It’s bonus community quilt day.  I’ve gotten a few emails in lately that have finished quilts from blog readers.  I have enough that I’m giving you a bonus quilt.  This one is a fun one….

Karin writes:
“Hi Jo, as you may recall, I requested the flimsy Gayle donated, that she put together from a Norman Rockwell panel and other various fisherman themed prints and solids you had sent enough fabric for a pieced backing and bias plaid binding as well.

Being as we are volunteering in a National Wildlife Refuge, I thought I could finish the quilt up and donate it to the local Friends Of Balcones Canyonlands group, to use as a fundraiser to improve facilities and trails here in the Refuge.

However, it became apparent that they are not currently meeting, and they do not have plans to hold any fundraisers in the near future. Soooo, plan B, right?  There is a newly-married young man also working here on the Refuge. He and his bride are expecting their first child in December, and they are living in an old, drafty ranch house, that is disrepair and has been “lived in” by interns and firefighters for several years now, with no improvements and no repairs done.

He absolutely loves to fish and she often goes with him, and just enjoys being on the water. So, one afternoon, we packed up the freshly washed quilt, and a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies, and drove ourselves down his mile long dusty driveway.

Of course, we masked up before they came outside to greet us, but we had a wonderful time just chatting and playing with our dogs (he had 9ne, and we had brought ours along for the ride).  They are a lovely young couple and we’re so very appreciative and absolutely loved the quilt. They thanked us for thinking of them, over and over.

The quilting motif I used looked like the water splashes made by fish jumping to get the bait, and I finally got to use my spool of variegated brown thread on the front. I didn’t have enough green that matched the backing to do the whole thing, so I chose a really soft yellow, with minimal sheen to it.

I have never contrasted the thread like that before, and I just looove the way it turned out!  I cut the plaid strips on the bias, and I think that just added a special touch too. All in all, it finished up at 68 x 87, covering the whole top of our king size bed. It will make a great snuggle quilt for them – he is well over 6 feet tall, and her baby bump is growing by the day.

Thanks again for letting me be involved in another blessing! What an honor it was for me to finish this one up.

Well that sure turned out perfectly didn’t it?  I so admire people that live in whatever house is available to do the job they need to be near.  I lived that live as a farm hand’s wife.  I know pay isn’t the best for people doing these jobs either so this is wonderful that this man and his family were blessed with a little kindness.

Thanks a bunch to Karin and of course to Gayle for sending the top.  I love happy stories.

It’s a happy day!  More donation quilts are here to share with you.  These came from Ronda and friends…she writes:

“I have a couple more quilts to share with you today.  The first one is from Cindy E. of Mansfield, Ohio.

The second top was one you passed on to me from an anonymous donor from Nebraska.

Wow, these are awesome.  I can’t tell you how happy these make me.  Who knew that so many can be connected to make good things happen.  I so appreciate everyone who makes the charity quilting project a success!!  

I have quilts for the ladies in Ohio that are making baby quilts for Tanzania.  They are such a fun group and all of you have been fantastic with your support for them.  Thank you so much!!

Chelesta writes:

“Here you go Jo. We have been slowed down by making face masks, which is also important, and then I was also dealing with the inconvenience of a minor surgery. The first set of photos are donations from MaryAnne in Perkasee, Pa. She is a prolific quilter and has sent several donations.

We so appreciate her beautiful work and her generosity. The quilts included are from two separate donations. I had held off on including her first batch earlier, because some of our quilters still had her quilts they had been working on, and hadn’t brought them in when Covid 19 hit, and Ohio was in lock down. The first two are from her first gift.

She also included some beautiful panels which any child will love. We all fell in love with her fish panel, which made a delightful baby quilt.

The next two pictures…
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Ray has been busy again.  I just love getting emails from him….

Ray writes:
“I finished another quilt and wanted to share it with you. But before I get in to that, a BIG THANK YOU for the write ups on your blog. I received 5 emails last week from ladies saying that they are sending me fabric to rebuild my stash. Two of them even sent me the tracing numbers. They are absolutely wonderful.”

“The quilt I just finished is a top from the Cresco ladies. It was 40 x 60 when I got it. Unfortunately I did not take an on arrival pic.”

“It was a bit narrower than I wanted so I added a 3″ inch border around the border that was already on the quilt. Finished size is 46 x 56. I found the border on a half off table, liked it and thought it was usable with a lot of fabrics and colors. I think it looks really good with the top from Cresco ladies.”

“The blue backing is from Shirley in Nevada. I like how it picks up the blues in the top. Then I got brave and quilted it with a lite violet on the top and white on the back. First time I tried it and I really like how it turned out. For the most part the violet is neutral except on white fabrics and where there is violet in some of the batik prints. It looks so tropical down here in Florida. I love it!”

“Big thanks to Jo, Cresco ladies, and Shirley for providing the materials to put this quilt together. Great community quilt teamwork!”

“I just finished another quilt that came from… Continue reading →