Never Ending Saga

This has been a wild and crazy week.  The quilting fairies gave me back a stack of quilts they had finished.  That meant I had lots of bindings to make.  Once I finished those, the quilts went to Beth to sew the bindings on, add labels, and hand stitch the binding down.  The quilts traveled to Carrol next and she washed them for us.  I delivered a nice stack of them to the hospital on Thursday and still have three to pick up from Carrol.  Our system is working quite well. Shelly is working on some paperwork for us and Susan has been taking a vacation to see her son at the naval base in Groton, Connecticut.  She finished up a large number of quilt tops before she left and says she can't wait to get back to her machine.  I think that catches you up on all of us.  I hope you have had a fun and productive week too.

Isn't this a bright and fun quilt.  The squares have all kinds of animals.

And here is the quilt backing our quilter chose.  Very fitting for this loveable quilt.

This is a bright quilt that would work for a girl or boy.  It makes me think of a boy's quilt, but lots of girls like soccer so they would be happy with it too.

 





Of course the perfect backing is patriotic stars. They compliment the national flags in the blocks on the front of the quilt.

And last, here is a picture of some blocks I am playing with.  They are commonly referred to as strings.  You take strips and randomly sew them on some type of foundation.  I made these blocks awhile back and decided to use some of them in a children's quilt. It is just another step in my never ending saga to use scraps!  They are lots of fun to make and are somewhat addictive.  Stay tuned for the final product!

Parts are Parts

I didn't get much sewing done yesterday, but I felt like I accomplished alot.  I met my sister to exchange quilt stuff.  She had a stack of tops sewn and I gave her lots of parts to put together!  Remember the old Wendy's commercial about chicken?  "Parts are parts?"  I think I stopped liking chicken a little about then.  Anyway, I gave her parts to put together for quilt tops.  I am really excited about the ones she brought me and can"t wait for them to be quilted to show to you.

We have added another quilter to our group.  Sandy just got a new HQ quilting machine and is willing to quilt a few tops for us. A big thank you to Sandy.  Also yesterday when Susan and I were in a quilt shop we had a few ladies offer to piece a quilt top or two.  Any help we get is so appreciated.  The more help we have, the more kids we can help.

While we were in the quilt shop we were talking with the staff and a few customers about scraps.  That is always a favorite topic for quilters!  When I told them I saved one inch scraps I think they were slightly appalled.  One lady commented that one inch was just too small to mess with.  I thought I would show you what can be done.  First of all, you start with this...

You do a little pressing, a little cutting....

And you end up with this.

All you have to do after you get them cut is put them in a sack and give them to your sister.  She'll sew them into log cabin blocks!  One inch strips are too small to mess with?  These blocks start with a 1 inch by 1 inch square.  It is hard to get much smaller.  Don't have a sister?  Your sister won't sew those little strips?  You can give them to my sister.  She's known for doing some crazy things!  Making these blocks isn't one of them however.  These are going to show up in an awesome quilt that we'll show you on this blog.  Keep watching for that.

I Want It!!!!!

Let's face it.  We want it all.  We may say we don't, but we really do.  When my children were about 3 years old, we were in a store when Joshua found something that caught his eye.  He asked if he could have it and his dad explained that maybe sometime but not this day.  He  promptly replied, "But I need it!"  Before either of us could open our mouth to respond, his brother, Joel, wise beyond his years, stated quite emphatically, "Josh, you don't need it, you just want it."  While I am hiding my giggle behind my hand, Greg, using this as a what he refers to as a "teachable moment" expanded on Joel's insight.  We left the store with the shiny object in the store, still on the shelf.  Of course, I didn't realize at the time we had just set the tone for years to come.  We have used Joel's unexpected adult reasoning in many situations, both serious and in fun.  Years later find Greg with little need and very little wants.  Joshua has found what he wants in what he has and Joel has discovered it is okay to want something once in awhile.  Me???  Uhh, well, when it comes to fabric, I still want it all.  But I have made one change.  I want it all, but I really want what I can use for a children's quilt. 



This fun frog fabric is the back of the quilt at the top.



 

Every good story has a moral. I guess the moral of this one is...

All we really need is a roof over our head, some food, and a good quilt.

(A little bit of fabric doesn't hurt either)

It's a Great Day

Today is a great day.  Actually yesterday was too.  It started out with our getting thank you notes from two of the kids we have given quilts.  The first note was actually from Eli's mom thanking us.  Eli got a quilt with his favorite colors--blue, yellow, and green.  He likes it so much he sleeps with it every night!  The second note was from Justin who is 3 years old.  He said he was scared but he just pretended the hospital was his "hotel".  He calls his quilt his "sick blankie" and he said it made him feel better.  He also sent a picture he had colored and a photograph of him with his quilt.  Talk about positive reinforcement!  After opening those, I went back to my sewing room and just sewed faster! 

Another reason today is a great day is the number of quilts we have now donated to Lawrence Memorial Hospital is 40.  We have lots more in progress and many more that will be needed but I think 40 is outstanding. That is a lot of quilts and I could not do this without the wonderful group of women who are involved.  There are lots of ways to be involved--some small, some large, but they all make such a difference.

Yes, of course.  This is one of my favorite quilts.  Surprise!  I love the turquoise and peach color scheme of this.  I didn't actually plan it that way.  I had the print fabric and had to come up with something to do with it.  This is what I ended up with and I couldn't like it anymore if I had planned it. Susan sewed this one and I think she was as excited about it as I was. I had to take it to the hospital quickly before I was tempted to keep it.

The back of this is very plain but the peach is such a great color.

This quilt is made with scraps a friend gave me.  Blue and yellow are always a cheery combination.

The backing is a gorgeous piece of fabric.  You can never go wrong with blue and yellow!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a couple of our latest quilts. While we may have used a fabric in more than one quilt or made several with the same design, none of our quilts are duplicates.  Each one is unique.  The only thing that is constant about each quilt is the piece of us we put in each one.

I hope you put a piece of yourself  in everyday.

Amazement

Marla has asked me to "guest blog."  She is actually the Queen of Blog, but I think she wants more time to quilt, so here we go.  I am the rookie of the Pieces group.  Although I have been a lifetime seamstress, my efforts have been focused on sewing apparel for our three children (now wonderful adults) and home decor and gifts.  What I have in common with Marla is the love of fabric.  The sight, the feel, and yes, even the smell of fabric is amazing.  Through the years, when I'm having one of THOSE days at work, I will slip off to a fabric store over lunch just to browse and run fabulous fabrics through my fingers.  It is my addiction.  What is new to me is this world of quilting or more accurately, this world of quilters.  They are amazing.  When we first started spreading the word of our project, hoping to recruit help and donations'  I was hopeful to accumulate a few odds and ends of fabric.  I recall commenting to Marla, "Where will we store the fabric if we do get a large amount?"  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine or understand the generosity and kindness of quilters.  It is amazing  The donation of fabric that has been made and help that has been offered leaves me speechless.  The fun and joy we have in creating and delivering the quilts--well, the whole is just AMAZING!!  Hope you are having an amazing day.

Shelly

Inspiration

There is nothing like a trip to a quilt store for inspiration.  You walk in and see a vast array of fabric, patterns and quilts. You touch it, you imagine what you could do with it and you want to take it all home.  If you are a quilter, you know what I mean.  If you are not a quilter, you think we are obsessed.  And that would be true.  I am obsessed.  I love fabric and I thrive on figuring out what would be fun to do with it. This is one reason the quilts we are making are so fun.  Figuring out what to do with some scraps someone has donated is sometimes a challenge but so rewarding when you end up with a quilt some little boy or girl falls in love with.  I guess you could say it is like putting a puzzle together.

Now for some quilts.

                         This quilt has a great underwater print with fish, coral and sea creatures.

The back of the quilt is very bright and cheery.

This quilt is one of my favorites.  (Have you heard that before??)  It is shades of greens and pink and peach.  The quilting was done by one of our quilt fairies and is just exquisite.  This quilt was made by Shelly with just 4 1/2" squares that were leftovers.  She did a great job putting them together.

The back is a sweet pink with flowers and touches of green leaves.  Hopefully you can see a bit of the quilting. 

Now that you've seen some of our ideas for using scraps, does anyone have any suggestions for using camouflage fabric?  Using it may require a lot more thinking on my part!  Leave me a comment if you have ideas!  Thanks as always for following the blog.  Feel free to leave me a note.  I love hearing from you.

Look Underneath

Have you seen the shows about Hoarders? There are several different ones.   They show people who are addicting to saving things.  Their homes are overwhelmed with things they buy, trash they don't throw away, rotting food, and all kinds of unimaginable things. A television crew comes in and films while a team cleans their way through the house all the while making sure you are totally disgusted at the filth. The news reports about a woman whose husband told the police she was missing.  The police searched, using cadaver dogs. Her husband found her several days later under a pile of trash in their home. True story!!  Now I want to make it clear...I am not a hoarder!!  My house is somewhat in order even if I haven't dusted.  My trash is thrown away and I have vacumned in the last two days.  But I do have a little secret.  I love to save scraps.  I save scraps of all sizes.  As long as they are one inch wide and one inch long I save them.  You can always use those to start a log cabin quilt block.  The good news is that not only do I save them, I use them!  Those triangles you cut off corners?  Saved.  You make half square triangles with them and use them for all sorts of things.  Borders, blocks, whatever your imagination comes up with.  It isn't really the saving that excites me.  It's the fact you can take a scrap that a lot of people just toss in the trash and use it for something.  Kind of like the last squeeze in a bottle of shampoo.  I can't justify just tossing it.  That being said, I have been sewing lots of half square triangles.  They make great pinwheel blocks.  My sister and I have made a deal.  I sew them and she takes them and comes up with a way to use them in our kids quilts.  Nothing goes to waste!

Just a few of the thousands I have done. 

Now, on to the quilt for today.  This is one my sister made from....you guessed it...our scraps.  Isn't it amazing what some random scraps can end up being?  I think it is a great quilt.

How can you not love those bright colors?  Doesn't it make you smile just looking at it?

And you thought the front was bright?  How about these jungle animals.  No matter which side the kids look at there is lots of cheer in this quilt.  Even my cat (down in the corner) is trying to get a closer look.

There are three things I would like for you to consider from today's blog.

1.  Stop!  Don't throw away that scrap.  Someone can use it.

2.  If you don't want your scraps, the kids and I do!  We'll make a quilt for them with it. Just leave me a comment and I will return a message to you.

3.  If I go missing, please tell my husband Greg to look under the scraps!