How well do you know Kate Spain?

As you know I went to the International Quilt Market in Houston this past weekend. The entire experience was wonderful (well besides for 1 woman who was a bit rude, but that didn't ruin my time) and exciting. On Saturday afternoon I found myself at the Moda area, I would say booth, but it was more like a block, where the designers had their own areas to chat with attendees. I met many of the great fabric designers, but the first one I met was Kate Spain. It was funny watching people be awestruck by just meeting her, which I have to admit at first I was too, but then I realized that she is a person just like us and calmed down so I could have a conversation with Kate that I would remember.

Kate was very down to earth and truly appreciated the visit. I totally adore the new line...it has great colors and will mix well with any Terrain you have left in your stash. I had missed the mini charm packs of Good Fortune, but I did get a fortune cookie!

A few weeks ago I sent Kate some questions to answer so lets see how well you know her.

1. What store is Kate Spain products available in?
a. Fat Quarter Shop
b. Crate and Barrel
c. Costco
d. All of the above

2. What is your favorite flower?
a. Daisies
b. Roses
c. Honeysuckle
d. Tulips

3. When choosing fabric for the Designer Select Fat Quarter kit, for the Fat Quarter Shop, what was your starting fabric (ie what fabric was it built around)?
a. Forest Floor
b. Fern
c. Seedpod
d. Aster

4. Which is true of Kate?
a. She is a pilot and loves flying planes
b. She repaints the rooms in her house a lot
c. She is a Dallas Cowboys fan
d. She went to elementary school with Sandra Bullock

How do you think you did on this quiz?
How would you like to win a charm pack of Good Fortune?
For a chance to win just answer the questions in a comment below. And this time you do not have to be a follower of this blog!
And while on the subject of blogs, here's a link to Kate's blog The Drawing Board.
This is a short giveaway...come back tomorrow to see the answers and see who won.

My Terrain Projects

As you know I am in the Designer Select FQ club, it's a Fat Quarter Shop exclusive. I find it very exciting when I get the email that the package has been shipped, so excited in fact that I don't even mind the charge to my card, it is well worth it. And I am over the moon when the package comes!

One of the reasons I am doing this series is that I wanted to make sure I made something with the FQ kit each month and this is keeping me honest :) I find myself loving the fabric line so much that the past 2 months I made more than 1 quilt with that specific fabric line.

I recently got the Scrap Basket Sensation Book and fell in love with the quilt on the cover. It's called Picnic. When I look at this picture I see flowers so that's the direction I decided to go in.









Here's the quilt that I made with the Designer Select FQ kit. Although I could have done the whole quilt with the fabric in the kit, I fell in love with some of the oranges and pinks so I picked up a small amount of yardage for this. I know I kinda broke my 'only use the FQ kit for the project' rule (well besides background fabric), but I couldn't help myself.  What do you think?

And if you guessed this fabric for the backing then you are right! It's called Terrain Mist Stonecrop. I just love how the purple and orange work together and how the green cools it down a bit.

The other quilt I am working on with Terrain is Stepping Stones, which is the Terrain Project Sheet. That pattern can be found here for free. It's in the 3rd row down in the center of the row. Here's my layout for the quilt. When I get home from market I plan on finishing this and quilting and binding at least 2 quilts before I break into my Market goodies, but we'll see how I do with that plan. This quilt is the perfect quilt for a layercake.

So there are my Terrain projects. I also made a few goodies for some friends with some leftovers, but I can't show them or I will spoil the surprise.

What did you make with Terrain or what do you plan to make with Terrain?

See you after Market!

Here's Nikki with the Blue Eyes

I know the title of this post is a little cheesy, but we all know that's who I am...plus it's early here and I haven't had any coffee yet. Today Nikki from Nikki's Quilting Projects is here.

Hello, there!  I'm Nikki (also known as Nkiblueeyes) from near Kansas City in Overland Park, Kansas.  I'm a former elementary teacher and current stay-at-home-mom who spends an irrational amount of time, energy and thought on quilting.  I belong to two local quilt guilds:  The Blue Valley Quilters Guild and the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, of which I am a founding member.

I am guest posting today to share my love for Kate Spain's fabric.  I love it all.  Last Christmas, I discovered her when I was visiting my mom in Houston.  I bought a charm pack of The 12 Days of Christmas line.  I spent the rest of my trip petting it and wishing I'd bought more.  When I got home, I ordered two layer cakes and a little yardage, not knowing quite what I'd do with them.  After some consideration, I decided to make my version of a stacked coins quilt.  I used some white flannel from my stash and I quilted it to resemble snow drifts.  This quilt was a Christmas gift to myself last year.  I looked around my house and realized that I'd been giving away most of the quilts I finished to loved ones & didn't have many quilts in my own house.  This Christmas quilt is just the right size for me to curl up with on the couch.  I love it so much that I use it year round.

My latest Kate Spain quilt is from her Terrain line.  I got really lucky and was able to purchase a jelly roll of Terrain before the general public, so I whipped together this fun top with some Moda Crossweaves, which really gave it an interesting texture & extra soft feel.  I love the drape of the cross weaves and with this design, I was able to make the most of my jelly roll.  I believe I only had 6 or 7 strips leftover.  

Here's a closeup:

These pictures were taken last weekend when I was visiting my grandmother in Arkansas.  I love pictures of quilts on clotheslines and I especially LOVE pictures of quilts with the sun shining through them.  Here are a couple pictures of the back of the quilt top:

Notice the texture of these Moda Crossweaves.  So luxurious.

I'll back this quilt with my favorite print from this line in flannel and I'll practice different free motion designs in each square, while quilting in the ditch around each block.

If you'd like to learn more about me or see more of my quilting projects, you can find me:

Here on Blogger

or

Here on Twitter

or

Here on Flickr

or 

Here on Etsy where I sell vintage linens and notions 

Thanks Nikki...you are 1 busy lady.

That ends our Guest Bloggers for Kate Spain month. Come back tomorrow to see my project for the month (that is if I get the 2nd one done today). Then on Monday Kate Spain herself will be here with a fun game to play and a lil giveaway of her own.


Have you got your Designer Select Kate Spain FQ kit yet? It's a Fat Quarter Shop exclusive so hurry and get yours today. And if you need yardage or other precuts the FQS has that too. As a matter of fact I haven't found anything that I am looking for that they don't have, which is why I spend way too much time checking out the web site and planing another quilt...but its always a bright spot in my day so why change it? It's time well spent. How much time do you spend dreaming about all the fabric you would like from FQS? 

Another Guest Blogger...Kate from Needle and Spatula

Today Kate from Needle and Spatula is here to show some awesome Verna, 12 Days of Christmas and Central Park projects. She thinks that she needs a Kate Spain support group so we can all support each other with our addiction to these fabrics! I guess our first step would be to join the All Things Kate Spain flickr page :)

Thanks so much Sha for having me here for Kate Spain month! When I heard you were doing this, I was so excited to join in since Kate Spain is one of my favorite fabric designers and also such a nice person (as anyone who has read her blog or interacted with her on twitter knows). I am just an all-around big fan! I'm glad that everyone reading this is a fabric junkie too so I don't sound so weird gushing about how much I love a fabric designer.





I first saw Kate Spain's fabrics when I was searching online two years ago for fabric to cover a guest book that we were having made for our wedding... I hadn't delved much into online fabric stores before (believe it or not), and I kept coming back to look at the fabrics in her then-current line, Verna.

Photo by Heather from Creatively Kept

Our wedding colors were green and blue and I finally decided on this fabric, and I love how it turned out! (Heather from Creatively Kept did a great job - I totally recommend her if you are in the market for a handmade wedding guest book or baby book).  Funny story - we actually unintentionally got the matching Kate Spain verna paper plates and napkins from Target for the day after our wedding brunch, and realized later that they matched!  I'm not kidding, I really am drawn to her designs.

Then last winter, I was looking for holiday fabric to make some placemats and kept coming back to the cute 12 days of Christmas fabric... once I realized it was also a Kate Spain design, it all made sense why I couldn't resist it and I went ahead and bought some up (which I still have to actually make into placemats - hopefully this year).

(Don't you love those fa la la's? And the adorable ornaments??)

Then came my serious love affair... Central Park. I really adore this fabric and bought up a bunch.

First I made a baby quilt for a friend using the green, turquoise and purple prints. I also used quite a few coordinating prints from my stash - I love how well these prints play with the fun dots and other patterns that I threw in there! (You may notice that I snuck in some of the same Verna print from our wedding book).

Next I made a drunkard's path quilt top using the orange, yellow, and green prints from this line, and again throwing in a number of coordinating prints from my stash which I think play well here. If you like the Drunkard's Path design, come check out the Drunkard's Path Quilt-Along that Kristie from OCD and I are hosting right now - there's still plenty of time to join in!

Here's some close-up shots of the blocks so you can see the lovely Central Park prints:

I confess, I was hoping to have finished this quilt to show off to you, but I was laid low with a serious cold this weekend so I only made it as far as basting the quilt. But at least I can show you the cute pieced back I made last week for this quilt - I actually love simple quilts so I think something like this would make a great quilt top too!

I haven't managed to get my hands on any of Kate's most recent line, Terrain, yet but I sure hope our paths do cross someday! And I am sure I will be making a few more Kate Spain quilts in any case, since I still have enough Central Park left for another quilt if I stretch it (I think)... plus, since Verna holds a special place in my heart, I bought up a few charm packs of it that I could still find earlier this year - I'm hoping to make them into a special picnic quilt or maybe a lattice quilt in the future.

I mean - look at these gorgeous fabrics - how could I not snap them up when I found them?

Thanks again for having me Sha! It's great to get to share with all of you, and know that I am not the only Kate Spain fabric addict out there - maybe we need to form a support group!

That was great Kate! Now I want to go try to find as much Verna as I can get my hands on!

Getting Ready For Quilt Market

In less than 3 days I will be in Houston for the International Quilt Market and I am so excited! I have been working on a few quilt patterns and am looking forward to talking to some people about them. For some reason I have been 'in the zone' as far as ideas, now if I had time to start and finish all my pattern ideas by Thursday that would be great. But alas that will not be happening.

So to get ready for the weekend I decided to make a purse. I have only made little zipper pouches for makeup before (pictured right) so this was my first real bag. I was looking thru Moda Bake Shop (one of my favorite things to do, along with spending hours on the Fat Quarter Shop site planning) and found the Mill House Inn Tote Bag Pattern and knew at once that was MY bag.

Pattern picked out, now for the fabric. I love Hometown and thought the combination of the bright red and soft colors would look great with the scrappiness of the strips. I have come to realize that I am not a scrappy kind of gal, I am much too symmetrical to make many things scrappy. I even drive my quilting friends 'craizee' (pun intended) with trying to plan quilts. So this bag is about as scrappy as it gets for me. I am very proud of myself because I didn't make each side from the center match the other. Don't laugh...it was a big step for me...OK you can laugh a little.

I am not afraid to admit that I was petrified of making a bag. I just couldn't visualize how it would come out...especially the part where you put the inside of the bag on the outside of the bag and flip it thru a seam left open. But I was pleasantly surprise when it worked! So what do you think? I can't wait to walk around Market with this bag!

Then after I finished the bag I had a burst of energy, probably from the endorphins from being so darn excited about the bag :). I knew I needed to make a bag for my IPad while on the trip. I was going to just make a simple zipper pouch like the one I made for my first IPad that now resides with my daughter. Here's a pic of that one. You'll notice I made it from Sunkissed, another Sweetwater line.

But then I thought I would up my game and try to make a matching case. It was easy once I figured out the dimensions. I ended up starting with a 9x11 piece for the bag body and went from there. I used 2" strips instead of the 1.5" strips called for in the bag pattern. I followed the same pattern, except didn't put the shoulder straps on. Here's what I came up with. What do you think?

I am thinking of making a little pouch to put my IPod in. And maybe a wallet too, but we'll see how much time I have. For now I am happy with the pieces I have so far.

Today Melanie from Above All Fabric is here to show you some of her wonderful projects that she made with Kate Spain fabric. From quilts to PJ's it is clear that she loves Kate Spain fabric as much as I do. 




When Sha asked who wanted to be part of Kate Spain month, I knocked people over to get in the front of the line. ;-) Kate Spain Designs + me = ♥♥ l.o.v.e. ♥♥ Seriously! And it appears I'm not alone!



Hi! My name is Melanie and I love Kate Spain fabric. (Along with all the other things she puts her designs onto!) And honestly, I don't want help. I'd like to keep on lovin' if that's alright with you!



As it so happens, I will be giving some quilts this Christmas that feature Kate's fabric. This fun quilt is actually a Sudoku board. 9 fabrics from her Central Park collection. One of each in each row, column and square. The back is minky and it's just so luscious. (Plus I love that I didn't have to piece a back! Yay for 60 inches wide!!!) I know the person I'm giving this to will love it!



And here is a terrain quilt top that practically put itself together. :-) I used this awesome free pattern from Moda's Bake Shop. It requires one layer cake and two charm packs (I sell both!) It's currently away being quilted. I can't wait to get it back!! I will certainly share it again on my blog!

Now to be honest, I actually usually sew children's clothing, not quilts....and Kate's fabric is amazing for that as well! These pajamas are made with her wonderful (seriously....WONDERFUL) flannel.



These will be available as a kit by the end of the week (with just the pants as an option as well!) And let me tell you...everyone NEEDS new jammies for Christmas! That is a fact!

Alright, alright - I'll get to the real stuff! Here is a video for you on how to make a blanket that binds itself! The minky is awesome for these- or flannel! Oh....I should make some with that wonderful Terrain Flannel!!! In the video I used a print from her Central Park collection! Too cute!

Magic Binding Blanket

(You can download the PDF here.)

I'm so glad that I'm not alone for my love of Kate Spain fabric! I hope you'll visit me soon!!! I have some pretty big things that will be going on over the next 2 weeks! So check in with me. :-)

Oh yeah...you can find me on.....
my blog
my shop
flickr...which will continue to have lots of Kate Spain projects, I am certain!
Plus on twitter and facebook too!

Thanks Melanie for sharing those great ideas and the video. I think I will attempt to make some PJ bottoms soon, sometime after Quilt Market :)

Speaking of Quilt Market, if any of you are going please let me know, I would love to meet you.

 

Angelas BCA Project

Today is the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness week at Craizee Corners. I hope you enjoyed all the great projects shared with you this week and that you are motivated to do your monthly self exam and your yearly mammogram (if age appropriate).  Breast Cancer has taken way to many loved ones from us. Lets hope and pray that someday someone will find a cure for this and other cancers.



Today's guest blogger is Angela Smart. She made a wonderful tote bag in memory of her Mother. Angela doesn't have a blog so leave her comments here and I will forward them to her, I know she would love to hear from you!

Hi everyone!

I’m Angie from the UK and this is a real first for me as I don’t have my own blog.  I’m so excited to be here, but very nervous too – please be patient with me!

When Sha mentioned arranging a few projects to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness month, I was itching to get involved.  I’m sure everyone’s been affected by cancer in some form.  My mum died at 60 and I miss her so much.  She never got to meet my little girl who’s just turned 4.

I wanted to make a little something in memory of my mum and to honour all those touched by this dreadful disease.  I’ve been meaning to make the Wrap it Up bag from Penny at Sew Take a Hike for ages and this seemed like the ideal opportunity.  My mum was brought up in hard times and was a good homemaker, we used to ‘make do and mend’, recycling and reusing whatever possible.

Project decided, now to choose the fabric.   I knew immediately I wanted to use some of the ladies print from Melody Miller’s Ruby Star Rising.  My mum was married in 1963 and this print really resonates with me and brings to mind her wedding photos.  I’ve teamed the print with some plain pink linen for a simple statement, completed by the lovely pink ribbons that Sha sent to me.   My mum always had fresh flowers in the house when possible, so I chose to line the bag with the Roses print from Erin McMorris’ Weekends line.

The pattern’s great and easy to follow.  I need to concentrate a little more on what I’m doing – I pieced the outer fabrics thinking I’d accounted for seam allowances but found that my lining fabric was an inch longer – oops!  I’m glad I noticed before I started stitching and it was easily sorted.

I’m really happy with how the bag turned out.  It has a cute snap strap that means you can roll it up and keep it in your handbag.  Only, um, I can’t find the safe place that I put my pack of snaps in!

Thanks Sha for letting me share my project J

Thanks Angie for showing us that adorable tote bag. Its perfect for a Mom who was married in 1963, the fabric is so fitting.

Today's web site is the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. You will find all sorts of female medical issues addressed there.

That ends the Breast Cancer Awareness week. Please remember to check your pair and go see a doctor at the first hint of a lump. Better safe than sorry.

I hope you enjoyed this series. Come back tomorrow for more Kate Spain fun.

 

2 for the price of 1 today!

Today I have 2 wonderful guest bloggers. You know how sometimes emails disappear? Well that's what happened this week so I never posted Tuesdays guest blogger post. So today I have 2 treats for you.

First is Vicki with a special tote bag that she made for her Mother-in-law. She also shares her story of her own scare with this disease. Vicki doesn't have a blog so if you want to leave her a message just leave it on this post and I will forward it to her. I know she would love to hear from you.



The Second is Laura Lok of The Weekend Photo Warrior. She has a great way to remember to get your pair checked. You will not want to miss it! So make sure you read the second part of this post. And please check out her blog, she just completed a 5K run for the leukemia and lymphoma society.  The web sites for today are listed in Laura's post.

Breast Cancer Tote for my Mother-in-law

Hello everyone ~ Thanks for checking my project. I will say up front that I am sorry but the pattern is one I cannot give you. It was one a woman on a message board a few years back offered to those reading. She did not have a website either and you had to request via email.  I will suggest you use any other tote pattern from another person as hers turned out a good bag but wow, was there some very bad words coming from my sewing room while constructing this thing. LOL

Anyway, my MIL was diagnosed with breast cancer and because it is known to run in their family she decided she wanted to move ahead with what she considered would be the inevitable and had the mastectomy. She had a really hard time while undergoing the chemo and radiation treatments as most do. It was hard for everyone in the family of course and for me it was something that brought back some sad memories and huge concern for her as well. My mother died from cancer in 1982 when my son, her first grandchild was just 2 months old and then my father was lost to cancer as well about 8-9 yrs ago. Watching both my parents deal with the struggle of slowly dying from cancer really affected me although neither of them had breast cancer. It did help me know my MIL would need a lot of support from us but we were 4 hours away from them which was really hard. We drove to the hospital for her surgery to keep my Father-in-law company and so she could see her only child, my husband right after surgery to make her smile.

Before she finished all her treatments she found another large lump on her other breast which was obviously devastating since she’d been dealing with being so sick and losing her hair and that that goes with fighting breast cancer. The doctor wouldn’t do anything for her until she finished the last of her treatments as she was almost done and then needed to rebuild her system back up again before they could do any surgery because she was just too weak at that point.

Once she had built her system back up again she wanted to just go after it again and have the 2^nd mastectomy.  This time though she saw the plastic surgeon prior to the surgery so that could be set up for her as well as she decided she wanted to have reconstructive surgery at the same time. The day came and I knew this time I wanted to make something for her to make her smile since we once again were going to be there for her surgery. I had been lucky enough to buy a Viking embroidery machine a few years before and had just seen a wonderful Dolly Mama Breast Cancer machine embroidery design from an awesome digitizer so I knew right away I had to buy that and use it on something for her. I decided I’d make her a super cute tote and use the design on it and fill it with goodies for her. During the weeks’ prior to us going anytime we were out shopping I’d buy anything cute that I saw which was pink. Then on my trip to buy my bath gel from Ulta Cosmetics, I saw the pink shower gels and a pink scrubby so I bought her those as well as some pink hand cream which matched the scent.  I packed that tote full of goodies including, of course lots of  Ghirardelli chocolate of all types but for sure the raspberry filled Ghirardelli chocolate bars. She loved the bag and all the goodies.

Every time we spoke for weeks and weeks she would tell me how much she loved her tote and how she was always having people stop her to ask where she got it. In fact, she told me while still in the hospital that she practically had to sleep with that thing because every nurse or lab person that came into her room threatened to steal it while she was sleeping and many asked if she could take orders from me to make more. Had that pattern been a lot better I may have considered that but I had already told her how many problems that gave me making it and that she can be proud she’s got an original one of a kind tote as I would NEVER make another of that pattern again in my life. Lol 

noooooooo. Not only did she get a fabulous one of a kind tote/purse BUT she got the bonus of that also being a one of a kind defective tote/purse as well. HA Then one day a few months later she admitted to me she’d ripped the top part open to fix the handles. OH DUH! HOW STUPID I WAS! Instead of placing each handle on its own side I had sewn them from one side to the other across from it and never gave it a second thought while doing it. I just knew something just wasn’t quite right. So now you can all laugh at that as you check out my pictures taken of the tote. It really did turn out beautifully, even with the slight defect which thankfully was easily fixed.

Then not long after she’d gone through all that I woke one morning with my left breast twice its size. That was during the time there was this story going around all the message boards about how this super fast growing breast cancer was horrible and killing anyone that got it. Of course, I totally freaked out as I ran across this on some message board not long after waking up like that. I went to my doctor asap and then she thought possibly it was an infected gland and put me on antibiotics for a few weeks. Of course, this did nothing but make me stressed even more thinking that was a long time to wait before checking into it further. The meds didn’t work so she sent me to have a mammogram. They did that and she requested mine NE stat so they would read it right then and there to be sure they had gotten good shots and could give me a diagnosis that day. I waited while they read the slides and then the nurse came back and said they wanted a few more shots …………on the other side. WHAT? It seems they found a small lump on the other breast as well. Ugh. After they were done, they had my husband come back to the meeting room to meet me there and we were told I had to get those biopsied so we got rushed across the hallway to the surgeon’s office where my surgery was scheduled. After the surgery I was told it would be a few days and then I’d find out the results. That was a long wait and then what I got was them telling me that one side was not cancer but they then told me the pathologists there weren’t able to both agree on the other one, so they had to send my biopsy for that one off to the Mayo Clinic and that I’d have to wait TWO WEEKS more. I was totally freaked out because of all the history of those around me and watching them deal with cancer of any sort so that’s all I could think of…well that and the fact that the surgeon I had been given must have the nickname Edward Scissorhands because the scars he left after telling me they’d only be about 1 inch at the most in reality turned out to be over 7 inches long on both sides and crooked too. L I am still SO not happy about that but hey, I’m no swimsuit model so I guess I can live with that considering the alternative.

I need to stop yacking and just let you know that I did finally get the all clear back from the Mayo Clinic 2^nd opinion. I just know it’s a very scary thing to even get to the point I was much less to be told you have breast cancer. I can’t imagine that and give everyone that has been told and had to deal with that a lot of credit. It surely is not an easy thing to go through.

VickiT

PS ~ anyone thinking of doing something similar to mine. MY MIL said the best thing in that tote we’d given her (aside from the chocolate of course) was that shower gel. She’d never used any before but also didn’t realize the length of time she’d be banned from taking a shower or bath after her surgeries. She said all she was allowed to do was a sink wash as best as you can type cleaning and that pretty smelling shower gel was wonderful. She said it was easy to use and smelled so wonderful which helped put her in a good mood even if she felt dirty not being able to do more washing that to use the sink. So if you do something like this, put some of that in and maybe stitch up some washcloths like you’d make for babies with one side cotton and flannel on the other side, or even some minky type fabric so it’s smooth and softer than a regular washcloth or scrubby.

Now its Laura's turn to share with you an adorable way to remember to get your pair checked.

Have you checked that pair lately??

As part of breast cancer awareness month I just wanted to remind you. The above business card or ATC card was made by me many years ago it fits in your wallet and serves as a reminder every time you open it up. I made a couple hundred of them at that time and passed them out at gatherings and to all my rubber stamping friends and family. On the back it says "October is Breast cancer awareness month early detection boots survival chances. Please do the one thing you can do for early detection. Check that pair. Keep this as a reminder or pass it on to a friend"

The card was made using a pear stamp that was stamped twice in yellow and then a checkered mask template went over it and sponged green on the parts that showed in yellow. Finally added lettering one letter at a time. Trimmed and mounted on some green card stock.

I know we all have a story and mine is no different. I have had several friends and family that have had breast cancer and most are still living due to early detection and advances in breast cancer treatment. And remember not all lumps are bad. As a young adult around 22 I was showering and felt something. Scared, young and far from home with only my husband near I took my findings to my doctor.  After a series of x-rays and ultrasounds and one needle aspiration it was determined I had a lump attached to my left breast bone. At this time they didn't believe it was cancerous but couldn't get enough from the needle aspiration to make a determination. I was scheduled for surgery, a lumpectomy.  They removed the lump which felt like a pea to me and was thought to be about the size of a nickle originally but was actually the size of a 50 cent piece.

The news was good for me, the biopsy came back clean and I have not had a re-occurrence and I am now 46. But it could have been much worse.  What if I ignored it? Or never did that exam and what if it had been malignant. I might not be here today enjoying my family and my life. Life is precious and it is not selfish to take care of yourself so that you are around to enjoy life and your loved ones get to enjoy you for as long as possible.

Remember the earlier a lump is caught the better the chance for survival.  Checking yourself in the shower is one of the easiest ways to accomplish this. If you don't know how to do a proper exam here is some information on how to do breast exams :

http://rethinkbreastcancer.com/ - this has a very "appealing" video and made me giggle

http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/guide/breast-self-exam

You can also go on YouTube and there are several that will show you.

Lastly you can always ask your nurse or doctor.  They will be happy to share how to do this with you.

JUST DO IT

Wow what great projects Vicki and Laura had to share with us!

Have you made your appointment to get your pair checked? I go today for my mammogram. Early detection is important.