Charity Quilt Finish

Hey all…Great news.  My friend Cheryl, who does long arm quilting for the charity project, is up and working on quilts again.  I can’t wait to show you this one.

This beautiful lozenges quilt top was made by blog reader Heather Lentz.  Heather sent the top directly to Cheryl in Dallas — it saved postage because I didn’t have to forward the top to the volunteer quilter.  Thanks for that, Heather!

She just sent me a note to describe her long absence:  Hi Jo,  I have been absent from my quilting “duties” for a long time.  Here’s a summary of my life for the past 7 months:

In September, I broke my leg while hiking down Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon.  I was in a cast for 8 weeks.
In October, I drove to Florida to take care of my mother while she was hospitalized with back surgery.
In November, I moved my mother to live with me in Dallas.  She was subsequently in the hospital for 5 weeks and in a rehab center for 4 weeks.
In January, mother finally came home to stay with us.
In February, mother passed away.  Hubbie and I drove to Florida for the funeral and stayed for a while to help clean out her house. 

Now that I am back at home, I am trying to catch up on the charity quilts that have been sitting for way too long.  I am so glad to have these quilting projects to work on now; it is therapy for me.  Thanks to your blog readers for making these beautiful quilt tops and donating them to charity.  I will enjoy every minute of completing them.

Cheryl in Dallas
Cheryl in Dallas sent these photos of Heather’s quilt top so you can enjoy the entire process of quilting and binding.  Look at these beautiful lozenges!  Pink and green with black and white corners.  Heather must have spent many, many hours piecing this top.

The top is loaded on the longarm, ready for the first row of quilting.

 

This picture shows the “floating method” of longarm quilting:  the batting and quilt top are not fastened down.  The excess batting and quilt top are kicked underneath the longarm to keep them out of the way of the dogs who like to play with anything made of fabric.

Close-up of the lozenges, showing a secondary pattern where the black and white corners intersect.  It’s a simple block but the color combination makes for a very interesting layout.  Look at all of those matching seams.

 

Cheryl in Dallas confessed that she doesn’t know how to quilt.  Her longarm machine is driven by a computer.  Push a few buttons, and viola! the machine does the work.  The benefit of hands-free quilting is that one can pet the fabric and pull loose threads while the machine creates the quilt pattern.

This quilt pattern is called “Paris” by Natalie Gorman; this is a variation of swirly feathers.

Each green lozenge has white corners . . .

and each pink lozenge has black corners.  There are so many different fabrics in this quilt — a total of 1,610 pieces.  There are very few fabric repeats . . .  Lots and lots of fabric scraps went into this Lozenge Masterpiece.  Is there such a thing as quilt envy?

Uh-oh!  A birds nest on the underside of the quilt.  Must get underneath the quilt and use Jack the Ripper to correct this problem.

With the quilt off the frame and nicely trimmed, the binding comes next.  Heather even included the binding along with the quilt top.  Cheryl in Dallas uses a flat fell foot to attach the binding to the top side of the quilt.  The flat fell foot ensures the binding is sewn a uniform distance from the raw edge.

The binding is turned over to the back of the quilt.  The flat fell foot makes the final seam to attach the binding.  This attachment ensures the binding is uniform perfect every time.  (Well, maybe not perfect, but Good Enough.)

 

Coming up on the corner of the quilt.  Someone is sewing over pins!

And the finished product is on display under a cloudy Dallas sky.  This beauty is 70″ x 89″.  A good size for a twin bed.  Don’t you love it?!

 

The backing is mainly white . . .

 

. . . with pink and black inserts to make it wide enough.  Heather included a box of extra fabric with the donated quilt tops.  The pink and black are from her stash.

Close-up of the quilting pattern.  The pink thread shows up against the white AND the pink backing.

Next stop:  attach a label, and then into the washing machine.  This quilt is going to the House of Hope in Gainesville, Florida.  The ladies at House of Hope stay for 6 to 12 months, and as soon as one leaves, another takes her place.  Each gal takes her quilt when she departs.  They treasure these handmade quilts.

Good job, Heather and Cheryl.  Thank you for your work and for letting us enjoy your quilt.

Some of you have asked about the method of binding with a flat fell foot.  Each sewing machine has a flat fell foot, but sometimes they are called by different names:  felling foot, flat felled seam foot, lap seam foot.  These are seldom included with the basic feet package for any sewing machine, so they are an optional purchase.  If you plan to purchase a flat fell foot, get the widest foot available for your machine (such as 8 mm).  Check out this great tutorial on the topic:   https://awomanaday.com/2013/01/17/happy-feet-quilt-binding-edition/