fabricologist

fabricologist

Monday, January 11, 2016

Monkey Business

Happy New Year to you all. This is the year I get back on that horse and ride it for all it's worth. I feel good, my cancer is gone and especially important to me, I am loving sewing again! I don't know if I will blog as much as I did before, but I am certainly sewing a lot! Here's what's going on at my house:

I made this quilt top from the pattern Suburbs by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew. I did the top before Christmas, in Christmas fabrics. Now I am going to get it quilted for my middle daughter so she will have a Christmas quilt at her house for next year.

I enjoyed putting this together so much, I am making another one from non-Christmas fabrics. Here it is in process:
I am using some of my treasured Heather Ross fabrics in this one. I love how different the two look with such different fabrics.

 I am in the process of quilting this quilt for a very special person. I had to take my machine for service, as I was having a difficult time with the quilting, but it is fixed and smoother sailing now.
The pattern came from this book by Vanessa from V and Company. A great little series of six books that each focus on one color. I love many of the projects in these books. I cut out all the pieces for this quilt and started piecing it last spring, before the Chemo got to me. Then it sat for months. I knew my sewing mojo was returning when this quilt started to beckon to me to get back to work on it and now it is almost finished!

So I guess you are wondering about the title of this blog post. Well, ever since I finished my treatments, I have been thinking that I would love to find a way to give back to the hospital community that took such good care of me. Then a way was presented to me. There is a group of lovely women who make sock monkey dolls for the children's hospital here that is a part of the over all hospital complex. My daughter met them, and got me in contact with the leader of the group. So now I am learning how to make them, all by hand. I feel like this is only the beginning of my journey to giving back. There will be more, but for now, this is what I do.
The one on the left is the example monkey that I was loaned to copy after my first lesson. The middle one is my first one I made, but it has no ears yet. I still have to have my lesson on how to make the ears. The one on the right is my second sock monkey. I think I'm going to like this!

4 comments:

Createology said...

Blessings indeed and such wonderful news that you are Cancer free. Sewing can be so stress relieving. Love the sock monkeys. My Grandma made these many decades ago and Grandpa's least favorite job was to stuff the long tails. Yours are looking great dear. 2016 will be an amazing year...

Jeanie said...

Glad to see this post....extremely glad to hear you kicked that cancer to the curb. And out of such a terrible experience comes the new enthusiasm to give back....love the little monkeys and the joy they will bring!

charlotte said...

Thanks so much. The ladies have a great method for stuffing, so it's pretty easy.

charlotte said...

Thank you. I am loving these little monkeys. I imagine the children's faces when the receive them. Makes me smile.