Giving Tuesday

Tomorrow, December 1, is #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration, and we hope that you will join us in helping kids feel better to heal better!

TAKE THE #GIVINGSMILES CHALLENGE AND PASS IT ON

A hospital experience can be terrifying for both a child and his or her family. Our founder, Cindy, and her husband, Gavin Kerr, know just how terrifying the experience was for Ryan, their girls and for each of them. Like many families who experience traumatic health care experiences, they suffer from symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) that challenge them to this day. They are not alone!

▪ 49% of adolescents develop mild to severe symptoms of PTS following cancer treatment
▪ 30% of young hospital patients develop severe PTS symptoms following a serious illness
▪ 42% of mothers of cancer patients develop symptoms of PTS post treatment
▪ 25% of siblings develop moderate to severe symptoms of PTS

In addition to providing bright, colorful pillowcases to give hospitalized children an emotional boost, we recently partnered with experts at the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress to develop resources and tools to help entire families better understand and cope with the difficult experience.

Our goal for the #GivingSmiles Challenge is to raise $10,000 to help us support our newly expanded mission and initiatives. Please donate as much or as little as you can, and help us spread the word and raise awareness by sharing the #GivingSmiles Challenge on social media and with friends and family.

DONATE HERE

This winner has been drawn!

The winner of our basket of goodies for Small Business Saturday is - - - - - Jenny Osler!

If you missed out, we are doing another drawing  for another basket next weekend for Adel Holiday Open House. 

Seasonal Little Quilts

Lonnie has whipped up most of these little quilts. They are just 
12" x 18", fun and easy to stitch up.

Great gift ideas and still time to complete. We have patterns, hangers and kits for each.

Shop with us this weekend - - -

Basket full of goodies - - - mini charms, fabric bundles, fat quarters, notions, patterns and more! Value over $100!

Come in Nov 27 or 28 and sign up for this drawing! The more your spend, the more chances you get to win.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us to all of you. When we count our blessings, we count you twice.

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday

Two big days this week! Stop in Black Friday or Small Business Saturday and enjoy some holiday shopping. For every $10 spent, sign up for our drawing, a basket full of goodies.

Our top selling item continues to be gift certificates!

Want to dress up a holiday panel? This is one of our own new patterns. We also have this holiday panel in stock and kits for this quilt.  Makes great gift or great decor for your home.

Sisters of the Cloth November Class

This was our last Sisters of the Cloth class of 2015 and it was such a fun class. The weather was nasty and attendance low but we had a great time anyway. Our theme for this class was vintage ladies accessories.

Marti shared a few things from her collections - - - gloves, hat, hankies and a beaded purse.

 Kathy showed us her bloomers.

And Diane shared from her family trunk of  treasures - hats, bloomers, a skirt hoop, a ladies shirt waist, neck jabots, a bustle and baby hat/coat set. Such lovely family heirlooms from the 1800s.

The Wide Awake. Called as such because of the wide full brim

The Bavolette - a modest transition hat.  The back of the neck is covered but the face is not hidden. In the mid 1800s, it was only appropriate for a woman to show the back of her neck if she was in formal evening wear.

 Possibly modeled or influenced by John Stetson.  The inside of many of these hats had a hair net to fasten over a bun, thus securing the hat in place.

The Trilby or Boater -  popular when women began to bring more masculine flair into their wardrobe.

Ladies Western Wear of the 1800s.

Ladies shirt waist (above) and a couple jabots (below).

This is what Diane's relatives may have looked like in the 1800s. Note the Wide Awake hats, shirt waists and neck jabots.

Then we moved on to the Patchwork of the Crosses we have been working on in class. Some are using the pieces they make each month to build a larger block. Some are using the pieces as the center for 6 blocks, adding other fabrics as they go.

Here are few blocks floating around the room. What a difference color and placement makes.

Here is a block I made and then appliqued on background to make a pillow. These pieces were fussy cut from the same panel as shown over this chair.

 Then we moved on to show and share - - - -

Kathy shared this heirloom baby quilt.

A close up almost shows the weathered embroidery.

And a baby sheet. These kits were common in the 1930s. Very sweet.

This is a brand new quilt made from vintage shirts. The Osler's recently lost their father so Jenny collected several of his flannel plaid shirts and made this memory quilt. Such a keepsake.

Time to wrap up the class with our feature speaker. Marti Klatt shared her collection of Princess Peggy salesman sample dress forms and house dresses. In the background, see our dress form quilt. This was our shared pattern for the day.

Mid way through the presentation, Marti feigned feeling too hot and took off her outer layer of clothing. Underneath, she had on her own Princess Peggy style house dress.

Then she completed her ensemble with jewelry, hat and purse of the era. She even included the cigarette that was considered high fashion of the day. Very interesting program and oh,what a hoot!

Sisters of the Cloth meets on the third Saturday of July, September and November. Registration will be open soon for 2016 and will likely fill up quickly as we already have some great programs lined up.

Thank you to my Sisters of the Cloth for another great year together!

Follow up - - -

Be very careful out there. Under the snow is a layer of ice. It's deceiving so, step lightly!

Sisters of the Cloth Today!

It may be a bit chilly, ok - - - really chilly!! - -  but we are still planning to gather this morning with our Sisters of the Cloth, 10 am at the Adel Library.

Marti Klatt will be our featured speaker with a presentation on Princess Peggy fabrics. Join us if you can. Guests fee is $15.

November Quilt Circle of Friends

This was our last exchange of the snowball blocks. Now it's time to get creative.

Another project we are working on is a row quilt. I incorporated some of our snowball exchange blocks into my row quilt.

This month, we introduced the lamb block. Everyone is doing their own thing. This is just my version. There will be one more row, the cow.

Joyce has already made her cow. Isn't she cute?

These are some of her other animal blocks.

Joyce is thinking of a couple different baby quilts using her blocks.

Bonnie did what I consider to be not possible. She made 12 of these place mats. She quilted them all and then added a flange (above) to one side and piping (below) to the other and they are perfectly stitched on both sides.

Always the non-conformist, this is what Bonnie did with her snowball blocks. Do you see snowball blocks? She cut each block diagonally both ways to create 4 quarter square triangles and then used those units with black to make half square triangle units. Isn't this cool?!

Celia made this winter snuggler for herself, basket weave on the quilt top and a fleece blanket for the back.

Abbie has been traveling and had some fun things to share. While in Alaska this summer, she picked up several Row x Row kits. 

and this one from Decorah.

Then, while in India, she found this double sheet of silk fabric.

It's intent is for a sari but Abbie has not yet decided what she will do with it.

Here is a close up

Abbie also shared this quilt, finished up at our October Ladies of the Lake Quilt Retreat.

Sue is not in love with this quilt but she is in love with calling it done! I think it looks great.

This is a quilt as you go, reversible quilt.

Trish shared blocks she is making.

It will be fun to watch this quilt come together.

Lonnie has  been having fun making these little mug mats, above and below.

And Theresa has a niece in mind for this little baby doll bunting.

Nancy shared these three little quilts. They are on her Get Er Done list. These are blocks she inherited and made into three small quilts, one for herself and one for each of her sisters.

So nice.

Nancy also shared this quilt she finished up. She has really been bonding with her long arm quilting machine.

To close the evening, I did a demo on applique pressing sheets and then we snacked on Caramel Brownie Bites.

Thanks to Jackie Orton for all these pictures. I always love gathering with my Quilt Circle of Friends!