End of Year

I tried to finish up some projects and just missed the mark.

I finished this months blocks for Mrs. Lincolns Quilt.

I'm working on this quilt with Julie.


Next is Celebrating Mary Brown.

 As you can see I didn't get it finished.  Also it is a really bad photo.  This is Block 4 Row 1.

Be sure to stop by and see what the others are working on.
Karen, Julie, Nanette and her friend Jan, Jennie, Robin, and Rebecca.  I love how everyone does their blocks.


I also finished a few other blocks.  Here are my Cheddarback blocks.

I made Christmas Table Quilt but I didn't get it quilted so it is going to be a Christmas gift for next year.

It is a large Hexagon.  It looked a little plain till I added the snowflake in the middle.  I used a Sizzix die for the snowflake.

For an early Christmas gift I ordered the Derby House BOM.  It comes with fabric and pattern each month.

I love the fabrics.  I finished these yesterday.  I can't wait to see what blocks we will be working on in January.


Well this year had some low points.  We lost our youngest brother to a brain tumor.  In the last 20 years he had had 2 surgeries to remove the tumor.  They told him each time it would return and it did.  We were lucky to have had him as long as we did.  We miss him so very much.

The second is (as you know) I was diagnosed with breast cancer in September, surgery at the end of October, and Radiation treatments in November and December.  I finished the treatments Dec. 18.  They told me I would feel worse before I felt better...they were right.  My breast looks like it has a sunburn.  But gradually it is getting better.  I see the radiologist on Jan 2 and then I will start taking the hormone reduction pill.

I also had a bone density test which showed I'm in the normal range.  And I saw a geneticist.  They did a blood test.  I was negative for both Brca1 and 2.  And negative for a whole list of things.  Great news for me and my girls.

So here's to the new year.  I know it will be a good year.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'm always glad to hear from you.

Hugs, Cathy

Mary Brown and Mrs. Lincoln

I wonder if they would have been friends....lol

It's the end of the month and time to reveal the next Celebrating Mary Brown block.  It is the 3rd block in the second row.

This is the 3rd month of sew along.  This particular block took days to finish.  I had to keep taking breaks.


I decided to work on Mrs. Lincoln's quilt with Julie.

I am really enjoying it.  I like each month there is a pieced block and an applique block.

Be sure to check out the other's blogs. Karen, Julie, Nanette, Jennie, Robin, Rebecca and Nan's friend Jan.


On the health front.... I started Radiation Therapy.  I have to do a total of 16 treatments.  I have 3 down and 13 to go.  The stress is worse than the treatments.  At least I don't have to go for a long period of time.


On a sad front we lost my brother Steve this week.  He was my baby brother and I will miss him terribly.  He is at peace now and in heaven with my Mom and Dad.  I will miss you baby brother.....

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Few Things

I've gotten a few things done and a few new projects started.

I finished one of the blocks for my Chedddarback quilt.  I still need to make the 5" blocks.

This block looked like it would be hard but was actually an easy block to make.


Next up is a Bluprint kit I purchased a while ago.

It is made from charm squares that are cut into 2 1/2" squares.   I think you could use jelly rolls for this quilt.


I purchased another Bluprint kit.  It was suppose to be blocks made of 16 patch blocks bordered with a contrasting color.  The kit came with 3 jelly rolls.  I decided to make a Scrappy Trip quilt.

I love the colors.  It reminds me of being at the ocean.  Right now I have 6 blocks made.  I'm trying to make a block a day.


That's it for quilting projects.  I have a health update.

I went and saw the surgeon.  It turns out that my tumor was twice the size as they originally thought.  Instead of being 4 cm it was 9 cm.  Still very small.  They told me even though I'm cancer free I'm not done with them.  I go back in 6 months to see her again.

Last week I went for my Radiology consult.  It was a two hour appointment.  We decided that since the tumor was larger I would do Radiation Therapy.  She also checked my Vitamin D levels and they were really low.  So now I am taking Vitamin D.

Yesterday was my Radiology simulation and breathing appointment.  First they checked to see how my films turned out holding my breath compared to breathing shallow.  Thank goodness they were the same so I didn't have to use the machine that stopped you from breathing.  I had to lay on this very uncomfortable table with my left arm in a sling over my head.  I had to stay in that position for 1 1/2 hours.  I hurt all night.  

At this appointment they set up the times for my Radiation treatments.  Since Thanksgiving is next week they are closed Thursday and Friday.  I will be going in on Sunday at 10:20 am for my first appointment.  Then I go everyday at 10:40.  I won't know if I go 3 weeks or 6 weeks until my first appointment.

Wednesday I go and see another Doctor regarding taking the Hormone Reduction pill.  And December 5 I see another doctor regarding Genetic testing.  So I'm going to be a busy girl.  Not sure how the radiation will affect me so I don't know how much quilting I will be getting done.

Well that's it for now.  I'll post again on the 30th to show you my next block for Celebrating Mary Brown.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I always love hearing from you.

Hugs, Cathy

Monthly Goals

While it has been a tense month with my health issues I have been able to get more done than I expected.

First is Block 3 of "Celebrating Mary Brown".  There were a lot of pieces in this quilt.  I am so happy with the way it turned out.

Be sure to check out the blogs of Karen, Nanette, Julie, Jennie, Rebecca and Robin.  A friend of Nanette's, Jan, will also be joining in on the fun.  Julie is going to be doing a different quilt.  She is working on Mary Lincoln's Quilt.  I also had the pattern and decided join her.  Here are my blocks.

These are the first months blocks.

And the second months blocks.  I chose to enlarge my blocks to 8".

I just barely got caught up on my Cheddarback blocks.  By just barely I mean I finished them yesterday.

I appliqued this block.  I decided to use green stems and a different color vase from the original block.

I used a different color combination from my usual chose of fabrics.  But I am very happy with how both of my blocks turned out.

Finally I sewed the blocks together for the Log Cabin Table Quilt.  

I'm hoping to get this quilted next week.  Another Christmas gift off my to do list.

On the medical side of things....my Doctor called Monday and told me that all the markers from the lumpectomy came back clear.  I am officially cancer free.  I go and see the surgeon today.  She will checking my incision (which is 3" long) to make sure it's healing good.  The biggest problem I have is that the solution they swabbed my body with prior to surgery caused a rash on my chest and side.  So I'm on benedryl  and cortisone cream.  Next month I have an appointment with a specialist who will be putting me on a pill that will lower my hormones as the cancer I had was hormone fed.  Then we will be discussing whether or not I need to have the radiation treatments.  So for now all is well.

I want to thank everyone for the all the well wishes, prayers and hugs.  I do believed they worked.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Surgery Update

I had my surgery yesterday.  It went great.  My doctor said she got all the cancer.  I'm doing fine.  Sore but no real pain.  Tylenol is working for the soreness.

I want to thank everyone for the prayers and keeping me in your thoughts.  They are so appreciated.

Next post will be something quilty.

Hugs, Cathy

Some Quilting

I want to thank all of you have sent me prayers, hugs and shared your similar experiences.  You will never know how much this means to me.

I go tomorrow and have the savy tracker place in my left breast.  This will help the surgeon access the right spot.  My surgery is scheduled for Monday the 21st at 9:30 am.  I will be happy to get this part over with.

I have been able to work on a few projects.

This is the final block for Pat Sloan's Out of this World Sew Along.

This is the completed top.  I am going to add a 2" inner border of the black fabric and then a 3" outer border of the background fabric.  I'll use the black fabric for the binding.  This is going to happen after my surgery.

I purchased Layer Cake of some Christmas fabric.  I had printed up a pattern for a Layer Cake Log Cabin quilt.

I have enough strips cut to make two table quilts.  I haven't sewn this blocks together yet but I love how it looks.  I have another Layer Cake that I want to make a couple more of these.  They will be Christmas gifts.


Did you see Lori's (Humble Quilts) latest sew along.  It was called Almost Amish.  Well I couldn't resist.

The original call for 9 blocks to make a square wall hanging.  I made an additional block to make a table runner.  I love how it turned out.  Thanks to Lori for another wonderful Sew Along.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Health Issue

I wasn't going to say anything but since this is Breast Cancer Awareness month I felt I should say something.

6 months ago I went to my doctor telling her I was experiencing some pain in my left breast.  She sent me for an Ultra Sound.  They called me the same day and said they wanted to do a mammogram the following week.

I was told they saw a shadow and wanted me to come back in 6 months.  So a couple of weeks ago I went for my mammogram.  They called me that day and said they wanted me to get an ultra sound and a biopsy.  This was done on a Wednesday.  I got the call on Monday stating it was diagnosed as cancer.

The spot was only 4mm so it was definitely found early.  It is a very slow growing cancer another good thing on my side.

This last Tuesday I met with the "Cancer Management Team" at my hospital.  I had a 4 hour appointment and met with Doctors, therapist, nutritionist, a  cancer survivor, an oncologist, a radiologist and plastic surgeon.

Needless to say I got plenty of information.  I took my daughter with me and she took notes because I would never have remembered any of it.

I will be having a lumpectomy sometime this month.  This will remove all the cancer.  I don't need to have any chemotherapy but have elected to have radiation therapy.  This will last for 3-6 weeks, 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

I'm still upset over the cancer diagnosis but I am so grateful for the early detection.

If you are reading this and have not had a mammogram I advise you to get one.  It doesn't take long, and does save lives.

So with all the appointments, surgery and radiation therapy my quilting will be taking a back seat.  I still plan on getting some quilting done but not as much as I'm used to doing.

I will post on my blog when I have any updates and will try and get some quilty posts in.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Mary Brown and Chedddarback

Once again I am late to the party.

I've had my first section of Mary Brown done for a couple of weeks.  I started early. 

I have to admit that this one through me for a loop.  But I am happy with my blocks.  I have chosen to do a simple approach to this quilt.  I will not be doing all the wiggle applique but keeping it smooth edged.

I also finished my Cheddarback blocks a while ago but didn't post pictures.

I chose to applique my initials and did a slightly different Pine tree block.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Almost Amish

Lori at Humble Quilts is hosting another mini sew along.  She calls it Almost Amish.  I just cannot pass up one of her sew alongs.

Step one has been posted and today I spent a few minutes choosing fabrics and sewing step one.

These are the fabrics I have chosen.  The top blue is darker than it looks here.

These are my blocks from step one.

I can't wait for the next step.


Oops I did it again.  I signed up for the newest BOM by Minnick and Simpson.
Meet Derby House.  They have sold out all the spots.  Each month I will get fabric and patterns for the month.  I don't usually sign up for BOM with fabric but I fell in love with this quilt and the fabrics.  It will start in December.  

I can't wait.

I finished my blocks for the month for Celebrating Mary Brown.  Not perfect but they are done.  We will be posting pictures on the 30th of each month.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Out of this World Update

Almost done.  I just finished the 9th month.

This month we made 2 sections.

Here is all of my blocks up on the design wall.  Looks like we have one more block to make and this will be done.  Many thanks to Pat Sloan for another wonderful sew along.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Journey Ends

I can't believe our Dearest Boy journey has come to an end.  The final block is the center cow block.

This block was a challenge for me.  The initial pattern was too small.  I ended up using a round tray to mark the circle.  My circle is not perfect but it is finished.

All my blocks sewn together.  All I need to do now is add the borders.  I'm not doing the border from the pattern.  I am going to use one fabric for the narrower side borders and a different one for the top and bottom borders.

Be sure to check out Karen's, Julie's, and Carole's blogs to see how they are coming along.

I have a couple of finishes to show you.

I got my 9 patch quilt quilted and bound.  Well almost bound.  I still have a bit of binding to sew down.

This is my Gwennie Medallion quilt that I did with Lori at Humble Quilts.  I made 2 quilts.  A modern version which I machine quilted and this more traditional version.  This one I hand quilted.  And it took me a while to finish it.  I need to make a label for it and then bind it.  I'm so happy with the way it turned out and that it is finally finished.  And it was so much fun to be apart of the designing team.


Now that Dearest Boy is done Karen and I have chosen the our next sew along.  "Celebrating Mary Brown".  It is a very large (90" x 90") mostly appliqued quilt.  We will be starting in September.  We will be happily joined by Nanette at Chopin - A Passionate Quilter and Robin at I Like to Create.  To start out we will only be making one block a month.

I will be joining Nanette in another sew along starting in October.  Kim McLean's "Lollypop Trees".  This is a little out of my color comfort zone but I've been such a fan of this quilt that I just had to make it.


So I'll have lots to keep me busy in the future.  Keep stopping by to see how the sew alongs are coming.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Some BOM's

It's that time of the month...BOM's

I just finished this month's Cheddarback Quilt blocks.

Some of the placements are a little different.  This is going to be a very large quilt.  I have this month's blocks sewn to the first 5 month's blocks and it is so long I couldn't find a place to lay it all out.  Therefore you just get these blocks.


The following is Block 8 for Pat Sloan's "Out of This World" BOM.

The following picture is for Julie and Carole.

I went through my project boxes and found my Dear Jane blocks.  I have some duplicate blocks.  I originally wanted all white backgrounds and then changed my mind and decided to do different backgrounds.  Not sure I'm going to work on this right now as I've got too many projects going on.


We should be finishing up Dearest Boy.  The Cow block will be revealed at the end of the month.  

Karen, Nanette and I are going to be starting a new applique quilt starting in September.  "Celebrating Mary Brown".   I'm also going to start working on Kim McLean's "Lollipop Trees".  So I'm going to be keeping busy as the temps get cooler.

If anyone want to join us in Celebrating Mary Brown let Karen or myself know.  We will have info regarding the schedule later this month.

Just when I thought it was getting cooler out the heat and humidity is back.  So I will be staying in the air conditioned house and working on Dearest Boy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Dearest Boy

We are so close to the end.  I chose to do a pieced block for the last 10" block.  The block is called "Turkey Tracks".  Here is my version.

I like my version.

I put all the blocks up on the design wall.  Then I sewed the different sections together.

The empty spot in the center is for the cow.  I start on this block next week.  

Be sure to stop by and visit Karen's, Julie's and Carole's blogs to see what they have been up to.


I finished 2 more Sally Post blocks.

Block 22

Block 23

I need to finish another 13 blocks and then do the setting triangles.  I'm sure I can finish this before the end of the year.

Finally the next block from Pat Sloan's BOM Out of this world.  I've ad it finish for quite a while but keep forgetting to post a photo.

Thanks for stopping by.  Our week has started out with heat and humidity once again.  So I'm sticking close to home in the air conditioning.

Hugs, Cathy

Hot and Humid

Makes for good sewing time in the air conditioned sewing room.

Dearest Boy is coming to an end.  Karen posted our next pieced block so here is mine.

We now have one more 10" applique block and the final cow block.


I finished this month's blocks for the Cheddarback quilt.

I chose a house block instead of the school house block in the original quilt.

Here are the first 5 months blocks.  It is hard to find somewhere to lay out these blocks as it is quite long.  I'm very please with how this quilt is looking.


Finally I want to give an update on my flannel baskets.

I started with 6 blocks and now have 7 more.  I have a couple more blocks prepped.  I will keep going until I run out of flannel.  

Thanks for stopping by.  

Hugs, Cathy

We're Closer

Closer to the end of this sew along.  Dearest Boy has been a very long journey.  2 more 10" blocks and then the center 20" cow block.  Here is Block 6D.

It's not perfect but it's finished.  Be sure to stop by Karen's, Julie and Carole's

 blogs to see what they've been up to.

I entered into a Birthday giveaway that  Kyle had on her blog, Timeless Reflections.  She had 3 birthday packages and I won the third.  It had 2 FQ of fabric, 2 spools of thread and some vintage buttons.

I've already used some of the fabric for backgrounds on some blocks.  Thanks again Kyle.

The weather here has been hot and humid.  Today we got a reprieve...temps in the 79's.  A good opportunity to turn off the air conditioners and open the windows.  Tomorrow it will be in the 90's.  Ugh!

Thanks so much for stopping by

Hugs, Cathy

July's UFO

July's UFO and a new project.

I didn't have an UFO for June.  I had to get caught up on some projects.  While going through some piles in my sewing room I came across an old project I had started years ago.  Flannel Baskets.

I had these 6 baskets in a plastic bag along with more flannel and the template for the basket.  This morning I prepped 5 more blocks.  I work on applique in the evenings while watching TV.  These blocks will finish at 6 1/2".


My new project is a BOM called Summer Moon designed by Carrie Nelson.

I'm not working in any haste on this quilt.  The blocks are very labor intensive.  
You make 3 different sizes of each block.  A 5" block, 6 1/2" block and an 8" block.  Then you add borders on the blocks to make them all 8 3/4".

These are the first 3 blocks.  I am going to use different backgrounds.  The next block is a Bears Paw block with very tiny pieces for the 5" block.  I plan on working on this when I have a few spare minutes.


It has been very hot and humid here.  I've basically stayed in the house in the air conditioning.  We don't have central air but I have two very good room air conditioners.  One in our bedroom and one in the sewing room.  They keep the house cool.

I'm off to the sewing room to work on my Cheddarback quilt.

I hope you stay cool and dry wherever you may be.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

It's Been a Long Journey

And we are getting close to the end of our Dearest Boy journey.

It's time to reveal our next block.  Block 6C "Mother".  

This is such a sweet block but it was also very time consuming.  I was hoping to get ahead on this Sew along but this block took a lot of time.  Three more blocks to go and then we will be working on the center block of the cow.

Be sure to check the other blogs....Karen, Julie and Carole have been working along on this quilt.


I have been working on some other projects....

I bought a quilt kit from Connecting Threads a while back and thought it was time to make it.

I love how soft the colors look.  The quilt is 42" x 48" and is the perfect size for a lap or baby quilt.


I recently purchased a pattern from Debby Brown called A LA MODE.  I can be made using fat eights or jelly rolls.  I always have white, cream or grey jelly rolls on hand.  I found a half jelly roll in some bright colors in my stash and used a cream jelly roll to go along with it.  Here is my quilt top.

The top is 48" x 48".  I'm thinking of using it as a picnic quilt.  I can't wait to try this quilt out with a full jelly roll.


And finally I finished another Sally Post block.

I may end up finishing all the blocks by the end of the year...keep my fingers crossed.


That's it for today.  I need to get back in the sewing room and prep some more applique blocks to work on.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day and keep cool

Hugs, Cathy