Lovely Gifts

I am quite remiss in recognizing a sweet gift I received in the mail about a month ago.

I will attempt to explain this acquisition as simply as possible.

Long-time readers will remember my friend and former CHS student, Amie. She made the awesome postage stamp quilt and had a great story of collecting fabrics for it. Well, her friend Deb, has been de-stashing. I do not know Deb, but if she's a friend of Amie's, then she is sure to be top-notch.

Amie contacted me to see if I would be interested in taking ownership of a few of Deb's embroidery kits. Amie had seen my recent posts about my renewed interest in embroidery, so she could foresee a match made in heaven. I definitely was interested, and that is how I was on my way to being a lucky recipient of Deb's de-stash patterns.

Soon, a squishy package arrived in my mail from Deb. What an unexpected treat! It hadn't occurred to me that she would send it herself; I supposed Amie would take care of the transferring business. (Just goes to show I don't know what's going on, half the time.)

My apologies that pictures are limited for all this, as I was a total failure at recording the story from here. Suffice it to say, the top kit, a redwork Christmas design, is one I definitely want to do. Maybe not this year, or even next, but I can see this on my radar screen sometime down the road.

The other kit is a set of 9 different designs that combine coloring and embroidery to make some darling gingerbread houses - again, a Christmas design. I opted to pass these along to the girls in the quilting group (The Frankfort Girls), and at our last meet-up, Becky took them home with her. At least one or two others expressed interest, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them passed around a bit from time to time.

Below is a group picture of the girls from a few months ago. Becky has the kit, but Jan is also interested, and possibly others.

Bless you, Deb! And Amie, too! I know of several Ross County gals who are going to get hours of pleasurable stitching thanks to your generosity!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Amie's Postage Stamp Quilt - Grande Finale

Faithful readers of this blog will most certainly remember the wonderfully uplifting story of Amie's Postage Stamp Quilt. I first introduced it here. It is fun to read about the quilt in its infancy - way back in April of 2010.

Then, I brought you updates. In August of 2011, Amie had completed 15 blocks. In August of 2013, she was over halfway finished with 33 blocks completed. Then the big incredible story came in April 2015: Amie's avalanche of donated fabric from quilters all over the country. Finally, Amie shared her finished quilt top in July of 2015. So, with all that steady work over the course of 5 or so years, we now can see the grand finish!

This picture shows the massive label turned back on the quilt. Look at that backing fabric! Stamps! What a perfectly fun, playful choice. And notice that black binding - doesn't it look great? Amie had this to say about the label:

"I have really struggled with the label.  There were just so many names to include and then I wasn't sure how to attach it once it was finished.  I am a little iffy with labels.  I hate just writing on the back but I also hate having to stitch something down. More times than not my quilts go unlabeled.  So anyway, in the past I have used the computer fabric sheets you can buy so I got a package of those.  Over the course of a day or two I worked on typing up something that looked pleasing.  Then I got the names typed and double checked those. Printed it out but then still needed to decide how to attach it.  I have noticed when using those sheets before over time with washing they tend to fade.  I am not one of those quilters that makes quilts to look at.  Mine are used and washed!  Over the weekend I had a brainstorm.  Make the label like a pillow with no stuffing and then add buttonholes so it can be removed when the quilt is washed -viola!  You can hardly notice four little thread tacks on the front of my quilt where I attached the buttons. I am quite pleased with it." 

Here is a closer look; if you know you are looking for buttons, you can see them. Without knowing, though, you would likely be none the wiser.

 In addition to finishing this magnificent quilt, Amie has also finished scrapbooking about this amazing effort - it took 2 scrapbooks!

Here's what Amie said about her scrapbooks: "I also completed my scrap books.  It took two of them.  What a keepsake! ...  I ended up with 160 packages from 135 people in 37 states.  I was most excited to get the one package from Alaska.  I still wish I would have gotten something from out of the US."  

Amie has washed her quilt using 2 color-catchers. She knew laundering the quilt was necessary since it spent much time on floors being laid out, and since so many fabrics came from so many places; she reports that the color-catchers came out pretty dark. Good thinking on her part; I doubt I would have thought of that.

This quilt saga is complete. Isn't it a satisfying story? I still marvel at the generosity of those donors, as well as Amie's determination to finish all aspects of this endeavor- from quilt to label to scrapbooks. Wow. What a great story for Amie to share with her friends and family, and for them to share across the generations. And thank you, dear Amie, for allowing me share it here!

Hope you all have a great Sunday!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Celebrate!

You know that song by Kool and The Gang called Celebration? Well, imagine that is playing in the background while you read this post.

Amie has finished her postage stamp quilt top! And I do hereby pronounce that as a reason to celebrate! I am sure Amie was doing a little happy dance when she clipped that last thread off the machine. She posted both to Facebook and an email to me to announce the good news.

Is it not gorgeous?!?! What a labor of love, and what a varied and interesting story behind its construction. Here is part of Amie's email with the final statistics from on this heirloom.

 I really can't believe I did it. It was a lot of fun to sort through all the scraps and pick out what to use for the last blocks.  It might be a Postage Stamp quilt, but I find it to also be an I-Spy quilt.  I really did a lot of fussy cutting.  You can find all kinds of things when you take some time and really study it.   You can also find several fabrics sewn in wrong side up - oops! 

Here are my final stats:

56 12-inch blocks

8064 little 1-inch squares (some more square than others!)

fabric donated by 13 friends and family

AND 132 Grit readers from 37 states

around 4 years to complete (huge time lapses when I didn't work on it or I had other projects to work on)

3 big tubs of leftover fabrics

Of course even though I am calling it a finish, it still needs to be quilted and bound.  I want to find a wide quilt back for it since it has so many seams already.  If you were binding it would you keep with the scrappy-ness and piece a binding of many fabrics or would you select a solid binding to calm the chaos?  I've gone back and forth trying to decide.

Look at how far the drop is on this side; I have to believe she centered it on the bed. What a nice size.
What do you readers think about a scrappy binding? Or should she use one solid binding? Please share your recommendations and thoughts on the matter here, so that Amie can use the input to make her decision.

Amie had additional news and info to share in her email:

As for as the leftover scraps, my mom and sister are spending the day next Saturday and we are going to start piecing the Gypsy Wife quilt.  The pattern calls for 60 assorted fabric strips.  I've got that covered! 

A lot of people sent fabric that they had cut into various sized squares, mostly 2 or 2 1/2 inch.  I have separated those out into a separate container to make baby quilts to donate to an organization I belong to that makes warm weather items for the homeless.  Last year I think we donated around 10,000 hats, scarves, baby blankets and lap robes. Check out the website: knittingcrochetingministry.jimdo.com

On another note, today the sailboat quilt was given to my friend at her baby shower.  I am happy to report that it got rave reviews.  The baby will be named Noah, so little boats were very appropriate.  It's funny to me that non-quilters always want to know how long it took to make.

To see the sailboat quilt, you can click here. To see previous posts about Amie and her amazing project, do a search over in the search box.

Today, I am off for a day of sewing at my friend Terry's. I hope to have a work shirt finish to share with you tomorrow.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

July Has Arrived

Incredibly, we are turning the calendar to a new month again. I don't like to think about how time goes so fast.

June's goals were somewhat derailed by the death of my dear grandma. I now have even more reminders of her scattered about my house -- her love of cardinals -- her love of quilting -- her love of family -- several mementos now grace some nooks and crannies in my home, and I am reminded of her often.

So on we go, into the latter half of 2015! I have one of my work shirt quilt tops finished, and have a good start on the second. Pictures will be coming soon. I need to make a list of UFOs needing completion. In addition to those specific to our UFO challenge, I have amasssed others, as well.

I thought I would start the new month with an update from my friend and former student, Amie. She is the one who made a request for fabric scraps and became inundated with fabric from all corners of the country. Here is the post explaining all of that.

Amie has worked sporadically on finishing her postage stamp quilt because she has other projects in the queue like the baby quilt you see above. Isn't it darling? Some sweet baby will love it. Amie sent the following update last week (slightly edited):

I had pretty much stopped getting fabric in the mail.  I think I received one envelope right before we left (for a family trip) on (May) 30th.   But then over the last two weeks I have received probably 8 or 9 packages.  One of those was from a lady that has become a pen pal but she always puts a few pieces in. I started piecing blocks again and I only need 7 more!  If I hadn't had a few other projects thrown into my lap, I would have had all the blocks finished I'm sure. But that's okay.  

I am planning on sending GRIT an email to hopefully put in their "letters to the editor column", thanking everyone for their responses and letting them know I really don't need any more fabric.  We just got the latest issue and someone requested fabric for making yo-yo's.  I'm going to send her a package and warn her of what might be coming her way.  I have now filled a third, very large container.  

On Father's Day, I showed mom and my sister all the scraps and told them to pick out  a scrap pattern and we can all get together and sew from my bins.  I bought supplies to start my scrapbook of letters and pictures but haven't been able to get it started yet.  It's on my summer to-do list but keeps getting bumped.

Every time I read about Amie's experience, I just think of how heartwarming it is that quilters are so giving. I will definitely bring pictures of Amie's postage stamp quilt as she nears completion.

Have a great July, and
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Amie's Incredible Story

This post has been in the making for quite awhile. It is just such an awesome tale that I wanted it to be done well. And, I will give you a 'head's up' - it is long, and I recommend getting comfortable. A coffee or tea would be nice, and a biscuit or muffin, too. I guarantee you will read this story more than once.

Amie has come into just a little bit of fabric lately. Almost to the point of overwhelming, it seems.  From the sounds of things, this is just a sampling of what has arrived via US mail in recent weeks.

Before beginning the story, you need just a few background details. My long-time friend Amie has been working for about five years on a postage stamp quilt. I first shared Amie's story here. Updates on her endeavor have been infrequent, but you can read additional background on her story here and here.

Are you suitably comfortable? Then let us begin. This is in Amie's words - all from her emails - one at the end of March, and another earlier this week.

I've been meaning to share my crazy story with you, but just haven't taken the time to sit at the computer for any length of time to do it.  But today is the day.  I hope you can sit for a few minutes and enjoy. Better grab a cup of coffee or wine because here we go!

Did your dad ever subscribe to GRIT when you were younger?  My dad did and back then it was a newspaper format. These days it's a magazine and Mike, my wannabe farmer subscribes to it.  It's a pretty neat magazine with all sorts of stuff including recipes which is why I thumb through it when it comes.  Quarterly, I think.  Anyway, they feature a "requests" column where people write in asking for long lost recipes like grandma made or relatives, college roommates, any sort of thing.  So I get the bright idea to write in and request little fabric scraps for my Postage Stamp quilt.  I had stopped working on it for over a year at least because my fabric supply was low and what I had were either mediums or darks.  Now I know any fabric can be any value based on what you put with it, but I like my blocks better when there is high contrast. 

So back to the story.  A good while later, Mike gets home and he always gets the mail.  He walks in with a few mailing envelopes saying he thinks my letter must have made it into the new issue which we had also received that day.  Well sure enough, there was my request in print! 

And how fun it was to open those couple of envelopes of fabric.  I cannot remember exactly what was in them, but I was really tickled. And then things got crazy.  Every day brought more and more packages.  One day I received 9!  Staci [daughter] asked what I expected when I sent in the request.  Well certainly not big boxes of fabric.  I envisioned someone putting two or three squares in an envelope and sending it. Honestly, I never thought I would get in the magazine. But I did and I am getting big boxes, sent express (I'm not freezing with no blankets, folks) full of tons of fabric.

 One lady sent a box containing six perfect little stacks of blocks all cut so perfectly and in her letter she told me some of those fabric came from Great Britain and Italy. 

 I'm getting fat quarter packs and those little pre-cuts that are 2" I think. Amazing boxes full of really nice fabrics.   And believe it or not I have received very few duplicates.  I realize people could be sending things they have had for years but I would still think there would be more duplicates.  And there are some pretty ugly fabrics in the world!  And not to sound ungrateful because I'm not, but it strikes me funny that one or two people feel that a piece of solid black is just what I need!  One envelope had a few squares cut from a cotton feed sack bag. Cool!

At first, I was trying to cut all the pieces in the package and then send a thank you to the sender.  Well forget that!  When you're getting so many and so much there was no way to keep up with it. So I wrote a thank you on the computer and at the end included a picture of some of my finished blocks.  I bought a storage bin and would put the fabric in the bin then send my note, always including a brief handwritten note.  I have now filled 2 storage bins-big ones. And there is still a pile of boxes and mailers waiting to be gone through. 

Here are some fun facts for you about my adventure thus far.  I have mailed out 68 thank you letters to 28 states.  Pennsylvania and Missouri lead the pack.  Washington state is the furthest a package has come from.  As I open each package I photograph it so I can make a scrapbook of all this when I am done.  Most of the packages include a note which are really the highlight of this experience. I am saving those as well.  Many of them are from very old little ladies who can no longer quilt but still have lots of fabric sitting there.  My youngest person to respond was a 9 year old girl and the oldest is 92.  

One letter has made me cry-a young girl who lost her "nana" has been trying to finish the quilts left behind.  She has completed five so far and feels her nana smiles down at her as she does this.  Not only did she send fabric she included a stack of letters sent to her nana for a signature quilt she had planned.  I haven't even looked at those yet. Two people have sent me two packages.  Only one person has wanted to sell me some fabric.  One quilting group sent a joint package including all their names.  People are spending an insane amount of money on postage to mail me fabric.  I'm talking 10 to 15 dollars a box.  Yikes!  Only one box contained things I couldn't use-parts of clothes that weren't cotton, that sort of thing.  Two or three packages didn't have any information who they were from, no return address, name or anything.  I hate that I can't thank them. One of them had a huge stack of 10" squares in it.

I don't know how long I'm going to receive packages.  Just when I think it's slowing down it picks back up again. Yesterday I only received a card with a few pieces.  I am curious if GRIT is mailed anywhere besides the United States.  Maybe I'll get something from another country. 

I have been working my way through cutting and saving the big pieces.  There are plenty of scrappy patterns I can make with the leftovers.  I want to get it all cut and then when school is out I will start making blocks again.  Most everyone has requested a picture of my finished quilt.  Hopefully, I will get it done before too long.  Especially since I have no shortage of fabric now. Last time I checked I think I have 38 blocks.  I might make only 56 blocks instead of my original plan of 63.  I'll see how it goes.

So that's my story.  I thought you would get a kick out of it.  I admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed at times when I would see all the boxes and mailers piled up in my sewing room.  All the while I'm trying to finish a t-shirt quilt someone asked me to make for them. 

Earlier this week, Amie sent this update:

Just to keep my facts current, I have now received 113 packages or envelopes from 35 states.  Missouri and Pennsylvania have sent the most, 13 and 12 twelve respectively.  It has slowed down a bit, but I did receive 4 yesterday.  I had had a pretty long day, so I sort of groaned when I got the mail. Today I got one big envelope and it was STUFFED with hundreds of beautiful little squares.

UH-MAY-ZING! I told you it was a great story. Does this not say a lot about the good-heartedness of quilters? I have read and re-read Amie's story a number of times, and find it utterly amazing all the kindness and thoughtfulness Amie is experiencing. And it's going both ways; Amie is considerate enough to know how sweet each gesture of giving was, and her efforts at recording, photographing, thanking, and remembering each giver illustrates yet again how caring quilters can be. 

There is goodness in the world, dear quilters. And we perpetuate that goodness with each quilt we lovingly make and give, with each sharing gesture, with each helpful tip between friends. 

Makes me mighty glad to be a quilter; how about you?

Thanks, Amie, for sharing your wonderful story. I am so glad you allowed me to share it here!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Day With Amie

I've been rather absent from my blog recently, and I have to just say that I have two reasons for it. One, it seems I've been rather busy lately and finding time to sit and blog was just too hard to manage. Two, when I would find myself with some extra time on my hands, I just didn't really have the interest in doing it!

The ebbs and flows of writing, I suppose...

Anyway, I am excited to finally find time to tell you all about the fun day I had on Friday. My dear friend and former student Amie came down (from Columbus) with her machine and her projects, and we spent the day sewing together! Well, most of the day; we did take a little field trip for a portion of the afternoon.

Sweet Amie was just zipping along on this Sock Monkey baby quilt that she made entirely from scraps in her stash. The quilt will be donated to the homeless - I think through a charitable group at her school or church.

Here is her finished quilt, with the binding attached and the clips in place. She was looking forward to an evening in front of the television to stitch the binding down. Doesn't it look great?

She brought with her a couple of her recent quilt top finishes. These just blew me away - they are gorgeous!! What inspirational quilts to see!

This Amish quilt was a block of the month at one of the shops in Columbus that she frequents. What a beauty! All those blocks are gorgeous, but I seem to be most enamored with the inner border of triangles. How cool-looking is that!?!

We have draped it over the family room couch, so we aren't able to see the whole quilt, but it is clear that this will just look stunning on a bed. What a statement.

The next quilt is also draped over the couch, so again, you won't get to see the entire thing, but I think you won't mind.

A Christmas quilt! Don't you just love it?? I could so totally go upstairs and start on this right now! Amie said it was really fast to go together. Beautiful!

Can you see that there are some blue pieces in there? I think that adds a lot of pop! to the regular red and green of Christmas colors. What a great quilt for the holidays.

Our little field trip was ride over to Chillicothe to visit Old Town Fabrics. Amie, from Chillicothe but a resident of the Columbus area for 30 years, hadn't yet been to the new shop. So off we went, and I think she was impressed! Who wouldn't be? It is such a spacious shop and the fabric variety is impressive. Their classroom space is open and bright, and the number of samples they have on display is definitely inspiring for shoppers.

Speaking of shoppers, I knew they were offering 20% off on all their precuts, so I stocked up on a variety of neutrals. One can never have too many of those!

So, my day with Amie was a smashing success, one that I hated see come to an end. She headed out around 4:00, hoping to beat the Columbus rush hour traffic - which I doubt she did - with a promise to get together again next summer. I let her get away without giving her the little bag of scraps I'd saved for her postage stamp quilt. Dangit! I'll be putting that in the mail this week.

The day was yet another example of the beauty and wonder of the quilting community. By sharing this wonderful hobby with so many friends, we inspire one another, we encourage, we stretch our boundaries, we create - my goodness, the fellowship pays so many dividends. How grateful I am for these dear ladies!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

An Amie Update

I wonder how many of you might remember this??

If you guessed progress on the postage stamp quilt that my friend Amie is working on, then you would be correct. Her recent email informs me that she is over halfway done.

Her succinctly worded note: "After wrapping up a few other projects it is my main focus for the summer.  I have recently completed my 33rd block and thought I would share a pic with you.  It is more than halfway complete!"

In addition to myself, several other of her quilter friends are sending her scraps, and from these she is attempting to use as many different fabrics as possible in this quilt. Won't this look spectacular?

I have written before about Amie's postage stamp quilt. If you click here and here you will be able to follow the progress.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Visiting (And Sewing) With Amie

On Tuesday, I had a most lovely day. A dear old friend from back in the early 1980s had contacted me about getting together for a day of sewing. What makes this unique is that she was a student of mine in the 1980s, and her mother was my son's babysitter for that school year. We had a wonderful teacher-student relationship, but as she moved on to working, marriage, and motherhood, our contact was for the most part limited to Christmas cards.

I always knew she was one of those crafty gals, so it was no surprise to me when I learned that she had taken up quilting.

I have spoken of Amie here on the blog before. If you've followed very closely for any amount of time,  you may recall a certain postage stamp quilt. That's Amie! She contacted me a few years back asking for scraps that she could cut 1.5" squares for her project, one that she would devote years to completing. Her plan was, from the very beginning, to make blocks as she had scraps. Her original goal was to never repeat a fabric, but I think she's since given that up. Here is a link to a past post about Amie's postage stamp quilt. In that link there are a couple of others you can click for the full and complete story.

Enough of the talking; let's look at some pictures!!

Her project bin full of completed blocks.

One of the 15 blocks Amie has completed. Look at how straight and perfect all those intersections are!! Impressive.

And another one. Won't it look grand when finished? I looked closely and found a few of the fabrics I sent her. I've also had a couple of quilting friends leave me with scraps that I've sent along. She took a chubby little bag full home with her on Tuesday, too.

So, I am pressed for time, therefore I will just post some pics of the remaining highlights of the day.

Amie worked on this pile of blocks for a quilt called Cathedral Window.

And another. All homespun plaids, and wonderfully scrappy. It will look great when finished!

Also in her project bag was this kit, purchased at the 2011 Amish Shop Hop held last fall here in Ohio's Amish Country. A few of the blocks she has completed are...

Happy, aren't they? It's gonna' look great.

With both of these quilts, I hope I can get pictures of them when finished to showcase here. Keep that in mind, Amie, as you complete these!!

I'll end with dessert. (Perfect ending!) Amie brought dessert, and this delicious and sinfully rich chocolate cake is one she found on Pinterest. It was wonderful. I should have had mine with coffee, darn it. It was nearly 100 degrees on Tuesday, so coffee didn't seem feasible, but as I look at this picture, I'm thinking, yeah, it would've been fine...oh well.

Thanks, Amie, for the wonderful day! I really mean it when I say we have to do this more regularly! I look forward to it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Postage Stamp Quilt Update

ay, way back on April 30, 2010, I shared a long-term project that a friend of mine was undertaking. Take a look back, if you like.

I have recently heard from Amie and she has given me an update on her progress, as well as a picture.

Impressive, isn't it? She has 15 blocks completed and plans to make 48 more! She did the math and figures that she has 2,160 1-inch squares in these 15 blocks, all different fabrics! Awesome, I say! I must send her some more squishy packages, too!

I continue to work on September Stars using my French General fabric. Love working with it, and cannot wait to see this quilt top finished! It's going to be one that I really love. (Of course, I love them all, right?)

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Postage Stamp Quilt Project

One of the greatest things about quilting is that it brings people of different generations together. Way back in the early 1980s when I was a young English teacher and yearbook adviser, I had a student, Amie, who was my yearbook editor. In the 2 or 3 years that I taught her, our first child was born, and Amie's mother became Adam's babysitter. So as far as teacher/student relationships go, ours was closer than most.

In the intervening years, we exchanged Christmas cards, birth announcements; graduation pictures, etc. She married and had 2 daughters, while my husband and I added 2 daughters to join Adam. Gradually, there didn't seem to be a generational difference anymore! My youngest is younger than hers!

Fast forward 25+ years...in the Christmas card I received from Amie this past Christmas, she included a note explaining a project she was going to tackle: a postage stamp quilt with every 1" square out of a different fabric - no repeats. She was requesting from her quilting friends scraps that they would otherwise throw away or hide away forever to be sent to her for use in her quilt! She has no pressing deadline, and seems to be perfectly willing to work on this for a good while, as donated scraps come in. She's keeping a record of all who donate scraps for inclusion on a tag she will attach to the back. I sent her a couple of "squishy" envelopes, and so have others, and here is her first block:

She writes that it took her an hour and 45 minutes to sew this together. She says she forgot to keep track of how long it took her to select and arrange fabrics! This is the first of 63 blocks she will make. Doing the math there (she did it; not me!), she will have 9,072 different fabrics in 1"squares pieced into this quilt.

Isn't that cool?

Since that picture was sent, she has made a second block. In her email she said, "I just completed block 2-only 61 left to go!! I feel really impowered having two finished. Now it doesn't seem like such a huge task. However, I am still perfecting my method of piecing. I find I get lost if I try to chain piece too many at once. And I really do stress over the fabric placement."

That sound so like her! I remember her attention to detail when she was the yearbook editor! Very much the one to catch the little things. Editors and quiltmakers have similar OCD tendencies, maybe! ;-)

Anyway, I am very pleased to send scraps that would otherwise go to waste off to Amie for her project. You Go Girl!!

TTFN!
Jayne