Screw You Sertoli Leydig Tumor

I met my September Goal! And I am pleased with how things turned out, as in I wasn't in a last minute panic to get done, and I was able to relax and enjoy the process. (Mostly!)

A little windy outside!

I decided to make something with one of my little bundles of ovarian cancer themed fabric, and the timing ended up being just about perfect. September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, which holds special meaning for me as I was diagnosed in 2011. 

I was able to sync up with Melissa at Sew Bittersweet Designs for the September monthly goals party. And boy, did I learn something about myself while participating! I get way to distracted from my current project, even if it had a 'deadline'. No wonder I have an embarrassing UFO pile. An area for improvement, for sure. 

The mega mini finished at 24" x 30", and I hand quilted it, using mostly pearl cotton. This was the first time using the pearl, and when I began, I said to myself never again. The problem was I was trying to take too small of a stitch. 

Love French Knots!

 Once I got over that, and saw how it was starting to look, I decided I really liked the effect. And I said what the heck, I'll add some French knots. I had absolutely no plan for the quilting, I just went where the needle took me!

A little wonky on the stitches, but I like it!

I added in a few areas of regular hand quilting, just for fun. Happily, this project used 100% from my existing supplies. The entire FQ bundle I began with, a scrap piece of batting, an old piece of sheet for the backing, scrap white yardage for the binding and all the quilting threads I already had. It was a total stash buster, and I'm very happy with it.

Oh, and the name of this quilt is: "Screw You Sertoli Leydig Tumor" 

Inside for the final photo.

 
I'll be hooking this post up with these great linky party hostesses:
 Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts,
Connie at Free Motion by the River,
Heather and Megan at Quilt Story,
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict,
Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation ,
and Melissa at Sew Bittersweet Designs

Thanks for visiting,
Heather

WIP Wednesday - Flimsy & Halloween

The flimsy!

 The ovarian cancer ribbon mega mini is on pace to finish at the end of the month. I hadn't really considered the timing of it, but I did have a routine appointment with the oncology office yesterday. It was a good check-up!

Meanwhile - Fall is here! My favorite season, I love the colors, the cool air, sleeping with the windows open, Halloween! 

Of course, I can't focus on one project until it's done. I have to start something else - so I pulled all the Halloween, oranges, and blacks out of the stash. 

I love skull fabric!

 And I started on a little something. My mom made the prototype for this, I'd guess at least 30 years ago.

They look like orange wedges!

It's well on the way! I'm winging it in terms of a template, and the size, and well, everything. It's not like there is a pattern, but so far it's been a forgiving project. I cannot wait to see how it turns out! 

Linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced

For WIP Wednesday

Friday Finish

Here's a cutie of a Friday Finish to share, Birds and Bees Baby is quilted, bound, and on it's way to the baby shower! Drum roll please... the sex of the baby is now known, and pink will be quite appropriate.

I had to measure it several times, just to make sure, because even though it looks longer than tall, it's square! It finished up at 34"x34", which was unintentional, but a pleasant surprise. I made a valiant halfhearted attempt at calculating the number of tumblers I could cut, gave up, cut as many tumblers as possible, and arranged the layout to maximize the cutting. I think there were 2 tumblers left over!

I thought this would be a nice size for outings in the car seat or stroller, without being too large. Babies seem to require packing approximately 75 pounds of stuff into a diaper bag and that's just to get out of the driveway. Hopefully this won't take up a ton of room and will be easy to carry around.

I wish I could tell you what batting I used, because it was awesome. I found a perfectly sized remnant out of my batting scraps tote.  I didn't get a picture of the quilt post wash/dry, but it scarcely shrunk, and while it crinkled some, it fluffed up even more. The result was wonderfully soft and puffy. It's quilted by SITD and a squiggly line stitch in the boarder.

The backing, fluttering in the wind

The backing is Robert Kaufman's "All My Heart, and it really matches up well with the colors from the top. Whichever side baby sees, there are lots of pretty colors and shapes to see. 

I hope you're as ready for the weekend as I am! Happy Friday!

Best,
Heather

If you'd like to read more about this, please visit this post on my blog. 

Mega Mini Ovarian Cancer Awareness Progress

Cutting and HST's - check!

I have made a bit of progress with the mini, all cutting done, HST's made, laid out and ready to sew together. Not too bad for late night design and maths sketched on graph paper.

This was my first time using the magic 8 HST method. It wasn't life altering or anything, but it was efficient. I do think the next time I use it, I'll add a generous 1/8" to my initial square measurement. Some of my trimmed HST's were a bit on the scant side, but not by much, and certainly not anything I haven't attempted to wrangle together in a quilt before. ;)

Hey - the layout actually works!

I know there are ribbon awareness tutes out there, I just wanted to do this one myself from start to finish.
It hasn't gone totally smoothly, which is my fault from assuming there'd be 22" of fabric to cut in the FQ (duh), but I realized just like dealing with the Big C, things do not go as planned, so you make the best of it and move on!

Not so sure I can call this one a mini, though, it's bigger than I anticipated. I didn't want to waste any of the fabric, so à la Mel Brooks' Spaceballs "Mega Maid" (anyone? crickets?) I'll call this one a mega mini!

Best,
Heather








Linking up to Lee's WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Big C, It's Not Always Pink

 

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. It's a topic that is, frankly, very hard for me to write about here.

My first experience with ovarian cancer came in college. My best friend's mother was diagnosed and she came to the barn where I kept my horse after getting the phone call and just sobbed. I remember my horse Jordge putting his nose up against her cheek and leaving it there while she cried.

Ovarian cancer is a silent killer. Doctors are much better at recognizing the symptoms, but we as women are not. Even the month designated to raise awareness of the disease pales in comparison to October and the pink month to follow. It's a quiet, insidious disease with symptoms that are far to easy to ignore. I know this, firsthand, because I was diagnosed in October 2011, at the age of 34. 

The thing is, I had no idea that I had cancer. My symptoms were easily explained, and so easy to miss. Bloating, feeling full, weight gain, and drum roll please... that was it. I mean seriously, what would you think if this was happening to you? Probably you'd think that it was that time of month, not enough exercise, too much time spent sitting at the computer at work, hitting my mid 30's, can't eat like when I was in my 20's anymore, blah blah blah. It's all so explainable. 

Eventually I realized something was "off" and I needed to see a doctor.  The doctor thought the tumor was the size of a cantaloupe by this time. (It actually was the size of a football when removed a less than a week later.) Had I not sought help, I would have died. I even seriously considered skipping the doctor because I was too busy at work. In fact I would have, had my employer not required a doctors note for 3 days consecutive absence. I am so unbelievably lucky to be able to look back at my own stupidity.

Here are the symptoms of ovarian cancer from ovariancancer.org

• Bloating
• Pelvic or abdominal pain
• Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
• Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

See your doctor, preferably a gynecologist, if you have these symptoms more than 12 times during the course of one month and the symptoms are new or unusual for you.
  
I encourage everyone reading to take the time to use the link above to further about ovarian cancer. Familiarize yourselves. And, I cannot say this enough. We suck at recognizing the symptoms in ourselves. I could nag my husband to death about his eating habits, or whatever, but I figured I just needed to make some lifestyle changes and I'd be OK. I didn't need to see the doctor. Wrong, wrong, wrong. My intention is not to be an alarmist, but if you experience a symptom, and it persists, go and get thyself into the stirrups, ladies. Better to know and fight than ignore and make excuses.

If you've made it all the way through this post, thank you. Since this is a quilting blog, I'll share what I intend to do this month. 

 This cute little FQ bundle was available at a LQS. The pearl cotton spools I had picked up two years ago because they were teal and I knew I wanted to use them for an ovarian cancer quilt somehow. I'd like to make a mini or a wall hanging celebrating my fight and hand quilt it. 

Best,

Heather 

Linking up to these awesome linky parties. Spread the TEAL this month! 

Connie at Freemotion by the River 

Heather & Megan at Quiltstory 

Melissa at SewBittersweet