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.

One of my WIPs

 

At the moment, just an hourglass quilt for my cousins baby boy.  I'm trying to decide if I should add sashing around the blocks or a framing border.  This weekend I'm starting on a quilt that I will be donating to a silent auction to benefit a family in our town.  Jody, the mom, is battling stage 4 brain cancer and has also battled breast cancer a couple of years ago.   Hopefully we raise lots of money to help out with the huge medical bills...

I just had to post this picture...It's my absolute favorite from my trip to Maine.  My sis in law wrote a message in the sand for me!

Check out other WIPs over at Freshly Pieced

Maine was AWESOME!!!!!!!

On this trip I crossed three items off my Bucket List...
1.  Vacation in Maine
2.  Visit and play in Niagara Falls
3.  Eat at the Hard Rock Cafe (I'm a huge music buff)
Now I have to make a new list!  Here's some of the best memories of the trip...

                                                              Niagara Falls @ night

                                     The Falls during the day from the Maid of the Mist boat ride

                          Me and the Hubby IN the Falls @ Cave of the Winds on the Hurricane Deck

And Jenni, my sis in law, the reason for the trip!  She is part of Project Puffin (help save the puffins!) and does puffin tours with Hardy Boat Cruises.  We took her tour out of New Harbor, Me to see the puffins and my hubby got to drive the boat...

                                                 Me, the Hubby, Captian Russ and Jenni

                                   

                                                 All of us @ Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

                                                 This is my favorite pic from the whole trip!

The trip ended on a great note but unfortunately reality was waiting to slap me upside the head when I got home.  My youngest son who is 10yrs old had been having ankle pain and swelling before we left for the trip, so we had to wait to see the doc when we got home.  After looking at x-rays the doc sent us to an orthopedic specialist in Madison at the children's hospital.  They ran tests and did an MRI and sent us home to await results.  They called to tell us he has a benign bone tumor and a stress fracture due to the bone weakening from the tumor.  We now have to see another ortho specialist to figure out how to remove the tumor and strengthen the bone and not destroy the growth plate.  He is now in a removable "boot" to stabilize the bone and can't do much but watch tv and play video games which is very hard for him.  He's very active and is the dare devil in the family (always the first to jump out off the tree, off the roof ect...)  Any ideas to keep him busy?  Being a boy he's not much into crafts or coloring and is very grouchy since he can't burn off all the extra energy!

On the upside, I finished a quilt and have two more I will be working on.  One is to donate to help raise money for a family in our town.  Jody is a mom of two and is battling stage 4 brain cancer and she also fought with breast cancer a few years back.   On September 15 there will be a benefit and a silent auction and hopefully the quilt I donate will bring in a lot of money to help Jody and the family!

It's FINALLY time!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH!!  Tomorrow morning we leave on our trip to Maine!! (I'm doing the happy dance right now)  I finally  get to see my sis in law!  It's been two years and I can't wait to see her.  On the way there we are going to send a day at Niagara Falls & then on to Maine.  In the mean time, here are some pics of my furry babies.

This is Mickey Moose...

This is Marley Brulee....

And this is Pepper....He is now in kitty heaven and we miss him.