Some Christmas Cheer

Did anyone else think Christmas came and went quickly?  It seems like I just finished putting up the decorations.  Now it is time to take them down!  Normally I leave mine up until New Year's Day.  This year I plan to go ahead and put them away early.  Time to start the new year fresh and in my sewing room!

Earlier this month I delivered seventeen Christmas themed quilts to the hospital.  Christmas is a terrible time to have to be in the hospital so hopefully our quilts brought a little bit of cheer.  Let's look at some.

Most if not all of these quilts started in Judith's basement.  Last year I gave her most of the holiday fabrics we have in the stash.  She cut kits and we passed them out to the piecers.  These were the results of Judith's imagination.  I think they turned out quite well.  I'll share more of them soon.  And yes, I am still sending holiday fabric to Judith.  In order to have these ready for the holidays we have to work ahead of the season.  Yes, just like Santa's elves!

There are lots of things I intended to do for the Christmas holiday.  I didn't get a lot of them done.  My plan is to start earlier in 2014.  Have you heard that before?  We did get to have all of our kids home with us.  And of course that means Simon!

Thanks for taking the time to check in with us.  As always, we put a piece of ourselves in every quilt.

Thanksgiving

It is hard to believe it is Thanksgiving!  There's been a lot going on in the last few weeks.  First of all, my mother celebrated her 85th birthday--quite an accomplishment.  The day after her birthday she had knee replacement surgery.  I guess I should mention Susan's mother also had a birthday and knee replacement!  We used the time wisely to hand stitch bindings.  Busy hands while you are waiting during surgery is a good thing.  Mom is doing well and itching to get back to normal.

Thanksgiving is always a special holiday for me.  I was born on Thanksgiving Day!  We unfortunately tend to wait until Thanksgiving rolls around to express our thanks for all the good things in our life.  I feel so blessed that my health, while not exactly what you would choose, is such right now that it allows me to continue with PIECES, a commitment I made that helps me to express my gratitude for all the good things in my life.  I am grateful for the friends I have made along this path.   And I am extremely grateful when I have extra quilts in my cabinet ready to go to the hospital when the need is there!

Here are some of those quilts!

Sesame Street was pieced by Amy and quilted by Shannon.

I really like this quilt.  It is a Disappearing 9 patch pattern that Teresa pieced and Lori quilted.  I like the funny little cats and the color combination.

This beauty with the gorgeous yellow was pieced and quilted by someone in our local quilt guild.  I don't know this generous person's name but we always appreciate the donation.

How good is this one?  Judith took scraps of Peanuts fabrics and made this darling quilt.  The white gives it that modern look.  Shannon put her stamp on it with her quilting.

Susan used lots of her scraps to make this larger sized quilt.  She added the appliqued stars for a great look.  This will work really well for the older kids.  Sandy quilted it for us.

We provide quilts for kids up to 18 years old, so anytime we get a larger quilt we are excited!

This floral beauty was made and donated by a member of  the local quilt guild.  It is a larger size too!

And the last quilt is also one donated by a member of the local quilt guild.  It is a larger one (woohoo) and hopefully you can see in the second picture the hand quilting that was done on it.

I also wanted to let you know I received a sweet note from Willa.  She received a red, black and white quilt. During  the first few days home, she slept with it, read in it, and sat with it on the car ride home.  She said the quilt really meant a lot to her.  We are glad you like the quilt, Willa.

See you soon.

One Hundredth and One Post

After I lasted posted I noticed it was my 100th post.  That made me stop and think about how many quilts I have shown you.  I ended up going back and looking at a number of the quilts I posted.  As I looked at them, I found myself thinking about each one, where the fabric came from, who sewed or quilted it and how much I like each one of them.  It also makes me want to sew and cut and press more fabric.

As of today, we have delivered 614 quilts..  YES!!! We are over the 600 mark and on the way to 700.

On to some quilts.  Let's start with Halloween

This quilt started out with Judith cutting it.  After it was pieced, Sandy took it and as you can see from the close-up in the second picture, she went absolutely nuts quilting it.  The back of the quilt is almost as fun as the front!

This cutie started out on Judith's cutting table too.  Judith tends to do a lot of our holiday quilts.  Sandy also quilted it in a great overall pattern.  I think she needed to calm down after that last quilt!

Yep.  Halloween #3 was cut and pieced by Judith.  

Vicky quilted what I shall call Halloween #4.  Aren't the ghosts on the back cute?

Vicky also quilted Halloween #5.  

In checking with Tracy at the hospital, the Halloween quilts are quite popular.  In fact they have given all of those away in just a couple of days.  Next year we may have to increase our numbers of Halloween quilts.

Now let's check out some other quilts just for fun.

I'm afraid as we make more and more quilts I don't always remember who pieced them.  If I don't credit someone, that means I think I know who pieced it, but hate to say in case I am wrong.  And yes, I am not sure who pieced this one.  Sandy quilted it for us and a little guy is going to love the puppy dogs.

Schoolhouses was pieced by Lois.  I love the alphabet sashing she used along with the alphabet on the backing.  Shannon quilted this one.

Little dragons are the focus on this quilt pieced by Teresa.  I think the backing is fun.

I've got more great quilts, but I'll save them until next time.

It's time for you to get your favorite quilt ready to snuggle under.  Cold weather is just around the corner.

Zachary and His Quilt

I received an awesome email a couple of days ago with a picture attached.

Marla,

There are not enough words to thank you and the women you work with for the beautiful space quilt that my son, Zachary, received this past week at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.  It meant so much to our family to receive this special gift when we arrived.  You are doing such an amazing thing for children and their families.  A card is in the mail to you tonight, but I wanted to email quickly and say thank you and also include this picture of Zachary with his quilt.  Thank you again so much for the time, energy, effort and finances you put toward this worthy cause!

Thank you again so much,

Natalie 

When I received the email I was so pleased that they were happy to get the quilt.  This quilt was cut by me, passed on to Teresa to sew and then given to Shannon to quilt.  Little Zachary looks like he certainly doesn't feel well.  I am so happy that we were able to give him this quilt.  I hope it made him and mom and dad feel a little better.  And as promised, I did receive a beautiful thank you in the mail.

Here's a few more of our quilts for you to look at.

Lois pieced these delightful little boats.  Sandy quilted it for us.  This quilt is perfect for a little boy.

Red and orange?  Yes!!  This was pieced by Paula and quilted by Sandy.

Kelly quilted this Peanuts and Soccer themed quilt.

This is a favorite of mine. I think that is because of the pastel fabrics.  Kathy pieced and quilted it.  

Paula pieced this little boy's quilt.  Shannon added the cute backing and quilting.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll be back with more quilts next week!