More swap blocks...the US blocks

I am out of the hospital and back to trying to pick up my handwork once again. I am very tired but the treatments went well. They gave me three days of isolation at home. That is very short compared to normal as my body is releasing all the excess radioactivity very well. I now have to play the waiting game. It will be a year before they know if the treatment is a success. With lots of luck, I may find a 15% reduction in the swelling by about 4 months. I do have to have everything tested once again in 6 weeks as it is almost certain that the treatment will result in my thyroid no longer functioning properly and I will have to take medication. I just pray the treatments are successful so I can breath and eat well again.

These are the quilt blocks that my quilt group received from the ladies in the US. They all live in and around Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Karen led the group on that side. She and I have been visiting each other's blogs for some time now. She asked me if we could maybe organize a swap. It has been great fun!

Here is Karen's block - wool pennies made from cotton fabrics...


Paulette's block - Pinwheel made of MN State fabrics by Moda


Jolene's block - Old Maid Puzzle


Kari's block - Northern Lights


Carolyn's block - Stripes and Star


Joyce's block - Lady of the Lake


Mary Ellen's block - Kaleidoscope


Carri Jane's block - Hole In The Barndoor


Marcia's block - Friendship Star


Ruthie's block - Fall Strip Piecing


Gail's block - Card Trick


Liz's block - Buggy Barn Star


If you missed the entry about the Dutch blocks sent over to the US, you can still see them here. I will be back sometime over the weekend with an update on some things I am working on. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Letters of life...

As many of you know, I am having radioactive treatments at the hospital this week. I found out on Monday that I am not allowed to bring my needlework if I have to be admitted. Just in case I did have to stay in the hospital, I started these French monogram letters for a birthday gift for a friend. Her birthday is towards the end of my isolation period. I had planned on working on these while in isolation. Here are the letters 'S' and 'L'. I will have to stitch the 'T' when I am re


I was told this morning that my dose will be too high and I will be admitted tomorrow morning. I hope to be at a low enough radiation level to be able to leave the hospital during the day on Thursday. I have found it all going very easy for all the tests and measurements yesterday and today. Anything I take along will become radioactive and will be disposed of. I am wearing old clothes that can be thrown away when I am discharged.I do however not feel very good about coping with being without my needle and thread for even 24 hours. I am definately addicted! But I am also grateful for the good care I am getting at the hospital.


For now, I am off back home to cuddle my cat and get some sleep for tomorrow morning.I am writing this blog entry from my friend Sonja's house now as she wanted to cook for us tonight. Thank you Sonja!

I will be back in a couple of days and visiting you all once again.

Sweet dreams...

This sweet little child's bed really caught my eye at the quilt exhibition in the Fries Museum. I love things like this along with little quilts made especially to fit these elegant girl's toys. It is a special piece of social history.

It made me think of the antique cradle I have and decided to show these old photos once again. I had just given a workshop for a tabletopper quilt and had lots of triangle corners that were cut off. Instead of throwing them away. I sewed them together and created a little doll's quilt. I was very happy with the results of this tiny pinwheel quilt. I had been dreaming of finding a doll's bed or cradle one day.

While out shopping one day with a friend, I found this antique cradle in a garden center that also sells antiques. I just knew it was the one I wanted even though it is tattered and worn. I loved the primitive looking paintings around the cradle. I said to my friend as I place it in my car that I was sure it would be just right for my quilt. She laughed but was amazed when we got it home and it was a perfect fit.


"Sweet dreams form a shade,
O'er my lovely infants head.
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams,
By happy silent moony beams

Sweet sleep with soft down.
Weave thy brows an infant crown.
Sweet sleep Angel mild,
Hover o'er my happy child."

~ William Blake

Shamrock fun!

Last year, I wanted to make something for St. Patrick's Day but just never got around to it. This year, I am ready for March 17th to arrive as my house is all in clover...


I saved this sweet pattern and it was so much fun to make these shamrocks. I did not 'grunge' (dirty look) them as the pattern suggested. I like these fabrics from my stash as they are.

I used gold safety pins instead of the rusted ones. To me St. Patrick's Day says leprechauns and the pot of gold. Still looking for both by the way...

I wonder if anyone will believe this when they come through my front door? *grins*

It was fun making these muslin tags to attach. I had to draw the letters freehand as I don't have a stamp but am pleased with how they have turned out. Having learned calligraphy as a girl really does come in handy.

Note to all who have been supporting me through the health problems with my thyroid, I wanted to let everyone know that I just spoke with the doctor and the biopsy was okay. She is not happy with the amount of cells removed and wants to repeat it in 4 to 6 months to be sure but says I can go ahead with my treatments starting on Monday. I will not know until Tuesday whether I am able to go into my isolation here at home or start it with a hospital stay. I also have no idea yet how long the isolation will be but it is a maximum of three weeks. Thank goodness for blogging as it will keep me in touch with the world. I am used to seeing my stitching and quilting friends here and while I am allowed to have visitors it is with restrictions. I will leave them the choice as to whether they want to come or not. Thank you so much for your supportive emails! I really do appreciate it and all your thoughts and prayers over the past month.

History thread into patchwork

If you do nothing else this weekend, take some time to look at these beautiful patchwork skirts. They are not just any skirts but garments that tell a story of people's hope and courage. At the Fries Museum, they exhibited a few of what is referred to in Holland as a Nationale Feestrok or National Celebration skirts. These patchwork garments tell a very deep story about a country that was torn apart but not defeated by a war as well as the story of a courageous woman named Mies Boissevain-Van Lennep.


You can read her story here online and also see another skirt here at another museum. I think after you have read this story, you will not help but to be inspired by the fortitude of those who went ahead of us in history. For Dutch readers, another interesting article here.


1940 - 1945 "Bent, not broken"...

The Jewish star...

Red cross patch...

I am always touched at how woman turn to needle and thread to leave an imprint of themselves in history. Remember as you perhaps sit down this weekend to stitch or quilt, that your piece is not simply something for today but can also have an impact on your family as an heirloom for coming generations.

It's laundry day...

...and that means work is being done on my wash day quilt. I have lots of fun while I wait for my washer to switch off. I am pulling out fabrics from my stash to add more colors and textures to this quilt.

Here is what I have come up with so far. I hope to get most of blocks sewn together now this week as I have it all laying out on my cutting table. While trying to find enough reproduction background fabrics, I started borrowing the fabrics I am using for my Centennial Sampler. They are melding very well with the other fabrics. I want to use many of my purple fabrics in this quilt.


It was a fobbing weekend this past weekend for me. I got started as I needed to make a fob as a gift. I think I got a little carried away. I made key chains this time too. They are birthday gifts for my grand nieces and nephew.


And finally, here is my French ABC sampler all caught up. My goal was to be right on track with everyone in the SAL by the end of February and I finished it with a week to spare. The new part should be out this week and I am excited to print it out and start it because there is a sweet little squirrel this time.

I had many questions about what color I was using for my sampler. I am using DMC 3787, DMC 3721 and DMC 223. I am enjoying balancing these three colors throughout the sampler.

For the love of old quilts...

I just love old quilts. I love the feeling these special textiles give when you see them. So I arranged to go to a quilt exhibition with some of my quilting friends this past week. There is even something here for stitchers so keep on reading...


Imagine our shock at seeing this color, among others you will see later, as a backdrop to these incredible pieces of history! I must admit I would like to see them all over again simply because I see that I was so distracted by the walls and the way they were hung. More on that with the next photo! I hope you will be able to enjoy that photos regardless and remember that they can be enlarged by clicking on them. I have purposely left them as is instead of cropping the walls away. Get ready for a clashing colorful ride...


This wall 'hit' us as the first thing when we walked in the room. We were all horrified that they hung these quilts so high. You had the urge to want to pull them all down again to wear a normal human being could see them. I felt like I could not make contact with them even visually.

I felt like Little Sprout from the Jolly Green Giant commercials but still loved seeing what I could of these beauties. These are my kind of muted colors in a quilt!


This looks very Amish ~ a log cabin quilt in the Barn Raising setting.

A blended quilt as those that inspired the books by Marsha McCloskey and Sharon Evans Yenter.

This one is similar to my wash day quilt.

This was a sweet display of little samples and an early fabric sample book.

A pretty sampler from an early day. Have you put on your sunglasses yet to hide from those walls? *grins*

I will be sharing more of the dresses this week over on my other blog but this one was set up so cute right in front of the pretty hourglass quilt. Can't you just imagine the little girl who wore this dress?

In the medallion center of the hoursglass quilt were the stitched initials and date of the quilter. The label becomes part of the quilt. Not only does this add to the intrigue of the quilt's history, I pondered how I get upset with myself if my points are not just right. I am redoing a block I just did as I noticed on the photo that I had it sewn poorly in the points. But this quilt is simply a labor of love and not perfection. And I find this utterly charming!

I only took two photos of the modern quilts in this room. I am never drawn to modern quilts. I do admire their workmanship. One of my friends loved this quilt and I wanted to be sure to try and get a photo for her in case hers did not come out. We were rightly not able to use a flash and it was difficult to get clear photos.

This modern quilt really does appeal to me as it combines the old and the new together.

I will continue sharing the quilt show with you later this coming week. I hope you enjoyed looking closely as some pretty old quilt!

A gift for Karen

When I mailed the swap box to Karen, I decided to throw in some Dutch candy and cookies for her to enjoy. I also made her a scissor fob. I know she likes autumn tones as I do so I created the fob using an rust brown beading and a stork scissor charm.

Once the quilt group has seen the blocks at our next meeting, I will share the American blocks with you. That will be sometime after the first week of March.