Donation

Two weeks ago, I had a call from my (non-quilting) friend, Judy, who volunteers at our local Christian Center. This center takes in and distributes gently used clothing and household items to those in need, and manages food distribution, as well. Judy's call concerned a recent donation they'd received -- three bags of quilt fabric. Would I be interested in it?

After driving into town to have a look, I determined that I was NOT going to take any of it. My closets are already full-to-bursting. However, the fabric was worth saving and using. I knew there had to be a group devoted to making charity quilts that would love having a chance at using this fabric.

The fabric was clean, folded neatly, and in good condition. I could tell that this quilter/crafter had known what she was doing. The pieces were somewhat dated - like maybe they'd been purchased in the 1970s and 1980s. The quality was acceptable, if not top-of-the-line. Many of the prints were themed: holiday, patriotic, baby, juvenile. The photos above provide some indication of the types and amounts. Additionally, I found a small stack of pre-cut squares and circles, no doubt abandoned projects.

I reached out via Facebook for suggestions on groups interested in taking a donation of fabric for charitable efforts. Many friends offered suggestions and provided me with names and numbers. It is so gratifying to know of the good souls who care about helping out those in need. All were worthy, however, I handed off the fabric to the first group with whom I had successful contact.

Touching Little Lives, Inc. is a central Ohio charity located out of Groveport. Their Facebook page indicates that they are a non-profit whose mission, supported entirely by volunteers, is to provide for babies in need. They donate handmade quilts, afghans and clothing to major hospitals and other support agencies. I am thrilled to have been able to save this fabric for an organization such as this.

Maybe someday after I stop working, I will dedicate more time to doing good work for others. At present, time just does not permit it. I would like to think that my little part in this larger picture has been a godsend to someone.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Hello, Pam! Guest Post

Back in the summertime, I took this picture of a gorgeous quilt that my Frienzie Pam shared with us. Pam brought us a guest post last year, if you recall.  I saved this picture and a few more all this time in the hope that she would provide another guest blog about her fund-raising efforts, and today is the day, dear readers. Take it away, Pam!

Guest Blog # 2

I have made another Zentangle quilt! This one got its start at my 40 year high school class reunion! One of the guys that I graduated with is married to a quilter. I told her about my 2016 Zentangle quilt and the mission auction. Later that summer, she won some fabric in a quilting contest and donated part of it to me to use for another quilt for missions! The fabrics are Moda fabrics from the Simply Colorful II line. I received the green and purple fat quarters from Ann and the planning began!

 I decided to involve the church youth again and traced some shapes onto white fabric for the Zentangle. The youth selected the shape they wanted to work with and completed the Zentangle with scripture references. Their enthusiasm for the project had increased since last year. I think that is because they had a better understanding of how their drawings would be part of the finished quilt.

I selected the Ohio Star as the quilt block. I cut pieces for each block and made kits. Each kit contained one purple fabric, one green fabric, and a completed Zentangle to use as the center. I went to the monthly meeting of The Scarlet Thread Sewing Ministry and the quilters assembled the blocks in one day! I had 30 completed blocks when I left the meeting!

Next, I sewed the 30 blocks together. At this time, I had to order more fabrics to complete the borders, back, and binding. I was able to order fabrics from the same Moda line. I did have to do a little piecing on the back and binding. The end result did not suffer from the piecework that was necessary!

I made a label that included the names of all of the contributors and included it as part of the back. My friend, Pat, did the quilting and my friend, Terry, did the hand sewing to complete the binding.

The quilt was auctioned off recently and sold for $820. This money will go to the Lottie Moon Christmas Fund which supports missionaries through the International Mission Board. Just like last year, the party who bought it gifted it to the person that he outbid!

 

As Jayne mentioned in a previous post, I like to scrapbook. Above are photos of two scrapbook pages that tell the story of this quilt.

Thanks, Pam! Below are more pictures from this summer.

In the summer, when I first saw this quilt, I was so taken with the wonderful colors. As I study it now, I am still very interested in seeing if I can find similar colors to do my own raspberry and green quilt! I love the combination!

Awesome project, Pam. This is a wonderful way to bring many hands together for a common cause. I love that you are so willing to share this with me! And I love you, too! *grin*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Guest Blog By Pam

Back in the spring, I posted here about the quilt that my friend Pam and her youth group made in an effort to raise money for an international mission effort supported by her church. You can click here to go back to read about it.

Well, Pam contacted me over the weekend to tell me that their quilt had at last been auctioned and they raised a whopping $1050 for their cause! Isn't that fantastic? Pam has agreed to fill you in on all the details, so here she is as today's guest writer. Take it away, Pam! :)

You may have read about the Zentangle quilt that I hosted for the Scarlet Thread Sewing Ministry at my church on this blog last April. Well, the auction was on Sunday night and the quilt went to the highest bidder for $1050.00! It was then GIFTED to our youth pastor and his wife. The money will be used for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering that is part of the international mission effort that our church supports.

This is a picture of the quilt. You may notice the red ribbon. One of the ladies entered it in a show in the category of group projects. The quilt received 2nd place!

The picture below was taken by a friend of mine at the mission auction. The quilt that I hosted did not make this photo, but you can see some of the other beauties that were auctioned off. There were also pillow cases, pillows, wall hangings, table runners and an apron created by the quilters and seamstresses from our sewing ministry. The total collected for the mission fund was over $9000.00.

The woman  in the picture above is the leader of our sewing ministry. She is the one who taught me to zentangle. I then taught the youth while we were on a retreat last February. I had cut squares of white fabric before the retreat.  The fabric contained a small percentage of spandex. ( a recommendation made to me for this project.) I outlined the shapes on the fabric.

Then I gathered lots of black artist pens, gave a few instructions, and let them create. I asked each person to add a Bible verse to their square. Some added just the address, while others wrote all or part of a verse. Many included their name or initials in their design.

The next step was to cut the colored squares for each  block and create kits for the Scarlet Thread Sewing Ministry to assemble. The ladies made the blocks at the March gathering. I sewed the blocks together, made a label, assembled the back, and took it to my friend, Pat,  for quilting. When I got it back, I attached the binding. Then one of the ladies from the sewing ministry volunteered to hand sew the binding. ( I really do not like to do hand sewing.)

This quilt was certainly a group effort and multi-generational, too! I hope that after reading this you have a better understanding of what it means to “host” a quilt. I am already planning for next year!

Note: The block that I used for this had been “taught” at one of our monthly meetings of the Scarlet Thread Sewing Ministry. We call it an exploding block. I am sure that it has other names. I like the diamond that occurs when the blocks are sewn together.

Thanks, Pam! Great post! You and your youth group are to be commended for such an awesome project as well as for the amazing donation it brought. What an accomplishment! Think about all the various lessons involved in this effort that those young people have learned. They certainly gained a lot, too.

Do you suppose a budding quilter might emerge from this experience??

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Two-Finish Friday

Gosh, it felt good. Yesterday I had enough time on my hands to put the finishing touches on not just one quilt, but two. Whoo-hoo!

First, I tackled the Baal-Carlon quilt. It is a t-shirt quilt I was commissioned to make, and all that remained to be done was half a border -- two sides were done; two remained. Here are a couple of shots of this quilt, which now has the backing prepped and it sits ready to be delivered to be quilted.

I love that the client selected green for the borders and sashing. The back will be from the same fabric, as will the binding.

When this was completed, I took that Veteran's Quilt down from my design wall and applied the borders to it. I'd cut them Thursday night, so all was ready to go. The quilt is small - lap size - so the effort was minimal. And here are the final pics of it.

I will be handing this quilt off to JoAnn who will take it with her in late December when she goes to Florida for a couple months. Her Florida Guild  produces these as a charitable project. Since so many elderly veterans are retired in Florida, the need for compassion for these aging heroes is great. Several of us here in Ohio have made some for JoAnn to take back.

Short and sweet today, Peeps! Have a great Saturday!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Back in Business!

Playing around with a new computer is fun, but I am definitely a slow learner when it comes to technology, so getting my pictures out of my camera and into my laptop was a process. I learned that is called uploading (I can never remember the difference between upload and download). Anyhoo, the pics are in the laptop, and I assume that when I get ready to add one here in a bit, I will be able to perform the task. I think I am back in business. Whew!

For Christmas I received a few quilting-related items. One friend gave a little grab-bag of assorted goodies, while another added a ruler and a deck of Ricky Tims cards to her gift of wool socks. Here are the items, combined:

The pretty little thing with flowers and button centers is a needle book that a third quilt friend made. It is sweet in its simplicity, and I actually needed a needle book.

One of the really wonderful things to happen to me in 2009 was meeting up with a distant acquaintance quite by accident, and being invited to join her small group of quilters. She and 4 other gals meet every other Friday morning to sit and stitch. Upon learning I had just retired, she invited me to come join them. That was in July, and I have been with them ever since. The location rotates from kitchen table to kitchen table. The other three ladies have become brand new friends, and I am truly enjoying this group.

At our last meeting, the hostess asked us if we'd be interested in quilting for charity. She offered us the choice of any fabrics in her closet stash and had several simple quilt patterns copied for us. I selected 2 patterns and 2 fabric groupings. We are going to try to have these done in 2 or 3 months. I'm really sketchy on the details, and I really should get this straight...the exact charity; the exact finish deadline; does finish mean to a top or a totally quilted quilt? I will definitely need to confirm these details. At any rate, here are the 2 sets of fabrics I selected for the 2 I volunteered to make.