The Bra Quilt and Many Blessings for Mary Lou... LIKE YOU

Well I have been through a real adventure since the beginning of the month. 😊 On the 7th of May I had 1/3 of my breast removed and a bunch of lymph nodes removed under my arm. Youch.

    I had two groups of friends who gathered blocks together to make me two lovely and most comforting quilts.

    Carol Heuter from Arizona sent the bra quilt to girls on My Yahoogroups friendship circle. Tami from Lemontreetales.com did the lovely quilting after Carol put it together. It is washed and comfy and comforting too! 

The back is signature blocks- a lovely setting done by Carol

The borders are above and I love it. So very pretty and the cheddar is an amazing inner border.

Above is how it looks on my bed. So comfy and sweet.

Below is the quilt underneath it. That quilt was made for me by top Quilt teachers you all Know. They made the blocks and sent them to Kathy Kansier who put the quilt together. I have had it on my bed since Mark died last year. I cannot tell you what this has done for me. 

Someone sent me this little Charlie Brown cartoon. It made me smile. Hope it gives you a smile too. 

Here is a pillow that is not on my sofa and was a lovely gift. It has received so many compliments. 😊

I got this beautiful pair of socks in the

Mail today. I do not know why but I adore socks! I

Opened up The socks and here was what the bottom of the pair read.

Haha isn't this fun? Made me smile huge!!

I saw this quote about optimism when I went to buy chicken items.

Above I bought this chicken coop

For chickens that are coming June 1st. I am hoping this will Give me some joy And fun. And I have chicken designs drawn up and ready the be made for a chicken book. Pretty fuN !!

The other news is that in two weeks my website will be done and even better I will be selling fabrics I use that other people have trouble finding. I plan to sell other fun things like trims and beads netc. All things I use for my whimsical and story quilts! The fabric above is just one of them. I will have new classes and samples and the cow pattern and the Moose pattern and this summer if I feel ok with radiation etc I have the Hoochy Two book and another surprise or two.

Just wanted to thank you so very very much for your kind prayers and lovely friendships. I have had the flu on top of my surgery and do not feel

Good enough yet to write (by hand) and thank you. 

My Asilomar class has filled for next year. I am teaching Christmas memories. 

It will be five days of great fun.

I am planning on teaching this year in the Fall as planned. My radiation starts The beginning of June and will last five weeks at least. I will be taking some pills also for five years. Hopefully this will be the last of Cancer haunting me and my family.

I am blessed and thankful for God's many blessings. 

Asilomar Christmas Workshop and the BEST Meatloaf by Dawn that you will ever eat! Straight from Heaven!

So I am offering a Christmas class at Asilomar next year and five people have signed up to finish story quilts. I plan to have a small booklet of Christmas ornaments to copy and embellish and enjoy. I will have tree patterns and wreath patterns and ideas for both cotton and wool! 

If you would like to take the workshop it is here

Emptyspoolsseminars.com

Borders will be an option for this workshop.

Who made it a rule that red and green have to be colors of the holiday in December?

We will be discussing all of the sayings for around the holidays and songs and ideas for powerful words in your story quilt about the most beautiful holiday every year (in my opinion).

We will be discussing favrotie gifts you may have received or made. Great memories.

Memories from childhood or other people's memories.

We will be discussing yoyo's and making ornaments and other little tricks with rick rack and trims and great ideas for buttons and old jewelry.

As you can see these ideas are whimsical and happy and colorful and fun. Just like Christmas

Nativity ideas and what makes the Christmas story so very special. There are so many ways to get this quilt to be a keepsake for the entire family. I have a series of these that are borrowed by different pastors during the holidays. Everyone loved the stories and the embellishements which are not captured well in photos. Wait until you see what we are working on for the book!
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So I had a dear friend who died of a heart attack a couple of years ago and I miss her. She sent me her most favorite meatloaf recipe and many of you have asked for it again.
Here it is. Happily. Dawn's daughter sent this to me. :0)

Here it is Mary Lou....the very best meat loaf recipe in the whole wide world...I could eat the whole thing myself...feel free to pass it on to whom ever you want..my mom would be pleased if you did.

 

2 lb hamburger

2 1/2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp pepper

3 Tbl chili sauce

1 TLb Worcester sauce have no idea how to spell it

2 cups corn flakes

1 cup milk

2 eggs

mix in large bowl with hands is the best way...I put mine in a large cake pan, 9 x 13 I think, and make a ring out of it...leaves a large hole in the middle

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

 

When it is JUST about done I remove a little of the liquids so there is room for the sauce..I spoon the sauce over the top of the meat loaf and put it back in the oven just long enough to kind of set the sauce.

 

Sauce

brown one clove garlic in one Tbl of olive oil

add 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

dash or oregano

1/2 cup tomatoe sauce

2 Tbl honey

simmer for about 30 minutes

I usually make this while the meat loaf is cooking

 

I hope you like it...I serve it with twice baked potatoes and it makes awesome sandwiches with some thinly sliced onions.

so the challenge is on.....let me know what you think when you get time to do it...

Dawn Tonioli..a happy retreater come home

  

Asilomar Memories and great students , color and fun

Above I am asking the question of the students giving ideas for stories or commenting on everyone's beauty in the tiaras I have to the students. Great fun!

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Below is Penny who is a lot of fun and is a retired kinder garden teacher. She gave me three cases of blue bottles once for my bottle trees. She is very giving and kind and fun girl! 

Below is Anita who did not understand color or Hoochy piecing when she first started. Now she totallygets it! She understands easy ways to choose color and also Hoochy piecing. Was fun to see her go "aha!"

Below is Pam who is wonderful and gave me a hug when I needed it most! The group as a whole were so kind to me! I needed love and kindness and they all have me just what I needed.

Below is our cutting excercize. It was very fun this time as some people made up stories about the people they cut out. And some people realized they could not draw very well but they can cut really wonderful figures.

Below Suzanne did her story quilt and it has all of her Grandchildren on turtles and fish and sitting on a dock and there are birds and flowers and wonderful whimsical things. It's going to be a great quilt!!

Linda did the blocks above and below. Really fun! Pink

Looks so good here!

Red who took this photo called it "controlled chaos"

Below is how many of us work- with it ALL in front of us!!!

Below is Anita's board

Beth is above and did lots of cool

Lettering for her story quilt!  Her Hoochy blocks look great too! "My soul is fed with a needle and thread." 

Above is Nancy who we nick named "Red."

She was lots of fun and a go getter!  We all got a kick out of her. 

Above is Georgette who didcgreatvthongscin class and thoughtbshecwouldcdp only simple things- not so. She was great fun and shared alit with us!

Above is Miss Juliette who was hilarious and also so sweet. She helps women who have had Breast cancer get fitted with bras that make everything look natural. She works for Nordstroms. Great person!

Above is Roxi and she is working on a wedding quilt for her son and his wife. Very nice and wore her tiara as a head band. Quite stylish and good at great blocks

Here is all 20 of us- wish we had better light. A Polish man could not speak English and perhaps we should have picked someone else to help

Us. This is the only photo that does not have his finger over the lens. Haha

     We had many more students and four from Colorado! I took all my photos against the light of the windows and they did not work! Would love to share if anyone wants to share more please do!

Breast Cancer Surgery, beautiful Quilts, loving friends and being blessed

This quilt was made up

Of 90 different crosses made for a healing quilt by Mary Lou's students and friends. Michele Bileux put them together with the back shown and a pillowcase using 36 more.  They are in the mail and will be here soon.

Below my daughter is picking up my purse for me- not a flattering photo.

The curtains in my pre op space before my breast cancer surgery. I love plaids.

Here I am after I got my sleepy injection before they took  me to surgery - that was the last thing I remembered until they woke me up . I am home today and resting up. I have had some pain and some nausea. It is hard to just sit and not lift or do little chores around the house.

I received two beautiful pillows to use for Breast cancer after surgery pain. They are both awesome! 

It is wonderful

How blessed you feel with something in the mail that helps . I had never seen these before. 

Last week at Asilomar Beth Shay gave me this wonderful sewing bag out of one of my old prints. It is awesome. 

The tag on it is from "Tag Alongs" from Wendy Price's company. They are adorable and happy! Plus she has a huge variety for all quilts and gifts you might be making.

Look at all of the wonderful zippers! I put thread and needles and scissors in there and Beth packed some nice little surprises too! Lovely and beautifully handmade! Handmade is so wonderful for gifts- especially when we know what goes into it. A lot of love.

Why is fabric so tempting? I love it!

A little love note written to me from the boy who refused to smile for the family photo. 

More blocks people sent for the cross quilt

I love the modern lines and colors in this wonderful quilt. I am planning on making some more to work into a story quilt. My husband died one year ago on May 4th of brain cancer and I was in the hospital for Breast cancer almost a year to the date. I keep wondering how in the world that happened to the two of us?

    God was good to me from friend's prayers and I had no fear. I went in knowing I was in good hands. I had 1/3 of my breast removed and some lymph nodes taken out. I find out if they got it all on the 13th and then start on radiation and possibly chemo.

Life is good and my three wonderful children were with me the entire time. I am feeling very blessed.

 Bunny sisters I owe you letters.  Thank you sincerely to the many of you who prayed and offered advice and love.

I am indeed blessed. I love my dear friends. Thank you.