Rain and Shine!

The Oklahoma City Great Strides walk was this past Saturday, and boy did it rain! There were three rain bursts that came through over the course of the morning and drenched anyone that didn't have an umbrella or rain slicker. But that did not dampen our spirits and everyone had a great time. There were about 700 people there, and 60 of them were our friends and family members that came out in support of Katy! All of the kids absolutely loved splashing through the puddles and I'll bet their shoes are still wet. :)

Here is Katy with her Hero of Hope award. I know this is a crazily cropped picture but, Katy is draping her arms around her school friends that came to support her, and I didn't get permission to post their pics on the web. Suffice it to say she is so so happy here and surrounded by love!

We were at the Myriad Gardens, which houses a lovely conservatory located downtown. Our event took place on the grounds, where there are hills, trees, and a lake. It is a two-level venue, with an upper plaza and then down the stairs a stage over the water. Our team was stationed on the plaza. We had secured a sponsor for refreshments - two cotton candy machines and a popcorn machine. Cystic fibrosis families and their supporters are absolutely worn out from the day-to-day grind of the disease and the fundraising efforts leading up to Great Strides, so it was fabulous to be able to offer these refreshments for free. Thank you Doyle Chiropractic Clinic in Yukon, Oklahoma!

Of course its not enough to pick up the machines from the party place, drive them to the event, and set them up. Somebody(ies) have to operate them! That is where our amazing family came in to play! If you have never run a cotton candy machine, you should put it on your list of things to do. Once might be enough. Imagine standing over a 3-foot wide metal bowl, in the middle of which is a spinning head spitting out pink and blue threads of sugar. Throw in a little Oklahoma breeze. Now try to catch ALL the sugar threads on a tiny white cone. My sister and sister-in-law were completely covered with cotton candy from head to toe.



But they ran those machines for 3 hours straight and handed out hundreds of bags of cotton candy. Meanwhile, my brothers-in-law and another SIL ran the popcorn machine. They were total pros. They made over 36 batches of popcorn, and I'm telling you it was the best ever! Thanks to my many nieces and nephews as well for all of their hard work, and the newly-adopted member of our family, Desiree!


The OKC Thunder, our pro basketball team, lent us their mascot Rumble and two beautiful cheerleaders to hand out the Hero of Hope awards. These awards are given to those at the walk who have CF, and anyone walking in honor or in memory of someone with CF. There is a quick video here - http://www.nba.com/thunder/video/2009/05/11/cystic_fibrosis_090509.thunder/index.html


At one point you see the back of a girl's head with pigtails - that's our Katy receiving her award. My husband keeps watching this over and over - those cheerleaders sure are cuties!



I can't say thank you enough to everyone who read our CF blog post here, watched Katy's video, and/or purchased quilt chances. Our fundraising results were down this year, and we understand that; these are tough times. But even just taking the time to know about CF is enough. As a CF parent, raising awareness is part of my job so thank you for your attention and kindness.



And I'll wrap this up by thanking Judy again for the beautiful quilt, congratulating Vicky for winning, and assuring you that Peri will be back with all things quilty very soon!

Dana, mom to Katy and daughter of the lovely Peri. :)

And the winner is!

Drawing held via Random.org

Step 6: Drawing Completed
The winner of your drawing is...
Ticket 199 - V*

Congratulations on the drawing! It was completed on 7 May 2009 at 21:33:49 UTC. The winner was drawn from a list of 338 entrants using true randomness, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs.

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support!

Katy's Hope III Quilt Raffle

A Huge Thank You to JudyL for donating a quilt for Katy's Hope III Quilt raffle! Judy designed, pieced, and machine quilted this beautiful contemporary quilt, and some lucky person will be the winner.

This year the Katy’s Hope Quilt raffle will be completely virtual! (In prior years, ‘real’ raffle tickets were completed for each purchase and a physical drawing was held.) This year’s raffle ticket numbers will be assigned beginning with ticket number 1, and the winning number will be generated using a random number generator. The screen shot of the winning number will be posted here on the drawing date of Thursday, May 7th, at 4 p.m. Central Time.

Tickets can be purchased three ways:
Visit Okperi’s Great Strides page to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Great Strides Campaign for 2009 www.cff.org/great_strides/okperi

If you want to purchase tickets by PayPal send to dldale@aol.com

If you see Perry or Dana out and about, you can purchase tickets from them in person

Tickets are two for $5. All proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Please leave an e-mail address so that you can receive confirmation of your ticket numbers and for notification if you win!

This link explains why we support the work of the CFF:
2009 - Support the CFF Quilt Raffle The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation funds the science that develops effective and efficient treatments to control the symptoms of CF. We even dare to hope for a cure. Thank you for your support, and Good Luck!

Any questions at all should be directed to katysvoyagers@sbcglobal.net.

Please feel free to place a link to this information on your blog. We need all of the exposure we can get.

UPDATE:

Henrietta of Red Ink Diary has graciously agreed to donate additional money for everyone who takes a chance on the quilt raffle if you put the words "Henrietta Sent Me" in the comments section of the CF page. Read this post, it says it all. Thank you so much Henrietta!!

Star BOM # 13

Quilty Things

There is no hope for me. The only way I keep from buying quilting related items is to not go in a quilt store and not look at the online newsletters. I just don't seem to have any willpower.

Quiltworks had a weeklong sale on their reproduction fabrics and I just couldn't pass these up. Neutrals are always good and I love the floral.

I don't think I ever showed this. It is a neat table topper I think. It comes from Pieced Tree Patterns . They have some really good small patterns with good instructions.

I finally went to the Central Oklahoma Quilt Guild this month. This was one of the quilts shown. I like the border...it does remind me of the Diamond in the Rough I am doing. Not sure it is the same pattern, but pretty close.

This is a gorgeous quilt. Not a good picture, but you can see it in person at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall. It has been accepted for show.

This beauty came from Thimble Creek. It is made with Fig Tree's Patisserie and I haven't seen this kit anywhere else. Really pretty.

If you like blended quilts, and I really do, the place online to find them in kit form is Piece Keepers. The owner's name is Susan Branch and she only vendors at quit shows, and occasionally come to the OKC guild meeting with her merchandise. This is some of the fabric I picked up from her at the guild meeting. First time she has been there in a couple of years. I just love the large roses piece. It looks like tapestry and I seem to be into that at the moment. Also the other pieces are from Quilt Gate. They feel like lawn.

Susan puts together kits from the "In The Beginning" blended quilt books and I just couldn't resist buying this one. It called my name.

Look at this border fabric. It is yummy.

And last, but not least, this wool table topper from Bird Brain Designs. I will get this done eventually I think. It is so cute.

I Promised Pictures

I promised pictures so here they are.

We had some jewelry appraised and this was the table that the appraiser used for such things. See all of those "things"? They are diamonds....lol....small, insignifcant diamonds. Not worth anything supposedly, but used in "pave" and fillers for rings, etc. He told us he had to change out the carpet every 4 or 5 years because it got so full of them. Isn't that wild?

Aud studying the paperwork etc on the new car.

Our salesman, aka Coach. He was so nice and so patient with us, and we had a good time. Finally the sales manager came over to join us because we were laughing so much.

And here is our new car. It is a Toyota Venza, and I just love it! Drives like a dream, has a wonderful stereo in it and bluetooth, keyless entry, etc. Such a fun car!

This was taken at the hospital while we were waiting for our car. This little boy in the corner looks just like I felt at the time. Really "p******d" at the world.

Taken on March 28 when it had finished snowing. My poor azaleas. Today however they appear to be ok.

Iphone...the only thing pleasant that came out of the "changing my telephone" experience. It is such fun and I have downloaded some apps so I can play Tetris, do Yoga, build bridges, etc. I also downloaded 2 dictionaries, a thesaurus, and some books from my Kindle because I can read them on this phone. Love it, love it, love it!!

New drinks that don't have a lot of calories, taste good, and don't appear to be full of sugar. Come in lots of flavors.

Coconut cupcakes. The recipe was on here and it is wonderful. Aud and I almost fought over them. Thank you Kim for posting this recipe.

Aud's new haircut. Doesn't she look younger?

Joe B is Still Hanging Around

Joe B is still hanging around this month. Since no one else wanted to entertain him, he decided to stay here.

Since the first of March I have had continuous problems with my computer and AT&T. Unreal. If you heard screaming about the 15th of this month, it was me yelling at the Tech Department of AT&T. Talk about a horrible customer service experience and a worse technical help experience. I still get mad when I think about it. My internet has been intermittent....that should read practically non-exsistence....

I did get an IPhone through AT&T for my mobile phone. It is so much fun and I am using it for everything. I can even download books from my Kindle to read on it. I had my land line disconnected and only have the IPhone to worry with. I am not getting all the gimme calls and surveys now, YEA!!!

Then we decided to buy a car, which was interesting. We ended up buying a Toyota Venza and it has been so much fun to drive. I need to take a picture of it to share, but it is dirty now and needs to be washed, lol.

Then my doctor informed me I needed to get some weight off and eat better so I have joined the Silver Sneakers at Pacers, which is attached to one of the hospitals here. For all of you senior citizens who have AARP Supplemental Insurance this should be a service offered to you through AARP at no cost. It is a great program.

I was screened and all of my vitals recorded plus the sterling numbers of strength I am capable of, not! Programs were suggested and I will try to go at least 3 times a week.

So far I have tried several things and today I tried Pilates. I have hamstrings that have been sleeping for 15 years! They are screaming!! I don't think I have used some of these muscles in forever!

I am feeling much better and have started back to sewing on Wednesdays at a local quilt store. Maybe I will finally get some sewing done. I have some pictures to share, but that is going to have to wait a day or two.

Aud is doing ok, but her blood pressure is 20 points higher than usual, so we are going to have to really watch her diet. She had a doctor's appointment today and he is not happy about it. Tomorrow a dietician is going to come see her and put her on a strict diet. Not looking forward to that for sure. I think she is concerned, but hopefully we will get her back on task. She is still on coumidin and that is going well. He did increase her diuretics. She is in good spirits.

Aud had her hair cut and I took a picture. I swear she looks younger with it cut, lol.

JudyL has kindly donated a quilt to be raffled off for Cystic Fibrosis this year. I am waiting on my daughter to give me all of the details for those of you interested in buying tickets. It is a gorgeous quilt and a worthy cause. More on that as soon as possible I hope.

I think that catches me up. Thanks for all of the messages. It is wonderful to have blogger friends who keep up with you and encourage you to do things. I will try to get back on this week with quilty pictures.

Anybody Seen my Lost Brain Matter?

I am not sure where our spring went, but it has been cold here this week. Of course, not as cold as other places, and next week I will be gripping because it is supposed to get to 80 degrees.

Aud is doing OK I guess. She just seems to be struggling to get better and it worries me some. She doesn't feel like getting out, and I haven't gotten out much either.

Katy's "bone" problems have been weighing pretty heavy on my mind; I think it has finally bought home the reality that so far there is no cure for Cystic Fibrosis and that is a very sobering thought.

On a lighter note, my ex daughter-in-law and husband are expecting a daughter early in July so I need to get something pink sewn up for this child. I hope they call her Emily rather than Zoe; a good old fashioned American name would be wonderful I think. Please don't post that this thinking is un-American, lol, because I really don't care. I just want this child to have a nice peaceful sounding name I can relate to.

On to other things. I did get a little quilting done. When I picked up my BOM for the Posies quilt (haven't started it yet) I could not get past this pattern at Oklahoma Quiltworks. I just love it. So, it came home with me along with the Perle Cotton. Not a real good picture but you will get the idea from the closeups below.


The next 3 photos are of the area across the top of the quilt. I have prepared the fabric and am ready to go on it. Of course, as usual, I don't always have all of my brain together so there is a funny story to go along with this.

I was talking to one of my friends there about this pattern and she has made the one previous to this that was a winter scene with black and brown flying geese. She was telling me that rather than hand stitch a backing down she ironed wonder under on her fabric.

Ok, I can do that. I prepped this much of the fabric the other night and ironed on the wonder under, and I am thinking, hmmm, have to take the paper off. So I take the paper off, and, I am thinking to myself, this is sticky. I cut the pieces of fabric, get out my light box, lay the pattern on it and start tracing it all off. The whole time I am doing this I am really concerned about sewing on this sticky stuff.

Are you laughing yet? About the time I get through drawing the pattern on, it dawns on me....idiot, you have to iron the muslin on the back side of the wonder under....lol....ooops! That's your laugh for today!

I have been doing the button hole stitchwork on my Gatsy quilt. All 88 squares (I think...somewhere in that vicinity anyway). This takes a long time and is boring!!!!! I want to get this stitching finished up so I can get it put together and to the quilter. It has been a whole year since I have finished a quilt and I want a new quilt for my bed!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

It's Bernina Time!

I finally came to my senses and quit fooling around with other sewing machines and bought another Bernina!

JudyL had a discussion on her blog last week about sewing machines, and which one she liked to sew on, etc. Well, I have been thinking about that and have come to the conclusion that I was making better looking quilts with less trouble and all of my seams matched when I was sewing with a Bernina.

I had an Bernina 830 for years and when I started quilting I traded it in ( I know, don't fuss at me, lol) for a 150 Quilter's Edition. Never did like that one. For some reason it was never comfortable for me but I did sew some pretty quilts on it. I sold it last summer because it was just too heavy and I had sewed through my finger with it one day..scared the you know what out of me...and never was able to feel totally at ease with it after that. Besides, did I really need it with the Janome and the Pfaff I had, why no, of course not, lol.

Then I sold the Janome Gold that I had to a friend of mine for her daughter to use to learn to quilt on. I wasn't using it, seemed like the thing to do at the time, lol. Two weeks later I started going out to sew once a week and realized I had goofed.

I had heard so much about how great the Pfaff was with the IDF foot, so I bought a 2046 (I think that is the number) of those several years ago, it gave me a lot of trouble, and I finally traded it back to the store and got a 2056 when the came out. It sewed pretty well for maybe 3 months and ever since then I have had so many problems with it. I have had it looked at, etc, and finally, a lady told me what was probably wrong with it but I would have to take it to Enid to have it fixed. That is a lot of trouble. Plus, I don't think the quality is there.

I bought a Babylock Quilter Pro (only does straight stitching) to do machine quilting with 3 years ago. So far I have sewn on it twice and both times had problems with the tension. I don't have patience for stuff like that. One of these days when I make something small and have to quilt it, I will figure it out maybe. IF I can remember what I figure out...that is always a problem.

I bought a Janome Diamond (I think that is the name of it) last year, it is the small machine and just perfect for classes and a joy to sew on. You can't hurt it, BUT, I can't get a scant quarter inch and as a result have to rip a lot.

If I want to do a blanket stitch, that is a nightmare on either one of them. So I finally set down and thought about this problem and decided to bite the bullet and go back to what I know sews well and sews like I like.

I did not buy an expensive Bernina....I told the lady I wanted a good quarter inch, a good blanket stitch and a satin stitch I could make wider or more narrow as I stitched, and that is exactly what I got. Even with my eyes bothering me, my stitches are straighter and my seams are scant quarters, and even the blanket stitch looks good. I am a happy camper! And to top it all off, it is pretty lite as far as weight is concerned, so I can lug it around.

I still have my little Janome for a backup and the Pfaff for whatever. I never thought the day would come that I would own 4 sewing machines, but that isn't many from what I can tell for someone that quilts, lol. I do not intend to buy another one anytime soon. I just want to be able to sew a block without having to take out the stitching all the time.

I am as happy as a pig in sunshine, lol.......and just about as fat!

She Did It Again!

My poor grandaughter! Katy, the youngest grandchild has cystic fibrosis. One of the problems that these children can have is "brittle bones". Normally this is a condition that they have sometime in their lives, but not at 5 years old, which is how old Katy is.

Well, her mother just called me from the hospital. She has broken her left forearm in two places! They had to sedate her but have it set and this time did not have to put a pin in. For those who are new to my blog, this is the third time she has broken her arm in approximately 1 year. The other two times were on her upper arms and I believe she has a pin in both of them.

In case you are wondering, she broke the first one while she was playing with the neighbor children and a bee was buzzing around and she fell off of a picnic table. The next one happened when one of the neighbor girls and she were printing off something on the printer and she was standing up in an office chair and jumped out...oops!! This afternoon she was sliding down a slide at school with a friend and fell off I guess. Dana didn't give me all the details.

As I told Dana, Katy doesn't seem to have be afraid of anything. We are all ready to wrap her in bubble wrap or sedate her until she is 18, lol.

I know Dana and Mark (her parents) are in a state of shock....I am for sure. Tests were scheduled tomorrow for some other CF problems she is having. Those have been cancelled for now but I am sure the problem with the brittle bones will be one of the ones that get addressed fast. Hopefully there will be something that will help this condition.

The past two years during the fund raisers that happen in May and June for CF I have had a quilt available for chances. Two years ago I made one and last year Cindy made one. Dana and I had talked a couple of weeks ago and decided not to do it this year. Her job is just too busy right now and I don't have a quilt made for it. Anyway, what I am getting at is remember CF when you want to donate to a charity. These kids really need all of the help they can get. There is no cure for CF as of yet.

On a better note, Aud went for doctor's followup and she is doing much better. He is well pleased with her progress.

Star BOM

I am so excited! I am finally caught up with JudyL and the Star BOM she has been hosting for the last several months. I am very pleased with the way my blocks have turned out. Only one more block to go, and then we get to put it all together.

This is block 4; I was not happy with the first one I did, so I remade it this week and it goes much better with the other ones.

Update on Aud

Thanks so much for all the good wishes and helpful comments about my mother, (I call her Aud). We have managed to get through a few days of this and seem to be getting in a groove of sorts.

Aud is feeling much better, even though all of her bruises are itching and they are driving her batty, lol. I told her she didn't have far to go.

I know she is feeling better because she got on to me about throwing something in the recycle bin that shouldn't be in there, lol. Oh well, that means things are getting back to normal.

I am looking forward to a little quiet time today I hope. I have my blocks caught up for the Star BOM I am doing with JudyL so I get to work on something else for a change.

Here's hoping we all have a great week ahead of us!

Star Block 12

This is Star Block 12 I am doing with JudyL.

Another Lost Week or More

Well, I could not tell any of you what has happened to this month so far. It is almost over and I have nothing to show for it except some BOMS I am trying to catch up on. They are in individual posts below this one.

I had to put Audrey in the hospital last Thursday and everything has been a blur since. She had a blood clot in her groin and they finally let her come home yesterday. They also put her on cumiden which distresses me. That stuff is really bad. It thins your blood and you have to be very careful what you do and what you eat. The blood clot will hopefully dissolve soon.

She has some hideous bruises on her stomach and her arm where some idiot lab technician that didn't know what they were doing tried to give her a shot and tried to draw blood. I have filed a complaint about them, which I am sure will do no good. However, hopefully somewhere down the line it will show up in her records and they will be more careful.

She is on a low sodium and restrictive potassium diet which is rather stringent. We have decided the best thing to do is buy her some TV dinners that meet those requirements because she is eating like a bird, and doesn't really eat enough to make it worthwhile cooking for. Both of us eat cereal for breakfast and peanut butter and crackers for lunch, so that is only one meal, which won't be too bad.

I am still having trouble with bronchitis which doesn't help the situation either, lol.

So, here we are, puttering around the house, and trying to come to terms with the new diet and restrictions placed upon her. She is ticked off to say the least, her words are......this is not my body! It doesn't act this way!!

I think she will be fine, she just has some adjusting to do, as do I. Hope all is good in your world, and your week is going well.

Catching up with BOMS

This is Block 5 of the Simply Sophisticated BOM. I have to keep these caught up because Vicky and Fat Quarter Shop have this thing going where you can win a $25.oo Gift Certificate every month. That is a good incentive I think, lol. Thank you Vicky for hosting this, and thank you Kimberly for providing the gift certificate.

This is Block nine of the Designer BOM I have been doing.

Star BOM Block 11

This is Star block #11 I am doing with JudyL

Star BOM Block 10

This is block 10 of the BOM I am doing with JudyL

Star BOM Block 9

Month 9 of the BOM I am doing with JudyL

Star BOM Block 8

This is Block 8 of the Star BOM I am doing with JudyL.

Star BOM Block 7

This is Block 7 of the Star BOM I am doing with JudyL. I am behind as usual, lol