I have goodies to share with your from Jazz today.

She writes:
“Jo, I wonder if any of you other volunteer quilters are ever so in love with the pieces they finish they just want to keep them for themselves? I get so attached to each one that I have to say a little prayer over them as I hand them over to the gifts coordinator at Harris Health.

This one is a good example:

 

You sent me this darling panel; all I did was outline all the parts on the sewing machine, but it’s the sweetest little (34” square) thing! I bound it with a tan fabric from my stash and backed it with this lush brown plaid flannel another of your friends gave me.

 

Of course, I am not in need of a baby quilt, nor do I have room to store one, so this one was packed off with all the rest. But it’s going to be remembered as one of my favorites for a long, long time.

This next quilt was made from two charm packs and some batting given to me by Becky M. She lives in Whitney, Texas, and Alaska, but was in Houston over the summer and gave me boxes and boxes of delightful charm packs and fabrics. You’ve seen her name before. She gave me more than a lot!

This collection is called Apple Hill Farm, by Kids Quilts. It’s a colorful, whimsical collection that was very enjoyable to assemble into a quick 48” cuddly square. I bound it in a light tan strip from my stash and batted it (and all these quilts) with your donation.

I bet your readers haven’t forgotten the beautiful blue and yellow Disappearing Nine Patch our friend Sarah W. (Houston) let me finish about a couple of months ago. When she gave it to me, she included a soft blue flannel piece for the back, but I was afraid it would be too small. I replaced it with some yellow flannel I bought, and I reserved the blue. I’m glad I did because it was the perfect size and color for this Apple Hill Farm project! I tied this one with various colors of the IRIS craft threads you sent me over the summer and batted it with the batting you sent me, Jo. I have enjoyed that thread so much, it’s so easy to handle and a very good weight to finish quilts with.

When I tell you I love doing stamped cross stitch baby quilts, this is what I’m talking about. Before Christmas you sent me this blanket to finish:

Whoever started it is much more accomplished than I am. Look at how meticulously the back is done! My stitches are not as orderly as hers on the flipside, so I hide them inside the sandwich and bury my strings. It was such a pleasure to have this to work on over the holidays!

Finished, ready to donate!

Before Thanksgiving, our friend Janie W. sent me an adorable duck cross stitch kit from Edmond, Oklahoma.

She had heard that the babies at Ben Taub Hospital liked wrapping up in cross stitch quilts and that I liked to stitch them. She was right about that! I got this done within months and sashed it with the green cotton you sent me about a year ago, Jo, and batted it with the batting you donated.

Before that, another of your readers gifted me with a box of flannel anonymously.

In the box was this pastel piece that coordinated with the ducks just perfectly. In this picture you can see Holly M’s blue and green binding.

For the new year, Holly M. sent me some stamped cross stitch squares that look like poinsettias. You’ll be seeing these in a charity quilt, too.

Holly also sent me these 2 ½” and larger squares. They are predominantly red, white, and blue, but she included some 2 ½” x 4 ½” bars, including some colorful license plate prints. I knew immediately that these were just the thing to use in a quilt that I had been entertaining in my mind.

I included some pieces donated by some of your other followers to make this 40” x 40” baby quilt.

The blue backing came from Becky M, and I bound it with same blue cotton. (I just love this fabric! It seems to go with so much. You’ll be seeing it on other, upcoming quilts.) I tied it with blue crochet thread, a gift of Pamela Z, from Omaha, NE. She sent me a lot of tying threads. You’ll see more of them in my next communication.

Until then, thanks to everyone who helps supply the county hospitals in Houston supplied with baby quilts.”

WOW…these all turned out so awesome.  Jazz is a real worker.  I think she makes baby quilts like it’s her full-time job.  The hospital there is so lucky to have her.  Many thanks to Jazz and those of you who have been sending goodies her way.   I know now every time I’m at the thrift store and see embroidery projects, I immediately think of Jazz.

 

Ronda has been a busy girl cranking out lots of quilts.  She sent several emails each with a quilt.  Today I am sharing the first three that she sent.

Ronda writes:
“This top was sent to me from you, Jo. 

It had one block turned the wrong way. 

A little un-sewing was done and the block turned the right way. 

The backing is some you sent to me, too. 

This quilt finished at 73″ square and went to Opportunities Unlimited.

This top was sent to me from… Continue reading →

Hey all before I get to today’s post I have a favor to ask on behalf of Jeanne in AZ.  Jeanne is a prolific charity quilt top maker.  She had made tops and sent them to many of our finishers.  Right now she is in need of either strips of 2 1/2″ fabric or orphan blocks to make this quilt top larger.  The nine patches she’s needing unfinished would be 6 1/2″.  For strips she needs 21/2″ wide.  You can see her quilt top is scrappy so most any colors would work.  If you’re willing to donate something, please contact her at this email address: 5204445901@vzwpix.com  THANKS!!

Now to today’s post…

I have been working through my email.  I am way behind.  I had a fantasy that once I didn’t have all the mail coming in that I would be better about email.  Wait, I take that back.  I had a fantasy that I would be AWESOME with email.  I am better…just not awesome.  Here is some email that came in from Ray…

Ray writes:
“This quilt top and the backing came from Barbara S. in FL.

You may not be able to blow up the pics enough to read the print fabric in the top. The blocks have the sweetest Valentine messages in them. It reminds me of ages ago in school when we all exchanged little Valentines. I decided to use the heart motif to go along with the Valentine messages.

I tested blue thread but it took away from the messages and went with ecru to stay very neutral.

The blue pixelated print for the backing was perfect. This sweet little quilt will be one of two quilts to be raffled off at the annual Shrimp Boil at church on February 11.

Thank you Jo and Barbara for such a timely donation.

Here is another Valentine quilt but… Continue reading →

I have some news from Ray to share with you today…

Ray writes:
“I took pics of this beautiful sampler quilt from the Cresco ladies this morning. Love all the reds, whites, and blues in this quilt.

I believe this is another product of their sampler mania last year. They definitely know what they are doing and it shows in their quilt tops.

I went with the stipple motif for the quilting and light-colored thread.

The back is from the Deb and Pat stash and required a good deal of pieces to get it to work. But it looks great.

Thanks to you, the Cresco ladies, and Deb and Pat for all the fixings for this special quilt.

I put the finishing touches on another sampler quilt from the Cresco ladies. OMG!! This quilt is jam-packed with a wide variety of block patterns and colors.

They did a fantastic job of picking and choosing and resizing to make that top. I think it is Bonnie Hunter that says if a piece of fabric is ugly, you must have not made it small enough. Well, I think the reverse is true of sampler quilts. The more variety, the better they are.

I went with the stipple motif and white thread for this one.

The backing is from the Deb and Pat stash.

Thank you to everyone for your contributions.

Arline H. in North Fort Myers, FL, and I met up again and she shared… more of her treasures with me. So now I get to share them with you. Continue reading →