First up for you today I have an email from Ray sharing some of the quilt tops her recently got in…
Ray writes:
“My record keeping has failed me on the wonderful person that made this beautiful quilt top. I remain in awe of quilters that can sew circles and curves. I must admit that I have a mental hangup on sewing them and therefore will not even try them and learn to master them. When I received this top it did not have the outside border on it.
The outside border that came attached was the striped fabric. It was a bit small at 41 x 41 but just needed a bit of something.
Well, the other day, as luck would have it, I was putting away a piece of gold fabric and this top slid off the stack of tops to finish. When I held the two together, I immediately knew that the gold fabric was the outer border the top needed. Once I added the gold border, I started a search for the backing and found this blue fabric. 
It all came together. I selected the stipple motif to keep the quilting simple and the bone-colored thread.
I really love how this turned out. Someday I’ll try circles, but not today. Thank you, Jo and the creator of the top and the provider of the back. Sorry for not remembering your names but that is what the comment section on Jo’s blog is for – correcting me.”
A couple of weeks ago now, I got an email from Patty K in West Palm Beach, FL. She said she had…
found your website searching for a place to donate some quilt tops and found me as one of your finishers. She says she is relatively new to piecing and loves it. She has been making tops for Quilts for Kids but her local chapter is no longer active and has been sending them to Indianapolis for finishing. That arrangement has not been working out well for her. She is now going to be sending them to me to finish and donate to the Quilts for Kids chapter here in Fort Myers. Her local chapter used to give her strips to use from time to time. As luck would have it I have recently been getting yardage and tops from Nancy F. who is also in West Palm Beach. I have the two of them communicating so that Nancy can give fabric to Patty. I think it is going to be a win-win for both of them.
*Patty was watching a U-tube program on making a stack and whack quilt using “ugly” fabric. So she tried it and calls this her Ugly quilt. I wish I could say I never made an ugly quilt, but that would be a lie. I think we all have. Regardless, I think I can dress it up a lot when I long arm it. I am positive that someone will get it and love it. It measures 40 x 50.
* The next quilt is a disappearing nine patch, She did a super job with the piecing and fabric selection. It is small at 31 x 40 but big enough to get a lot of use.
* The last one is bright and bold. I love the checkerboard in the center with the bees. The borders really make this one pop. It measures 41 x 46.
I am sure we will see a lot more tops from Patty.  Thank you Patty!
Oh my. I love this story!! People are meeting like-minded people and Ray is forming his own little community of quilters. If you live in the West Palm Beach area and want to support a quilt top maker, contact Ray and he will get you in touch with Patty. How fun. Oh, it warms my heart!!
I always enjoy reading Ray’s posts. He finishes such a huge variety of quilts so well, turning them into desirable beauties. I most admire his skill of picking just the right colour fabric to add a border which finishes off the quilt perfectly. Today’s example is the gold border he added to the curved pieced quilt and I’m sure he will come up with a winner for Patty’s so called Ugly Quilt. Well done Ray!
Lovely quilts and I must admit the circles are not something I have ever tackled. Patty your quilts are wonderful to see, and I love the bees quilt, so cute.