one shabby chick

A Helping Hand

Once there was a Girl. With a blog.  You know the kind.  The kind with the pretty pictures and the pretty words. The kind that you put on your RSS feed so you don’t miss out on the next post. The kind that lets you in to her world and sucks you in so far you feel like you know her.  Yes, you know her.  You know her because she’s in every one of us.   She’s your mother and your sister.  She’s your silver and your gold.

She’s the loyal wife, the doting mama, and on her lucky days, she’s an artist.  Capturing details, memories and moments to be treasured.

She’s a fellow photographer.

Well today, this girl is none of these things.  Today she is a widow.  Today she pulls her hair back into that familiar ponytail, fingers wrapped around that ever present cup of coffee, and stares in the direction of where he used to sit.  Where he used to sit, all day, every day, fighting a losing battle called cancer.  Yes, you know her, even if you don’t really know her.

Her name is Valerie Koop.

Just wanted everyone to know that the auction is up and running for Valerie.

There are some amazing items....wish I lived closer for some of those photography auctions!

My quilt is right here - I really admire Denise and how generous she is with her company.....

Bee Blocks

Thanks for all the voting guys - think I'm pretty far behind the leader but it was worth a shot...

Yesterday I finally got some inspiration and sewed up some bee blocks.

These are for Lucinda for Ringo Pie.

She told us she wanted Spring...now.

So I made two blocks:

This one was directly inspired by a picture in her inspiration mosaic.

Hope this one isn't too bright compared to the rest of them - I thought the clouds just seemed so fitting.

It is also Lucinda's month (well, in March) for the Busy Bees. She requested windows...

This didn't come out exactly as I had hoped but I really wanted to do the shutters - and again, I used a picture from her inspiration mosaic for the design.

I'm kinda hoping the shot cotton translates as painted concrete or faded wood...

February was Kathy's month for the Busy Bees and she gave us a phrase as our inspiration - "Happy Sewing".

After I saw this pillow, I knew I wanted to do something similar for her block. Unfortunately my attempts at curved piecing were an utter failure so I went with square frames around my "quilt".

The words are a little wonky but she wanted something that expressed us in our blocks and I tend to be pretty wonky....

I have these packed up are ready to send back - now I need to get started on my Urban Home Goods swap items!

Shameless self-promotion

Just a little plea for support...

I entered this picture into a little contest my friend is having on his facebook page...

And if any of you feel so inclined, will you go "like" it for me so I can win one of these:

Pretty please - Thanks!

Slowly working through the massive pile of laundry that camping generates and trying to catch up on sleep...along with that Baby Girl now has a fever but I'm hoping it stops there - ugh!

Hubby's birthday is this Saturday and my brother's is Friday so my sister-in-law and I are planning a little bowling shindig for them...not sure how much sewing I'll get done this week.

Our weekend

Here's how we spent the weekend:

our friend's truck for the drive home:

and one two more cause I just can't resist:

She was running on low sleep and got frustrated when she was trying to pull her friends around and kept falling.

Lucky

We went to a "hoe-down" on Sunday night for church - there was a line-dance teacher? caller? and the kids (and adults) had a blast.

Took some pictures of Baby Girl in her outfit (that Hubby's hat but she wanted to wear it):

And Hubby (now I know why Pioneer Woman is always swooning over Marlboro Man):

(he's wearing the cheap-o hat we had from Halloween)

Tomorrow we are headed off for our annual campout. And although I'm not taking much WeightWatcher-friendly foods I plan on walking the beach a few times a day and playing some volleyball and soccer (tough life I know).

I finished up this quilt this morning.

I will link to the auction when it's up and running - I'm sure there will be lots of fun goodies to bid on.

This story just really touched me - my heart just goes out to her - cannot imagine the pain and sadness she must be feeling despite knowing he's in a better place.

I used Allison's pattern and pieced together the back using some pieces from my stash.

The binding is from Jay McCaroll's new Habitat line.

OK hope everyone has a fun weekend - and I'll see you all next week (I'll have a fun book giveaway too!)

Joyful quilting

You know how some things just work out and you know it's not a coincidence?

The day after I wrote that last post, I got an email from Denise (from Matilda Jane).

She ordered some quilts from me last summer and had no idea I even knew about Val or had read any of her blog or anything. They are going to do an auction for her and her family and Denise wondered if I would be able to donate anything to it - I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of it.

And that I wanted to make a quilt just for it.

So I printed out this wonderful pattern from Allison (who is so sweet and generous) and set to cutting into this fat quarter set.

Now I'm sewing it all together and thinking {and praying} about Val as I sew it.

It's also got me thinking about other people I know who are going through it...my sister's boss, who is also a friend and goes to our church, is really struggling with a bad diagnosis {cancer} right now.

That's next on my list - finish up this quilt for her.

I know how special it would be if someone did that for me and right now she needs some joy and cheer in her life.

I'm not writing this to toot my own horn or anything like that - just to encourage anyone who has maybe had some of the same thoughts or ideas.

Quilting is already a generous craft - we make and give away pretty freely in this community of ours. But I've been feeling the need to do more - not just have stacks of quilts for myself - or ufo's stacked in drawers when I know people who would love to feel the warmth and comfort of them.

And life's too short to not take an opportunity to help someone else...

Updates

Thanks for all the encouraging comments - you guys really made my day!

If you've read my blog for a while, you know about my friend's little guy Mason and his heart.

She wrote a little update on her blog yesterday - great news!

I did do a bit of sewing yesterday - updated the shop with a few new camera straps (still have more on the way) and some zippered pouches and totes.

and finally - go hug your family and make sure they know how much you love them - cried my eyes out after reading this blog (I had sorta been following her story after I clicked over from Matilda Jane here).

Just makes me realize how blessed I am and how much I need to live each day to the fullest and love on my family all I can.

Joining in the Party

There's a little Block Party going on over at Quilt Story...

and I've decided to join in.

I am entering Kerry's block into the Creative category:

She asked for us to make blocks based on a collection and I chose books.

Suzanne's block into the Modern category:

and Dana's block into the Traditional Category:

Go check it out and enter a block or two (or three)!

Bloggy Blues

Somehow I've been feeling that way lately - which is quite surprising considering the beginning of January I felt like I was getting so much done and was so excited to work on projects and blog about them.

I think everyone goes through that - you start looking around and comparing yourself to others (always a BAD idea!). I just need to remember I am sewing {and blogging} because I love to do it...not for any other reason.

And I have lots of inspiration to get me back on the "happy" path :-)

new books

oilcloth:

New Jay McCarroll - trying to think of the perfect quilt pattern for these:

got them here:

and I am completely in love with this Kokka fabric:

and I had to get some of this too (got both at Fabricworm):

OK off to sew and see if I can snap out of this funk....

Stinkin Foxy

"It's time to wake up but you don't need no makeup, cause you look stinkin foxy with nothing but my old Led Zeppelin t-shirt on..."

Pea by Rabbit! has become one of our family's favorite songs - my 5 year-old sings it all the time.

Happy Little Pea from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

So when I saw this in the Flickr group I thought it might be coming my way.

And yesterday it came in the mail - my Spicing Up The Kitchen swap package from Kelly.

And look how cute!

She totally nailed it - everything is just perfect!

I have this little pot holder as a mug rug by my sewing machine.

And the table runner is hanging in my sewing room for now (I'm worried we will get it all dirty).

Such a fun package - thanks Kelly!

Still going on the exercise/eating right - down another 3 pounds.

I sewed up these Union Jack blocks the other day for Erica for the Ringo Pie Bee.

Boy, these aren't easy - paper piecing is pretty time-consuming.

I made two just in case my "experiment with selvedges" didn't look right in her quilt.

I need a bit more practice but don't think I am crazy enough to do a quilt out of them (Lynne does an amazing job on those!).

oh yeah - the pillow I made for Heather was featured on Sew, Mama, Sew today!

Hope everyone is keeping warm - can't imagine all that snow some of you must be getting!