In My Mail…

oops.
I had a scheduling error.  There are two blog posts up this morning.  This in my mail post and a post about my Stove Top Griddle that I’ve had so many questions about.  HERE is the link to that post.

Now on to the mail post…

My mail box was overflowing with Halloween fabric but I also got a whole bunch of other boxes too.  Many sent goodies along with their Halloween fabric too.   Grab a drink…this is a LONG post.

Ellie sent Rosie a new toy.
Rosie has been loving this toy.  She previously has been super aggressive with toys with squeakers but she’s doing great with this one.  It’s still in tack and that is a record for her.  THANKS from us both Ellie.

The next package came from Joyce.

There were all sorts of goodies inside.

There was a started project and fabric…

There were TONS of leftover quilt pieses that are so fun.  All are organized so nicely.

The next box came from Jill in MN.  She had goodies inside of her box…can you guess??YES, finished quilt tops.

Check the quilts out…

I took a close up of this quilt.  I figured several of you quilters might want to see the blocks.

Jill was a busy gal.  Check out the cute top she made with a panel.

Here is another fun scrappy one.  Jill included extra fabric with them all.  That’s awesome as there is enough for a binding for sure.  I know many of our people who finish tops struggle with a good binding fabric especially on  a quilt like the one below.  The colors are wonderful but not all of us have the light peachy color in our stash so it’s hard to match.  Having the extra makes is so easy.

Here is one more…simple but so sweet.

Kay in Iowa sent the next box.  She included a sweet letter.  I so appreciate it.

She sent food fabrics which I have been collecting.  I love them.

Karen M sent the next box.  She lives outside of Chicago.  She noticed that I have mentioned Ila a time or two.  Ila is a sweet-sweet blog reader who has taken our family under her wing.  I know of no one sweeter.  Anyway, Karen started wondering if the Ila I talk about is the same Ila she knows.  SHE IS!!  How fun is that.  They actually live pretty close to each each other.

Karen sent all sorts of patterns and cross stitch goodies.  SO FUN.  You know what I’ve been doing…checking them all out.

…and believe it or not, the package is from the very same Ila!!  Here’s where I need to make a confession.  Karl and I ate one of the bags of Cashew Clusters already.  Karl was here when I opened the box.  He was so excited.  He grabbed one bag and screamed, “THANK YOU ILA!!” as he ran around the room dancing with the Cashew Clusters.  How could I tell him not to open them and then once he did…well you know, we couldn’t quit eating them.  Seriously Ila, you are too good to us.  She sent quilt books too.

Karl was not nearly as excited about the quilt books…but I was!!

A gal in our area who is an amazing talent when it comes to alterations, messaged me after she altered Kalissa’s families wedding atire.  She had scraps and did I want them.  Of course!!  She stopped them by.

There were three bags of goodies.

There were non-cotton fabrics like the cute fleece and there were upholstery samples.  I have a friend that makes wheel chair and walker bags with the upholstery.    I saved that out for her.

There were tons of scrap from leftover projects.

…even more…

I pulled out these pieces.  They are Iowa Hawkeye and Iowa State fabric.  I had some before but it was all used in mask making.  I put this in my stash in case I need to make more masks.  Carver does a great job with his masks but repeated washing and the wear and tear of a boy means he’ll likely need some more.  This will be great!!

The next package had no name.  It came for Minnesota.

There was postage money and scraps galore.

These are strips of 2 1/2″ pieces sewn in strips.  They just need to be sewn together.  FUN!

The next package came from Hawaii.  For real!!  That suprised me.  I had to look up the state abbreviation for Hawaii and yes, it is HI just as the package said.

This but little quilt top was in there…

There were also three different sets of quilt blocks along with other goodies…and Halloween fabric!!

There was no note in the box so all I know is it came from Hawaii.

Up next is a box from Texas…This awesome top was inside.  I love it!!

Along with two sets of nice blocks.  These….

…and these…

I have a note out to a finisher to see if she is interested in the blocks.  Feel free to leave your name in the comment section if you are interested and she isn’t.  Of course the blocks need to be finished into a quilt and passed along to a charity or benefit.

These will be used for an upcoming auction here on the blog to benefit the postage fund. They are from Penni.  I love these!!
These vintage blocks came from Holly.  She sent Halloween fabric too.  These will be used for an upcoming auction here on the blog to benefit the postage fund.

These prints came from Judy P.  The card is so pretty.  I kept both of these prints.  I’ve been saving 30s prints.  I’ve not really ever made a quilt with them and I want to.

Celesta the gal that organizes the Tanzanian baby quilt drive sent me a cookbook along with postage money.  She is so sweet.  The cookbook is from the Amish community near her.  I love it!  I tried a recipe already for chocolate muffins.  The kids loved them.

Diane in WA sent these goodies.  The kids were excited about stickers.  I had passed much of my collection on to the gal that was doing childcare for my kiddos when I was off.  I have some again for them.  I am checking out the two cookbooks and will then pass them on to Kalissa.  She is a big meal prep girl and likes to cook for a week long when she can…and of course, there was calico fabrics!  I still have a calico quilt on my to-do list.

The next box I think I’ve mixed up.  As I was taking pictures the contractor came to look at my bathroom.  Remember I said something about putting a shower in?  Well I was moving things around and opening another box and got things all mixed up when I went back to photographing after he left.  I think this came for Jeanne in Guttenburg Iowa.  It’s just a short drive from my house!!

These came for the kids too!

We found what worked best for them were dry erase markers!

This quilt kit came too!  Everyone is so sweet to send goodies for the charity quilt project and to the kiddos.  They love being included.

I told you all that I was making another deadline quilt, besides the Halloween one.  Well Moda sent just what I need for it!  YAHOO!!  I am a HUGE grunge fan and am so grateful they sent it.  I have backing, background and binding here.  The Grunge dot makes my heart go pitter pat.  It’s my fave.

This package was from Judi in OR.  She sent a set of sampler blocks she was ready to move on to one of you…

Beverly in IN sent three finished quilt tops.  They are so nice.

This scrappy one was my favorite.

…but this was so nice too.

All three of these will go with Kalissa next time Gannon has an appointment in Iowa City.  She drops finished quilts off at the homeless shelter in Cedar Rapids.  They are always so happy to get them.

The next box came from California.

There were all sorts of goodies in this box.  There were bigger pieces of fabric.

I picked these three as my favorites.  The hockey fabric I am sending with Sandra from the Cresco ladies.  Her granddaughter plays hockey and her hockey friend make charity quilts.  This will be perfect!!  I lvoe the cowboy fabric.  I grew up watching cowboy westerns with my Dad.  I love the white fabric with the blue design.  There aren little puppies on it.  SO CUTE!!

Sue in IN sent the next box.

It was LOADED with scraps.  I’m taking a guess that Sue made masks and these are the leftovers.  I don’t know…just a guess.

Even more scraps!!

There were a few pieces of bigger fabric…and THIS…a treasure trove of embroidery floss!!

WOW.  It’s so nice and organized.  I love it!!

I also got about 30 more envelopes in with Halloween fabric.  I’ve been pulling a piece and cutting something the second those pieces come in trying to get them into the quilt.

THANKS SO VERY MUCH!!!

Can you believe I made it through all of that??  I did.  I was LOADED with mail.  It took me about over three hours to go through it all, label the quilts who they were made by,  take pictures, edit them, write this post and package the tops up and send them out.  WOW.  Thanks for all the love everyone.  As of this moment I am caught up with the mail!!  That is a major accomplishment.