A New Crazy Quilt Project

Well, I feel a little bit better today because I slept a little better last night.  We had a little scare with Scott's port this morning.  He must have slept on it wrong and when he woke up, it had been bleeding.  I think the way he was sleeping was pushing on it.  Anyway, we called the nurse at the cancer center at Loyola hospital and after asking him a bunch of questions, she determined that it was okay and it would be okay.  He didn't have to go in.  Which was good because it's a 2 1/2 hour drive from our house to Loyola in Chicago.

So, I ran my errands this morning, got him everything that he needed, filled my gas tank because we're expecting 10 tons of snow tomorrow (can't wait to push that around - NOT!) and I just made myself a cup of tea and turned my computer on to print up a few pictures.

I decided to start a new crazy quilt project.  After reading Betty Pillsbury's new book:

Crazy Quilts - A Beginners Guide, I was inspired to create something kind of different from anything I've done before.  Betty's work is a little more traditional than mine.  She pieces her blocks by hand which I've never done.  And she uses a lot more embroidery than I do.  And by the way, this book is awesome!!!!  You can order it from Amazon.  It's loaded with gorgeous photos of Betty's work!!!

Okay so here's my plan:  I love history and always have.  Especially the history of where I live, McHenry Illinois.  Like most small towns, we still have a lot of old buildings that have been put on the county register and protected by the McHenry County Historical Society.  Many of them have been beautifully restored.  I have been collecting historical photos of my area for years and years and thought it would be nice to take some of these old photos and work them into a crazy quilt. 

After reading Betty's book and seeing all the awesome photos of her work, I decided that this would have to be very Victorian and traditional looking.  So I plan to hand piece my blocks.  There will be 9 of them.  So far, I've chosen 8 photos and still have to pick out one more.

I'll be focusing on embroidery more than do-dads.  Embellishments will be kept to a minimum - my antique lace and some of my vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons.  I'll be giving the photos a sepia tint in Photoshop and using darker, more Victorian fabric colors and lighter colored threads for stitching.  The embroidery should pop!

As I work on each block, I'll share the story behind the building in the photo so here is my first:

This is St. Mary's Of The Assumption Catholic Church.  It's the church that I go to and where Scott and I were married.

St. Mary's was built in 1898.  In 1917, tragedy struck.  The church had a fire that started in the rectory.  The steeple and roof were destroyed.

Notice the piano in this photo down and the left!



It's always sad for me to see these photos of St. Mary's but thankfully, the main part of the church was saved and the damage was repaired.

Notice the difference in the steeple compaired to the first photo at the top.  The new steeple is much shorter now!

Anyway, this is St. Mary's today:

Anyway, the photo that I'll be using is the first one and it will be in the center block.

I thought this project, along with the Never Ending Sampler Stitch Along would help to get my mind off of worrying about things so much.  Hopefully, but the time I get this quilt all done, my husband will be free of the damned cancer and he'll be healthy again and driving me crazy like he used to!  LOL!!!

Scott really is the center of my world and because we were married here at St. Mary's, I chose to use the church on the center block.  I'm going to start printing a few photos and start piecing my first block so I'll share progress pics as I go along.

May I Vent A Little Bit?

Please feel free to ignore my post if you want to.  I just need to vent a little.

As some of you know, my husband was recently diagnosed with cancer.  It's my understanding that it's 85% treatable and curable and that's absolutely what we want. Thank God for that!

I've spent the last 3 hours trying to find some sort of grant or financial assistance for cancer patients and there's a lot out there.  Unfortunately, we don't qualify for any of them.  At least not anything that I've found so far.

So many of you have helped us already and I feel awful constantly asking for donations.  Esp. when the economy has been tough for a long time and it's Christmas and everyone has their own problems to deal with and pay for.  I just can't believe there's no help for middle class couples.  This is so humiliating for me. 

Despite our insurance, the bills are unbelieveable.  I'm getting them now almost everyday.  Although Scott was able to work the last couple of days, he'll be off again for the next 10 - 14 days.   No work, no pay.  He started his 2nd round of chemo this morning.  And come January 1st, we have to start all over again with an outrageous deductible.  I'm still paying for a surgery that he had last December.  I was down to the last $1,500.00 when this cancer thing started.  I had hoped to pay that off by the end of the year but that won't happen now.

I'm working like a crazy lady republishing my cross stitch patterns, which I had intended to do anyway but I'm pushing myself now which isn't good.  My one fun thing is the Never Ending Sampler Stitch Along.  I've been watching the progress photos over on Facebook and it's so cool to see all the different color combinations....remember, there are no rules!  Not even for me!!

Well, I was wondering, instead of me asking again for donations, I was wondering if anyone out there would be willing to sponsor us?  Meaning, help to promote our Go Fund Me site by regularly posting it on your blogs, Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else you can think of.

I'm at my wits end.  I am so scared.  I cannot stand to be in debt.  I can't work enough to pay for all this.  Honestly, I don't understand how people who have worked all their lives, have always lived frugally and simply and have integrity, can end up in the position of having to beg for help when we live in the United States of America, pay taxes (like crazy), help our neighbors, help our parents, are kind to animals (how many have we rescued and cared for?)....I'm sorry, I just don't understand it.

My mom keeps telling me that I have to have faith.  Yes, I'm Catholic, I have faith but God didn't plant a money tree in my backyard and a person can only work so many hours a day.

Our only hope to just to keep our heads above water is our Go Fund Me site but I need help promoting it.  I don't have a lot of friends and I don't have a lot of family.  Just my parents and my cousin.

Well, I just thought maybe some of you would help me with the fund raising end of this, by just promoting it.  I am so grateful for all the help that we've already received.  And the prayers and then kindness.....and everything.

And thank you so much for letting me vent about this.  I try to keep my blog for my needlework and related projects but I'm at a loss now.  And I'll try to stop complaining, at least for awhile.  I just know that writing it all down, helps to get it out of the system.

I'll post the next band for the Never Ending Sampler Stitch Along next week sometime.  I know everyone needs to get caught up.  I think, I will take a break from working until next week.  Sometimes, a time out helps us to refocus.

Thank you again everyone.
Love to all!

Pam

Never Ending Sampler Panel 1 Band 6

Band 6 for the Never Ending Band Sampler:

The flowers are worked with 3 strands of floss and straight stitches.  They should look like satin stitches when they're done.  Below is a closeup of the flower.

Never Ending Sampler Panel 1 Band 5

The 5th band for Panel 1 of the Never Ending Sampler Stitching Along features the Herringbone Stitch:

If you need instructions on how to work the Herringbone stitch and any other stitch you can think of, please visit Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary over on her Pintangle blog.

Scott's Cancer Treatment Update

Hi everyone, Scott is doing good. His strength is back which is good because the 2nd 5 day round of chemo starts on Friday. His appetite is good and I keep giving him Ensure for all the protein and vitamins that it has. He's working now through Thursday and then he'll be home again for 10 - 14 days. I'll keep the updates coming.

If you can share this on your blogs, facebook walls and other social media sites, I would be so grateful. We need all the help we can get.

And please keep praying that he continues to do well with this. Thank you so much for your support everyone!

Love and Hugs, Pam

 https://www.gofundme.com/scotts-cancer-treatment

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