Community Quilts from Karin

I have some eye candy for you all.  Karin sent emails that included three finished quilts.  Here they are…

Laurie writes:
“Greetings Jo! Had to dodge lightning bolts and floods to get these out, but I learned so many new stitches, it was absolutely worth the wait!

First up, we have sweet little kittties, I believe, from the Cresco ladies.  A pieced cat block was surrounded by little paw prints and some solid colors, with a couple of wide patches of printed kitty faces.

I figured it was as good a time as any to see if I could figure out a stencil.  Encouraged and emboldened by my results, I freehand chalked in similar arcs around the kitty block and free-handed some swirls and whiskers on the cat himself.  I tried a rendition of feathers in the printed kitties, and the silver thread it was using blended in very well, so no mistakes are visible….on the front anyway.

When it came to the outside border, all I could think of was a ball of yarn that rolled away, so that’s what I quilted.  Even the little ball!  What fun!

Hopefully, you can make out the stencil I used, along with that wild ball of yarn. I used part of a ginormous sheet you sent me for the backing, silver thread on top and in the bobbin, and the quilt finished up at a comfy 40×44.

I’ll take it, and the next two over to the local fire station in the morning.  Nights have turned cooler here, but they are still warmer than most of the rest of the country. Our homeless population soars in the winter because we are so much milder than anywhere else. All these quilts will be used before we can say Spring Forward!

I’m pretty sure this next one came from…

Annie M, of Washington state.  She found herself with a box of extra fabric and a couple of beautifully pieced tops that needed some attention, so she sent them my way. The piecing is immaculate, and the soft colors blend so well.  I believe it’s Michael Miller’s Fairy Frost adding a bit of shimmer to the sashings. 

I finally purchased that spool of white thread I’ve had my eyes on, and this quilt was the perfect place to use it.  The motif was a very simple vine, curl, and leaf, from edge to edge, and wishbones were used to frame all the blocks in.

The backing was half of a duvet cover you had sent me, and you can’t even see the stitches on the back.

I love it when that happens! This quilt finished at a very generous 48×62.

I thought that one fabric was so very poignant for our current world situation.

 

I *think* this purple beauty came from the Cresco ladies too. If not, it was from Susan McC, in Austin, TX.  I swear, Jo, I don’t know how you keep everybody and their donations straight! I have only received from you, Susan, and Annie, but, somehow, things get mixed up by the time I combine backings and tops, quilt them, wash them, take photos and write up a description.  Please accept my humble and sincere apologies if I don’t credit the right folks at the right time.  (We’ll just blame it all on my friend that came and helped, right?)

 

Anyway, back to purple beauty, here.  There were a lot of subtle florals in these prints, so that’s the direction my quilting took.  I used a dark gray thread and I just love the texture it added to the dark blocks.  I will admit, I might have gotten lost on some of the paisley blocks, as I just couldn’t see my stitching in them! I put humps (teeth?) in the narrow border all the way around, and used the other half of the duvet cover for the backing.  This one finished up at 52×60, plenty big for a mom and child to smuggle under at story time.

I’m glad that flower motif is easy and flows well; it looks so good when done right! And there’s that white thread again, blending in perfectly on the back.

As I mentioned earlier, these 3 quilts will be heading to the fire station in the morning, where they will be passed among all the county trucks and brigades. I know they will all be dispersed in the next month or so. Thank you all so very much!!

Fantastic job Karin.  I love how all of these turned out. Laurie is really an awesome longarmer and we’re so lucky to have her as part of our group.  Thanks to the many who donated to make these quilts happen.  Even thanks to the local person that took their old duvet cover to the local Goodwill so I could I buy it.  You can see it got used up in the backings of these quilts!!

P.S.
No worries if you mixed up what came from who.  It’s a hard job to keep it all straight.  I screw it up all of the time!!