Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative:Remembering Piece by Piece

As a member of the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, I was contacted yesterday by Ami Simms and asked to send a 2" x 6" strip of purple fabric with the name of someone I loved on the back. The name of someone who has, or has had, Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia.

All of these purple strips will be used in a ceremony this spring at a venue where the "Alzheimer's Forgetting Piece by Piece" quilts will be displayed. Each of the little pieces of fabric will be pinned on participants as a reminder to think about Alzheimer's and to honor the person and their families who face, or has faced, the amazing challenges of this terrible disease.

I knew immediately that I wanted to send a patch with my own mother's name on the back. But as I cut my purple fabric and wrote her name with indelible marker, I realized how many others in our family have been, or had been, diagnosed with Alzheimer's and related dementias. As I began to write their names on the back, it was like I could hear an honorary roll call being read out with each and every name. At first I had a lump in my throat, and then a pain in my heart and suddenly I began to feel tears as they streamed down my face.

Nine names, nine purple strips, nine lives touched and destroyed by the hurricane force of this horrible disease. Nine people in my family alone, in my memory, in my own relating generation, in my DNA, in my own heart. Five of them have passed on now. Five names are now written in the stars in the heavens above.

Four more names, including that of my own mother, are waving in the ribbons of love in my heart...still alive and still facing the challenges of a changed and ravaged life. And as these purple banners wave across the hearts of all of those who view the "Alzheimer's Forgetting Piece by Piece" quilts, they wave too in all of our lives. Lives changed forever, just as our own loved ones' lives have been changed.

It is roll call that none of us should ever have had to hear out loud. A roll call none of us should have to witness. A roll call that each and every one of us may face some day. We may face it...you and I...unless research provides a cure or maybe somewhat to prevent or stop its terrible path. Each of us must stand up and be counted...before it is too late for us, or for someone we know, and someone that we love....we must remember now...for tomorrow may be too late for us to remember at all.

Please visit Ami's site at : Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI)Consider making a small quilt in honor and memory of someone that you, too, love or make a monetary donation to help fund research.

Please check out these following links from Ami's websites:
Alzheimer's "Forgetting Piece By Piece"
http://www.alzquilts.org/
Ami Simm's "Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts"

And my own posts on my little donated quilts:
How To Make A Fabric Art or Postcard
How To Make An Inchie
The Heartbreak of Alzheimer's
For Better, For Worse
What Dreams May Come
You Don't Bring Me Flowers
Each and Every Day is a Gift
Love Is All There Is...

Show Me Your Ironing Board

The 'show me' game is going around quilting blogs once again. This time it's 'Show Me Your Ironing Board'. I've lost track of who started it, but I know that I was inspired by paula, the quilter and her own creation of a "double-wide" ironing board by her Car Guy to investigate my own sewing areas.

I sew at home in a cozy cubicle that was once used for Christmas storage, became an overnight nursery when I discovered at age 35 that I was going to be a mother again by age 36 and later became by own beloved sewing space.

My sewing haven encourages me to stay flexible and lightweight. If I gain weight, I can't fit in to sew and if I get too stiff, I can't bend under, around and in between the spaces and places I need to access.

My only home ironing board is in this little special space. She's partly under the sewing table and partly out. The part that is out is used as an all purpose surface, in this case I am felting cotton. Now, I know you think that only wool can be felted. But those of you who quilt know that you give a cat a couple of inchies of quilt and she'll have that cotton felted in no time! One cat felts in black hairs, one in white, and this one in variegated. So I have a complete fiber selection to choose from.

This ironing board is affectionately known as my 'single-wide'. At Community Quilting...downtown at a local church on Mondays, we are lucky to have a 'double-wide' like Paula does. This double wide was purchased by one of our quilters and can either be placed on top of one's own single-wide, where it fits snugly and doubles your space...or it can be propped on top of two chairs for an instant ironing surface.

Last of all, I have my portable u-haul. My beloved little traveling iron that I inherited after my last child returned from studying in London where it could switch from our voltage to theirs. The first time I brought it to group, I had a mind skip and couldn't even remember which voltage was which. I asked several people to confirm that we are indeed 120 in America so as not to use 240 and explode a dozen computerized sewing machines in one blow.

I'm sure that would have rivaled any shot heard 'round the world for all eternity and most likely ended, once and for all, my participation in group quilting...or at least ironing.

So, play along and show us your ironing boards!

shown above:
single, double, portable...
where ever I go, there's still ironing to do!

Blogs, Blogging, Blogger

I have had an extremely challenging time reading others' blog these past few months. We have all become so graphic laden and so filled with links and hyperlinks and now videos and my poor little dial-up modem just can't pull that heavy of a load.

I live in Salem, Oregon but I also live 'in the country'. That doesn't mean a fine 'country' house...it just means outside of the city limits, right next to the urban growth boundary...where utilities and high speed phone services are not accessible.

I still read hundreds and hundreds of your blogs a week. I may not comment...sometimes I can't even get your comment windows to open. I even have trouble loading my own blog...too many pictures...so many days I can't even load my own web page!

So, I go to ORblogs...Oregon weblogs, where I am a member of a group of Oregon bloggers. By going there first, I let them connect me to me with a faster connection. So believe it or not, I go to their web page instead of my own when I want to read or work on my own blog! Please try it and let me know if my graphic heavy blog then loads my pages faster for you, too!

The Orblogs link for this webpage is:
With Heart and Hands (Quilting Journey) If it helps you get to my blog easier, and faster ...it's better for both of us! It's my gift from me to me to you ;)

shown above:
a surprise gift bag I am giving a community quilter at group today.
(she's really needs a 'pick me up' and I love giving them :)

Quilts and Quilting

shown here:
Serena Mahle of Juneau, Alaska quilts on one of the state's few long arm quilting machines

While I was up in Juneau, Alaska last month, I did a little online research on quilts and quilting in Alaska. I discovered that it is a viable commodity with quilting stores in the biggest communities and at least fabric available in many of the smaller ones. Juneau, for example, has a added a very nice Joann Fabrics and even has its own quilting store. The art of quilting with quilting machines, however, is far from common, and is a major problem for those who do quilt.

In fact, according to the following online article which I am directly quoting...there was an amazingly limited supply of long arm quilters in the whole state who accepted quilting business from others when this article was researched just a few years ago!

The Juneau Empire Online:
"Piecing together a business for quilters A new Juneau business is offering quilters a service they usually have to send out for - and spend up to $200 in shipping.

Sarena Mahle is handing out cards announcing the arrival of a healthy-sized 842-pound, 168-inch, bouncing long-arm sewing machine and the birth of her new business. Mahle, owner and sole proprietor of Comfort Bound Quilting Co., said she has always loved quilting by hand but hopes her new machine will allow her to take her hobby to a lucrative business level of machining patchwork quilts for people all over Alaska.

Jaxine Anderson, owner of Rain Tree Quilting, an area quilting supply shop, said Mahle can look forward to plenty of business because there is nothing else like this for quilters in the area.

"There are only 10 people in the state who do this kind of work, but they are in Fairbanks, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell," she said. "This is going to be a real asset to the quilting community." The quilting community, she added, is an ever-growing entity in Southeast. She said the Capital City Quilters Guild alone has 150 members and it attracts members of other quilting groups outside of Juneau.

Anderson said quilters can spend as much as $200 shipping their quilts to professional machinists in other parts of the state or in the Lower 48. Most of the cost is tied up in shipping charges and it can take up to three months to get a completed quilt.

"It will be interesting to see," said Ruth Johnson, member of the quilters' guild. "A lot of people ship their quilts out of town. They'll ship them as far away as South Dakota, Texas or Fairbanks. But with Sarena doing this I think she'll have people leaving some of their favorite designers because it will be easier to go to her."

There are three main components to a quilt. The quilt top is a patchwork of many pieces of fabric carefully placed in a pattern of the designer's choosing, Mahle said. The backing is a piece of plain cloth attached to the quilt top. The batting, the soft cottony filling in the middle, rounds out a completed quilt, Mahle said.

The creativity is in the quilt top. But fun and creativity end there, Anderson said. Most people who quilt will take the time to painstakingly sweat over ways to match the right colors, fabrics and themes for a quilt top but will send it to Texas or Fairbanks because machine-quilting is too tedious, Mahle said. People usually don't have the right equipment for the job, Mahle said, making it a frustrating and difficult process to machine a quilt.

Mahle does that part. She attaches the finished quilt top to a cloth backing and fills the center with batting. She then lays the quilt on her machine and adds an intricate pattern of stitches over the layers to attach them.

The machine can handle quilts made for a baby's cradle as well as king-size quilts, Mahle said. Further, she said, it can handle straight stitching, pantograph stitching - which takes the stitch from edge to edge of the quilt - stippling, meandering and free-form stitching.

Ultimately she said she would like to do more free-handed stitching, allowing her to design her own stitching patterns across the quilt. She would also like to finish four or five quilts a day.
She also said her current production time runs about a week for any size quilt. Though she hopes the business is a success, she said, she enjoys quilting and will continue that regardless.

"It's a work of love," she said. "You're not going to sit there making these tiny, tiny stitches and rip them out for hours for the money. It's not the latest and greatest fad. It's simply for the love of doing it."

Quoted from an article by Michael Penn of the Daily Empire: Juneau, Alaska

How To Make a Heart Shaped 'Mitt' Potholder

I love to use every bit of my leftover scraps and put them to good use. I also love 'potholder therapy' where sewing easy things in my spare time allows me to feel a sense of accomplishment in an otherwise crowded or busy day.

My site, because of its name, receives countless 'hits' on anything that involves hearts and heart shapes, so it seemed appropriate to offer a simple photo tutorial on making a heart hot mitt...the kind where your hand can fit inside and can safely grasp hot cookies sheets, cassaroles etc.

Hot Pad 'Mitt' Photo Tutorial:

Step 1: As a stash buster or scrap user project, use fabric scraps and a homemade heart shaped pattern. I cut mine from a piece of copy paper...folding it in half lengthwise and cutting the half heart shape as you would a paper valentine. This one measures about 8 1/2" x 10" as you can see by enlarging the above photo.

Step 2: Using this pattern, cut out two whole heart pieces and two complete sets of center split heart pieces from fabrics of choice...remember that you will 'see' the inside lining of the back piece as well as the front split heart piece.

Step 3: Cut batting pieces for both the full heart piece and the two split heart pieces. I like to baste them together for stability at this point by stitching or zigzagging around all edges.

Step 4: Using double wide bias tape, add it to the inner split edge as in photo, top stitching a finishing seam after turning it to the inside.

Step 5: Using the double wide bias tape, also add it to the outer edges of your heart shaped hot pad using the same technique. And you have an easy and fun heart shaped mitt potholder!

PS Someone commented that when you click on the photos, you get a 404, not a larger photo. Sorry about that! Picasa pics do weird things over time and with files getting larger and filling up on my blogs. Hope yo can still see what is going on, here. Free is free and we all get what we get, I'm sorry to day! So, at some point, I just have to accept blogger and picasa for what they are and what they do!

Sun, Earth, Moon and Stars

We're dancing with the earth, moon and stars today. It's a full lunar eclipse, a full moon, and a meteor flashed out from the stars yesterday and landed some where in Oregon or Washington...making it then a meteorite. My husband had our telescope out for viewing the passing of the 'spy satellite' but unfortunately, wasn't able to locate it at the correct parameters and while we missed the meteor's streak, we did hear a sonic boom.

A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. Earth always has a shadow, which is created by the sun. On those rare occasions when the Moon, Earth and the Sun are all lined up just right, the Moon passes through this shadow.This would happen every full moon if the Moon orbited around the Earth in the same plane as the Earth orbits around the Sun. The Moons orbit, however, is tilted about 5 degrees above the Earth-Sun plane. This tilt itself, however, rotates, allowing eclipses to happen when the tilt of this plane lines up with the Earth-Sun plane, blocking sunlight.

An eclipse of the moon can only take place at a full moon, and only if the moon passes through some portion of the Earth's shadow. The shadow is actually composed of two cone-shaped components, one inside the other. The outer or penumbral shadow is a zone where some portion of the sun's rays are blocked. In contrast, the inner or umbral shadow is a region devoid of all direct sunlight.

February's full moon is known as the ice or snow moon but in other cultures is referred to as the storm moon, trapper's moon, moon of little famine, moon of the racoon, bony moon and my personal favorite...moon when trees pop. The last term is from the Dakota Sioux Indians and I must say, there are times when you truly can hear them popping! Two of ours popped totally over in our last storm, including my children's childhood weeping willow with our tire swing.

So, tonight with our own cloud cover here in Salem, we may not be able to fully appreciated the full moon or the lunar eclipse but that still leaves open a world of possibilities of ancient rites and celebrations including potential howling and lunancy.

My personal favorite full moon ritual from our ancient ancestors...grab an empty bag of any kind and while dancing under the stars, skyclad (ie wearing nothing but the sky's rays) chant 'fill it up' or something similar. Fills your bag and you with an abundance of energies and gifts...not to mention a potential ride in a marked vehicle and a chance to design a quilted straight jacket.

Fill it up tonight and dance under the stars!

Dancing With The Stars On Oprah!

Expect the newest line-up of Dancing With The Stars to debut on March 17, 2008. 'Celebrities' include Priscilla Presley (Elvis's first wife and actress in television series Dallas), Kristi Yamaguchi (ice skating champion), Adam Carolla (radio host) and actresses Marlee Matlin and Shannon Elizabeth. For further variety expect comedian/actor Steve Guttenberg, tennis champion Monica Seles, magician Penn Jillette, R&B singer Mario, and Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor. To further round out the cast will be television actors Cristian De La Fuente and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

To combat those winter blues with a little television therapy, Dancing With the Stars provides us, as always, with an intersting mix. I will definitely be rooting for Marlee Matlin...her advancement in the world of acting has been an amazing role model for the deaf community, but I suspect that ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi to have a bit of an advantage with dance musicality!

It'll be fun to let my 92 year old MIL know that her favorite tv show is starting up again and compare our opinions on talent, costumes and other gossipy fluff. Nothing like a little fluff therapy...whether it's batting, batty or bats in all of our belfries. Fluff is there for a purpose. It softens the hard times, gives us something to fall back on and rounds out all of the hard corners.

So, Dancing With The Stars...a dozen of them will come out to shine on March 17th ;)

Until then, catch them on Oprah! Thursday, February 21, when Oprah will feature all of the previous dance champion couples as well as introduce the new celebrity line-up!

Love, Chaos and Meandering

After a week of love, chaos and meandering, it felt good to get back into the sewing room again. I've only had enough time to do small projects, but I love doing all of them and am grateful for the time I get to spend using my new Viking Sapphire 870 Quilt sewing machine!

The 'love' is for Valentine's Day and in memory of my dear Aunt who just passed away at the age of 81 after a lifetime of mental illness. She married my uncle as a young, vibrant woman...an intellectual genius who spoke 15 languages fluently, and was recruited by the CIA during WWII as an interrogation interpreter. Secrets with terrible memories, kept for decades. They broke her spirit, her intellect, and her amazing gifts as a classical pianist. Instead, she led a tortured life as a schizophrenic. But as one who at least was cared for, with great love, at home by my uncle for more than 50 years.

The 'chaos' is the acceptance that even her life had meaning and value. It is also the dealing of the aftermath of such a loss, especially now when my uncle is, himself, struck with the dementia of one of the branches of Alzheimer's relentless growth. And now, he like so many others must face that arduous journey of loss and acceptance.

The meandering is the gift of a brother's week long visit and the chance to talk for hours and hours...catching up on the news of my parents and other relatives, as well as the kuspuks making classroom where I'd spent 25 hours in one week sewing with my sister-in-law's second grade class.

So, this week after the love, after the loss, after the leavings...came my 'potholder therapy. Along with the love, the crumb chaos patchworking and meandering quilting, I stitched pieces of my own life back into its own patterns again....loss and acceptance, stagnation and growth, change and creation. Sometimes 'comfort quilts' are strings and strings we piece together for ourselves and not just others. And little 'kitchen quilts' are just as comforting as any others.

Life is a series of hard times contrasted with good ones. But like doing anything that you love, sewing and quilting keep both the heart and the hands busy, and help in the healings of the all of the hard things we have to face and accept. And my potholder therapy never seems to fail me.

"Let's Quilt"...or Maybe Not

"Let's Quilt" is the name of a charming quilt shop in Oregon City, Oregon that was hit...literally...by quilting fervor as a quilter stepped on the accelerator instead of the brakes as she headed 'in' for a quilting class this morning.

Luckily, as we all know, quilt shops like quilters, don't go down easily and besides there's the built-in barricade factor of bolts and bolts of fabric, cutting counters and a nice steel cash register at the end.

Luckily, the hapless quilter didn't do any serious retail damage...other than maybe window, door and wall. The quilt shop owner and one employee inside were not hurt; nor was the driver. Thank goodness for that!

So ladies, when you're power quilting with pedal to the metal, remember to slow down at the curves and when the end is in sight, be extra cautious. It's just to easy to be thinking about what you're going to be doing next and not what you're doing now.

Think good thoughts for the owner, the employee and yes, that poor driver. It could have been any one of us...and no one needs that kind of quilt therapy!

Believe That "Love Is All There Is"

When I titled my sixth and final fabric art postcard in my Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative project Love Is All There Is... I was seeing the concept of love at its deepest and yet most intrinsically basic level of meaning and intent. Love is truly "all there is"in the deepest sense of the true, the creative, the essence and the unwavering root of all meaning in our lives. Without it...we are truly nothing, with it...we are practically everything. With the self-actualized belief and flow of the creative power and energy of love...we are enough, do enough and have enough. With love, we care, we share, we give and we treasure.

When one faces the challenges of Alzheimer's, be that in the self or the other, we know...because of love...that the self is the other. We are all connected, through our deepest energetic heartstrings of creation, to not only those we know for an absolute fact that we love, but to all that we feel for others, as we love.

Compassion is the art and the act of giving with and through great and deep emotion to others. And it takes endless love and endless compassion to face the trials and tribulations of any disease or disorder. All of them feel as if they are robbing us, or our loved ones, of all that we believe we know as 'who they are.'

With love, we can see with new eyes, the eyes of compassion, to know that who we love is still there, always was there and always will be there. Like all things of this world, the shape and form of things may appear to change, but the truest part, the deepest nature, their god-given and created essence...their spirit and their soul...is still the same.

In honor of my mother (who at age 82 is now facing those challenges) and in honor of my father (who is now 91 and her primary caretaker), I had created this...my sixth fabric art postcard or quiltlet in my series.

This is the first of my fabric art cards to go up for auction (this past week) on Ebay, under Ami Simm's recently re-organized "Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts" through the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

I do not know who the person was who made the fifth and final bid. But I thank you and I bless you. I am grateful you were willing to spend the time, the money and the giving of the love you have shown by purchasing this small quiltlet.

I was moved to tears just having someone bid on, and purchase it and I am moved to tears still, by the very nature of this special project, by Ami Simm's commitment to it, and to the thousands of other volunteers, who like myself, have families that have been pushed into the cyclone's path of the journey of Alzheimer's.

I am especially happy that my first donation went for sale and sold...just in time for Valentine's Day. After all, I do believe and hope that you do, too...That Love Is All There Is." So, today and all days, I send out into the Universe my gratitude, my heart felt thoughts and my own little Valentine of Love created, expressed, and shared.

Check out my related posts:
How To Make An Inchie

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

The Heartbreak of Alzheimer's

For Better, For Worse

What Dreams May Come

You Dont Bring Me Flowers

Each and Every Day is a Gift

Love Is All There Is...

Contributions: Ami Simm's "Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts"

With Heart and Hands: The Claddagh Ring

Being an usual combination of both French and Finnish, I have been strangely fascinated by my own love of all things Irish. I love Celtic music, imagery, and most of all their beautul iconic crosses. I believe that we all carry deep symbolic or archetypal images in our collective subconscious and those images speak and call to us.

Such is my emotional connection to the Heart in Hand image and such is my love of all things that sing my own heart's song in symbol, meaning or intent. I am fascinated by the meanings behind the Claddagh (Claddaugh, Clada) ring...especially with its 'heart and hands' symbolism.

The claddaugh is a traditional Irish ring, given in friendship or worn as a wedding ring. It's history dates back to the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old walls of the city of Galway. The ring was first produced in the 17th century during the reign of Queen Mary II, though symbolic elements of the design are much, much older.

The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart, and usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the crown). The expression which was associated with these symbols in the giving of the ring was: "Let love and friendship reign."

The way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer's romantic availability, or lack thereof. Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the design facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship, and may in fact be single and looking for a relationship. When worn on the right hand but with the design facing inward toward the body, this indicates the person wearing the ring is in a relationship, or that "someone has captured their heart".

A Claddagh worn on the left hand ring finger, facing outward away from the body, generally indicates that the wearer is engaged. When the ring is on the left hand ring finger and facing inward toward the body, it generally means that the person wearing the ring is married.

There are many stories told and passed down through the ages to explain the designing of the Claddaugh, and most involve lost or unrequited loves then brought back together again with the ring. With the joining of both their hearts and their hands and with the loyalty to love represented by the crown, they are then not only forever united but crowned with the higher power of loyalty to that love.

The symbolism of the Claddaugh is not limited to jewelry and sentiment alone. Many of the creative needlecrafts and other hand made arts have also incorporated the symbolic heart in hand and/or hearts and hands symbology into their patterns.

In a week when I am still seeking recuperation from my extended work session in Alaska, and my on-going work, here in Salem, I look at the those clasped hands and truly think of what to means to lend another a hand or reach out with your own hands to give aid or nourishment.

The giving of one's heart, like the giving of one's hand is truly a priceless gift. It is no wonder that so many exchange Claddagh rings for weddings, anniversaries...or even Valentine's Day.

Making a Quilted Book or Fabric Journal Cover

I dearly love journeys, journaling, and journals...so it is no wonder that I also love to make journal covers. I have decided to share this book cover project which incorporated my own favorite "With Heart and Hands" theme and was a perfect February project, as well!

1. I used leftover warm toned scraps and strips to co-ordinate with this Heart in Hand image.

 

2. I then used the simplest of random log cabin stripping around the center block image and pieced them together to form the front section.

3. For support, add a piece of interfacing or fleece between the layers, and then sew the front section (right sides together, fleece against a wrong side) to a back section. This creates the entire outside, or visible wrap-around the book, section.

4. Use an additional three pieces for the inside lining section. The center sections uses about 2/3 of the area with two hemmed side pieces to create the 'self-facing' or 'tuck in the book flaps at each end. (Note: at this point you can also add a ribbon bookmark, which can either be hand tacked down or incorporated into the bottom seam....visible or invisible :)

5. Hand quilt, bead or use any decorative stitcheries at this point, before making your final seams. Stitch around all exterior edges, flip and turn to the outside. If you look carefully at the photo above, you can see that the open flap sections are less than 1/4 of the way in from each side. (If you make them too deep, hard back books will not 'bend' enough to be able to insert into the book cover.)

I hope to use my quilted journal to record my sewing and quilting projects. My plan is to include a photo of each project, the project date, a description of the project and/or swatches of fabric, and a record of whether it was given as a charitable donation or a gift, plus any other fun notes, reminders, or momentos of the project.

A book cover that's easy to make, fun to use and whose photos worked nicely as a blog post, as well ;)

Strip Piecing a Heart Strings Pillow

I have received a number of requests for a more detailed explanation for how I made my Prayer Pocket Pillow which I created for an earlier Pay It Forward gift. I decided to show the individual photos which made up the previously shown photo collage into their individual photos and adding a few descriptive instructions.

It certainly becomes a wonderful February project for a sweet Valentine's Day gift for a loved one and makes a delightful heartstrings quilting project! And strip piecing is so easy and is a wonderful way to use up quilting or sewing scraps. Directions for strip piecing a heart pillow:

Step 1: Selection of co-ordinating fabrics. I used about half a dozen prints, similar tonal values... but varying print sizes. Select one of the fabrics to be your primary focal fabric and the others to make up the strips or strings in the pieced section.

Step 2: Set the designer focal fabric aside and cut the remaining fabrics into strips or strings of similar or varying sizes. Mine were all around the 1" to 1 1/2" width (with some variation.)

Step 3: Sew all of the assorted strip fabrics together in a pleasing arrangment of choice and attach them to the focal fabric. The pieced section should now be around 10"-12" in both height and width for a small pillow such as mine.

Step 4: Your 'pattern' will simply be a heart shape for both front and back sections. Add two pocket pieces for the back pocket (if desired.)

Step 5: Place pattern pieced onto string pieced fabric section and cut out. Be sure to position the front pieced heart section with the seam at a diagonal placement.

Step 6: Sew the two pocket sections, right sides together, leaving and opening for turning. Turn, press and stitch onto heart pillow back as shown on pattern.

Step 7: Seam the front and back heart pillow sections, right sides together, leaving an opening for turning right side out. Turn and stuff the little pillow with your filling of choice. (I simply used leftover batting scraps.)

Step 8: Add decorative elements with ribbons, embroidery floss and buttons. As an extra, add a little card or other token of choice into the pocket. Tell someone just how much you love them or give words of encouragement to someone undergoing an illness. They are wonderful for anyone who needs to 'take heart' while undergoing chemo for cancer treatment or someone who is facing the battle of heart disease.

For Strip or String Piecing Quilt Directions or Patterns:String Quilting

Note:The small version can be used as a prayer pocket pillow, a tooth fairy pillow or just a loving gift with a small note in the pocket. If you make a much larger version, they are perfect for use as a post-op pillow for a heart patient who can then use them to push against their chest wall for relief of post-op pain. Studies have shown that the pressure of a pillow against the heart chakra's pain from injury is a genuine psycho-spiritual aid as well as a physical one.

Free Patterns for Cancer Awareness: Quilts, Ribbons, Quilts, Caps, Pillows, Pouches, and other Projects

Heart in Hand

The Heart in Hand or Heart-in-Hand is a symbol of a heart in an open palm. It is an easily recognizable symbol in the Northeastern United States and originated with the religious sect, know as the Shakers.

The founder of the Shaker sect, Mother Ann Lee, promoted a simple life of hard work and spirituality. Her motto "Put your hands to work, and your hearts to God." was typical of this Shaker attitude.

A heart in hand has also been associated with the Amish community and is a symbol of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization derived from English Oddfellows orders of the mid-1700s. These commonly display three linked rings representing friendship, love and truth. A similar symbol used in some Masonic art represents charity. The “heart in hand” is a natural symbol of charity, giving with the hands and from the heart.

Another assoicated saying was "Whatever the hand may find to do, may the heart go forth in union." To me, this opitimizes the very nature of charity, of giving and of volunteering. Whatever the meaning, the symbol, or the design one chooses to use, it has become a common symbol for the giving...open handed of love, charity and goodwill. It has been used in quilting blocks, in Valentine designs and in ornamental imagery everywhere.

shown:
My counter cloth and fabric napkins which I made from the "Follow Your Heart' fabric line by Kathy Schmitz for Moda

Show Me Your Hearts

In honor of the month of February, I challenge you to "show me your hearts." The first challenge is to take a photo of a collection of hearts that you have in your home...any object that is heart shaped or has a heart on it qualifies....and your collection can be as small as a couple of items, to as large as anything that you might have and be able to fit into the photo.

The second challenge is to take care of your own heart. Promise, as I am, to do something heart healthy...whether the focus is on healthy eating, exercise, whatever...at least once, each and every day of this month. Doing something you know you should be doing or doing without something you know you should be doing without, in the first place :)

The third challenge is to use your heart by doing something special for someone else that you would never normally do. By this I mean volunteer for a project, make a gift and gift it anonymously, do volunteer work....something outside of your usual routine or one extra thing you didn't plan on making or doing.

To show your intent to join in and "Show Me Your Hearts", post a photo on your blog of your heart shaped item collection (any time this month!) and link back to this blog so I (and others!) can follow the link back to you!

Please include my link in every passed on link, so that I can chart the progress along through the month!

Fun, heart healthy, caring and filled with heart. Please join in the fun and go find those hearts...and yours...now :)

heart shaped hugs from Michele at:
http:with-heart-and-hands.blogspot.com/