Ovarian Cancer Quilt: a call to action

It’s the end of April, so it must be time once again for another Ovarian Cancer quilt to fire up.

As usual, I’m sending out my call to action for all the quilters out there. Every year, we collaborate on the creation of a fundraising quilt in aid of Ovarian Cancer. In case you’re new round here, I come up with a name and a concept, and am joined in the making of blocks to fit into this design by those who’ve been with us from the start, have joined along the way or who are contributing for the first time. The Ovarian Cancer colours are teal and cream, and the blocks fit the theme but can be in your choice of construction, design and fabric.

Last year’s quilt, ‘This Teal’s on Fire’

Below is a list of those who have confirmed they’re contributing, or who have already expressed interest but not confirmed their participation yet. If you’re interested in joining, leave me a comment or email me if you already have my email address, and I will send you the brief and timeline. If you’ve previously said yes but can’t now do it, also please let me know. We need 30 blocks, and I will make up any shortfall myself. Even if you can only make one or two, your help is greatly appreciated.

Your contribution will be acknowledged on the quilt label. I develop the design, quilt everything and assemble the quilt. All you have to do is send me one or more 12½ inch (unfinished) quilt block(s) in the mail, using the colours and themes specified in the brief I will send out. I hope you will feel able to join us.

Participants – so far  (black = confirmed, red = provisional, tbc)

Kate Chiconi:   Co-ordination, design, quilting, assembly
Kjerstin Mackie (Quimper Hitty)
Cathy Foot (Nana Cathy)
Margaret Creek (The Crafty Creek)
Jean Swenson (Love Hugs)
Lynn Hutton (Tialys)
Sue Brown (From a Magpie’s Nest)
Robin Murphy
Gun Adrian (Rutigt)
Vera Daniel (Life by a Compass not a Clock)
Amo House (View from our Hill)
Debbierose Horoba (Sew Rosey)

Let’s make something beautiful and do some good together.

 

And the Teal Goes On…

I had a lovely surprise yesterday.

In the mailbox was a fat envelope. Inside it was a package with this card attached:

Alys had made a paper replica of the cushion I added to this year’s This Teal’s on Fire Ovarian Cancer Quilt. And then, inspired by this year’s colour scheme, she went on to make a series of absolutely beautiful cards, which she has sent me.

I’m blown away. Card-making is NOT one of my skills. With fabric, I can visualise what I want, and how to create it in three dimensions. But face me with card-making supplies and I’m at a loss. Alys’ beautiful creations have a lot to teach me, and I suspect it’ll be a long time before I actually use them as cards rather than as inspiration… If ever, actually. I’m especially in love with the 3-D versions.

For more inspiration, head over to her lovely blog and see what she makes and brings to life in her gorgeous garden.

Thank you, Alys. For this and for your friendship 😊

The handover: TTOF

I handed the quilt over on Wednesday.

It got quite the reception!

Take a look at the link to their Facebook Page. Not the best photo of the quilt, but you guys already know what that looks like.

And for anyone who doesn’t have FB, here’s a screenshot from the FB page. The photo’s not in great focus, but you can at least read the text. And the comments on the post are all so positive! 😊

Hugs again to all the wonderful contributors.

 

Ovarian Cancer Quilt: This Teal’s on Fire is done

After about 10 miles of hand stitching….

The quilt is finished. Front – and of course the wind was blowing so things are flapping about in the breeze…

And back. Isn’t that backing fabric just the best? (Thank you, Anne!)

Label detail. Grateful thanks to all those who participated, both new and veterans of the past nine (can you believe it!) Ovarian Cancer fundraisers. Love your work, and huge hugs to you all.

I’m going to give myself a short break from hand stitching before my right paw falls off. Particularly since I’ve had to cease taking my pain and migraine meds for 48 hours prior to some tests, and things are not especially cheery 😕

Now, off to phone the director of the Trudy Crowley Foundation to set up a handover date for this and the matching cushion. The fundraiser is on 8th September, but at this stage I don’t know if they’re raffling or auctioning it.

If you’d like to participate in next year’s effort, let me know, and I’ll put you on the list. I have a theme in mind already!

And that wraps it up for another year.

Ovarian Cancer Quilt: TTOF blocks quilted

I’ve finished quilting all the blocks, and they’re trimmed out.

Quilting is a simple cross-hatch format on a 3″ grid, done in teal. I debated grey, which would be more neutral, but the problem with grey is that it doesn’t match anything. At least the green coordinates, even if it stands out a bit extra on the paler backgrounds.

Next job is to cut all the sashing strips. After that, I can start building the quilt. I also have to finalise the label text and print out the transfer so I can make it up. I wondered about hitting the target of delivering at the end of the month, but at this rate I think I’m going to make it.

Cross your fingers that all goes well!

TTOF: The cushion!

There’s going to be a bonus.

I had made a Dresden Plate block but miscalculated and it was much too large. I’d had the idea at the outset that this could become a cushion cover. I was right!

After finalising the quilt layout, I was left with a block from Gun which was a gorgeous Drunkard’s Path design, but there was just too much blue in the fabrics for it to work well with the other blocks. However, with a blending border, it made an amazing back for the cushion.

I used orange for the binding. And by a miracle, I had an orange zipper for the cushion opening. It was clearly all meant to happen.

So now there’s a cute bonus item to go with the quilt. Tomorrow, I’m going to start sandwiching all the blocks – today I had to get something to protect the table on the back deck before I start spray basting, but now I’m ready for the production line to start.

Also, I’ve decided the quilting will be simple wide cross-hatching. Quick and easy, my favourite kind of quilting! The front sashing is a dark blue and teal watery batik. The back sashing is going to be a good strong plain teal, which will be lovely with the pãua shell print on the back.

I hope to have some progress to show you soon!

 

Ovarian Cancer Quilt: TTOF #31

And the last blocks are in!

I got home from our trip to find two squishy envelopes, with TTOF quilt blocks in them! Two from Margaret, beautiful and original…

And one further one from Robin, who wanted to go all out on a New York Beauty. I think we can safely say she succeeded!

Now that I have them, I was able to come up with a pinned layout I like for the quilt which plays to the strengths of each block. True to the theme, This Teal’s on Fire, I wanted the wheel element to speak clearly, and I think the blocks I’ve received have enable me to showcase each one whilst at the same time building a larger wheel story in the centre of the quilt.

Layout building is always about balance. Not having too much darkness on one side or the other. Balancing light and dark, pale and saturated, and in this case, amounts of the accent colour, across the whole. At present, I’m pretty content with this layout, but as always, I’m happy to listen if someone feels strongly about the location of any individual block. I do, however, reserve the right to go with my own preference in the final version. So hit me with those comments!

Don’t take too long though. I need to finalise the layout by the end of the week as this quilt needs to be finished by the end of the month.

No pressure, then…

 

Ovarian Cancer Quilt: TTOF #30

I think we may be almost there…

Today, I got two NYBs from Amo, and a bonus Dresden Plate. We’d become a little concerned because the combined efforts of the Royal Mail and Australia Post had taken an entire month to get here. But today, the package finally arrived. And boy, was it worth the wait.

Amo has made four absolutely gorgeous 6½” NYB quarter blocks, leaving the final arrangement of the quarters up to me, so these quarters are unsewn. I love this idea, because a) I get full circles and b) I can arrange them for maximum colour impact.

As well as that, the Dresden plate block has no background yet, since she couldn’t choose from amongst her many options and doing it this way gives me the option to choose either a dark or a light background, according to the layout.

There are other blocks still on the way, another from Robin and the package from Margaret. At this rate I’ll probably not need the 4 scrappy cornerstone blocks I made for ScrapHappy, but we’ll see.

I’m starting to think that I may need to add another row!

Ovarian Cancer: TTOF #12

…aaaand the penultimate blocks.

These four gorgeous New York Beauty blocks are from Jean. Jean and I were a bit worried about them for a bit, as they seemed to have gone astray, but they were safely delivered this morning 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a plan for where to place them on the quilt, but it will need to wait for the final block from Robin, which will hopefully arrive in a few days, as it’s coming from within Australia.

In the meantime, I’ve made the usual ‘teal ribbon’ block for the centre of the bottom line.

And lastly, I’ve decided to make a matching cushion cover to go with the quilt. I was making an experimental block at the start of the project, which due to my poor quilt math has turned out too large to be included by two inches. Grrr. So, cushion cover it is. The back will be a block from the current collection which does not fit in or blend harmoniously enough with the rest. This way, no blocks are wasted or rejected, and the Trudy Crowley Foundation get something extra for their fundraiser.

I’ve cut out all the backing squares, and the next couple of days will see me do the same with the batting. After that, it’ll be sandwiching everything and hopefully by that time, I’ll be able to finalise the layout.

So, not too long to wait till my work can start.

Ovarian Cancer: TTOF #11

Another batch of blocks.

This latest lot I carried home from our recent trip to Melbourne to visit Chippy.

Among other quilty delights we enjoyed while I was there, she had made these for me to add to the growing collection for the latest Ovarian Cancer quilt.

We also had the fun of unboxing her new sewing machine. She’s now in love with it!

More textile loot from Melbourne came in the form of the quilt backing fabric, which can often be a bit meh…  it’s the back, after all. But not this time! The lovely Anne gave me a Spotlight gift card at our Sunday morning brunch, since she doesn’t make quilts and this was her way to contribute.

I knew exactly what to do with it, as I’d seen a fabric online that I knew would be perfect for my vision for the back.

It’s a large-scale digital print based on a photo of a pāua shell, and the moody, pearlescent colours are exactly right, especially as there are tiny hints of orange in there too!

Imagine that print cut into 12 inch squares, separated by a dark teal sashing, and you get the idea of how the back will look.

And the gift card was exactly enough to cover the cost, so I think that’s fate, don’t you?

There are two more sets of blocks on the way according to my notes, which I need before I can finalise the layout. To save a bit of time I might just start sandwiching the ones I have to give myself a bit of a head start on the process, particularly as we have a 4-day trip in the caravan coming up next month.

Plenty to be getting on with, either way.