2015 isn't going much better!

Well, once again my blog has been neglected. 2015 has been very busy with family issues. My mom fell in late January after slowly becoming more and more unsteady on her feet. After demanding much discussion with the doctors, they finally admitted her to the hospital for further testing and treatment. 

Ten years ago, we discovered that my mother had a brain tumor but the decision at the time was not to treat it since it was slow growing, not cancerous and she had no symptoms. Now she was unsteady and weak on her right side. So a treatment plan was started. After several days, she went to a rehab facility to strengthen her right side in preparation for neuro vascular surgery. Surgery was completed and successful for the left side of the tumor. A second surgery was scheduled after more rehab. However during this time, she had a major setback with a brain bleed which acts similar to a stoke caused by a reaction to a drug she was given. She currently has no movement on her left side but some feeling has come back which is a good sign, however, we have a long road ahead of us. 

To help her remember and keep her hands busy, I made her a Fidget Quilt.

Knowing that she would not be able to sew/craft anymore, my siblings and I starting cleaning out her room. 

(In anticipation of this, I have been sorting through things for over a year, read about it here and here, but some things she wasn't willing to give up. Now she was ready to accept the idea.)

I used many things from her sewing supplies to create 24 different textures and activities. Beads on rattail, a button flap, mini spools on a string, big snaps, yo-yos, a zipper, ribbons, beaded trim, a appliqué doll, fleece, satin, terry, fur, etc. Each square is 6" so the finished size is 24" x 36". Perfect for on her lap. 

Another small project I started to keep me sane busy was this scrappy map of the USA! 

A friend of mine sent me this link. On her post, it didn't say how big her map was and she downloaded her shapes for a silhouette machine which I do not own. 

So what did I do?

I search google images for a simple map of the USA. I copied it and enlarged it after cutting the map in half along the borders between North/South Dakota and Minnesota all the way down to the Texas and Louisiana's border.  This gave me about half of the US on each 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. 

I then cut out each state, measuring how big it was and finding a scrap of fabric that would fit...no problem...this project didn't even put a dent in my scraps!

I also cut a piece of HeatNBond the same size and ironed it on the back of the fabric. I traced the paper shape on to the back of the fabric, remembering to flip the state over. Carefully, I cut out the states and ironed them on to a piece of linen (from my stash). Once they were all adhered, I started sewing around the borders with black thread, intentionally messy as was stated.  

I stretched it over a 16' X 20" canvas yesterday...finished!

All 50 states each with a different fabric! 

Can you name them all?

One more finish!...The quilt for my SIL's birthday which was yesterday! 

I originally was going to give it to him for Christmas but since my DD2 and SIL just bought their first house, they needed to buy a refrigerator. So that was their Christmas gift. So even though the top was pieced, it was put away during the holidays. Knowing that I needed to get it finished in time for his birthday, I squeezed in time between visits to the hospital, work and other committments.

Slowly, I sandwiched the quilt, and started quilting. I used straight line quilting, around the squares, in the sashing, and in the negative space.

The quilt pattern is Fieldcrossing by Cloud9 fabrics. The fabrics are Menswear Mustaches by Timeless Treasures, coordinating fabrics by Timeless Treasure and Kona Ash. 

The finished size is 60" x 72"

The backing fabric is from Connecting Threads. 

I'm calling this quilt X Marks the Stache. 

We will be delivering it on our trip to Austin in a few weeks! Hope he likes it!