Community Quilts from Jazz

Hello…happy community quilts day!  It’s not a national day but around here, Thursdays and Sundays tend to be community quilt days.  Today we have quilts from Jazz…

She writes:
“Jo, don’t you expect that everyone reading this site is a quilter, quilt admirer, or wanna’ be quilter? And do you suspect that many of them think of themselves in a specific role, such as long-armer, or bed quilter or quilter for newborns?

I used to identify myself as a pink quilt fan, and here is a good example why:

Isn’t this the cutest quilt? One of your fans made the top and gave it to me. It’s a great size and it’s mostly pink, even the back.

It’s another one that I couldn’t bear to declare finished so after I quilted it I used the Craft Thread you sent to attach little yellow ties in all the corners. I’m looking forward to including it in the big box of completed quilts to the county hospital here in Houston.

Another quilt, one that has me rethinking my pink-pink-pink! penchant is this great multi-colored triangle top, also contributed by one of your fans. One reason I love finishing quilts for charity is seeing in person the exciting patterns and fabric selections by the artists. (And they are artists! I think some must be art-major-artists.) It’s so flamboyant, so vibrant; it just cheers me up to look at it. I especially admire the outer sashing, all the floral exuberance.

I bound and backed it in yellow gingham to continue the freshness and stitched it up in the ditch for a patient at Ben Taub Hospital.

This next one is what I call The Show Stopper Quilt. It’s an exquisitely done heart in the tradition of watercolor, but laid out like a log cabin pattern. One very talented quilter made the top and trusted it to, of all people, me to complete. Here is a close-up …

and here is the quilt in all it’s magesty.

I’m always intrigued by the selections you trust me to finish, and sometimes a little intimidated, too. This one just amazed me with the skill and precision the maker dedicated to it. All I added was the binding and same maroon backing. It was already a star; now it will wrap up a lucky, loved baby at the hospital.

And, speaking of baby’s quilts, this one really captured me. It’s a “bug quilt” with images of the cutest little bugs having “bug fun” on the “bug bus” and “bugging each other” all over it. I backed it with this delightful piece that came in the same shipment.

This last beauty is what my wife called a “nice, transitional quilt for between summer and fall.”

She’s from Massachusetts, so she knows a thing or two about the seasons. Here in Southeast Texas we only have summer, but we make it last. We have early summer, late summer, and next summer. But I think this is a gorgeous quilt for any of those times.

It’s meticulously pieced and pressed, which made it a pleasure to finish. I quilted it and then added the tiny bows in the corners that I’m becoming (in)famous for. I just can’t resist!

I’m so thankful to you, Jo, for forwarding these flimsies to me to finish and donate to Harris Health, the county in Houston Texas that supports our two public hospitals. The patients they treat often have so few resources, some don’t even speak English, but the care they receive from the heroes who attend to them is world-class. And now some of them get a new quilt to recover with, thanks to the love of all your readers.”

Wow!  These were all so pretty.  I always hope that the readers who donated these tops, catch the blog post that shows the finish of the quilt.   I think it would be so sad if they missed they post and didn’t see the great work Jazz and out other finishers do to complete these quilts.

Many thanks to all who sent goodies or postage money to get these things to Jazz.  Of course, thanks to Jazz for sharing her talents and for her support of such a great hospital in Houston.