Two Years

Yesterday was an important day for PIECES.  On May 28th of 2010 Greg and I delivered our first stack of quilts to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.  We actually were able to give the first quilt to a little girl named Chloe.  It all started with the idea of making a few quilts.  Here we are two years later, hundreds of quilts and a whole lot of children who found some "unexpected joy from a difficult situation".  My unending gratitude goes out to all of you that have chosen to be a part of this journey.  Whether you donated a spool of thread, some leftover fabric, or purchased new supplies, you have been a big part of making this happen.  You may have volunteered to piece some tops or quilt a top and ended up quilting dozens.  I cannot say thank you enough.  I could never have done this without you.  Regardless of what or how much you have done, you have made a difference not only  to a child and their family, you have made a difference to me.  

The quilt above was made by Paula who is new to our group.  Paula is from the Kansas City area and has donated a great deal of her stash and several quilt tops.  Welcome to the madness, Paula!  We are delighted to have you.  Sandy took Paula's top (that included the backing as well) and gave it some quilted loops.  It is bright and will be a great quilt for a boy or girl.

This quilt I must say was not a favorite of mine.  We had some John Deere fabric and needed to use it.  I put a kit together, Teresa sewed it and then it went to Sandy.  She did some very creative quilting that really suited the piece.  It ended up going to a little boy who fell in love with it.  The lesson is I need to learn not to judge fabric.  I may not like it, but it can end up a great quilt for someone waiting for a quilt to fall in love with.


Speaking of falling in love......

Off to Laramie

I feel the need to apologize for not posting sooner.  We have lots of great quilts to show you.  But as you all know, life gets in the way  sometimes.  I have been traveling every week for the last month and a half.  Keeping up with that and the quilts fills my time.  It seems the blog takes a back seat!  Hopefully we can get somewhat caught up.
Greg and I traveled to Laramie, Wyoming yesterday.  We had a wonderful trip, a very good meeting for me last night and we are back home to sleep in our own bed tonight.  I normally check the internet to see if there happens to be a quilt store wherever I am going.  Laramie indeed had one and it looked like it would be a nice one.  When we arrived in Laramie, it was much colder than expected and in fact had snowed that morning with a "white-out".  Greg offered to make sure I was able to go to the quilt store, but I was cold and ready to stay in our room and read a book.  We were driven to the meeting and as is often the case, we were there earlier than we needed to be.  I happened to glance at the store next to the restaurant  where the meeting was.  Believe it or not, it was the quilt store!  Being early suddenly was not as bad as it seemed.  We went into the quilt store, did a little shopping and met some wonderful ladies.  So if you ever happen to find yourself near Laramie, be sure to find the quilt store.  It is worth the time.

This is a quilt that Shannon pieced and quilted.  It is such a fun quilt made out of charm squares.

This quilt is from some fabric I gave to Deb and said "Do something with this!"  Of course Deb came through as she always does and this is the cute result.  Bears with honey and bees and a cute star backing makes this one a sweet quilt.

This cute quilt was a panel that Sandy took, added some sashing and borders.  She also quilted it.  Someone who likes cats will fall in love with it.

Everyone knows we use lots of small scraps.  We never turn anything away that someone will donate.  So what can we do with them?  Just take a look at this quilt that Judith put together.  Isn't it incredible?  Some of us (no names, please) have control issues when it comes to colors in a quilt.  Judith thankfully doesn't.  


I have lots more quilts to show you--but I will save those for another day.  I will leave you though with two sweet pictures.

Thanks for letting me share quilts and Simon!

April was a crazy month.  I did a lot of traveling to speak to MS patients.  April changed to May and the craziness followed.  I've traveled 4 weeks in a row.  The good news is my sister has gone with me on each new adventure.  We have taken along bindings to sew to keep us out of the mall and the quilt stores.  It has been nice to be gone but still get work done on the quilts.  An added bonus is that she tries to get here early the day before we leave.  It is a fun day and evening of sewing.

I've got some great quilts for you.  Hopefully the kids who receive them will enjoy them as much as we have.

Fire Engines on the front....

and Dr. Seuss on the back!

 

   

This quilt was also donated by someone in the quilt guild.  I think red/black/and white are hard to beat.  You can use it for a girl or boy.

The black backing and graphic blocks make a classic quilt.

This quilt is the same pattern as the one with the fire engines. It is a good example of how different a quilt can look with a change in the fabrics.

Green bugs on the back compliment the bugs on the front.

This is a simple pattern made fun by the fabric.  It is a four-patch with alternating focus fabric squares.

Karen added the backing and some fun quilting.  

Bright greens and blues, dots and stripes make this a eye-catching quilt.

Space aliens make this a kid-friendly quilt.

Simon says....I like these quilts too!!!

Quilts and a Smile

I have a great group of quilts to show you today!

This quilt was donated by a member of the local quilt guild.  What a great use of all of those half-square triangles we all have left over!  The colors are great.

Judith pieced this quilt made from brights.  

Karen added the backing and the gorgeous quilting.

You may think every quilt that comes our way makes the cut. Not so!!  They must be carefully tested by my cat.  This one passed her test!

I gave Deb a panel and asked her to come up with something.  This is her stunning result.

Sandy took it, added backing and quilted it. It turned out gorgeous!  It just shows that we all have our specialties when it comes to these quilts.

I also gave Deb a pretty panel that I had no idea what to do to make it usable for us.  She once again cut the panel and added her touch.  I think this one is outstanding.

 

Shannon added the backing and quilting.  The quilting always makes a good quilt top even better.

This quilt is a favorite of mine.  I love the scrappy borders and binding.  Susan pieced this and made the binding.

Karen added Dr. Seuss to the back and quilted it to give it a great swirly motion to compliment the "Flying Geese".

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Kathy made this stunning quilt.  It is so simple but it is simply sweet.  The colors are soothing.

Kathy also added backing and quilted it.

There's nothing like a smile to make your day!

Being Grandma

I thought a good way to start out today's blog is to post a picture of Simon and I taken while we were in DC recently.  The weather was wonderful so Greg and I took Simon on a little tour of the neighborhood.

Life has been totally wild recently.  Between "being grandma" for two weeks, traveling to meetings, and keeping up with the quilts, I have been hopping!  Oh, and then there is March Madness.  It has been total madness for the Kansas Jayhawks (my team).  They are playing for the championship on Monday night.  That is a total surprise for the fans.

I've got some fun quilts to show you.

Is this totally fun?  There is something about the color combinations in this quilt that I love.  We've used this pattern before and I always like the way it turns out.  The quilting really adds to the finished quilt.

What do you see?  I see a fun, colorful quilt that someone is going to really enjoy!

This is a panel that Deb added borders to.  Sandy took it and added some fun race car fabric that fits the theme of this quilt perfectly.  She also added detailed quilting.

This quilt was donated to us by our local quilt guild.  I don't know who made it, but it is just so cute!  I love sailboats so I was delighted to find this quilt in those given to us by the guild.  The quilted "waves" is just perfect for this quilt.  A big thank you to whoever made this for us.

We have made and donated many, many quilts. We do get thank you notes from time to time but very seldom do we have a connection to who received a quilt.  Recently some good friends had their youngest child in the hospital.  Caroline was quite ill for a number of days.  I was quite delighted when I found out Caroline had received the quilt above.  Judith had pieced this one and Karen had added the bright backing and quilting.  I was so proud that we had a hand in making the days in the hospital better for Caroline and her mom and dad.  Although we know we make a difference, this was a definite confirmation.

Okay, one last picture of Simon!  I promise, it won't be the last.  The quilt in the background?  I made it for me, Joel liked it, and it went home with him.  Simon loves to look at it and he actually coos at it as if they are friends.  It is too cute.

Come back for more fun quilts!