Do You want to be in my Pay It Forward

So far I have only one participant in my Pay it Forward If you would like to join and commit to making gifts for three people in the next 12 months Please leave a comment to say so
Thanks Lorralyn You are no 1
My Mum came home from hospital this past week and is doing well
Hubby had more gall stones removed this week
Oh to be one of the lucky ones who keep making stones after gallbladder removal Ha Ha
Iam mking some placemats for my sister for her birthday Photos soon
Please say if you would like to be Nos 2 and 3 in my Pay it Forward

Pay It Forward

Iam participating in a Pay It Forward, over at Terrys Blog, so the first three people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me within the next 12 months
They in turn must make gifts for the first three people who chose to participate on their blog
So if you would like to join in some handmade fun leave me a comment telling me so

My Early Crafts

It has been an interesting week
Was cleaning out some cupboards and found this needlework I did when I was a child in Primary school so they must be at least 48 years old but possibly older
I notice one has some mildewy marks on it Any advice on how to remove it?
The box I remember doing at school The needlwork I did under my Mum's guidance
More lovely siggies came and my first from Denmark
I have reached one hundred now
I have been blanket stitch appliqueing my draught horse quilt
Some photos soon
Lorraine and I went to see Mum in Hospital the other day and we decided to visit MacDonalds to get a cappacino
Standing in front of the plate glass window waiting when all of a sudden we see a car driving flat out toward us then an almighty bang
Luckily for us she hit the pillar between the windows
Turns out the stupid woman was four times the legal alcohol limit and this was at 2.00 in the afternoon
That was my excitment for the week

A QUILT FOR VIV

A QUILT FOR VIV

It seems all I do lately is spend time with sickies

My friend Viv from my quilting group was recently diagnosed with Motor Nuerone disease

So sad She has gone down hill so fast

The girls in the club got together and made a comfort quilt for her She was so pleased with it

More lovely siggys came this week as well

My Mum is doing well The hospital is trying to get her home

She is still weak and walking on a frame but pleased to report she is a little better each day

Not much sewing happening

WIP AND SOME NEW SIGGIES

I have made a start on the draft horse quilt

My artist friend Bianca painted the horses, cabin and windmill for me

I tried unsuccessfully to find draft horse material or a pattern for one, so painting was the next option

The rest of the scene will be in applique

I enjoy applique, so it is no chore

Some more lovely siggies have arrived in the last few weeks

My Mum has been transfered back to the hospital in her home town for Rehabilitation

This will make it much easier for us to visit

She is making slow progress Walking on a frame

She cannot as yet get out of bed without assistance but can manage to get out of the chair

Luckily she is a strong healthy lady

Lorraine and Hubby are both having good and bad days

We have had a lot of rain today and it has turned cold

News on my Mum

Just a little up date on my Mum

She was finally operated on last night at about 7pm

I couldnt believe the time from when she fell to the time of surgery, but aparently it is fairly common

She fell early Wednesday morning and was operated on on Friday night

My sister went to spend the day with her today and reports that mum walked on a frame the short distance to the shower and came back in a wheel chair

That has to be good

As the hospital she is in is about an hour and a half away we are trying to make sure someone visits every day so we will take it in turns

Thankyou all for your kind thoughts

Hubby is still unwell with gall stone problems and he is also waiting for surgery

He had the gall bladder out some time ago but aparently a few unfortunate people still make stones he just had to be one of them

Some rain here today after some beautiful spring like days

I THINK IM GOING TO RUN AWAY

Yesterday I got the call that every daughter dreads

My 82 year old mother who lives alone and is very fit had a fall and broke her hip

An operation isnt happening until tomorrow afternoon

I cant believe it

No beds were available in Hospitals that perform this surgery

She is in terrible pain but remaining very calm

Maybe because they her giving her lots of morphine

They transferred her today for surgery tomorrow

The last two days have been spent by her bedside

Couldnt sew because not enough chairs for all the family to sit on

Our Hospital system is indeed in a bad state

COWBOY QUILT FINISHED

I have finished the cowboy quilt Iam very happy with it

I have so much trouble photographing quilts so you cant really see the detail so well

The siggy blocks have slowed down but got a couple in the mail this past few weeks

DAFFYDILLS

Some of you have asked where we got the name for our Relay for Life team
A sad story really
Both my girls work (well Lorraine doesnt any more) at the local Hospital Lorraine was a much loved nurse there for a number of years and for the past 3 or 4 years Lynda has been working there in Catering
Recently Lynda did a catering course and topped the state in her results (just a little brag)
Any way the hospital has an exceptionally high rate of staff members, past and present with Breast cancer
No one can explain why
Some of the girls came to the hospital with it as an excisting disease and others like Lorraine got it while working there
About five years ago Lorraines next door neighbour ,Who was the Director of Nursing and Lorraine and a few other staff members became involved with the Relay For Life event and the Hospital entered a team
Anne ,the DON came up with the name and they have kept it
Sadly Anne lost her battle about 2 years ago It hit Lorraine hard Anne was her friend ,her neighbour and her Boss at work
I became involved three years ago
Last year I made and raffled a quilt Made about $600. 00
The staff keep the team going for Anne and the others who have lost the fight and the ones like Lorraine who are currently battling the disease

RELAY FOR LIFE

Last night my family and I walked in the Relay for Life Event

The aim is a cancer free world

How wonderful would that be

We were in the Daffydills team

SPECIAL QUILTS FROM SPECIAL BLOGGING FRIENDS

yesterday was such a special day

Lyn and her little sister met me at my little sisters house and she presented me with the special quilts she had made for me

So many wonderful people contributed to the making of these quilts

Lyn knew my family were having a bad time and wanted to do something for me, so she put the call out for nine patch blocks

The response was overwhelming

I think many of you thought that Lyn and I had actually met in person ,but no, we formed a friendship through blogging

Such a caring supportive community Blogging has opened up a whole new world for me

We spent a lovely day and Lyn kept us entertained with her stoies

She was as special in person as I thought she would be

There have been so many people involved in this project My thanks to you all

Lyn has the story of the quilts journey on her blog

I felt so special yesterday

Thankyou Lyn, not only for the quilts but for your suppport and friendship

I have such trouble photographing quilts

TOMORROW

Tomorrow Easter Sunday is going to be a very special day for me
Its the day I get to meet Lyn
Lyn is the wonderful kind person who coordinated the making of a very special support quilt for me
I still cannot believe she has done this So much time and effort and Iam guessing some expense
She must be a very special person
Will let you know how tomorrow goes
Iam very excited

Fan Bag

It was my friend Carolyns birthday and had no idea what to get her
She is not into patchwork and I know her from Indoor Bowls
She is always hot so I decided a fan to go in her handbag would be the thing
These fans are quite fragile so to protect it in her handbag I made a a little bag for it to go in
Have also made myself one

Lorraine hasn't been feeling to bad but have had Hubby in Hospital

I thought once you had the Gall Bladder out that was the end of that problem

Not so it seems

Aparently some people make stones out of the Gallbladder He has to be one 0f them

Has been very sick but on the mend now

He is seeing the Gastro Enteroligist tomorrow to see what can be done

I have finished Anthony's quilt top but wont get it finished until school goes back in a fortnight

He is coming to stay and I don't want him to see it until his birthday in July

MORE SIGGIES AND A SMALL FINISH

The siggy blocks have slowed down in the last couple of weeks but here are the lovely ones I have received
Some time ago I received a little parcel of goodies from Janey and she told me to make something to remind me of her
Well Jane I have finally done it
I made this gorgeous(if I do say so myself) glasses case
It is so pretty and feminine
Thankyou Jane Hope you like what I made
Something I will use often and think of you when I do

Progress on Cowboy quilt

Just thought I would show you the progress Iam slowly making on Anthony's cowboy quilt
Iam quite pleased with the way it is coming along
Also wanted to tell you all that Lorraine is feeling much better than she was a few weeks back
The chemo is kicking in and her lungs arent filling up like they were,so she is breathing quite well
She has actually gone out tonight
Its been a while since she has felt like doing that
I have been busy in the garden and have sore muscles tonight

I'M PUBLISHED

How exciting
I sent a copy of a quilt I made using a pattern from Australian Patchwork and Quilting to the magazine and in this months issue there is a picture of the quilt I made for my cousins little girl

And not only was my quilt published but I won a six month subscripyion to the magazine

I had just renewed my subscription too so will be getting the magazine for a while to come

Only problem was they put my name as Irene instead of Illene

Oh well I won,t let the fame go to my head because I'm incognito it seems

New Siggies

This weeks Siggies
One letter was opened by Customs I can add Croatia to my list of countries now

Light box

I have been wanting a Light Box for a while now
Hubby had some perspex left over from something he was doing in the shed I thoght he should make me one using the perspex He has been hesitant to make me one because he says our house is "bursting at the seams now"
The other day he had a brain wave He put a globe in the wrought iron under my glass top coffee table It works a treat and no more "stuff" to take up room
The vases on the table I painted years ago when I did ceramics
This morning we went to a Garage sale
A lady was selling several fat quarters for $1.50 each
I need more like I need more stuff but made her an offer on the lot anyway
So more lovely material The lady was telling me she is now obsessed with card making
Beautiful material is my obsession
We had a huge thunder storm here this morning and have had a few showers through out the day
At least things have cooled down a little

Pot Holder Swap received

Received my lovely colourful potholders yesterday together with this beaut large coffee mug
My partner was Heidi
from www.handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com Heidi Is the host of the Friday night sewin
The person I sent to was also from the USA
Her blog is http://vanos.wordpress.com/


The siggies keep rolling in
Lorraine Iam pleased to say is a LITTLE better than she was Still nauseus at times but is keeping some food down and hasnt had her lung drained in 10 days We are hoping she wont have to have it done again
Hopefully the chemo is doing its job
I have spent a productive day in the garden todayHave scratches all over my arms from the roses

February Challenge

Two more siggies came this week and I made two Christmas placemats from left over binding
Thought I might enter Jenny's February Challenge www.elefantz.blogspot.com