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For anyone out there, possibly still being directed to this blog, I want to thank you for looking. We raised $5761 for Sam and his mom which I deposited for them in June 2012. He has moved on to chemotherapy, which is supposed to be 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. He had a very scary late July and early August set-back. He spent his 5th birthday in the hospital, but out of Pediatric ICU.

The gallery of quilts that you see below are still offered for sale to benefit Sam and his family. If you see something you'd like, please contact me at okko@cox.net.

My husband and I went up to Oregon in late September to visit our daughter, who is now living in Portland, and was able to see Sam and his mom a couple of times while there. We visited them in their 'home-away-from-home,' the Ronald McDonald House just a few steps from the Doernbecker Children's Hospital where Sam is receiving treatment. I'm relieved to say that Sam is a happy, bouncy, normal five-year old boy. He greeted us with big hugs and smiles and immediately initiated game-play and gave us a tour of his turf. He is extremely verbal and expresses himself very well, is reading above age level, and has a boat load of determination when things aren't going his way. As my husband says, 'Sam is my hero!'

Here's a story about what kind of a boy Sam is. Recently, a young mother was admitted to Doernbecker and her husband was staying at RMH. She was pregnant, near term, when it was discovered that she had a brain tumor. They took her baby early by c-section and were going to continue with surgery and treatment for her tumor. They told her they would install a shunt, permanently, in her brain. She was afraid. The staff told her about Sam and she asked if she could talk to him. Yes, he agreed. One of her questions was, 'wasn't he afraid of the permanent shunt?' Yes, he was, he admitted with a shrug and a giggle! This little five-year old set her mind at ease and she was able to go ahead with the treatment. That's Sam - a big ambassador in a little body! I have a treasured picture of him saying goodbye to us at the back door to RMH; big arm waving and a huge smile on his face - as if this really was his own home.

As of October 15, 2012, Sam is tumor-free, eating normally and tolerating his treatment well. If everything goes well, by the end of the year Sam will be done with therapy, his mom will be able to return to work, and they will be able to move on with their lives as a healthy, happy family.
Amen!

SQ  Two great sleeping Sam quotes of the night (thus far) from separate incidences:

"Mom, you can take the lepers... if you want."

--and--

Indignantly, "I thought you were going to get *giraffes*."

'Tapenade'  66" x 74"  $800

'Pink!'  64" x 82"  $800

'Bubblegum Heart'  54" x 87"  $750

'Seminole Medallion'  60" x 60"  $500

'Wild Kingdom'  51" x 81"  $900

'Liberated Butterflies'  64" x 87"  $1000

'Jungle Fever'  73" x 73"  $2000

'Jungle Fever' detail

'Moulin Bleu'  52" x 67"  $850

'Liberated Xquisite'  40" x 40" $250

'Red & Blue Plaid'  46" x 46"  $200

'Spinning Stars'  56" x 56"  $200

Gallery - Art Quilts

THANK YOU! Thank you. Thank you.
To all the folks who came forward and bought quilts to benefit Sam! I am excited and humbled by the response to Sam's need, my quilts, my blog and my effort. We have raised nearly $5000 so far!

Sam is currently in the 5th week of radiation, at a low point. At the end of 6 weeks, he'll have a break of 6 weeks with no treatments - to regroup, revitalize, rejuvenate. He has been unable to eat solid food for several weeks, lost his hair, weak and generally, looks like a cancer patient. His little flame is at low ebb, but there is still a spark that peeks through to us as the beautiful child he is.

SQ   Sam and I were sitting in the room together. He said quietly, "I wish it wasn't me that was sick Mama." I said I wished it wasn't him either, that I wish I could be sick for him and promptly burst into tears. Geez. He handed me his cloth (his nose wiping cloth, which has been kind of a security blankie for him) and said, "I wish it wouldn't be either of us."

Here is more work that I promised earlier, offering again to benefit Sam's Fund. Take another look, pass it on to your friends and family. Contact information is in the first post, April - 'New Beginnings.'

Alluvia

37" x 28"

$500

Layers of cloth, batting and stitching make up a quilt; here extra stitching adds layers to the surface of the quilted landscape.

Detail of 'Alluvia'

Currents 2

34.5" x 22"
$1000
In this piece, a cotton background is overlaid with several thin layers of filmy polyester sheers, stitched and the top layers are cut out to reveal the contents of a tidepool, including sea stars, anemones, shells and sea foam. Some embellishments are added in the form of eyelash yarn and outline and textural stitching.

Detail of 'Currents 2' 

The Devil Is In the Details

9" x 11" 

$200

A very small piece made of cotton and silk fabrics, mono printed with acrylic paints, stitched with rayon and polyester threads. I added anagrams of the title, 'The Devil is in the Details' and wrote them on the folded inserts that spiral from the center of the work. It was published in 'Quilting Arts Magazine' for a mail-in challenge.

Detail of 'The Devil Is In the Details'

Serpentine
18" x 15.5"
$125
An experimental work made of woven hand-dyed fabrics, with satin-stitch outlines and bead embellishment.

Transect

17" x 17"

$125

I love to try new methods. This piece is made of batiks and hand-dyes, over-stitched and embellished with metal spirals. 

Good Earth
17" x 17"
$150
I live on land that was once a heavy agriculture area. I also grew up on a ranch, and tilling patterns and crops continue to fascinate me. The materials in this piece, silks, rayons and polyesters, are cut from used thrift store clothing.

Tile Study 1

16" x 16"

$125

Repeating patterns offer endless variety for design. Fabrics are new and used cottons, silks, and polyesters with cotton and rayon threads.

Tile Study 2

17" x 17"

$125

More recycled fabrics from thrift store clothing and repeating patterns.

Tile Study 3

17" x 17"

$125

An unusual color palette derived from more recycled thrift store clothing.

Earth Turns   SOLD!

12" x 42"

$250

This vertical unit, comprised of four small pieces stitched together with bamboo skewers, is based on the stick charts of Oceanic peoples. Unfinished edges give a raw finish to the rectangular sections that complement the spiky bamboo sticks.

Not Too Deep
18.5" x 26"
$250
A wild, dynamic design crammed with colorful circles floating to the surface of the piece. It is very textural, with added sequins, eyelash yarn and plastic shavings of skateboard wheels from the local recycling 'Art from Scrap' store.

Rising to the Surface

15" x 22"

$250

A simplified version of the previous piece, 'Not Too Deep,' this one has bubbles rising on a woven background, added sequins, eyelash yarn, and plastic shavings of skateboard wheels. The entire construction is placed on a navy blue wool support.

Tattoo: the Letter Z

25.5" x 31"

$500

This is a response to a group challenge - we blindly picked a letter of the alphabet from a paper bag.

Several influences came together here: I am fascinated with the current tattoo craze; I studied calligraphy for many years; and my husband's last name begins with the letter Z!

Studies

These small pieces were generated from a recent art class, using my current technique of sewing thin scraps of fabrics in overlapping tucks or layers to create a highly texturized ground and adding more stitching. I made these in pairs and applied different stitching to each one.

Value Study   SOLD!

10" x 10"

$85 

Pattern Study

10" x 10"

$85

Monochromatic Study   SOLD!

10" x 10"

$85

Monochromatic Study 2  SOLD!
10" x 10"
$85

Black & White Study  SOLD!

10" x 10"

$85

Black & White Study 2

10" x 10"

$85

Repetition Study   SOLD!

10" x 10"

$85

Repetition Study 2  SOLD!

10" x 10"

$85

SQ   "I can see darkly through these." -after donning a new pair of sunglasses.

Gallery - Crib Size Quilts

Of course, just because they're crib size doesn't mean they can't be hung on a wall!

SQ Sam woke himself up giggling. "Mom! I was just dreaming and it was so funny. I was dreaming about cheese sandwiches. Hee hee.. cheese sandwiches in your ear!" 

Blue Box  SOLD!

52" x 64"

$250

Contemporary fabrics used in a traditional pattern.

Spinning Stars

56" x 56"

$200

Bright blue stars spin in on a quiet pale green background.

Minnie Baby
57" x 57"
$250
Somehow the red & black polka dots remind me of Minnie Mouse! I think she'd like this one.

Green Spring   SOLD!

42" x 42"

$150

Boxes of red & pink stripes on a spring green floral.

Red & Blue Plaid

46" x 46"

$200

A two-sided quilt, the reverse has more of these boxes on a bright red kerchief pattern.

Trip Around the World

49" x 49"

$250

This very traditional pattern has dynamic movement supported by contemporary fabrics.

Gallery - Wall Quilts

SQ  "I want to be a firefighter, but not just a firefighter. An awesome firefighter. An awesome nighttime firefighter. I will wear jammies and fight fires."

Coin of the Realm   SOLD!
37" x 37"
$350
Based on Asian fabrics, the center medallion is made using the 'Cathedral Windows' method of folding to create a flower border for the red centers. It has a quiet, meditative quality.

Looking West
49 x 54"
$1200
This quilt won 'Best Small Traditional Quilt' award at our local quilt guild show for 2007. The stars are made of Japanese fabrics; the hexagons are hand embroidered with Japanese designs; and the background is machine quilted in a variety of sashiko patterns. This is one of my most treasured quilts because of all the work that went into it.

Liberated Xquisite
40" x 40"
$250
Based on the traditional Xquisite pattern, I 'liberated' the pattern by changing the block from square to rectangle and using free-form triangle patches. Additionally, the dynamic color combination moves this quilt into contemporary design.

Hawaiian Shirts   SOLD!
33" x 33"
$250
These origami folded shirts made from tropical fabrics even have tiny buttons!

Psychedelic Scallop   SOLD!
28" x 28"
$250
This quilt was made for a quilt guild challenge to use black & white and one other color. These designs are my own patterns and hand appliquéd. The pink scallop borders the edge and finishes the quilt.

Snakes & Lizards
37" x 37"
$150
Made as an example of the 'Seminole' method of piecing, I used the bright fabrics to exemplify the way the Indian tribe may have used color. It's quilted with an outline of a large lizard in the center and snakes around the four sides.

Wedgie Woman  SOLD!
26" x 41.5"
$150
Every parent of a third or fourth grader knows 'Captain Underpants' and here is his nemesis, 'Wedgie Woman,' from that book series. I made it for another quilt guild challenge, this one about a favorite book.

Gallery - Large Quilts for bed or wall

SQ At bed time, Mom perched on the edge of his bed, him wiggling down under the covers: "What song do you want to hear tonight, Sam?" "Any song you sing will be the song I want to hear, Mom."

Tapenade
66" x 74"
$800

Suitable for a single bed or top of a larger one. The name comes from the background fabric that has small, mostly green, but also multi-colored, dots that remind me of olives. It's a fun quilt.

Pink!

64" x 82"
$800
Single bed size, feminine with sophisticated color combination of pinks, browns and teal. It's quilted with an all over pattern of butterflies.

Bubblegum Heart
54" x 87"
$750
A small bed-size quilt with hexagons arranged in a 'Lone Star' design. My daughter named it for the small hot pink hearts in the fabric. The reverse side is a wild composition of fabrics, one with green frogs.

Liberated Butterflies
64" x 87"
$1000
These butterflies are my original pattern, made in a free style which uses spontaneous cutting to form the designs. It was a lot of fun to make and has a light, lively quality.

Wild Kingdom
51" x 81"
$900
The central medallion is made of a striped fabric printed with endangered animals. That combined with the top and bottom bands of shield shapes gives it a tribal quality, but softened by the interspersed printed flower fabric. The unusual size makes this one a wall hanging.

Backwards & Forwards  SOLD!
76" x 86"
$1200

I started this one in a color theory class - surprisingly, based on the colors of some very small shells I found at the beach. It is a very strong quilt with masculine appeal.

Terrazzo   SOLD!

64" x 80"

$900

A study in neutrals - beige, grays, off-whites, gold and a hint of pink. This quilt is made in the 'Seminole' piecing style, used by the Florida Indians who developed the patterns for their clothing.

Moulin Bleu

52" x 67"

$850

Using Japanese style fabrics and a komon or Japanese family crest pattern, this quilt has Asian roots, but a very traditional American feel to it. The red accent around the edge is a three-dimensional, folded fabric zig-zag line.

Jungle Fever

73" x 73"

$2000

A very dynamic  quilt, it commands attention! The central medallion is constructed of striped fabric cut so that it forms the circle with the swirling basket motif. The orchid flowers are hand appliquéd on a charcoal gray leaf print fabric. This quilt won 'Best Machine Quilting' at our local quilt guild in 2006.

Detail of  'Jungle Fever'

Mille Fiori  SOLD!

53" x 60"

$1300

I love bright colors, and this quilt proves my point. It's my original design, made with a wide variety of prints. It's named for the 'end of the day' glass left on a glassblower's pipe. Looking like little flowers, the glass pieces were suspended in the antique paperweights my grandmother collected - 'mille fiori' means 'thousand flowers.'

SQ *icky face* "What's wrong, Sam?" "This medicine tastes gross." "Gross?" "Yeah, gross. Like fruit snacks. Like fruit snacks on fire."