Taking Comfort

 Welcome to Treadlestitches

 Last Sunday, I had planned to blog about my Positivity quilt, and join the last link up, but things turned out otherwise.  My lovely 39 year old niece died suddenly from a burst aneurysm, and I needed to get ready to go to out of town for the funeral.  It has been such a terrible shock for all of the family.

Since the link up is still open, I'll be connecting with it today.  

I had thought of giving this quilt to my sister and brother-in-law, but I think I will make another one especially for them in remembrance of their daughter.

It has of course been a very sad week.   I will be mailing this quilt out soon, to help another family dealing with loss.  I know a quilt from a stranger is a small thing, but even small expressions of sympathy and care have been appreciated by my niece's parents and brother. 

Earlier last week, I had been sewing up a storm, going through the aqua scraps, making my blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  It was fun to include Spongebob, Scooby-Doo, owls, frogs, minions, etc.

More Scooby in the log cabins, plus Daniel Tiger, fish, and even giraffes.

The heart blocks are always fun to make.  One of them has a big piece of Cat in the Hat fabric.

So all my aqua blocks are done for August.

 Here's what I'm working on now, a red, white, and blue rail fence quilt for a veteran.

On my way back from the funeral, I learned of the devastating terrorist attack in Afghanistan.  I had this kit at home, cut out by our charity committee to help a local group that gives quilts to veterans as a recognition of their service to our country.  This is the only thing I want to sew right now.

Sewing, especially making things for others, is a pleasure when times are good, and comforts me at least a little when things are bad.

These little guys, my youngest grandsons, are a great comfort to me also!  I love to see them playing together.  Little Buddy has one of the Paw Patrol dogs.  Baby Buddy is playing with Godzilla and making monster noises.  They had better watch out, I might hug the stuffing out of them.

I hope for a better week ahead for all of us.  I hope for healing for all who are hurting, even if it's just a little bit at a time.

Thank you for reading this.  Hug the people you love!

Sincerely,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches  

Linking up with:

Bernie at Positivity Quilts Final Link-Up

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

 

 

Ice Cream in August

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

August is an ice cream kind of month.  Even here in Wisconsin, it's usually hot and muggy, which makes the cool sweet taste of ice cream that much better.  

These ice cream quilt blocks won't cool you off, but they won't drip on you, either.  They're part of my blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, in the color of the month--aqua.  I had a hard time finding flavors for aqua, got any ideas?

When it comes to flavors, make mine chocolate frozen custard!  I indulged in this on our way home from our vacation.

My little buddies just happened to wear a little aqua today.  Here's Little Buddy with a tiny chocolate cone, and Baby Buddy just finishing his tiny vanilla one.  Fun, easy for even babies to eat, and not too messy.  I got a package of the little cones at the grocery store, and put about two tablespoons of ice cream in each cone.  Little Buddy may have had more than one.

 By the way, these are the cones I'm talking about.  Aren't they cute?

I've been treadling madly since I got home, making aqua blocks.  These are my 20 half square triangles for the month.

I also finished my Positivity Quilt, which I will post more about on Sunday.  It will be going to Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA as soon as I can get it in the mail.

 

 More aqua--this classic Chevy at the Henry Ford Museum.

I'm a Ford girl all the way, but this beauty is something special.

Little Buddy starts kindergarten next week, and the following week all the rest of the grandkids are back to school.  Baby Buddy will be our only playmate during the day.  It will be very different around here without Little Buddy, (much quieter for one thing!) but we'll still see him after school and on days off.

For now, we'll enjoy the rest of these summer days together.

Have a lovely week!

 

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Check out these fabulous linky parties!  I'm linking up with:

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy  

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Positively Bright

 It's a top!

My quilt top for the Positivity Quilt Along is done! 

My take on this pattern is a little unusual.  Here's how I laid out the blocks.  There are six blocks in each of eight bright colors.  Three of the six have light backgrounds and three have dark backgrounds.  Those six were sewn into a rectangle 2 blocks by 3 blocks, and then all the rectangles were added together.

When finished, this quilt will go to Mercyful Quilts at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA.  The quilts in this project are used to comfort a dying person, and then are given to the family after their loved one has passed away.

I know these bright colors might not be everybody's cup of tea.  Most of the quilts I make are baby quilts, meant to cheer families in difficult circumstances, such as hospitals.  When I think of how sterile hospitals are, bright colors seem like a good antidote.  So I chose the same kinds of colors for this quilt.

Maybe a family will choose this quilt to memorialize a "colorful" personality.  I can think of a few characters in my own family who would fit the description, such as my great aunt Mabel.

If you've read my blog before, you know I love novelty prints.  I restrained myself from using them on this quilt, with a few exceptions.  The yellow print above is meant to be cheese, which I found out from reading the selvedge.  I don't think anybody would know that just from looking.  (I didn't!)

Hearts seemed appropriate.  I used this print in two places.

This is my favorite print in the whole quilt.  The words are faith, hope, and love, arranged in a circle.

I hope this quilt conveys the positivity I feel, and gives comfort to the patient and his or her family.

Many, many thanks to Preeti of the Sew Preeti blog for giving us this challenge, and to all her helpers and minions.  Special thanks to Bernie of Needle and Foot for all her work for Mercyful Quilts.

Linking up with Needle and Foot for the flimsy linky party!  Come and see all the wonderful quilts everyone has made!

 

Tangled Up in Blue

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Lots of blue scraps were under my needle this week.  Dark blue is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I'm throwing in medium blues too.

Novelty prints can look kind of weird when cut in small pieces, can't they.  Poor headless dinosaurs and kitties.

You can almost tell there was a giraffe and a zebra on this print.  Sadly cut up, but the colors are good.

I'm running low on light fabrics again.  This always seems to happen, even though I buy them all the time.  My favorites here are the flip flops and the hedgehogs.  Not much contrast with the rest of the star, but fun to look at.

In other news, my Mom was here!  One sunny morning, we took Baby Buddy and the dog for a walk in the park, and our little guy had so much fun going down the slide.  He was actually giggling!

On another day, we took a picnic to a lake and met my oldest daughter and her kids.  It was cool and rainy, but we went anyway.  The kids all had a good time in spite of the weather, and we had a nice visit.

We had a whole family get together, and took the obligatory family photo.  I feel so happy and lucky to have all my kids and grand kids living nearby.  I am also very grateful that my mom braved the airline mix-ups and hassles to come here, and that most of us have been vaccinated so we can be together.

So, what's on the agenda for my sewing today?  These blue blocks, all cut and ready to piece.  But they're not for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

These are my last blocks for the Positivity Quilt Along, which just happen to be blue.  (Click HERE for more information.) The tops are due to be finished by TOMORROW.  With only 8 blocks to go, I will get it done today.  The real question is how to set the blocks, but that part will be fun.

I hope you are having a lovely day, doing something you enjoy.

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Cynthia at Oh Scrap 

Accentuate the Positive

 Quick post here for the Positivity Quilt Along.

This is what I've got done so far.  I'm making the blocks from my favorite bright colored fabrics.  

I've been wondering, though--is the color scheme appropriate for this kind of quilt?  Is it too childlike, or too cheerful for people experiencing a loss?

If that's the case, I will donate it to a different cause.

I have loved making these fun and easy blocks.  I have no idea how exactly I will set them together yet, but I'm sure it will come to me.  

I especially like the idea of passing on our positive energy toward others.

Thanks to Preeti and Bernie for getting us started on this.