Howlin' With The Angels

I can't even begin to tell you how bummed I am to miss this amazing fundraiser! Angel's Hands Foundation and Children & The Earth have created an amazing night - costumes, gambling, dancing and an auction. Really?! Just such a fun event for only $50. An unforgettable night while helping children in need- no brainer, right? You can purchase tickets at Children & The Earth.

I have donated a large art quilt for the auction. Although I almost never list my quilts for sale these days, I do enjoy sharing my work for charity. I hope if you go you will consider bidding on one of the auction items!

There are only a few more tickets available and you will be howling if you don't go!

Start the Year off With a Little Charity

One of my favorite parts of the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild is the desire to create for charity. I love having friends that will create just for the love of creating for someone. Not for attention, not for a magazine, not for any recognition. It's an awesome and increasing rare trait - love it.

Leigh created the quilt top. I love the modern and organic feel to it. It's a great design to showcase a favorite fabric.

The back and binding fabric were donated by Elisa. I love how the back colors pull out the light shade of coral and the various blues.

And I quilted it on my mid-arm, Fiona. I'm still so nervous when I quilt for others, but I'm pretty happy with this delicate design.

Do you quilt for charity? What are your favorites? I've also made a few quilts for Quilts For Kids -a fabulous organization!

Japanese X Blocks For Charity

My guild, the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild, places a high priority on creating quilts for charity. I hope that when the gift receiver wraps up in one of our quilts, that they remember they are not alone. A quilt is such a beautiful expression of love and thought for another person.

For this first quarter, we were tasked with creating Japanese X blocks. Amy Gunson of Badskirt (don't you just love that name?!) created an excellent tutorial on her blog which is free for you to go try.. so go try and give her a big thanks =)

Here is my first finished block and glimpses of my unfinished ones. Every bit you see came from my scrap stash - what a fun way to bust through it!!

Have a favorite? I think I do and then I change my mind..

Have you made these before? Please share if you have, would love to see!

Quiet But Busy..

I know my blog has been awfully quiet this past week. My husband has been gone hunting this week (the first time in a couple years), so my mom came out for a girls only weekend! We had lots of fun creating a "movie house" in my studio with candy, popcorn, and pillows. We of course are eager to have Daddy back home, but it was a very fun distraction!

I've also been working on a quilt & two pillows for Kiddo's school fundraiser. I had a great time making these and I hope that they find a special home. I would love more than anything for it to find its way to her teacher, but we shall see..

There is my Kiddo's sweet, colorful hand print. To see her little hand in her finger painting always brings up a ton of emotions for me; I'm literally swept off my feet sometimes. I'm so proud she accepts her difference with grace and beauty. I love to see her shine and hope that amazing confidence is something that stays with her always. What makes us different from other people can be sometimes hard to accept, but she embraces her little hand without any qualms. Love my sweet girl..

Children's Relief Nursery

This year I will be participating in the Children's Relief Nursery based out of Portland, Oregon. I am donating my Piecing History Together art quilt. Here is a little bit of information about the organization in their own words:


"For the 11th year in a row, Children's Relief Nursery will be hosting Portland's Original Iron Chef on April 20, 2012 at the Portland Art Museum. Our most significant fundraising event, proceeds from Iron Chef helped keep hundreds of Portland's most vulnerable children safe last year.

Did you know that every eight minutes there is a report of child abuse or neglect in Oregon and nearly half of the victims are infants and toddlers? We focus our work on early intervention, because the best solution is to prevent abuse and neglect from happening in the first place.

Our mission is to keep children safe and families strong. Our vision is to prevent child abuse and neglect, because all kids deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. Our early childhood program builds successful and resilient children and preserves families. We work with at-risk families with children from birth through four because early intervention in the first years of life substantially affects a child's future. In our first year, we served 58 children. In just a decade, our program has grown to serve more than 250 children annually."

As a mother, helping children lead safe and happy lives is a cause I'm in great favor of.

If you are a quilter or another type of artist, I encourage you to share your gift to help those in need. Please contact Dana at:  dana@crn4kids.org and she can give you more information.