Beginnings of the Bike Quilt

When I first saw this bike fabric, I knew I had to make a quilt for my little boy out of it. So I finally got around to ordering some, along with coordinating prints, to put together a quilt for him. When it finally came in the mail I was super excited and showed it to him, hoping he'd share in my excitement (which you know with kids can really be hit or miss) and luckily he did!

In fact, he was so excited, he asked if he could help. I immediately said yes, thinking it'd be fun bonding time to spend together, but knowing that him helping will definitely make the process more difficult and frustrating. But I have plans, which I'll share along the way, of how to make it a fun time and give him the best opportunities to help out. Like cutting...definitely not a good time for him to help.
So our first quilting session together we didnt do any sewing. First, we needed to draw out our blocks to get them just how we like and figure out the measurements for piecing. So below are pictures of drawing our blocks. He loved this part since he really enjoys drawing. He drew quite a few pictures of quilt blocks and fabrics.






First quilt block

Second quilt block

This one is fabric (see the outline of the fabric and then he drew the pattern in.)

And I think this one is a quilt.
I treasure these drawings. Even if he decides he is not interested in helping with the rest of the quilt, this quilt will always bring back the fond memories of his excitement, working next to me on our quilting project.

Have you done any sewing with children lately? I'd love to hear how it went.

Thrown another curve ball

Life never gets easier.

I have had a hoarse voice since last November. I had been going to my Primary Care Physician who kept telling me it was allergies (which Ive never had before.) He told me I might need to see an allergist if all the allergy meds and steroids he was giving me didnt work. Finally he mentioned that I might look into seeing an ENT. So I did. And after me speaking one sentence, the ENT knew it was definitely not allergies. He used a scope in his office and right away found a tumor on my vocal cords. And biopsy results came back showing that it is cancerous.

So I'm on rounds of concurrent chemo and radiation therapies. I have already seen so many blessings throughout this battle. It will be a long road to recovery, but I know without a doubt that we will make it through, stronger than before. If you'd like to follow my battle with larynx cancer closer, click here.

With all my time waiting around in doctors offices and what not, I have dreamt up a few projects with all the new fun fabric lines out. This one will be a new quilt for my biggest little boy, who has yet to receive his own quilt from mom. He asked if he could help, and I of course said yes! Even though that means it will take so much longer and be much more difficult and frustrating. I love that he loves fabric!

Here is a little preview of the stack we are working with.

fabrics top to bottom: all Michael Miller- It's A Boy Thing Bicycles Haze, Wheel Dot Haze, Mini Harlequin Sea, Baby Dumb Dot Sea, Mini Mikes Random Pencil Check Sea, Bicycles Grey, Ta Dot Marine, Wheel Dot Charcoal

drawing our quilt blocks, planning what his "bike" quilt will look like.
More pictures to come of our first quilt planning session together. Cant wait!