September 19, 2016

Look Who "Popped" into Town!

For my 2nd entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I'm posting my original design Mary Poppins quilt.  

I created this quilt from a old cross stitch pattern I never seemed to have finished in the 90's.  The quilt pattern was totally drafted in Excel (stems from my daily spreadsheet nerdiness!) and created in 10" blocks.  This allowed me to work on any block I wanted to help break up the process.  I saved most of the harder blocks til the end!  The quilt was started in June 2015 and I just finished it up in July 2016, just in time to enter it into the State Fair of Texas.  Sadly, I didn't place, but just taking the plunge and putting myself out there was enough pressure for me this year.  Hopefully next year I can create something worthy of a winning ribbon.

I created this especially for my younger sister who absolutely LOVES Mary Poppins. She even has the top part of this same image tattooed on her upper arm. She is truly an inspiration to me. Though we lost touch for about 14 years, we recently (the past 2-ish years) have become reacquainted and I've learned of the hardships she's had to endure during the time we lost touch. She suffers from Neuromyelitis Optica which is a rare disorder caused by the immune system attacking the body’s healthy cells, with attacks directed mostly against the eyes and spinal cord. This causes inflammation of the spinal cord and optic nerve, which can cause loss of vision, mobility, and sensation. Although there is no cure for NMO, investigators are seeking a treatment to prevent additional attacks or relapses.  Together with NMO, she is the super-mom to two kids in the Autism Spectrum.  She and her husband are true angels on earth for all God has given them.

Even though I was hoping to win a ribbon in the fair with this quilt and have it hang for all to see who visited the fair, that just means that I am that much closer to gifting it to her.  It's going to be a total surprise!!

The finished quilt measures about 65" x 100".  The top is made from only Kona Black and White.  The back is a lovely cloud fabric that I purchased online as well as the rainbow paint-stroked binding.

I hope that this quilt will give her comfort when she is feeling down or has to go have her port flushed or to snuggle up under when she's receiving chemo treatments.  I want it to be a constant reminder that I love her and am always here for her.  She lives in Utah and I in Texas.  Not too far away, but still too far to hug her every time she needs it.  Hopefully this quilt will help fill that void.










My local longarm quilter, Janie, did a spectacular job on the quilting.  It's called Popcorn, but totally looks like puffs of clouds!

Enjoy!
Jenn



#QuiltsforPulse

Hello quilty friends!  Man I need to obviously get off Instagram and get back to blogging!  It has been quite some time since I've posted. Well there is a perfectly good reason!  I've been SO busy quilting!!  Yes I have been on quite a role lately.  I hope to be posting several more posts of what all I've been up to lately because if I tried to post it all here, I'm afraid you'd be reading for days!

First up is one that I'll be sharing on Blogger's Quilt Festival in the ROYGBIV category hosted by Amy Ellis!

So let's start off with a very special project that I just completed and mailed off last month to Orlando, FL. Alissa Lapinsky, the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild President, made a plea to all quilters far and wide, either guilds or individuals, to help out with making/assembling blocks/quilts for the victim's families and first responders/medical personnel of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting that occurred on June 12.  Such a horrible and senseless act.

As quilters, when someone is hurt, we just want to help and Alissa had the brilliant idea for her fellow quilters to make heart blocks or whole quilts to donate to the people who were affected by this tragedy.  

The movement flooded Instagram like a California wildfire and of course, I jumped right on board!  Any and all quilts would be accepted, but Alissa thought it would be great for us to use the heart block pattern on Cluckclucksew's website in bright rainbow colors.

So I started sewing and the more blocks I made, the more I wanted to see it through to the very end and make a whole quilt!!  All the fabric came from my stash (are you not surprised?!?!).  The backing is a clover print vintage sheet that I thought would be perfect for this project as that is what these people need most- a bit of LUCK.  I did have to buy the binding fabric.  I thought the rainbow polka dots really finished it off.

I am proud to say that mine will be donated to someone in need in Orlando.  You can check out the Orlando Modern Quilt's blog for pictures of quilts/blocks that have been donated thus far.  Or Alissa posts pics alot on Instagram - just look for her feed under orlandomqg.  To date, over 800+ quilts have been donated to this cause!  Way to go fellow quilters!!












The rainbow stripe block was inspired by a pattern on Jaybirdquilt's blog.  So fun and easy to make.

Enjoy!
Jenn