Cancer Really Sucks!

I really don’t like using the word “sucks” but cancer really does suck. Why does it have to exist? It seems like everytime we turn around someone is diagnosed with cancer!

2013 was a year that would change my life forever.  It started off great with both of my daughters graduating from school.  One from high school and one from college.  The one from college had been married for a couple of years and was 7 months pregnant.  My first grandchild, Ezra, arrived in July, and brought so much joy in our lives.  But then September comes and we get the worse news we could ever imagine….CANCER. My younger sister was diagnosed with brain cancer….a glioblastoma….a very aggressive tumor.  She lived with that tumor with the help of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for a little more than 3 years but lost the battle in April 2017.  I miss her so much!  She left behind her son who is 9 years old being raised by my parents. It’s really hard losing someone you love so much which leads me to a quilt that I just finished.

A mom asked me to create this quilt which represented her daughter’s life. Kelsey’s short life was represented with her newborn hospital shirt and baby booties to a denim skirt and shirts she wore as a young women. Kelsey was diagnosed with lymphoma twice and lost her battle the second time around at age 24.  She loved Idaho State, the color purple and horses as you can see in this quilt! There’s also her tattered quilt she had as a little girl and a cute blue dress she wore.  I ALWAYS encourage people to save items…not to the point of being a pack rat, but you never know when the items may be used!

Now it’s time for me to get back to the long arm and sewing machine to finish 10 more quilts for clients.  20 memory quilts and 7 memory pillows for Christmas this year and this week I’ve shipped 6 to their homes. These are the ones I’ve done for this holiday season so far.

Staying busy as a bee! Have a great week!

Sue Bartlow

 

 

A Week in Houston at the International Quilt Festival

What an amazing week I had last week!  I arrived on Sunday, November 4 and arrived home in the wee hours of the morning November 12 due to flight delays.

This is my second year to work on the Education Team with Quilts, Inc. as a volunteer.  It’s hard work and sometimes very long days, but all in all, it’s so worth it.  We meet well known and award-winning quilters, fabric designers, and great new friends that have the same love of quilting I do!

The quilts were AMAZING!!!!

The $12,500 Best of Show Winner – Eternal Beauty
Sherry Reynolds of Laramie, Wyoming, United States

What you can’t see is all of the beaufiful crystals added!

Here are some more that I really liked….see the complete list of winners.

My main job was checking in bus tours. We had to get up pretty early and be in the garage when partcipants arrived. I also did a lot of other things like working at the Meet the Teachers, Open Studios, Teacher’s Pet, tallying evaluations, checking in people to lectures, and any other things that was needed.

On Tuesday, I took a Confetti in Naturescapes with Noriko Endo from Japan. My almost finished product is to the right.  Apparently her classes are very hard to get into in Japan as well as here in the U.S. Working on the Education Team, we get to register first which is a super awesome perk!

On Wednesday, I took an Animal Portrait class with Esterita Austin.  It needs lots of work still…you can see some other progress the students were making.

Walking around the vendor area, I met Tula Pink, fabric designer.  She has some of the coolest fabrics!  I bought some of her new line!  Yes it’s a raccoon or if you live in the Rocket City, it’s a Trash Panda!

I also met Reva Hill.  Her quilt was chosen to be on all of the show materials!

While on the show floor I got to see some of the Prince challenge quilts.  So so cool to see them up close and personal.  Mine was not on this tour, but I hope to see it in April in Paducah!  Next Cherrywood Challenge is Bob Ross….I’m not really feeling that one so I’ll work on a different art quilt next year to be able to put into shows someday!

Some other absolutely gorgeous quilts by Lorraine Turner, Tamar Ophir, Carson, Converse, Hsi-Chen Hsu, Roxanne Nelson, Kathy McNeil, Carl Hentsch, Karlyn Bue Lohrenz, and Michelle Bardwell.

See my finger pointing to the tiny octagons on that quilt!  I can’t imagine hand sewing all of those…this was an antique quilt too!

Here are the fun freebies I got while there! Big thanks to the vendors that provided these wonderful goodies, Fons and Porter items, Quilter’s Select items, etc. Decorating Diva gave us each a beautiful wool ironing mat!

Here’s what I purchased below!  Can’t wait to start playing after the mad holiday rush to finish 20 quilts and 7 pillows!  The Tula Pink fabric will turn into a duffle bag and the beautiful autumn fabric will become an autumn quilt. Autumn Love design by Lori Holt.

After spending a week with my roommate, Lori, she has encouraged me to be more consistent with my blog!  I had a lot of fun meeting some of her followers to her blog Humble Quilts!  My goal is to write weekly and talk about some of the quilts I am working on…I always get a memory quilt from a client that has a beautiful story to go along with it. Sometimes they are super sad!  I’ve got one I am working on now about a young lady who passed away in her twenties!  It’ll be filled with great memories of her short life.  Hope you all have a great week!

Stay busy as a bee with your quilting!

Sue Bee!

Losing a Loved One

This year my grandmother (mom’s mom) passed away at age 92. She lived a full life raising three children, my mom, my Aunt Linda and my Uncle Carl. I always loved visiting her when I was younger especially since there always seem to be kids around. My Uncle Carl is a little less than two years older than me and I had lots of cousins. YES you read that right, my mom and her mom pushed strollers together! 

I never knew my grandfather since I was only 2 when he passed.  Later in my grandma’s life, she dated my dad’s uncle but they never married. As a kid I never appreciated “old” people and the stories they shared.  As I became an adult and a mother raising my own two girls, I became more and more interested in our family history especially since I started scrapbooking and doing geneaology.

Scrapbooking and quilting seem to go hand-in-hand when it comes to preserving memories.  As I worked on this quilt on the left, thoughts went through my head about what the woman was like who wore the clothing, how many kids did she have, how did she impact their lives, and how did she interact with her grandchildren.  I just loved the Grandma sweatshirt on the back.
I make every client’s quilt from beginning to end but the most important part is the prayers I pray over each quilt for the person receiving the quilt.

Vintage Sunbonnet Sue

Crocheted Blanket

Recently when my sister and my parents were going through items to sell at a yard sale, I was given the crocheted quilt and an old quilt in the above photos.  They came from my Uncle Earl on my dad’s side.  I love old quilts and think about who snuggled under them, what kids played “tent” with them, etc.

I am about to embark on one of the hardest quilts I’ve made to date.  My friend Kate asked me to make a quilt from her husband’s Tommy Bahama shirts.  Her husband, who was also a dear friend of mine died in a jet crash while doing what he loved the most…flying and teaching others military members how to fly. She’s a quilter and has entrusted me to this project. I am super honored, but also very saddened that those shirts will never be worn by him again.  I do know that Kate and her daughter Grace will treasure this quilt for the rest of their lives and be covered by the love of a husband and a dad.

Memories are so important in preserving. Clothing of a lost loved one invokes lots of feelings. Why not save clothing of a loved one and make a gift that will always be pricesless to your family!  Send me an email or a message so we can plan your next project.  suebartlow@me.com | 256-617-3167

Visit my website for other ideas.

Generations to Come

Have you ever wondered what our future looks like when it comes to photos and preserving memories?  I’ve always been a scrapbooker and preserved my memories in a scrapbook so that my grandchildren and future generations could flip through the pages to see how their we lived and celebrated life.

Nowadays, more and more people are digitally preserving their memories via Facebook, Tumbler, Flickr, Google, iCloud, you name it, it’s out there!  They say “once it’s on the net, it’s always on the net”.   Technology changes so rapidly these days it’s truly fascinating from a techno geeky side!

It is a good idea to take your favorite photos and print them as a backup so that your future generations can enjoy thumbing through and old vintage scrapbook. There’s just something about turning the actual pages!  Creative Memories makes awesome scrapbooks and has great supplies.  I’ve been scrapbooking for almost 21 years and still keep my feet wet as a Creative Memories Advisor. So if you ever want to make that scrapbook, let me know.

Another cool way to preserve memories is through a quilt.  The quilt to the left contains 10 years of cruise memories.

The one below to the right contains many years of race memories of a person who is no longer with us.  Two photos have been added to the quilt below.

Adding photos to a T-shirt quilt or any sort of geneaology quilt can add so much personalization to a quilt.  I use spoonflower.com to print my fabric, so it’s high quality, washable, and has vivid color.  So take those shirts out of your drawers or closet and bring them to me to help you preserve those memories in a special keepsake memory quilt. It’ll be worth every dollar spent!