Community Quilts from Karin

Karin has been busy.  She sent in some pictures of her latest finishes.

Karin writes:
“Wowsa, this one was really fun to quilt. 

At first, I wanted to get really fancy and do something cool in all the cream and white areas, but, to tell the truth, I’m just not that good or imaginative yet, and with them not connecting, I would have lots of thread breaks. Soooo, if decided an all-over meander would work. I could just modify my hearts a bit, and turn them into leaves! An aha moment if there ever was one!  So I did leaves and loops across the first row, then I decided with all the floral prints, I could toss in a posey here and there, so that’s what I did!  

I have finally figured out how to advance the quilt in the frame, and even just loading it is beginning to make more sense and be a bit easier.  I still suffer from “which way does the bobbin go in again?” syndrome, but after several continuous thread breaks, it figured out, it went the OTHER way. :)

So this quilt finished up at 45×52 and was backed and bound by your generous supply. It is destined for our local fire/EMS station.  Thank you for helping me learn my new longarm and help my community at the same time.

The next quilt is another finish from Karin.  She writes:
“This appears to be another top from the prolific and talented Cresco ladies group. I think it might be made of scattered Disney dalmatian pups, but I’m honestly not sure, as we are out of touch with Disney characters, despite being Florida residents. I know, shame on us.  But, we are very familiar with State Parks and manatees, if that counts for anything!!!

I did small loopy doodles in the horizontal sashings, and connected hearts on the dark blue puppy areas. They seem to flow pretty easily, and I’m sure there will be lots of quilts with that motif in my future! 

Just some straight lines in the borders for added stability. 

“This top is probably another one from the nimble fingers of the Cresco ladies group.  It’s a very simple pattern of patchwork but made more interesting by the various fabric choices. All types of colorful fishes, set off by blocks of bright solids and tone-on tones.

I wanted to quilt some swirlies, to represent ocean water, but, umm, well, apparently I haven’t figured that motif out just yet.  Seems my swirls are a little pointy, maybe could even pass for wood grain if you turn your head just right? 

The backing the ladies sent for this one was just as pretty and colorful as the front!  Unfortunately, it was just a smidge too small for my normal, turn-to-the-front self-binding, but, luckily, I found a piece of orange in my closet that matched closely, and was just big enough to make 5 strips at 2 and a quarter inches wide.  Turns out, I only used 4, so one went into the box of scraps I’m collecting for you, Jo!  These will be donated to the fire/EMS station to comfort a youngster in need.”

I emailed Karin and asked if she was willing to provide her address so backing fabrics or other goodies can be sent directly to her.  Karin was excited about that.  One of the main things she needs is backing fabric.  She’s been finishing quilts that are baby-sized to large lap sizes.

Karin wrote:
“ Any surplus supplies/destashing items sent directly are most welcome, people can request my mailing address by emailing me at Kcallander989@gmail.com.”

Thanks so much to the Cresco ladies for their hard work in putting the tops together.  Thanks to Karin for finishing this and thanks to anyone else who made these tops come to life.