Give thanks with a grateful heart

I can't tell you the weight that's been lifted from my shoulders!

LOL

A happy weight, but I was so afraid I wouldn't get this quilt done by June 2nd.

Mom's next chemo treatment.

I shared it on Flickr this weekend and got so many kind and happy wishes for my mom.  Bless you all for making me cry.  Cancer touches so many people.  It is not a respecter of persons.  Age.  Gender.  Social status.  It just doesn't care.

That's where we as people have to.

Care.

To pray.  To live where people hurt.  To be there for them.  To share in their pain.  Rejoice in their victories.

Chemo isn't pleasant.  You can have chills, itches, aches, pain, hair loss, weight loss...I've watched my mom have all of these.  The chemo she's on now deposits calcium in her kidneys.  So, kidneystones.  LOL  She's had one hospital stay and procedure, and will need another in the next few months. 

 I just got a call from my dad that she's out of the surgery to have a port put in and is in recovery.  She should be home later today.  Medicine can be amazing!

The name of the quilt is "Thankful".  Because even through it all, that's what our family (especially me) is.  We've been blessed with time.  Time for her to laugh.  To watch her grandkids grow and have milestones.  Time to see our oldest graduate from high school and start college.  Time to watch Middleman grow and mature into a young man she is proud of.  Time to help Bean dig up "treasure" in hers and Dad's backyard.  Time to just go shopping and out to eat.

I'm also thankful to the wonderful ladies of the IMQG who donated their time and talents to help make the blocks for me.  This quilt will be wrapped up in as pretty a package as I can make it and sent along with my mom June 2nd.  I'm asking her to give it to the nurses who will then gift it to another patient there to take home and hopefully bring back during their chemo treatments. 

This is a nice lapsized quilt.  No dragging on the cancer center's floor, but big enough to help keep the chills away.  I used just a plain white sheet that had been washed enough times to make it as soft as a cloth diaper.  The medicines used can make a patient's skin very sensitive and I wanted somethings as close to soft as a baby's bottom on the back of the quilt.  A couple of weeks ago, I found a vintage sheet at Goodwill that I just knew would be perfect for the binding.  I didn't cut on the bias, thinking the slanted lines would make an already busy quilt, that much "tiltier".  lol  Just a meandering quilting stitch used since some of the blocks didn't come back quite square or the same size.  That's okay.  It's one of the reasons I love quilt so much.  They are unique in their creation.

Can you see why I'm calling the sheet the "candy corn" sheet?  I'm so pleased to have this project finished and ready to go to its new home.  I'm so thankful, that yet again today, God has shown His care and love for my mom and my family.

 Enchaned Tas captured beautifully what I'm hoping to give to someone in this quilt, "it screams sunshine, blue skies and love! And I can imagine it drawing in beautiful, fresh air and positive vibes as it sits in this lovely location! I can only hope it delivers the beautiful vibes I see!!"

It's like she saw into my heart and soul.

Thankful for your many prayers and well wishes for us.