Community Quilts from Karin

Karin has been busy finishing quilts and sending pictures off to me.  I know it’s a lot of work so many thanks to you Karin.

Karin writes:
“Hi Jo! I have 4 finishes for you today. First up, we have this gorgeous batik…it is, by far, the largest I have attempted yet!  I have 2 books of quilting pattern use as, and after reading through them both, twice, I decided my meandering skills would best honor the maker.  I did manage to do some pretty decent ribbon candy in the outside border, and I put cables in the creamy beige stop border. Obviously, my cable needs some more practice!

I backed it with one of the tow purple sheets you sent me, and to add some interesting, is used navy thread on the bobbin so that’s the stitches AND the texture would show.  The front was quilted with shades of brown, in a variegated polyester thread.  I folded the edges to the front, making a purple self-binding, which I zig-zagged down with a variegated purple polyester thread. As expensive as batiks are, and as much care was given to the piercing, it’s just amazing to me that the maker gave this one up.  Blessings upon him/her!

This one finished up at 60×60. When I washed it, is tossed in a Color Catcher– it came out burgundy!”

Here is the next quilt from Karin…

Karin writes:
“This bright little number was made using only 4 fabrics, two of which are the same pattern, just different colorways.  The solid pink ties them all together.  I quilted simple arcs from corner to corner in each square, specifically to learn pathing and determining direction as I go. I used a light pink polyester thread on top, and pale yellow in the bobbin.

I had picked up some plaid yardage at a garage sale, and the pastel colors worked well with the front.

I brought the back to the front for a self-binding and used my faggoting foot to put a nice, straight topstitch on it.  This one finished up at 40×50.”

This one was made with scraps from quilt 2, which proves that no piece is too small to use! The pinks appear a bit more orange than in real life, so sorry about that.  It’s dark already there in FL, so these are all set without the benefit of all our normal sunshine and natural light. 

There’s a little bit of everything in this quilt, flowers, stripes, squares, swirls, stars, solid colors, and even two little pieces with purr-fect kitties.

I used this top to learn how to use a ruler as I stitched around each square, then I decided that wasn’t enough, so I added arcs in the middle squares.  I did ribbon candy on the outer border, and I must be improving because I managed it without getting confused or lost this time! I even added hearts and swirls in the corners! After I took it off the frame, I decided it still needed something, so I used my dual-feed foot on my Babylock and added two straight lines to each side of each block. I really like how it turned out, sort of mimicking the plaid on the flip side.  I didn’t have enough plaid to cover the whole thing, but, as it turns out, Susan McC, from Austin, TX, had sent me a big box of yardage, and it included 3 yards of little Victorian people.

The size and colors of the people coordinated very well with the little flowers of the outer border, so I added that to the plaid, and used strips of it for binding.  I used a very light peach thread on top and pale yellow in the bobbin. This one finished up at 40×48.

Again, the pinks show up a bit orange, so this top is really much prettier in person than it appears here.

I was really stumped on what to do with this top, as I felt a meander wouldn’t do justice to the design.  After considerable thought and pondering, I decided to do wavy lines in a simple grid pattern, and in-the-ditch straight stitching in the horizontal sashings.

It actually turned out better than I even imagined it would. I used a bright pink on top, to match the bright pink in the patchwork, and I used bright white in the bottom, to blend in with the Victorian people which Susan McC, from Austin, TX so generously shared with me.  

These four quilts will be taken to your local firehouse tomorrow, but if they don’t answer the door, I will take them to The New Church Without Walls, right next door.  They do a food giveaway on Mondays, so I know they will be gratefully accepted into their women’s and children’s ministry.

Thanks to you and all who donated time, materials, and money to make all this goodness happen.”

Stop the presses!!  Karin quilt sent another quilt so I’ll share that one with you too.

Karin writes:
“This beauty was pieced by Charlet, according to its attached tag, and, at 56×76, it is the largest top I have had on the frame so far!

Good thing you sent me a roll of batting!! And good thing we sprang for the 12-foot frame! Now that I have a handle on what I’m doing, I kinda wished we had also bought the 22-inch machine, instead of the 16 incher.  Oh well, on the bright side, I finally have a longarm!!!

I wanted the pretty prints in these four patches to shine, so I knew I wanted to keep their quilting simple. I ended up doing simple arcs from corner to corner, then echoed them for a little more detail.

I pondered and pondered on the large polka dot pieces (who doesn’t love a good polka dot) but the only design I was confident in was a large meander, so that’s what I did.  I used a light brown cotton thread, and, in some places, it appeared a different color, in other places it disappeared altogether, leaving only texture.  That was sure interesting!

On the flip side, you’ll recall the other purple sheet you sent me, and I used a navy blue polyester thread so the stitching would show up.

I wrapped the back to the front and used a matching purple to topstitch it down.”

AWESOME!  I love all of these.  Great work Karin!! I saw so many of them when they came in as tops and you did amazing work to make them shine.  Thanks to those who sent you backing fabric.  What a blessing!!  It’s always needed.  What many don’t know is that even 1 1/2 yard cuts are very helpful.  They can do a baby quilt or be added to another 1 1/2 yard cut to make a larger backing.  THANKS so much.