Community Quilts from Jazz

Yahoo…it’s a quilting with Jazz day today!!

Jazz writes:
“Jo, this quilt is an example of you, your inclusive spirit, and your generous heart.

You sent me the embroidery squares, which I took so much pleasure in stitching. The pup with the ball reminds me of Disney’s Lady and the Tramp Tramp. (Now that I’ve revealed my familiarity with a movie produced in 1955, you’ll have to just guess how I know about films that old.)                   

The red Moda sashing is from Jeanne M, from Tucson, AZ. I’ve never been to Arizona, nor met Jeanne, but through you we’ve become fast friends through our shared admiration of your blog.

And the most perfect red, white and grey flannel backing as well as the black and white binding was part of a tremendous gift of precuts and fabric from Becky M, who lives in Alaska and Texas. Doesn’t it just look like the whole quilt was created to be part of these soft pieces? It makes the entire quilt so soft and cuddly!

About a year ago…

Jo, you told Sarah W. of Houston that I was scouting scraps and fabrics to make baby quilts for the nursery at Ben Taub Hospital. She gave me some fabrics and she took me out to lunch!

Recently she gave me this blue and yellow enchantment to finish. I backed it with this soft as butter yellow flannel and straight-stitched it. It’s bound by the yellow print used in the body of the quilt.

Sarah told me she was a beginning quilter and in her “white, blue and yellow phase” when she attacked this mystery project as a more complicated wall hanging with stars. She was not interested in perfecting the scant 1/8” seams necessary for the stars so she rearranged the pattern as a disappearing nine patch, added the borders … and here it is, a 36” x 38” cuddle ready for a lucky new baby.

Another one of your readers asked me if I could use four blocks of stamped cross stitch embroidery for a quilt. (Could I? What do you think? Of course, I could!) They were apparently the abandoned parts of a kit. There were no directions, no picture, no floss, so I made up the color scheme using what threads and imagination I had. It became a very flamboyant piece! Measuring 45” x 45” it will be a nice lap or wheelchair quilt for a patient. (Did I mention how much I love making printed cross stitch quilts? I must have because Janie W, a blog follower from Edmond, OK, just sent me a set of printed cross stitch duck squares for a toddler-sized quilt that I’m working on now.)

I sashed, bound, and backed this one with a lovely purple that was part of the huge collection Becky M. gave me.  The same Becky who donated the red, white, and grey flannel I used on the embroidered pups.

Here’s a glimpse of one square:

My friend, Sarah W., of the blue and yellow quilt, provided the fluffy batting for all three of these quilts.

None of this would have been conceived of, much less created, without your guiding hand and heart bringing us all together to benefit the patients of Ben Taub or L.B.J. Hospital in Houston, Texas. Thank you!”

I absolutely LOVE hearing from Jazz.  She has such enthusiasm for the work she does and she is great at it.  I can’t imagine doing the embroidery on these quilts and then passing it along for a donation quilt.  BRAVO to you girl!!  Many thanks to Jazz and all of those who donated goodies to her.  Jazz is #20 on the quilt donation page.   Find that HERE.

While I have you all here…
If you are a person who finishes quilts for charity and would like to be considered for receiving donations, HERE is a link to the form you would need to fill out.  Everyone who fills out a form will be added to the donation page.

By filling the form out you are committing to taking pictures of the finished quilts you make and sending the pictures to me as well as writing a short blurb about each quilt so I can put them together in a blog post like this.  You will also need to tell us where you are donating the quilt.

I have been working on updating the donation page and want to get it done soon.