Community Quilts from Karin

I have a fun parade of five quilts to share with you. All are from Karin, one of our amazing Florida finishers!!

Karin writes:
“Good morning Jo!  Hope you are doing well and recovering nicely from your radiation therapy. I’m sure you must be fatigued from it, but here is a parade of quilts that might perk you up a bit. First up, we have Patriotic Stars for Baby, from Patty K, of West Palm Beach, FL. 

She pieced various white tone-on-tone sashing strips with blocks made up of stars and stripes borders with a variety of star fabrics appliqued in the middle of each, on a white background. I honestly don’t know how she gets all her shapes the same and her blanket stitching around each one is impeccable. I know I don’t have the patience for it, so I’m glad she does, lol.

She even sent along a coordinated backing, so I didn’t have to go searching through the closet. I used white thread on top and in the bobbin so that the fabrics could shine. I did simple continuous curves around each block edge and then I traveled to the center of each and used a larger ruler and went from side to side making a curve in each corner. That served to frame each star in a gentle diamond shape. In the borders, I used the same ruler to make arcs and at each intersection, I used a smaller one to make my own star. Keeping with a flag wave theme, I did a free-hand wavy line twice around the outside border. This little quilt finished up at 42 inches square.

Second in line today, is Birds and Blooms, from the Cresco Ladies.  Squares of roses, vines, birds, and green Fleur de Lis (?) alternating with plain brown squares made up this lovely throw. 

I used a brown thread on top, and burgundy in the bobbin.  I used the Turks Cap template ruler, by Angela Walters, but I didn’t think that was dense enough quilting, so I went back and added a swirl in each block.  I’ll be honest with you, admittedly, some of the swirls might be going the wrong direction…but we’ll just let that be our little secret.

Keeping with the community aspect of these quilts, it was backed with some lovely pink paisley, generously donated by Ellie L, of Indianapolis, IN, and bound with a scrap of orange homespun from Susan Mc, of Austin, TX. This quilt finished up at 42″ x 52″.

Next in line, I *think* this panel quilt came from Patty K, of West Palm Beach, FL.  If not, my apologies (and gratitude) to whomever pieced and donated it.  

I always have to let panels ruminate for a while.  I’m never sure what to quilt where on them.  Well, Fall here in Florida typically brings gusty winds. In fact, we just had 2 tornadoes come ashore. They always start out as waterspouts in the Gulf, but, when conditions are right, they come ashore and bring devastating winds and rain.  These two didn’t disappoint.  One hit farther south, down by Clearwater Beach, the other came to visit the area just hit hard (and just barely starting their recovery from) by Hurricane Idalia, about 5 miles from us. The damage and devastation is incredible to witness, but to the best of my knowledge, no lives were lost. 

All that to say, swirls were on my mind, apparently, as that’s what got quilted!  I did trace around each bird and the pumpkins. At the very top, you can barely see it, but I quilted a feather arch where the leaf sprays are. I figured, if I messed up the feathers, the print would help disguise the error.  Surprised myself, with how well it all came out.  Wishbones and swirls went into the outer borders, and before I knew it, quilting was complete. 

The backing was a piece of fabric donated by one of my customers, and it had 3-dimensional tassels on each side of an embroidered stripe. Normally I just flip the backing to the front and stitch it down, but those darn tassels were right in the way and refused to fold over properly. That orange scrap of homespun from Susan Mc, in Austin, TX, did the job nicely though. I had just enough to go around the outside of this quilt, and now it’s all used up.

Olive green thread on top and gold in the bobbin seems to accent these Fall colors nicely. This quilt finished up 40×54 inches.

Fourth in line today, We have 4-patches surrounding a solid square, and everything is sashed by a very neutral brown print. I believe this quilt top came from the Cresco Ladies. Different colors and different prints, using different size scales made up this top.

The brown sashing and plain center block brought it all together nicely. It was set off with a very deep purple outer border batik. Using brown thread on top, and tan in the bobbin, I quilted continuous curves in each four patch, but again, that wasn’t enough quilting, so I added a curved diamond using the seam lines on each edge to determine the middle of each side. That still wasn’t enough so I added a freehand swirl, which gave me the idea to do easy swirls in the border and the sashing. I think it’s just enough to give visual interest and be quilted densely enough that the batting will not shift, even after many washes.

The blue and tan toile backing for this top was generously donated by Ellie L, of Indianapolis, IN, quite some time ago. Sometimes, I worry that people think I have forgotten about their donations or just never get around to using them, but I graciously and with gratitude accept each and every one of them. I may not use them right away, and I’m not nearly as good as Jazz and Ray at remembering who donated what, but I will use everything that comes my way, and hopefully, give proper credit where credit is due.

This top finished up at 36 x 38 inches.

And last, but certainly not least, we have Dino Dots, courtesy of the prolific Cresco ladies. What a fun group of fabrics this was. Everything from polka dots to solids to arabesque alternated with tossed dinosaurs, and they got backed with stripes donated by my local quilt shop, Beyond the Stitches.

Quilting was another mashup of scallops, wishbones, swirls, and orange peels.  Anything goes, am I right!? I used ecru thread on top and white in the bobbin, and this lovely quilt finished up at 46 x 48 inches.

After a quick wash and dry, these five quilts, filled with love and prayers and good wishes, from people all over the country, will be delivered to CASA, our local women and children’s shelter. The last time I brought quilts there, three of the four were handed out before we could even get out of the parking lot. That proved to me just how significant the need is, and I am so grateful to you and your readers for all their encouragement and donations of fabric, time, thread, and money, and to everybody who donates to the postage and batting fund.

It absolutely takes a village, and I am so humbled and grateful to be a part of yours. From the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of all the ladies and children you are serving, I thank you all.

Our winters are typically mostly mild (with occasional freezes), but with back-to-back storms, and the devastation they wrought, I am sure that there will be more people in need, more than ever before. If anyone has any tops they don’t want or don’t want to finish, or extra yardage (or sheets!) that would work for backings, I would gratefully accept them and will work to quilt them up as quickly as possible, for immediate distribution.

With deepest gratitude, Karin

WOW…that was a great parade. I think my favorite of the day was the Fall panel quilt. I’m really into Fall right now and holding onto it as long as I can before the snow starts flying here in my little corner of NE Iowa. Many thanks to Karin. She always does the best work..and thanks to everyone who had a hand in making these quilts happen.