AAQI

Here's my latest purchase from AAQI, made by my friend Juliann. This was her first quilt donated and I am thrilled to have it in my home. We have a lot in common, unfortunately, both our mothers have Alzheimer's. 

"The Neighborhood Has Changed"

Juliann's artist statement about the quilt:
My mom is living with Alzheimer's and her memories of home have begun to fade so every time I go to visit her she says, "The neighborhood has really changed.” 

Here is my latest top for AAQI. The liberated strips remind me of my moms confusion, but the orderly rows remind me of how she likes to stay in her comfort zone. It is somewhat orderly and reassuring to her. Although we have had a bit of strippy confusion lately. 

 

My mom forgot (again) that she does not administer (or have in her apartment) her own medications and it upsets her very much. She really obsessed about it for several days. She went so far as to call the drugstore and ask them to refill all her prescriptions and deliver them to her room. When they delivered them to the dispensary she was really mad. (she calls me and says she is not happy at all!)

She also thinks she has plates missing-(cups and drinking glasses too) what she says doesn't make any sense to us but only to her. It doesn't matter that she hasn't had plates in her room since she has moved in 4 months. It's the liberated strips and tangles in her mind causing these twisted thoughts. She seems to get hyper focused on a particular thing for several days, then it passes and all is well with the world.....until next time!

I think I've gotten better at dealing with her than I have in the past. For me it is realizing it is the disease that is causing this. My therapy is making little quilts for AAQI research.

By the way, the monthly auction is going on right now at AAQI. Bid generously and bid often...or just purchase a quilt or two. There are so many to choose from.

Mountain Trail Part 3

Here we are again. The other quiltalongs I've done have not all had one block, so if you are anxious, feel free to speed right to the finish. I'm going fairly slow cause I want everyone to join in even if they don't have a lot of time.

Last time you did a lot of cutting. It sounds like you are digging through your scraps! Yay!! That is how it should be. Now we will do a little sewing.

Stitch a red square onto the end of your dark strips. Four (4) for each block x 20 blocks mean you'll be sewing 80 little squares. Press away from the red.

Get your lights and cut:
(20)  1 1/4" x 2" rectangles
(20)  1 1/4" x 2 3/4" rectangles
(20)  1 1/4" x 3 1/2" rectangles
(20)  1 1/4" x 4 1/4" rectangles

To make it interesting use a  few different shades of "light" (pink, white, tan, blue)

Monday I'll post the final step to get your blocks made and your top together.

It's been an Alzheimer's week, so I'll have  a few "mom" stories and maybe a new quilt for AAQI next week!

Just Takes Two

I thought I'd do the latest blocks and get them out of the way. I really do not want to fall behind on this quilt. I machine appliqued so this batch was pretty easy.

Cherry Tree and Jubilee

 Our weather has cooled off in the evenings so I've brought out my 100" x 100" cherry tree quilt. I've outlined all of this block and the center was empty so I took one of the previous stencils from the quilt and put the star in the center. Because I'll be going back and cross hatching I went ahead and left the basting stitches in this block.

 Working on another one! The pen marking is the Frixion, which I feel totally comfortable using on this. I always double check though and make sure I've picked up the correct pen! Once I finish this block then it's time to switch to applique on the porch quilt. I got my pieces prepped the last few days.

Here's a sneak peak of my Jubilee quilt. I've got one more border to go!!

When I'm working on a lot of different projects my sewing room gets to be a mess!! That's when I know I'm being creative and having fun. There does come a point when it needs to be picked up. I got to that tonight. Yea, feels good!

Friday I'll post the next step to Mountain Trail. That should give everyone plenty of time to get caught up.