Update On Scott

Hi Everyone! Round 3 of the chemo is over. It was a really rough weekend but Scott's color is back and I'm hoping we can get some solid food in him today.

Round 4 of the chemo was cancelled. The cancer responded really well to the 3 rounds so now, he moves on to the radiation and a different type of chemo which we're told, isn't so horrible on the body!

So it looks like we're at the 1/2 way point!

Thank you so much for your kindness, prayers and generosity. I'm so grateful! We still need help though. There's a huge deductible coming now, a ton of more hospital bills and he's lost so much time at work. Right now, I'm just trying to focus on paying our regular bills.

I know everything will be okay but I need to keep our heads above water. Please share on facebook!!

Thank you so much everyone,

Pam

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

McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt Block 6 - Hanley's Woods

I've been stitching on my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt and finished up Block #6.  This Hanley's Woods:

If you don't live in McHenry, this probably won't mean anything to you but Hanley's Woods was owned by Alexander Hamilton Hanley and is located over by where my parents live.  Today it's known as the Whispering Oaks subdivision and Water's Edge.

The man on the left hand side of the photo is most likely one of Alexander's sons.  Probably George Hanley.

As I've mentioned before, Alexander Hanley is my old McHenry settler of choice!  LOL!!!  Honestly, I don't know why but if you're interested, here's a picture of him:

Special thanks goes out to Patrick Wirtz, our McHenry Historian for sharing the photo of the woods with me.  I had never seen that photo before.

Here are a few close up photos of the stitching:

I always embellish my lace.  Since this quilt is traditional in style, I've overstitched all the lace pieces instead of using beads and sequins like I usually do.

 These are just little satin stitched flowers, just scattered here and there.  Like they would be in the woods!

The little heart is filled in entirely with French knots.  I love doing French knots.  My grandmother taught me how to do them and every time I do, I think of her.

A simple little cross stitch pine tree, like one would find in the woods!

Never Ending Sampler Stitch Along Panel 1 Band 14

The next band in the Never Ending Sampler Stitch Along is very easy but you'll spend a little more time doing it.  First, here's the entire sampler to date:

And here's the next band:

The roses are cross stitch and the rest is back stitch.  Here is an overlap with band #13 for placement purposes:

Happy Stitching!

McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt - Block #5 Complete

I was wide awake at 1:30 this morning so I just got up, made coffee and stitched.  I finished up on Block #5 of my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt:

As a reminder, this building is called the North Western Hotel.  It was built in 1901 and sits on our Main St. next to the Train Station.

Here are a couple of closeups:

I haven't decided yet what photo I'll working on next.  Maybe by the end of the day....

Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine - Spring 2017 - Sneak Peek!!!

Every year, once the holidays are behind us, my mind immediately turns to thoughts of Spring.  Sorry, I'm just not a Winter person!

I'm thinking now of warmer weather, flowers, shamrocks and Robins.  Oh, the beautiful Robins!  Last year, I saw my 1st Robin of Spring at the end of January.  I'm praying that they come back the same time this year!!!

Speaking of Robins, I thought for today, I would share a sneak peek of the Spring 2017 issue of Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine:

Yes, our cover artist for the Spring 2017 issue is the one and only, crazy quilter extraordinaire, Allison Aller!  Thank you Allie for this beautiful cover design!!!

This issue will be released on February 1, 2017!

In other news, I'll be starting on the Summer issue shortly.  I'm still looking for articles, tutorials and eye candy photos of buttons, button clusters and unique uses for buttons.  If you have anything you would like me to include the in the upcoming "button issue", please email me.