Lexa

This is a picture of Lexa Cleland, the beautiful, 7 year old daughter of my friend Nikki, who was tragically killed by a drunk driver in December 2010. She is the inspiration for my design, LEXA'S ANGEL, which I recently offered to quilt shops (only one per city) for use as a fundraiser for the Cleland Family.

I spent this whole weekend making sure the pattern is ready for those shops that respond to my offer and can now say it is ready! I have had a good number of shops contact me to participate but there are still lots of opportunities available. Since I am not charging the shops for the design it would be easy for participating shops to give a portion of the pattern price to The Cleland Family Fund and still cover any expenses such as paper and ink. Since the offer is limited to one shop per city it may help to draw customers to your shop that might not have visited otherwise if you promote the pattern on your website or in your newsletter.

We all have "angels" in our lives that this pattern or a quilt made from this pattern would be appreciated by as I can attest to from the calls I have received in regards to my design.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about Lexa's Angel at larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

An Exclusive Offer To Quilt Shop Owners



LEXA'S ANGEL

This is a picture of the actual quilt I made for my friend Nikki. It is hanging in Nikki's room at a rehab center where she is recovering from a car accident. Nikki's car was hit head on by a drunk driver in early December 2010. Sadly, she lost her beautiful, 7 year old daughter, Lexa, in the accident.

I took my design to my favorite, local quilt shop, Quilter's Corner in Finleyville, PA and spoke to the owner about using my design to raise funds for my friend's family. Mary Beth Hartnett went way beyond my expectations and produced a kit that she offered for a suggested donation of $6, of which, every penny went to the fund. Her total donation consisted of the fabric, the paper and ink to print the foundation, the packaging and the hourly salaries of her employees while putting the kits together!

She has had numerous inquiries from people in other states about getting the kits mailed out, but as you can see from my description above, she has done more than her fair share considering the only thing she is getting out of this project is a little extra foot traffic in her shop.

So I had the idea to offer this block to one quilt shop per city. The first quilt shop to contact me, from each city, about getting the block in their shop and agrees to use it as a fundraiser, to benefit THE CLELAND FAMILY FUND, will get a PDF of my design to use in any way you choose.

If, at some point, my friend and her family no longer need these funds, I will offer them to another organization, such as MADD, but for now, this design is solely intended to be used to help raise funds for my friend.

If you have any questions or want to reserve the block for your quilt shop, please feel free to contact me via email at: larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

By the way, if you don't own a quilt shop but are interested in getting this pattern, feel free to pass this information on to your favorite, local quilt shop.

Computer Headaches and Wonderful Friends

Can anything else bring on a headache like switching to a new computer can?!? My answer to that question would be, "NO!".
I haven't blogged much lately as I have been trying to get all of my old files over to my new computer without losing anything and that includes my mind. I shouldn't be complaining and I'm really not. More like venting, I guess. But its hard to be creative when your tools don't work properly. My old computer was 8 years old and was hanging on by a thread. It would shut itself off often right in the middle of a project and I would lose what I was working on.

A new computer has been on my list of things I need but just hasn't been in the budget but I happen to be able to count among my friends one of the most generous people on earth. I won't mention their name but this person needs their money as badly as the rest of us but chose to surprise me with a new laptop a couple of weeks ago!

Anyway, since my last post lots of things have happened. I found out I was nominated for Teacher of The Year by one of my students and am waiting to see who The Professional Quilter decides deserves that honor. I also entered my first major quilt show and am anxious to see if my quilt makes it in.Quiltmaker has chosen another of my designs to publish later this year,(more on that later). And I have several classes and lectures scheduled so far for this year.

I also saw my friend Nicole a couple of weeks ago and showed her the angel block I designed in honor of her daughter who was killed by a drunk driver in early December as a fundraiser for her family. Nikki is an inspiration to me. I went to see her to comfort her and instead left comforted BY her. To date, the quilt shop that is making kits to make the block have "sold" about 150 kits and are still cutting more.

I have at least a dozen new designs nearly ready to be published so, with any luck and my new computer, they should be available soon. Its going to be a good year!

Angel Kits are Ready!

PRESS RELEASE

LOCAL QUILT ARTIST DESIGNS COMMEMORATIVE BLOCK TO BENEFIT
THE CLELAND FAMILY FUND

PITTSBURGH, PA, JANUARY 12, 2011: Last month, many were devastated by the fatal car accident which took the life of 7-year-old Lexa Cleland and left her mother, Nicole, facing numerous surgeries and months of recovery. Local quilt designer and friend of the Cleland family, Sue Cook, realized she has a unique way to help the family and inspire others to do the same.

Sue is known for the extraordinary pieced pictorial work she offers through her company, Larkspur Lane Designs, and for patterns featured in numerous quilting magazines. To help her friend and to honor the memory of Lexa, Ms. Cook has designed a pattern for a beautiful foundation-pieced block appropriately titled Lexa’s Angel. This piece displays an ethereal angel, which can be finished as a small wall quilt or pillow. Several angels could become the centerpiece of an exceptional quilt. A kit for the block, including the foundation paper and fabric similar to Sue’s original is available from Quilter’s Corner in Finleyville for a suggestion donation of $6.00. One hundred percent of the proceeds from each Angel kit sold will go directly to the Cleland Family Benefit Fund to aide the family during this difficult time. Each completed block will help preserve the memory of a special child.

Contact Quilter's Corner at 724-348-8010 to get your kit.

Update on Lexa's mom

To those of you who read my blog with any regularity you know about my friend Nicole's accident in December in which she lost her 7 year old daughter, Lexa. I received a short message from Nikki via Facebook last night in which she told me she likes my angel block, Lexa's Angel. I was able to go to her FB page and check on her progress so I thought I would update those who have asked about her condition.

Nikki had her 4th surgery earlier this week and will be moved to a nursing home soon to complete her recovery. She will probably be there for 3 to 6 months and her doctors are confident she will walk again someday.

For anyone that wants to help Nikki and her family financially there is a fund set up at the First National Bank, called The Cleland Family Fund. If you'd like to send a check their address is 2550 Brownsville Rd, South Park, PA 15129.

My favorite local quilt shop, Quilters' Corner in Finleyville PA, is also helping me with a project to benefit Nikki and her family. They are designing a small project based on my angel block and selling kits. The kits are inexpensive and all of the money raised by them will go to the fund. I will post the information here when all of the details are finalized.

Why I Design

LEXA'S ANGEL

When Wayne Kollinger asked me to blog about why I design and to help inspire others to try their hand at designing, I was flattered...then I thought "Wouldn't that be like shooting myself in the foot?" But after a little more thought, I realized that even though I am a designer myself, I still like other peoples' designs and although I don't do it often, I still purchase patterns by other designers and I'm hoping others will do the same. So, here goes nothing!

Why I Design
The first reason I design is because I LOVE IT!
I love creating something from a thought, something that hasn't been done before or, even if it has been done before, doing it better. I have designed since I was a small child. I started out making dolls out of the wooden spoons that came with little cups of ice cream. My friends and I would draw faces on them and then make paper clothes. I sure wish I had saved some because I would love to look at them now.

I was fortunate to be chosen to take art lessons at our branch of the Carnegie Museum and did that every Saturday for about 3 or 4 years during grade school. When I went on to high school, I took only the required courses and then filled the rest of my day with art and craft classes. If I couldn't do something creative with my life I don't think it would be worth living!

Out of high school I went on to art school and earned a two year degree in graphic arts. My first job after finishing school was with a fine jeweler. After learning how to carve the waxes used in lost wax casting and to melt and pour the gold I was given the opportunity to do a little designing of my own. I worked in that industry for about 15 years before being bitten by the quilting bug.

COUNTRY CLAUS

The second reason I design is because I CAN!
Designing is the one thing for which I feel I have a talent. And I think we should all be using our talents to make other people happy and to make the world a better place.

For example, my design called LEXA'S ANGEL is my way of helping a friend deal with a recent tragedy in her life. My friend lost her 7 year old daughter Lexa in a car accident with a drunk driver December 6th, 2010. I made a small donation to a fund set up for her family and will continue to donate to that fund as I am able but my design abilities make it possible for me to help her in a bigger way and also to give others the opportunity to help her as well and get something in return.

The third reason I design is because I LIKE A CHALLENGE!
I will redraw a design as many times as necessary to make it as perfect as possible. My final version of LEXA'S ANGEL was the 11th version of that design. The original drawing was done about 4 years ago but I never did anything with it because there were other designs and deadlines that took priority. Now I'm glad I didn't use that design before because I think there was a bigger purpose for it.

The fourth reason I design is I LIKE THE ATTENTION IT GETS ME! 
The feeling I get when someone tells me how much they like my designs or how much they enjoyed making one of my designs is amazing. Every once in awhile I'll get a card in the mail or an email in which someone tells me the story behind a quilt they made from one of my patterns, such as who it was made for and why and that can totally make my day!

My Newest Angel

This is the latest version of my Angel pattern that I have sewn out. I have gotten such a wonderful response to the earlier version that I decided to work on the original design and have made some changes. Anyone that got the earlier version and would like to have the newest version can send me an email and I will send it out.

Anyone else that would like to make a donation to The Cleland Family Fund and receive my Angel pattern as a "Thank You" from me would be much appreciated.

Nicole Cleland is a friend of mine who was involved in a car accident earlier this month with a drunk driver. Her 7 year old daughter Lexa was killed in the accident and Nicole has more surgeries ahead of her and about 5 months of recovery. There is no telling when or if she will be able to return to work.

The Cleland Family Fund is set up at The First National Bank:
2550 Brownsville Rd.
South Park PA 15129
412-831-4800

Send me an email after you make your donation and I will email you the pattern for Lexa's Angel. larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

Thank you!
Sue