I have quilts to share with you from Cheryl today. I know many of you have been cheering Cheryl on as I have. She too is dealing with a cancer setback but is doing great. Through chemo she even ended up with curly hair!! I love the sentiment on her shirt and just had to share the photo so you could see the shirt and you could put a face with a name.
Cheryl is especially dear to me as she took in my son Karl when the hurricane hit Houston years ago. Cheryl is truly a wonderful and giving lady!!
No onto the amazing quilts Cheryl has to share…
She writes:
I have two beautiful quilts for your viewing pleasure, and I had absolutely nothing to do with making them. Your faithful readers in Columbia, South Carolina, send two completed quilts for Luke’s Closet here in Dallas. These quilts belonged to a lady in Northeast Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. She was down-sizing and gave these two quilts to the Julie Vanderpool Quilters at the church. Louise G. in the quilters group sent the quilts to me so I can share them with students at Dallas Theological Seminary.
I am gob-smacked by the quality of these quilts. Oh, my, these two quilts are Houston Quilt Show quality. I love both of them, and I’m so glad the Julie Vanderpool Quilters sent them to me to share with the seminary students.
First up is a HANDQUILTED masterpiece. This quilt has never been washed, so I’m guessing it has never been used. As soon as school starts, this one will be the centerpiece in an apartment in the married student housing. Lovely!
It’s a huge quilt, 94″ x 112,” so it can serve as a bedspread for a king-size bed. The dark green and rose print fabrics seem to be plucked right from the Dallas landscape. White backgrounds are my favorite! What can I say, I’m a CPA, so bland and boring is my right. I think white sets off every quilt block.
Do you know what this pattern is called? I’ve never seen this type of arrangement.
Here’s the alternate block that frames those stars.
Double stars are new to me. The quilt was pieced by machine, but it can’t be easy to make these stars. Maybe one of your blog friends will know the name of this block.
Along with my love of white backgrounds, I also confess to loving quilted feathers. I know, it’s old school, but I have never met a quilted feather I didn’t like. Even with the computerized quilting I do, I often choose feather patterns.
Big hearts in the two bottom corners — rounded corners no less.
And another big heart in the middle of the bottom border.
Look at these tiny hearts around the star blocks. When I was learning how to hand quilt, I used those same little hearts in my first quilt. Or rather, my first “quilt start,” because I haven’t finished it yet. . . Yep, that’s a 40-year-old UFO. Don’t judge.
There is even hand quilting to outline the inner part of star. Tiny stitches!
Here’s the best part of this quilt! Thank you, Sara Ann Stoltzfus, for labeling your handiwork so we can admire it 32 years later. I imagine the future recipients of this quilt were not even born when Sara Ann made this quilt. That’s history connecting with the present for you.
One last look at the quilt in my 104 degree backyard. Next stop is the washing machine, and then I will deliver this lovely quilt to Luke’s Closet. From there, it will go to a seminary student or couple who will use it as it was meant to be used.
If the green and rose quilt didn’t make you squeal, this second work of art surely will. This quilt was made by the church’s quilt group, and it was purchased by the generous donor during the church’s annual quilt sale, which raises funds for quilting supplies. It also has never been washed, so it’s brand spanking new. The quilt is 94” x 96.”
Love stars? You and me both.
I’m still trying to figure out this alternate chain block. Maybe it was made as four identical quadrants that are sewn together.
The intersections form even smaller stars.
So glad the quilters included a label in their quilt.
One last look, and on to the washing machine.
On a personal note: I went to the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) and Columbia Graduate School of Bible and Missions in Columbia, SC, with a gal who is married to the fellow who founded this church. He was the pastor there for more than 30 years and just recently retired. My girlfriend used to tell me about the quilting group at Northeast Presbyterian because she knows about my obsession/ hobby. I love that I have a connection, albeit indirectly, with these two quilts.
Luke’s Closet at the seminary has not been very actively lately due to COVID and a lack of volunteers to run the ministry. But it has a new location and is up and running with the new school year. Hubby delivered quilts to Luke’s Closet, and the staff were overwhelmed with the quality and quantity of these quilts. One staffer said the students who arrive in the fall will really need, appreciate, and enjoy these quilts. Thanks to wonderful folks like the lady who was downsizing and the quilters in Columbia for sharing with students they have never met. This is love in action!
Those quilts were so nice and will be so appreciated!! How wonderful it is that there are people in the world so willing to share. MANY thanks for the wonderful donation and thanks to Cheryl for getting the quilts to the right people!! Bravo ladies, Bravo!!
The hand quilting on the first quilt is just beautiful. There’s so much detail and work gone into it! Both quilts are a testament to the people who made them.
Wow, wow, wow!!! Such beautiful quilts. Swooning over those stars and hearts.
I’ll echo the wow! Amazing work!
Love and prayers
Wow those quilts are beautiful – such high quality. Great that they can help people in need.
Love the shirt –
Quilts are wonderful! Where can I get that shirt???
The pattern of the first is a Double Irish chain with (as you said) a Double Star block in the middle of the chain.
When I saw the closeups of the first quilt I thought it was early 90s. The green pink print was super popular then and was everywhere, even men’s ties!
We have Amish transplant families from PA here in Indiana with the Stoltzfus name. Mr Joseph just worked for us this summer. There are many children, I suspect she was or is Amish.
I just about fell over when I saw the label on the quilt sent to Cheryl by the woman in South Carolina. Can you believe I have two quilts made by Sara Ann Stolzfus? In 1988 my mother and I went on a trip to the Amish area of Pennsylvania. At the time we weren’t quilters (that happened later), but we were quilt lovers. I was looking for a quilt to hang and she was trying to find someone to finish blocks made by my dad’s grandmother into a quilt. We had a paper map of the quilt shops in the Lancaster area, and we went from one to another without finding what we were after. Near the end of the day we arrived at Fisher’s Quilts in Bird In Hand. The young Mennonite woman who waited on us offered to finish my mother’s blocks herself and seemed excited to do so. When I still couldn’t find the “right” quilt she said that I could custom order one choosing a pattern from a set group to be made with whatever colors I wanted. When I saw the Flour Sisters pattern I knew it was “the one.” She told me that the various women who made these custom quilts specialized in certain patterns, and this was one that Sara Ann Stolzfus made. In addition, she made Double Wedding Rings. Because the prices were so reasonable, I also ordered one of those in wall hanging size. I took eight months for the two quilts to arrive, and each had a label similar to the one you showed. Our house at the time had cathedral ceilings, and I hung the Four Sisters quilt at the top of the stairs where it could be seen from several room. When it was up one of my three daughters said she was certain this meant that we were going to have another baby girl. I didn’t think the odds of that happening were very great, but several years later we were blessed with a fourth daughter who will inherit this quilt one day. To this day my husband jokes that he’s just glad I didn’t pick the Seven Sisters design. What a coincidence to discover that Sara Ann’s work is still bringing warmth, beauty, and joy to the world.
thank you for sharing such a beautiful story.
Love the shirt! Hugs and prayers on the cancer front to all that are fighting it. I, too, am fighting cancer(breast).
I wish you the best Cindy. I hope all goes well.
Oh, Cindy, I see that you are a member of the club no one wants to join. I am working on a crazy quilt today, and I’m praying for you as I piece. God bless you real good! Cheryl in Dallas
Wowsa! Spectacular! And what a backstory from Cindy in NC!!
The quilts are beautiful !! I lost all my hair from chemo and it grew back curly also. Prayers sent for Jo and Cheryl .