Community Quilts from Karin

Grab a drink.  It’s time for a quilt courtesy of Karin and numerous helpers.

Karin writes:
“Hi Jo, hope you and your family are all doing well and staying warm. I have quite the quilt parade for you today, courtesy of several of your blog readers.

This first one comes from the prolific Patty K, of West Palm Beach, Florida. She titled it Robot Power, because that’s what it says on the fabric. Lol.

Each square contains a fussy-cut little robot alien kind of guy and there are gears scattered throughout the background. It’s a very pretty aqua, which is a very common decorating color here in Florida.

She sent almost enough extra fabric to fully cover the back, but it was lacking just a few inches so I dug into my stash and I found a plaid that wasn’t exactly kid friendly, but the colors coordinated. It also inspired the straight-line quilting I did in the sashings and the X’s in the blocks. I softened it up just a bit by using alternating curls in the outermost border.

This quilt finished up at 29×29, and took white thread on top with a very very pale blue in the bobbin.

Next up, I’m pretty sure… we have a top that was done by the amazing Cresco ladies. There are pigs, tigers, Minnie Mouse, a white creature (?), and a blue creature (??) in the colorful squares, and they have been offset by alternating Minnie Mouse red polka dot print and a creamy white tone on tone blocks.

I kept the quilting on this very simple and used an edge-to-edge all over swirl and loop de loops.

My local quilt shop donated the striped backing for me. This quilt finished at 34×44 and drapes beautifully. The fabrics are very gentle and soft, even though they are not flannel. Kid-friendly for sure.

I am pretty sure this top came in a batch that you sent me from the Cresco ladies some time ago. I think it started out as a Monet panel, that they added to, and then framed the whole thing with a sandy-colored batik. It really stumped me on how to quilt it for a while, but after a few days of staring at me from the quilt frame, I knew just what to do. I quilted a large meander in the very center, framed it with hand-drawn circles, yes they may be a bit lopsided, but they are still mostly circles, and then added a water motif in the wide blue border. All those sections were quilted with a variegated blue and green, keeping with the water theme. I switched to a light cream thread and quilted a thick serpentine rope in the very outside border with some echoed flames in the corners just for interest and contrast.

The very pretty backing fabric was generously donated by Ellie L, of Indianapolis, Illinois. The very thin strip of beige check fabric started its life journey as a sheet, left over from my neighbor’s yard sale. I used the same variegated blue and green thread over the entire back, and this one finished up at a large 40×56, almost big enough for a twin-size bed.

Here we have another flimsy that goes perfectly well with most Florida interiors and was a lot of fun to quilt. This one also came from the Cresco ladies, via you, some time ago.

Using that variegated blue and green thread on top again I quilted my water motif in the penguin and whales sections, and thread-painted seagrass on the turtle block and jellyfish & tendrils on the jellyfish block. I did a double bubble in the next border all around, then I moved down and echoed the sea life prints in the three blocks across the bottom. Still using the variegated green and blue for contrast, I quilted alternating swirls in the outside border and then echoed them, to travel back to where I wanted to be.

When it was all said and done I didn’t think there was enough quilting in the center, so I went back and added wishbones in the top and bottom black sections. The entire back was donated by my local quilt shop, Beyond the Stitches. You would never know it, but I used yellow thread in the bobbin.

This is a good size lap quilt, finishing up at 36×44.

Here we have another stash buster, made up of all kinds and colors of scraps. It is amazing how pretty they are when they are all put together. I believe this Rail Fence also came from the Cresco ladies, but the backing was donated directly by Ellie L, of Indianapolis, Indiana.

I think I misspoke earlier and placed her in Illinois by mistake. So sorry about that.

On this flimsy, I wanted to let the fabrics shine, so I really didn’t want a lot of design or heavy quilting to take away from them. I quilted simple swirls, and to be honest I have no idea what color thread that I used.
I think it may be a very light silver, or maybe brown. I really can’t tell, as it seems to change, according to what fabric it’s on at the moment.

I did use a light brown to match most of the backing fabric, and you will see the very last piece of that green fabric you sent me a couple of years ago, while we were still in Texas. A few times now, I have thought I was using the last piece of it, but there always seems to be just enough for one more quilt. I’m not sure how that works, but I’m glad of it. This quilt finished up at 40 by 46.

Bringing our parade to a close, we have a cute little baby quilt, also from the Cresco ladies.

This one is made of strips of denim colored blue and alternating yellow and blue stripes with a Mother Goose nursery rhyme print. There is Humpty Dumpty, the cow jumping over the moon, and a spoon (why?). Scattered among those are small stars, which served as the inspiration for the quilting motif.

I did loops and every now and then a five-point star. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Maybe I will do them more often? Around the very outside border, I quilted arcs all the way down one side, then came back and echoed them, and then went back and filled them with wishbones. That was an easy way to travel back to the next corner, without stopping and breaking thread.

The backing I used was from Linda W, of Williamstown, New York. It may not be exactly appropriate for a baby quilt, but it was sized properly, and I thought would take this quilt into the tween years for its recipient. I think it’s sort of an Aboriginal print, with lime green, bright yellow, purple, black, and white. I used black thread in the bobbin on this one, and now that I see it in its entirety, I wonder why I didn’t use my go-to lime green.

This quilt finished up at a very generous 40×46.
I can’t wait to take all these quilts to the firehouse for distribution throughout the county. It is close to the end of January, and we still have another full month of winter. We usually get a pretty heavy frost again the first week in March, so I know they will all be greatly appreciated. Thank you to all you readers and the sewists who have had a hand in blessing our small county. I couldn’t do this without you and them.

WOW.  That was a great bunch of quilts.  I am always so impressed with the work Karin does.  She just blows me away with her creative work.  I hope the recipients know how much love she’s put into each of the tops.

Many thanks to Patty, the Cresco Ladies, and everyone else who supported Karin’s work.  I love seeing kindness in action.

 

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “Community Quilts from Karin”

  1. What a fantastic selection of quilts in this Parade. Love them all, some super backings too. The first one really jumps out at me – my favourite colour and the pieced backing is pretty and so cleverly matched. Well done to everyone for so many gorgeous quilts!

  2. Such a fantastic array of quilts! It’s amazing what the collective kindness of so many people coming together produces.

  3. Marsha from Kansas

    Wonderful quilts. The dish ran away with the spoon. Where’s the dish? Guess it completely ran out of the picture. Lol

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