Community Quilts from Cheryl

The latest community quilts were completed by Cheryl in Dallas.  She told me she is getting started on a second chemo treatment (she didn’t respond well to the first regime), and it is going well.  The goal is for the chemo pills to slow or halt the growth of the cancer — and maybe even reduce the size of the tumors.  Thanks to everyone who is praying for Cheryl.  It is a wonderful way to share the love that seems to abound in the quilting community.  You blog readers are the best!  Cheryl sent this narrative and photos for you to enjoy.

 

Jo,  I have a trio of beautiful quilts to share with you.  You sent these tops to me last year.   They were made by an anonymous quilter, and I’m assuming all three were made by the same person.  These quilts are based on 25-patches.  It is such a simple pattern, and the results are stunning.  Anonymous Quilter did a magnificent job on these tops, such precision workmanship!

 

Quilt #1 is this gray 25-patch with purple sashing.  I love the combination of every variation of gray in this one.  The top is 75” x 86”, which will do for a twin-size bed.

 

 

Take a look at some of these little squares.  Too cute!

 

 

 

 

I quilted this one with “Paris”, an edge-to-edge pattern by Natalie Gorman, which is available at Urban Elementz.

 

Let the quilting begin… It’s pretty easy to set up the computerized longarm to zip back and forth.

 

My Bernina was in the shop for seven weeks (SEVEN WEEKS!) for a routine spa day.  I used that time to get a lot of tops quilted.  My stack of tops went fast because I was limited to simple piecing with my Featherweight.  A girl MUST have a back-up machine!  As soon as the Bernina came home, I started binding.  Anonymous Quilter also included binding for these quilts.  Take a look at how much binding was left over from this gray and purple beauty:

 

Hubby helped me hang the quilt on our backyard fence.  Love it.

The backing started life as a humble gray sheet from a thrift store.  

The only thing better than a scrappy quilt is scrappy binding.  I love these bits and pieces that edge the quilt.

 

 

Quilt #2 is made of green 25-patches with yellow sashing.  It is 74” x 86”, so another twin-size quilt.

Jo, I know you’ll appreciate these fabrics.  What a great eye spy quilt.

Anyone a Green Bay fan?

Here’s my favorite — who doesn’t love Thin Mints?!

Little Woodstock, is that you?

Loaded on the longarm and ready to go.  

 

The quilting pattern is Ancient Scrolls by Sarah Ann Myers, digitized by Patricia Ritter.  I got it from Urban Elementz. I use this pattern frequently and I really like how it turns out.

 

After a few hours of back and forth on the Lenni machine, it was ready for binding.  The leftover binding was only a few inches.  My Anonymous Quilter friend really knew what she was doing when she measured this one.

What a lovely result from those simple 5×5 blocks and sashing.

 

Yes, more scrappy binding.  It just gets better!

 

 

The backing is from a generous piece of fabric donated to me by a local quilter who was cleaning out her stash:  yellow background with green leaves.  I’d say it found the perfect landing place.

 

 

Quilt #3 came in a bit small for a bed quilt.  It was 74” x 74” when it arrived in Dallas.  It is every variety of yellow blocks with black sashing.

 

 

I got busy and added a few bits and bobs to make the top bigger.  First was a narrow brownish border, and then a row of 4.5” squares with black strips alternating from one side to the other.  Then another narrow border, this one in yellow with a black print.  

 

And lastly, I added a wider black border.  I sprinkled black print fabrics throughout the black border — because I didn’t have enough black fabric.  A quilter’s gotta do what a quilter’s gotta do.   Anonymous Quilter included 288” of binding, so I made another 100” of binding from my stash.  Yellow is my favorite color, so I had a lot of fat quarters to pick from.

 

The grown-up quilt is now 97” x 97.”  It will be just right for a queen bed, and those are in use in the married student housing at Dallas Theological Seminary.

The backing required some piecing.  I used a yellow sheet and a white sheet for the biggest sections.  Narrow strips of the same brownish and black fabrics from the front of the quilt add a finishing touch to the backing.

The pattern for this edge-to-edge quilting is Threadz, by Patricia Ritter.  I use that pattern almost as much as Ancient Scrolls.

 

These three quilts are going to Luke’s Closet, for distribution to students at the seminary here in Dallas.  Most of the foreign students who arrive for their studies bring only what will fit into their suitcases.  Volunteers donate kitchen equipment and bedding supplies to make these students feel at home in their temporary accommodations.   Being as how the seminary students come from all over the world, there is no telling where the quilts will wind up when the students start their ministries.

Jo, I sure hope the person who made these quilt tops will identify herself or himself in your comments section.  Kudos to her or him for a great job.  I love the result of these babies!

WOW…aren’t these all great.  I think my favorite is the yellow.  I think it’s because here in Iowa, the Iowa Hawkeyes are big and their colors are yellow and black.

Great work by Cheryl and the person who pieced the tops.  If it was you that made them, please leave a comment so we can recognize you…and readers, which color is your favorite??