Last May, I held a fundraiser to help raise awareness and money for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS).  Thank you to all who donated, and if you didn’t win last year, here’s another chance!  I have made another quilt to help raise money for EDS Network Cares, Inc.  Please check out their website.  They are a wonderful organization that is 100% volunteer run.  That means ALL donations go towards research.  It’s my understanding that they will be helping to fund a new research project in the next month or so.

For those that don’t know, EDS is a group of hereditary connective tissue disorders.  (learn more about EDS here)  There are several different types.  I am affected by the vascular type.  I have major collagen deficiencies in my vascular system.  Collagen is like the glue that holds everything together.  So my ‘glue’ is more like that crappy paste that you used in kindergarten that never held anything together.  Currently there is no cure, treatment or prevention.  I believe that a cure can be found.  This is why it’s so important to help fund these research projects.  You may just help in saving a life, possibly mine!

For every $5 you donate to EDS Network Cares, Inc., you will be entered for a chance to win this quilt.  Please go to my First Giving Page to make a donation.  Here’s the quilt that I will be giving away:

It’s a very colorful quilt!  It’s made from all cotton and measures 82″ x 84″.  That will fit up to a queen size bed!

Here is my official quilt holder and wonderfully supportive husband!

Thank you in advance for your support and generosity.  And good luck!  Winner will be announced on June 1, 2013.

Alison

For the quilting, I just did a tiny meander inside the x’s and o’s.  It was a fun little project and will look good on the table for Valentine’s Day.

The second thing I worked on were some fabric postcards.  I recently learned how to make these at a guild meeting.  They are so fun, easy and fast!  I whipped some up for Valentine’s Day to send to my family.  I’m very happy with how they turned out and everyone was so happy to get them in the mail.  Also, all made it through the mail with no damage!

Hope you all had a ‘love’ly Valentine’s Day!

We got 6 fat eights and 1 fat quarter.  I really love the colors and prints in this line.  There is also a pink/orange colorway that is just as beautiful.  I decided to do wonky stars in different sizes for this quilt.  I paired this fabric with Kona Charcoal which I thought blended very nicely.

I must have been crazy to decide to echo quilt around all the stars.  It took me 4 days to finish the quilting on this.  It only measures 55″ x 56″!  It was such a pain to push and pull and wrestle this quilt under my machine.  I think it turned out pretty good though.

I used Aurifil in Sunflower to do the quilting.

I used this great print for the back.  I love the trucks and donkeys.  The challenge quilts are due today at noon.  So I finished just in the nick of time.  Off to post my photos to Flickr!

First, the AMQG had their first weekend retreat last month and it was AWESOME!  I finished a quilt top, but don’t want to share until I have it quilted.  I hope to get that done sometime this month.  I’m really excited about using it!  I also finished this clothespin bag while at the retreat.  My dad put up a clothesline for me back in October and I love it!  But I needed somewhere to put my pins!  I searched for a pattern and found this one by Darlene Zimmerman.  I love it and it turned out so cute!

The fabric I used is from Polka Dot Stitches by Lori Holt.  I LOVE this fabric and it made such a cute and retro clothespin bag.

September was my month for do. good Stitches.  For those unfamiliar, it is an online group of quilters on Flickr that make blocks every month that eventually get put into quilts and are donated to Project Linus.  For my month, I chose the Stacked Quilt Block designed by Ellen Luckett Baker.

I wanted a very cheery quilt, so I chose yellow and orange for my colors.  Since the block is so big, I decided to make two quilts from the blocks that I received.  This is the first one.

For the quilting, I just did a meander in the white areas.  I love how it turned out.

I put a nice and cheery flower print on the back.  I hope this quilt will make someone very happy!

The Modern Quilt Guild is hosting another challenge using Michael Miller fabrics.  It’s called Madrona Road and it is a beautiful line.

We got one fat quarter and 6 fat eights.  We are to make a quilt at least 12″ x 12″.  We are allowed to add solids or other Michael Miller fabrics.  I already have an idea about what I want to do.

Here’s a sneak peek, but it’s all I’m going to show until I’m done with my quilt.  It’s due at the beginning of February, so I need to get started!

Lastly, my aunt came down from Illinois to attend our retreat and brought me the best birthday present!

I LOVE this little toy sewing machine and it goes perfectly in my sewing room!

I have some other finished projects to share, but still need to photograph them.  I’m hoping to have more time to post more frequently!

I finished this quilt on Saturday.  I wanted to try out a new ruler that I recently purchased.  I love it!  It’s the Lazy Angle Ruler by Lazy Girl Designs.  I used the Confetti pattern and am very pleased with how it turned out.

I used a charm pack of Domestic Bliss by Liz Scott for Moda.  I paired it with Kona Glacier which I think really brings out the great colors in this line.  It would be a great baby girl quilt without being too babyish.

I quilted this on my machine at home.  I did a simple meander only in the solid sections.  I really like how it emphasizes the lovely prints.

I used this awesome ‘x’ print for the backing and binding.  I like the way the binding turned out.

I don’t really have any plans for this quilt.  I think it’s the first quilt that I have made that wasn’t specifically for someone.  It was kind of nice just to be able to play, especially with a new tool.  The ruler was so easy to use.  I got the book that goes along with it, so I’m looking forward to playing with some more blocks!

Alison

I also put their initials on one side of their blocks.

They were tested and approved by the boys!

Their other gift was inspired by this tutorial.  This tutorial is awesome and provides all the patterns needed for these Old MacDonald Puppets.

It took a while to cut out all the little pieces, but was well worth it.  They turned out so cute! I designed a carrying bag in the shape of a barn to store them in.

No farm would be complete without a tractor, so I added one to the back of the bag.

I added a little board book featuring farm animals.  I think it turned out really well and hope that the boys will enjoy playing with them.

They also got a sweet swing set that my dad built for them.  Owen is pretty excited about it, but Grant is still trying to decide if he likes it!

I was very happy to be able to be home to help them celebrate.  Happy Birthday to the two cutest boys I know!

I know, I know, shut up and announce the winner already, right?  I am so pleased to announce that the winner is Scott Hoffman.  He is a friend that my husband knows through autocross.  His daughter is also affected by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  She is actually in Germany right now recovering from a very complicated and dangerous surgery.  You can read more about her here.  I could not be happier that Mr. Random Number Generator chose him!

Here’s how I chose the winner.  First, I made a spreadsheet with a name for every $5.00 donation.  I then put the list into the random generator (at random.org) and mixed all the names up.

I had a total of 155 names.  Then, I put that number into the random number generator and it selected number 140, Scott Hoffman!

My husband, Perry was there as a witness.  My cat Fuller was there also, but he’s not a very reliable witness.  He can be kind of shifty.

Congratulations to Scott and Chelsea.  I hope that the quilt will help aid in Chelsea’s recovery!

Again, I cannot say thank you enough to everyone who donated.  I am truly grateful.  Love to all!

Alison

Can you tell I’m just a little bit excited?

The first thing I made was dish washing detergent.  Mainly because our dishwasher and sink were both full of dirty dishes!  Here is what I used to make it:

I got the recipe here.  As suggested, I am using white vinegar as a rinsing agent.  We ran the first load through the dishwasher, and I didn’t notice much of a difference than with store bought detergent.  I am very happy with how it turned out.  It made a huge container and with only using 1 TBS at a time, it’s going to last for a long time!

The next thing I made was the laundry detergent.  I researched several different recipes before deciding on one.  I knew that I did’t want to use a recipe that involved cooking the soap.  I decided on using this recipe.  I didn’t get a picture of all the ingredients before I used them!  It was a very easy recipe and even easier when you get your husband to grate your soap for you!

It sort of looks like cheese.

But I don’t recommend eating it!

We poured all the ingredients into a bucket lined with a trash bag.  I layered all the ingredients as I poured them in to make it easier to mix together.

We ended up cutting a hole in the corner of the trash bag to make it easier to pour into containers.

My husband is going to try it out tonight on his laundry.  I hope it works out well because he is very doubtful about all of this homemade stuff.  I told him that I was going to make our laundry detergent and he said I was a hippie!  Oh well!  I guess I will use all the extra money that I save to go buy some tie-dyed shirts!

Next I made some fabric softener.  It’s very easy and you can choose any scent that you like.  I used this recipe.

You can use this fabric softener in your washing machine, but I used mine to make some reusable dryer sheets.  I just soaked plain white washcloths that I got at Wal-Mart in my homemade fabric softener.  I wrung out all the excess and put them out to dry.

Each one can be used about 10-12 times in the dryer.  I have enough fabric softener left over to soak them again.

Including the trip to Wal-Mart, the whole process only took me about 3 hours.  I’m very pleased with my results and will be very happy when I can by-pass the detergent aisle in the grocery store!

Alison

I made these two pillows for my mom for Mother’s Day.  They will go with her General’s Wives Quilt when it eventually gets done!

I used this tutorial by Jamie at SunFlower Seeds to make the cathedral window pillow.  It was very easy to follow and was quick to do on my machine.  I need a little practice on my middles.  They were a little messy, so I put matching buttons in the middles.  They were buttons that belonged to my great grandma.

With the left over charms, I made a quick flying geese pillow.  It went together really quickly and looks great with the other pillow.

I also finished a couple of 241 tote bags by Noodlehead.  I love all of her patterns and have made this one tons of times!  I used some of the new Denyse Schmidt line from JoAnns to make one for myself.

The other one I made from some Denyse Schmidt that I have been holding on to for a while.  I just love the prints and colors in this fabric.  I decided to send this one to my sister-in-law.  The mother of the two cutest boys around!  I hope she likes it and will be able to use it!

I’ve almost reached my goal on my fundraising page!  I have the best friends and family!  It really means so much to me.  There is still time to make a donation to win this quilt.  Just follow the link above to make a donation for a chance to win.  The drawing will be held on June 1st.  Thank you so much to those who have already donated!

Alison