I have a few quilts from Karin to share with you today…
Karin writes:
“Hi, Jo! Hopefully, by now, you and all the grands are well over your recent illnesses and feeling so very much better. It has gotten chilly down here in Florida, at least during the night, so what better to do than quilt? It’s still warm during the day, so we are out and about, generally causing a stir and getting ready for Christmas. So, I have three quilts to share with you today.
The first one, I call School is Cool, and comes from the amazing Cresco ladies.
The very center appears to be part of a panel, with little kids, a yellow ruler, and even the words school is cool. It has been surrounded by really cute crayons of all different colors, a border of pale yellow, and a wide border of colorful puzzle pieces, which I believe is the symbol for autism awareness.
My local quilt shop in Crystal River (www.BeyondTheStitches.com) has been very generous to me and has provided almost a full bolt of primary color stripes on a white background. 
I combined that with some colorful trains that came from Linda W of Williamstown New York to make up the backing. Picking up on those stripes, I did piano keys in the yellow border, a wide meander in the center, and loop-d-loos in the outer border. And, yes, I used my favorite lime green thread that seemed to blend in nicely, amazingly enough. I did use white in the bobbin and the stitches don’t show very well, but they do add nice texture. I think it turned out cute as can be and ended up at 42 by 42 in. And yes, that is my quilt inspector doing what she does best, looking out the window. You may see her again, who knows?
Here is our second offering of the day…
I honestly cannot remember if this top came from Gale C of Dunedin, Florida or Patty K, also of Florida.
Either way, I am grateful to them both for all of their contributions, and I apologize sincerely for my senior moment (s) where I cannot recall which box it came out of.
The top was nicely pieced with a lot of variety, colors, and patterns. They all went together nicely and many seem to be floral, so they went well with the backing that came from Ellie L of Indianapolis Indiana.
I used a loopy floral quilt pattern with bone color thread in the bobbin and on top. I really like using the same color thread because tension issues are not so obvious. Fortunately, I don’t have tension issues often. This lovely and warm quilt finished at a large 54×58 in. It will be just right for a family that has lost everything in a fire and will provide comfort for a long time to come.
My last quilt of the day was probably the most challenging one to quilt. I will start off by acknowledging Linda W, of Williamstown New York, once more, for providing the generous length of fabric that makes up the backing. I believe the top was made by the Cresco ladies. What made it so challenging was how to quilt that inner striped border.
I am never sure what to quilt where, and the saying “quilt as desired” always strikes fear in my heart. The square patches are made up of various moose prints and moose tracks and are in shades of burgundy, tan, and brown, and coordinate nicely and are very well pieced.
I used brown thread on top and burgundy thread in the bobbin. It was easy to use an arc ruler and put orange peels throughout that patchwork section. Then came the striped borders. You’ll notice that they are not identical widths, making this quilt rectangular. That’s where the challenge came in. I used a new ruler, that makes ribbon candy, but it was not quite wide enough to go the entire width of the narrow border, so I just turned it 180° and repeated the pattern down the other side of the border. But what to do in the wide section? It was too wide for me to use any ruler other than my straight edge, so after giving it considerable thought, I used my straight edge and did very wide, mostly evenly spaced (yes, eyeballed, not measured), piano keys. Going all the way around the very outside is a moose batik, the likes of which I have never seen before. It was really very cool, but it also stumped me on how to quilt. I set my needle down in the fabric, and let my hands do the thinking.
After about 10 stitches, I found myself doing, well, I don’t even know what to call it. It’s just a back-and-forth stipple that’s done in interlocking rows. I often use it on water areas, but it seemed to work for this foggy woodsy print. 
This quilt finished at 48 by 56 in, and along with the other two finishes, have been washed and will be delivered to the firehouse this afternoon. With the chilly nights, and aged wiring of our community homes, we often get house fires around this time of year. It is very sad to read of families that lose everything just before Christmas. It warms my heart to know that so many people around the country are so generous and compassionate and willing to share their time and their money with our little county’s residents. A very big thank you, from the bottom of my heart, goes out to everyone that contributes. Even if I cannot remember exactly what their contribution was, it is received with a grateful heart.
WOW…These all turned out so nice. I love the circle effect in the last quilt. It’s always so fun to read Karin’s thought process as she figures out what to do on each quilt. She is a talent for sure both in quilting and in writing out her thought process. Many-many thanks to those who have donated the tops…and the backing. As Karin said, “It is received with a grateful heart!”
Wow, the quilting on the last one is perfect for it! So talented :-)
Beautiful work, Karin. Thank you to all who donated. These quilts will be loved!
Love and prayers
Vey nice! I like your treatment of the piano keys in the second one too…where you transition in the corners.
Karin, Your finishes on each of these quilts is just beautiful. Thank you , your local quilt shop and the other
ladies who so generously donated. I’m sure the Firehouse gratefully received them.
BEAutiful quilts and great finishes. Than you Karin and the others who either made them or furnished fabric. Great tam work!