Made with love

I have always been a creative person.  I can remember sitting with my Grandma making felt Christmas ornaments.  I would spend hours sewing all of the little felt pieces and then hundreds of sequins and beads that came in the kit.  I also remember taking scraps of fabric, sewing them together then stuffing them, and being so proud of the little pillow that I had just made.  I think after that I moved on to cross stitch.  Sewing is definitely not the only crafty thing I enjoy.  I make jewelry, refinish furniture, I love to paint. (Not pictures.  I'm definitely not an artist)  I'm hard wired to look at something and immediately think "I can make that".  Luckily I married someone who thinks the same way.  Although, not in a crafty sense.  We totally speak each other's language when there's a car or house that needs to be redone, but my craft room and all of it's supplies?  Not so much.  So I can safely say that the one hobby that I never took up was scrapbooking.  Anyone who knows me, knows that if I take up a new hobby, I will buy every supply, gadget, or tool that could possibly be needed for it. Have you ever taken a walk down one of the 20 aisles in Hobby Lobby dedicated to Scrapbooking?  I would probably end up divorced.

When I was 21 years old I decided that I wanted to learn how to quilt.  (Yep.  Totally what every 21 year old usually does with their time.)  I pulled out the phone book (yes, I'm dating myself) and found a quilt shop a couple of miles from my house.  I drove over there, signed myself up for a sampler class (A "sampler" is a quilt with several different types of quilt blocks in one quilt.)  I bought all of the fabrics that the lady helped me pick out and anxiously awaited my first class.   The first thing I noticed the first day was that I was at least 50 years younger than anyone else taking the class.  The second thing I noticed was I was the only one doing it all by hand.  (I had never learned how to sew on a machine.)  My first quilt turned out pretty good.  I made a couple more but then I down my quilter's hoop for many years because it is very tedious work.  Every cut has to be perfect.  The seams all have to lay just right.  Hand quilting takes FOREVER.  And I literally hate the process of binding when it's all done.  But then I discovered my new love.

Rag quilting has quickly become my passion!  It's all done by machine, the cuts don't have to be precise, you don't use an intricate pattern and it is WAY faster than traditional quilting.

I'm not posting a tutorial right now.  (The main reason I'm even writing this post is for my dear friend Casey.)  This Saturday my town is hosting a Car Cruise and silent auction to benefit Kacey. (With a K.  Different person.  See my last post)  I wanted to make a quilt to put into the auction.  I saw an American flag rag quilt and decided that's what I would make for the auction.  When I finished it, I posted it on FB and my Bestie (whom I haven't been able to live near for way too many years) wanted to see more of what I have made....so here you go.  Just for you Case.

My very first quilt - 1993

                        

One that I made for my Mom

                          

One that I made for my Grandma

                         

American Flag Quilt for the Silent Auction

A closer picture

                           

             

Prayers Please

I am sending out a prayer request to anyone who might even think about saying a prayer today.  Years ago, when I met my husband, I also met two people who have become incredibly special to me.  So special, they stopped being "friends" and became my family somewhere in the first couple of years.  My kids call them "Uncle Todd" and "Mom".  They are, without a doubt, a second set of parents to my children...discipline and all.  My daughter's first friend was their oldest son.  When they were 3 and 4, they "got married"....and then spent years trying to get us to "grant a divorce".  We finally gave in when she got engaged a few months ago.  Now we refer to him as her ex-husband...when he's home on leave from the Air Force Academy.  The first time I ever saw their youngest son Kacey, who is now a junior in high school, was in the hospital the day he was born.

Kortney feeding Kacey

Summer 2000  

Thanksgiving of last year (like always) we hosted dinner for all of our family that lives here, which of course included Uncle Todd, Mom, the ex-husband and Kacey.  The term "blissful ingnorance" comes to mind when I think of that day now.  We were completely unaware of the fact that in one week, we would all be sitting in a waiting room at Children's Mercy Hospital.  Waiting for a doctor to come out and tell us how the surgery went.  The surgery to put in a stint, that would relieve pressure....that was being caused by the brain tumor they had just found in Kacey, hours before.  It was also to do a biopsy.  "Surreal" doesn't even begin to describe that day and the days that followed.  Even as we sat in the waiting room, we couldn't quite comprehend what all was happening.  The word "cancer" couldn't possibly become part of our daily conversation.  But it has.

Kacey, Kortney and Austin
 Summer 2008

The official diagnosis is a very long word that really boils down to a very rare form of brain cancer that usually only afflicts very young children.  The treatment will be many months that involve chemo, surgery to remove the tumor, radiation, and then lots more chemo.  (All things, including MANY other issues, that no person should ever have to endure.  Much less a 16 year old child. )

Kacey and Kortney
Summer 2009

There is a WHOLE lot more to this story that I will probably get to at some point but today I'm going to keep it short.  As we speak, Kacey is in surgery to remove the tumor.  He will be in surgery for several more hours.  Please keep him, his family and the doctors who are working on him in your prayers.  Today and for the many months to come.

Austin, Kortney and Kacey
May 2012