  I know when I had to go in I was NOT happy about it!

WIP and highlights from Wisconsin Quilt Expo

This is my WIP for this week... I just need to add the last two border strips and get to the quilting and binding.  This quilt is going to be donated to help out a family in my town.  Jody battled breast cancer two years ago and is now battling stage 4 brain cancer and medical bills as well as everyday bills and adding up,  so my hometown is pulling together to help raise money to hopefully ease the financial burden.

And now some of the amazing quilts from the........Wisconsin Quilt Expo!!!

This year was the first time I have been able to go in the five years since my first quilt.  Last year I had to have surgery on the first day of the Expo.  My plan was to hijack a wheelchair and go but it turned out to be major surgery!  So this year I made it happen and I had sensory/fabric/pattern/gadget overload!  After my daughters cross country meet I grabbed her and we took off for Madison.  I talked to so many quilters and had lots of laughs.  The thing I laughed about the most was all the ladies and a few men dragging luggage on wheels, packed to overflowing with quilting goodies, through the crowd.  I was even run over a few times!!!  I'm going to save my pennies until next year and go with a bunch of money!  This year I bought just one charm pack!  Just one-there was so much to see/buy I just could not make up my mind!

Here are some of the quilts that caught my eye (and my daughter's)

I also came to the realization that I am a "modern" quilter for sure!   Among all the traditional quilt booths I found only one "modern" booth.  To me it was a breath of fresh air but I did not get a picture of it...but here is a link Modern Quilts Illustrated Magazine to see some of the quilts that were there.

Also visit Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

Raggedy Ann & Andy

This adorable couple was made by my favorite co-worker Margaret.  She's absolutely wonderful to work with, more like family instead of fellow employee!  These two are going into the silent auction to help out the Solorzano family this Saturday.