Charity Quilts: Quilting with Marion

I spent my evenings last week quilting with a blog reader Marion.  Well under  complete disclosure I wasn’t actually quilting “with” her as in both of us being in the same room at the same time….I was busy quilting her charity quilt tops on the long arm.

Marion has sent me quilts before and the are always AWESOME!  She specializes in baby quilts.  She does a great job sending both “boy” quilt tops and “girl” quilt tops.  Much of what I get often leans a bit towards girls and goodness knows we want out little boys wrapped in love too!!

I thought I take some pictures and show off some of Marion’s work.  I know many of you also do charity quilts and all of Marion’s tops are great for inspiration.  The top is simple with square in a squares off set by alternating plain blocks.

I did really good finding some perfect backings for the quilts…  Check out the picture below.  The striped fabric on the left is the backing…it was a sheet from the thrift store.

This next one is also a  boy themed too.

This one is a fun mix of four patches, solid blocks and rail fence blocks.  Again I did good with a nice backing…this was a piece that was in a box of donated fabric.

The next one I am sure started out as a panel.  After cutting the panel apart Marion framed them.  Then she alternated the blocks with both four patches and rail fence blocks….I love it.

Here’s a close up picture….at the time of writing this blog post, I haven’t found a backing for this one.  I think I am combing leftovers of two of the other quilts and will see if that will make a backing.


There’s a simple but pretty quilt….These are a modified rail fence block.  The colors are so good.  I found a green sheet that is going to be the backing.  It matches a little better than the lighting shows.

I was super excited when I unfolded this one.  I have had the piece of fabric for a couple years.  I got it at the thrift store for 50 cents.  There were three yards there so there was enough.  YAHOO!  I’ve tried and tried to find a home for this piece and with Marion’s help, it finally happened.

Here is the quilt laid out….

This quilt is so cute in person.  I love the idea that Marion used.  Those heart blocks are the cutest…Marion took white fabric and sewed the lines you see out of varying colors of thread.  Then see added the heart and crazily stitched it down.  So cute and whimsical.

Here’s another done with the same treatment.


Here is another quilt from Marion…this one I have finished!!  Isn’t it cute too?

No exciting backing on this one…just a simple tan sheet.

Here’s the last one…so cute.  These hearts were raw edge embroidered to the squares.  Then a simple block was created to go with the heart blocks.

The backing for this was donated by a blog reader…It’s perfect!!  All of the same colors are in the front and back.

I once asked Marion if she only makes baby quilts…she said, “Ya, I get bored and quit at baby sized.”  Ha…Good plan.  I’ve so enjoyed working on Marion’s quilts.  I’ve since finished all of the quilts that were featured here today…can you believe I’m out of Marion quilts?

The quilts are getting packed up today and sent off to volunteer binders.  One of my goals for when I was off was to get lots of the charity quilts finished and out to binders.  I’ve done all the prep work for my cancer re-screening.  Tomorrow is the actual test day…finders crossed that all will be okay.

11 thoughts on “Charity Quilts: Quilting with Marion”

  1. Jo, this is something I have been going to ask you for quite some time. We used to have a lady that made baby quilts for our church at Zion. She gave one to each new baptized baby at baptism. It was such a lovely gesture. Sadly, she moved to West Union three years ago to be closer to her daughter and grandkids. She is no longer a member of Zion. I was wondering if you or Kelly would like to take over the tradition that she started. It doesn’t even have to be a quilt that you have fashioned yourself. Maybe one of the charity quilts that people send you. Either way, I’ve heard from different people how much they miss that extra little touch of a baby quilt on the railing up front at baptism. You and Kelly talk it over and get back to me.

  2. All of these are beautiful and look like a great use of fabric for charity quilts. Marion—are they from a book or did you just wing it?

    I have a stack of baby fabric I would like to use for charity baby quilts.

  3. Thanks for the inspiration! I love the heart blocks with the different colored lines sewn in them. It adds a little punch to what would be a plain block. Great idea!

  4. What a collection of delightful quilts, every one a winner. You have matched the backings perfectly, well done! Hope your tests go well.

  5. All those quilts are beautiful, but yowza that last one is gorgeous! The patterns, the colors, wow! Great teamwork ladies.

  6. Beautiful quilts. Great work from both you and Marion. Jo, you will be in my thoughts and prayers. Thanks for sharing.

  7. Debra Hageman – This response is for you. I might be interested in making the baby quilts that you have requested. Please give me more details. My email is cwwteachermom @ yahoo.com (no spaces).

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