Fishies and Clowns

A few weeks ago a friend shared about a co-worker whose son was born with a rare condition that has required 30 surgeries in the 1st year of his life (I cannot imagine it!)  This coming weekend there is going to be a big fundraiser at a local water park for this wee one and his family.  Part of the deal will be selling homemade items, so I decided to make a quilt. and ended up making 2.

Another dear friend who is an amazing quilter makes quilts for things like this all the time.  I so envy her the opportunity to use her talents and creativity to help someone, so I was thrilled when this opportunity came along!

Here are the two quilts I whipped up... I pieced and quilted these.. nothing fancy, but I think they turned out cute. The Mad Quilter added the binding. I hate that part and he does it so well!  I am a blessed woman!

For the boy quilt, I pulled out some circus fabric I had and used it as the focal fabric adding scraps of this and that to create the coins.  I decided to do something similar for the girl quilt.  I found some fishie fabric in my stash. Can't say it is overly girlie, but I think the fabrics used in the braids helped emphasis the female-ness and the pink backing and binding definitely sealed the deal.

I have to show you the back of the Circus quilt. Hubs and I went to a fabric sell shortly before I made these. A local lady had a fabric shop... she still sells online, but has not been able to cover overhead for a brick and mortar shop right now. She had a big sell out of her home to get the word out. We bought several pretty fabrics and when we commented about some fabric she had with big polka dots, she decided to cut some and added it to our mix for free. We were shocked to find 2 yards of it when we got home. I like polka dots but these are soo big that cutting the fabric would chop the dots up and I am not a big red person.  But I knew it would be used at some point. And it was!  It is the perfect fabric for the back of this quilt!  Goes with the Circus theme so well. And I love the striped binding Hubs added.

Also, I don't usually show labels here as they have personal info. I include the name of the recipient.. a Bible verse (always).. the date and who made it.  Sometimes the quilt gets a name. Well these just got a verse. I add my labels before I sandwich the quilt, so they are sewed on to the back and then quilted through. They cannot be removed without destrouying the quilt.  Here are photos of the labels on these quilt just to give you an idea of what my quilt labels normally look like.

I am working on a new project.. slowly but surely.  My quilting time seems to have diminished greatly... hopefully it will pick back up again soon!

"Belle"

Ready for some Boys!

Recently whipped up 2 baby quilts for 2 little fellas.... both due in August. I have posted pix of the tops, but wanted to show them completed.

The first is for Oliver.  I pieced the top and my husband quilted it. Be sure to look at the upclose shot of the border. He had fun creating there. And there is a photo of the back.. I am hoping the quilting shows.  I have to say that the photos do not do the fabrics in this quilt justice.. they are beautiful (and were all in my stash.. bought nothing for this one but batting!)

And the other is for Reed. Reed's dad is a basketball coach.. so I went with a sports theme. I pieced and quilted this one.  Very simple disappearing nine-patch with in the ditch quilting. But I decided to try something else. In the 4 corner blocks and the very center one, I quilted the outline of a basket ball. They are not perfect by any long shot, but I think they turned out cute and I feel certain Reed's dad will like them. I had most of this in my stash. Had to purchase some fabric for the border and the batting.

Working on a quilt for a little girl now ... have another boy top done and ready to quilt... and then have another boy and a girl coming in December!  More baby quilts on the way.  I love babies and I love making baby quilts!

"Belle"

Quilts for Kids & Froggy Coins

I recently read about the Touch of Comfort Quilt Program being sponsored by Downy. These quilts are given to children with terminal or critical illnesses (in hospitals) and children in shelters. To participate, you can go to http://www.quiltsforkids.org/ I went and requested a kit last week and today one arrived. I have all the fabric I need to make a quilt, already cut and with a pattern included! Check this out:

I have 4 weeks to get the quilt completed and back to the organization. All that I have to contribute is thread, batting and a bit of time.. and in return a child somewhere gets a quilt that lets him or her know someone somewhere is thinking of them and cares.

I did a bit of sewing this evening. Got the Froggy Coin quilt done for my friends' son. Later this week I will get some batting....and get everything sandwiched and ready to quilt. I think it turned out very cute. Here is the overall quilt:

And here is a close up to show some of the Froggy fabric I used:

Happy Quilting! "Belle"

Great Day Quilting

Next Saturday is National Quilting Day... but we celebrated like it was today. The sewing machines have been humming... rotary blades flying... steam iron hissing... hubby and I are covered in threads... it has been a very good quilty day.

I am part of a small, wonderful, close-knit online quilting group and we do a block lottery every quarter. Last summer I won! 36 really cute repro-blocks. I finally got around to putting the blocks together and adding a single border. I am going to add another border or two, but I am waiting for some repro fabric on order. I love how it looks and evidently so does my fabric loving pooch, Mac. He decided to hop up on the bed and take a good look at my work and added some lovely smudges from his muddy paws. Oh well... it'll wash out and he is so darn cute!

Hubby is working on a quilt for our DD. Her brother has one made by dad, but she doesn't. Hub and DS have a thing about bugs.. especially dragonflies.. so her quilt has fabrics with dragonflies, lady bugs, butterflies and the likes. Very colorful and very cute. He got a lot done today. Here it is laid out in sections on the bed:

The last quilty project of the day was another one of mine. A friend is adopting baby #2 from Taiwan. Jeremiah is a special boy with CP just waiting for his mom and dad to come get him... SOON! They have been affectionately calling him Froggie boy based on the Acronym F.R.O.G. (Fully Relying On God). God has shown up and shown out in providing the funds and means to bring this sweetie home. Just like he did with big brother, Noah. So, of course, I knew Jeremiah would need a Froggie quilt. I have some Chinese Coins in the works using lots of colorful fabric... several with Frogs on them. Not sure where I am going after that, but I am sure it will be cute! Here is the beginnings of it...

Happy National Quilting Day.. a week early! Maybe we will celebrate again next week too! :-)

"Belle"

Hubby's Been Busy!

My quilty hubby has been sewing up a storm over the past few weeks. We have already broken our "you must finish one of the tops already made before starting a new one" rule.... no surprise there! We have many, many tops which are begging to be quilted!

Here are 2 tops he whipped up from scraps for the Buried Treasures Ministry....

another "coin" quilt...

and this is an original pattern that he worked out using my 5" charms and some 2 1/2" rectangles and squares. I love it!

And lastly is today's foray into creativity... again playing with 5" charms and 2 1/2" squares... this is the block he has created... it is an 18" block... (he likes big blocks and big quilts!)...

Whole Lot of Quilting Going On...

Last weekend DH (who also quilts) and I pulled out all the completed tops that were waiting patiently to be quilted. We made a nice list with each quilt top on it... the size...recipient or purpose... and then noted if we had batting, backing, label... it is so nice to be organized! There is now a list on the side of my blog of pre-2009 tops ready to be quilted (including 2 we made this past week!) This will be a year of tying up loose ends.. getting these tops quilted and to their rightful owners. It will also be a year full of quilting! There is a wonderful local charity that God has knit my heart to called Buried Treasures (the link is down below all the lists on this page). The plan is to make a slew of quilts (12 - 15) for them by next Christmas. 2 of our pre-2009 tops will go in the pile and one of the 2 tops made this past week is for them. I am excited about this project. Quilting is fun, but it is so much better for me when I am giving them to others and I love that God has shown me how to use this as a ministry.



So about those 2 quilt tops pieced at the tail end of 2008... DH has been off work since Dec 22 (vacation time) and I have been swamped! I do finances for a small church part-time, but the end of the year is my craziest and busiest time. Add to that our kids went off with the church youth group to the Mountains of TN this week and DH has had a lot of alone time. He has wasted none of it! He grabbed scraps and created a scrappy version of a Chinese Coin quilt.. he calls it Bear Coins because of the novelty fabric he used for the border.





This picture doesn't do it justice, but there will be another pix soon. We sandwiched this one yesterday and he has already started quilting it! I bet he has it totally finished by tomorrow.. binding and all!
























I also tossed together a top at year's end... a baby quilt. A friend's dd is expecting her first child.. a little girl, Allison, due in January. I have been wanting to try the Disappearing Nine Patch (http://quiltsatcs.blogspot.com/2007/04/disappearing-9-patch-tutorial.html) and this seemed the perfect project for it. I am pleased with the results. I need to get some backing fabric and once Baby Allison arrives I will make up a label and get it quilted and on its way.


We also sandwiched one of our pre-2009 tops yesterday. My Mile-a-Minute top (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBq7eJCcz4yt2-r8qdGr2kkyGhc7iYBgwn8zKJAL-GpamT53voC1zgYXVzAxlt1Z-6IrGi9cEXsNqWlUuoGlydLYiUXu6qx9ToNcUQkhPHxzd83cwmUYjZz-fjkNZGfKKYJVuyYqpfXYis/s1600-h/mile+a+minute+top.jpg) I loved making this and thought I would keep it for me. But I have decided someone else will love it more.. so it will be going in with the Buried Treasures quilts. I will start quilting on it today. I am NOT as quick as DH, so it will be a while before I am done.


We have a rule for 2009... at least until we are caught up with the unquilted tops... for each new top you make, you have to finish a quilt before you can start a new one! We will see how long that lasts! LOL!

Happy Quilty New Year! Consider using the talent and gift and love of quilting God has given you to touch another life.. other lives.. there are many quilt charities online.. and you can look around your own part of the world. There are charities like Buried Treasures.. and there are individuals.. a friend with cancer.. someone grieving.. someone lonely.. wrap them in a quilt of love!




"Belle"