2019 H2H Quilt Finishes for Jack's Basket

Here's the quilt parade lead by our little ring master at home, Owen.  Owen just happens to have Down Syndrome too (like Jack from the Jack's Basket charity this year in the H2H quilt drive.)   I thought that it would be more than fitting for Owen to show off these quilts.  Owen will be 12 in June.  He attends regular classes in our local public school.  He does get some intervention and special help three days a week in a small classroom of students.  It's only a 45 minute class three times per week.  He is moving on to middle school (6th) grade this fall.  He participates in bowling, tennis, and baseball.  He has similar interests and skills in electronics and technology and is fascinated with YouTube and video games just like other typical tweens his age.  He had perfect attendance this year and loves school.  He talks back and rolls his eyes and gets into mischief just as much as the next kid his age.  He has awesome dance moves.

Check out many of the GORGEOUS 875 quilts made on Sarah's blog, Confessions of a Fabric Addict here.  All five of my charity quilts this year were for Jack's Basket, a charity begun by Carissa Carroll after the birth of her son Jack.  Check out the Jack's Basket website.

This charity is quite near and dear to my heart because our son just happened to be born with Down Syndrome as well.  When he was born in 2007 the DS part was very much a surprise.  Doctors told us we needed to grieve the loss of the son that we anticipated having so that we could then celebrate the child we had.  Pediatric specialist told us the big list of milestones that our son most likely would not meet.

My husband and I decided then and there that we were going to raise our son as if he did not have a disability.  In my opinion, only God knew what was in store for us.  Later we figured out that our son (as well as all children) was perfectly hand picked by God for our family.  :)  There is never a dull moment at our home.  There are struggles, but the struggles are definitely outweighed with celebrations of accomplishments and joy.

I'm linking my finishes up this week with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a WHOOP WHOOP?

Reindeer H2H Quilt Complete

This is the last of the five H2H charity quilts that I made for the 2019 quilt drive.  It is in the mail to Jack's Basket in Utah today with the others.  School is out.  Let the summer sewing begin!

These reindeer blocks were gifted to me by my quilty friend, Julianne.  I put the five together to make this 36" quilt.

I longarm quilted it with an overall stipple.  I found the perfect reindeer fabric in my stash for the backing.  There was just enough red binding already cut to fit the edge.

Check out many of the GORGEOUS 875 quilts made on Sarah's blog, Confessions of a Fabric Addict here.  All five of my charity quilts this year were for Jack's Basket, a charity begun by Carissa Carroll after the birth of her son Jack.  Check out the Jack's Basket website.

This charity is quite near and dear to my heart because our son just happened to be born with Down Syndrome as well.  When he was born in 2007 the DS part was very much a surprise.  Doctors told us we needed to grieve the loss of the son that we anticipated having so that we could then celebrate the child we had.  Pediatric specialist told us the big list of milestones that our son most likely would not meet.

My husband and I decided then and there that we were going to raise our son as if he did not have a disability.  In my opinion, only God knew what was in store for us.  Later we figured out that our son (as well as all children) was perfectly hand picked by God for our family.  :)  There is never a dull moment at our home.  There are struggles, but the struggles are definitely outweighed with celebrations of accomplishments and joy.



I'm linking this 2nd quarter finish to the 2019 FAL here.

My Q2 goal setting list is here.

Crown of Thorns H2H Quilt Complete

There was so much happening with our son graduating 5th grade this week.  Today was his last day.  I am also done with school for the 2018-2019 school year.  After his graduation breakfast and ceremony I was able to come home and complete my final two H2H quilts for the 2019 quilt drive.  They will be on their way to Jack's Basket in Utah early tomorrow morning!

These blocks are Crown of Thorn blocks that I started one year during the "blue" month of the RSC.  I didn't continue them because after making these blocks and storing them for a while I learned what a "real" 1/4" seam was.  Instead of making more I added plain squares for a design element.  I'm happy to have this little quilt off my to-do list.

I'm linking this post to the linky party at Angela's blog, SoScrappy, here..  The color for June is blue.  I started this project during a blue month a few years ago, and ironically finished it right before a blue month.  I'll still be working on my orange scraps this week as my little "helper" decided he wanted to use my computer and moved all my counted out orange cut scraps onto ONE PILE!  I'll easily sort them again so that I can make some 4-patches, kite blocks, and sand castle blocks...

Shhhh.  Don't tell the quilt police.  LOL



I longarm quilted this little 36" square quilt with an R & S template called Double Bubble.  I had enough red fabric left over for the binding.  I liked the large print that I got at a garage sale last year for the backing.  It is very soft!

I'm linking this 2nd quarter finish to the 2019 FAL here.

My Q2 goal setting list is here.





Check out many of the GORGEOUS 875 quilts made on Sarah's blog, Confessions of a Fabric Addict here.  All five of my charity quilts this year were for Jack's Basket, a charity begun by Carissa Carroll after the birth of her son Jack.  Check out the Jack's Basket website.

You can view my five finishes HERE.

This charity is quite near and dear to my heart because our son just happened to be born with Down Syndrome as well.  When he was born in 2007 the DS part was very much a surprise.  Doctors told us we needed to grieve the loss of the son that we anticipated having so that we could then celebrate the child we had.  Pediatric specialist told us the big list of milestones that our son most likely would not meet.

My husband and I decided then and there that we were going to raise our son as if he did not have a disability.  In my opinion, only God knew what was in store for us.  Later we figured out that our son (as well as all children) was perfectly hand picked by God for our family.  :)  There is never a dull moment at our home.  There are struggles, but the struggles are definitely outweighed with celebrations of accomplishments and joy.

More Peacock Feathers -- Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  My peacock has a few more feathers this week.

I found this mystery stitch along on facebook.  You can get the free pattern here.

It's called the Mystery Sampler Stitch A Long (2019) at Linen & Threads.

I'm linking up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Part of my escapades this week involved getting the mower stuck on the slippery hill.  You can tell by the mud skids that I was really trying to get it out by myself.  Besides sewing and quilting, I LOVE TO MOW!  That is my "me" time!  It takes me four hours on this mower to get every hill (except the two big ones) done.  My husband mows the two big hills because it's too dangerous for me.  On this hill pictured, the mower slides into the ditch and it's not that far from where it slides.

I'm so thankful that Sweetie always has a simple way to rescue me.  I'm also thankful for my awesome husband.  He keeps that chain in that milk crate on the four wheeler all the time.  He's my rock.

The rescue wouldn't be complete without a picture of "the helper" sitting patiently in a safe zone.

A Few More Feathers

My peacock has a few more feathers this week.  I can tell that the count is off on the bottom right feathers.  Come back next week to see if I rip them out and re-do them, or make a design element and fill them in.  It's all part of the learning process for me.  In my brain nobody will notice how different it is from all the others in the stitch a long when it is hanging by itself in my quilt room.  I know that is where this piece is going.

I found this mystery stitch along on facebook.  You can get the free pattern here.

It's called the Mystery Sampler Stitch A Long (2019) at Linen & Threads.

I'm linking up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Croatia Traditional Costume -- A Finish

Our 5th grader had a project for International Day.  It was a fun event.  Each student worked on a specific country learning about clothing, food, culture, animals, weather, places to go, commodities...

He chose to wear a traditional costume for the day.

This is what he wore on Tuesday for his presentation.  It's only half the costume because they made him keep it at school that day.  When I sent him to school on Wednesday, he only wore the bottom half and matched it up with the top half...

Below are the pants with the funky red strips down the side seams.  He also had cool black dress shoes and funky striped socks that had a crest on them.

The photos below were taken by his Aunt Jo.  She is so awesome and present in his life.  Her life story amazes us and inspires us.  If she isn't with him at least one day a week, something big is going on.  She just ROCKS!

This is the parapro in his class.  He will miss her.  She got married this weekend and will not be returning to his school next year.

Here he is at his table.

He did the poster all by himself.  I LOVE his scissor cutting skills!

These are PlayDough animals that we made.

Here's a set-up of the gym and all the countries and parents.  There was tons of food because every kid brought something.

We made a cake/bread recipe.  It was soooooo dry!  Aunt Jo loved it and took the rest home.

This is Nick and Owen.  Ethan is in the bakground.  They were all together in pre-school and then went their separate ways.  Now they are all together again.

I'm linking this 2nd quarter finish to the 2019 FAL here.

My Q2 goal setting list is here.

H2H Final Link-Up -- Crown of Thorns

I'm challenging myself this week to get this quilt done and in the mail to Jack's Basket for the 2019 H2H charity quilt drive.



I'm linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict here. Check out all the gorgeous charity quilts for another record breaking year!

H2H Final Link-Up Reindeer Quilt

I'm challenging myself to get this quilt done and in the mail to Jack's Basket for the 2019 H2H charity quilt drive.



I'm linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict here.  Check out all the gorgeous charity quilts for another record breaking year!

The Croatia Costume

It's time to move this project forward.  I am working on my kid's Croatia Costume.  It's due Wednesday.  Here's the hat and pants that I came up with for his costume:

I had 2" binding left over from this H2H orphan block quilt and more binding left over from this H2H scrappy orphan block quilt.  I sewed it to a pair of altered capri pants that we got to our "last chance" local Goodwill store where we pay $1.29 per pound for clothes.  (It's really a fun store!)  I also made a pom pom and used more folded leftover binding for a decoration on his hat (that we found along side the road).  We call this fun hobby "ROAD FIND!"  He will only be wearing the costume to school one day.  I didn't worry about the raw edges of the binding fabric.

In my personal opinion, it seems kids in the state of Ohio are "done" with school around Good Friday these days (even though they still "go" to school until a few days after Memorial Day).  I have taken a day off work EVERY week for about six weeks to attend something at our kid's school for one thing or another... field trip(s), Exceptional Olympics Day, farm tour day, transition meetings, IEP amendment meeting, track & field day...  You get the idea.  International Day is this week on Wednesday.  There is another field trip on Friday to the local library, followed by Puberty Talk Day the same day...  Not all grades and schools had a chance to go the the Akron Rubber Ducks baseball game this year, but they have in years past.

Due to all of the state testing, it seems teachers need to get in all of the regular curriculum by a certain date.  Some teachers have students do end-of-year projects.  Some of these projects last through all of these dates.  Students work at school and at home on their designated projects.

For International Day there is a theme.  Kids all do the same projects such as making a pretend plane ticket to the country they got, making an itinerary, making a flag, coloring a map, copying a recipe from a book, making the recipe for tasting with parents day, making a political data disc, making a booklet about recipes or plants and animals. 

They also pick two items from a list to do alternate projects.  From that list we picked wearing a traditional costume all day.  We also picked making animals of Croatia out of Play Dough.  I'll post more on that soon.  Our animals are drying now.

I'm linking up with Em at Em's Scrap Bag for Moving it Forward Monday here.

The Slow Stitching Continues

I made more progress on my stitch-a-long this week.  I finished the second swan and continued stitching on clue #1 (the center peacock.)

I found this mystery stitch along on facebook.  You can get the free pattern here.

It's called the Mystery Sampler Stitch A Long (2019) at Linen & Threads.

Opening day was last weekend for our baseball league.  I haven't been taking my stitching along with me due to the fact that my little ham wants my full attention--and that's ok!  We waited so long to have a child.  We have been blessed.  My stitching can wait.

My guy is the happy tall one in the photo below.

Here's a pic of the whole team:

I'm linking up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.