Charity Quilt IV

At some point last fall I sent off to www.quiltsforkids.org for a kit to make a quilt for their project. Unfortunately, life interfered, and it took me a lot longer than they would have preferred for me to finish their quilt. They prefer 4-6 weeks. It took me more like four months!

Quilts for kids is a program sponsored by Downey and other companies which receives free fabric from some fabric companies which it then passes on to volunteers who make kids' quilts. These quilts are given to hospitalized children at certain hospitals which participate in the Quilts for Kids program.
Seems like a pretty good and easy idea. And it is. It took me such a long time, I guess, because they require that absolutely everythign has to be done by machine. The label has to be sewn on by machine, the quilt has to be quilted by machine, the binding has to be sewn on, completely, by machine, etc. etc. So, this became the first quilt I have EVER quilted on my machine. And, before I could do it, I had to get a walking foot and learn how to use it! I have to say I didn't particularly like all their strict rules - though I understand the necessity - the quilts will be washed a lot so they need to be able to stand up to that, is their reasoning.

And I am happy that I now feel like I can machine quilt my own baby quilts, when and if I feel like doing that. Otherwise, I generally hand quilt them, but it is nice to have that option.

Noah's Ark

Last year a lot of people I knew had babies - some of them quite suddenly and unexpectedly - to me at least, hopefully they had some idea it would happen! As a result I found myself making a lot of baby quilts, some of them without much notice. That wasn't as much fun as I like for quilting to be, and therefore I decided that when time allowed, I would try to get a bit ahead of the curve and once in a while make a baby quilt - even if no particular baby was on its way - at least not one that I knew of. So I would have at least one baby quilt, should I suddenly need or want one to give away!
Here is a picture of the first such "extra" baby quilt I made, held by my adorable Little Sister, Marisela, who I "acquired" in August of 2009, through Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Bluegrass. Let me take this opportunity to give a big shout-out to Big Brothers and Big Sisters. It is a great program which needs lots of big sisters and brothers - the latter is in particularly short supply. One person can really make a difference in a child's life. I have no illusions about what kind of difference I may or may not make in Marisela's life, but I know she and I both have a great time hanging out together. She makes my life a lot happier and she gets to do things she could never do without me.

We found a use for this baby quilt this past weekend when we made some new friends. I met Lin through my volunteer work at our local low-cost spay/neuter clinic, and at some point told her about Marisela. Lin suggested we might want to get together with her and her granddaughter, Kayla, to do something fun once in a while. That happened for the first time on Saturday and it was a huge success. Marisela and Kayla got along famously and it was uncanny how much they even looked alike, they could've been sisters separated at birth! Kayla's skin is a bit lighter than Marisela's and Marisela's hair is a bit less frizzy than Kayla's but otherwise it is very close! And after playing together for a couple of hours they were both ready to have play dates every day!

A couple of days before we met Kayla, her mother had given birth to Kayla's first sibling, a baby brother named Conner. So Marisela and I decided to give Kayla the baby quilt for her new brother. Between lunch and the afternoon play date, we came back to my house and wrote the dedication on the label. Marisela liked putting her name on it and wrote in the card that she hoped Conner would like the quilt that "Charlotta and I made for him!"

I look forward to making a quilt for Marisela and perhaps even helping her make one herself, or at least helping her design something which I can then sew for her.

Peace by Piece VI

It makes me so happy to see that some of the young women members of the Peace by Piece quilters are still quilting away even in my absence. Of course, quite apart from being quilters, they are also dear friends of mine and it is an honor and a joy to be able to spend time with them when I visit Atlanta. Meeting as Peace by Piecers is just a good excuse for me to get together with the youngsters who, I am sure, have much better things to do than indulge an old woman like myself!

In October it was exciting for all of us that Ela had her finished quilt to show off. She had finished hand piecing the top and elicited help from one or more of the other Peace by Piecers - plus staff at the Intown Quilter- to make the decision about borders. Then it was machine quilted by Regina Carter, and Ela took a class on bias binding, taught by my friend and fellow AIQ guild member Patty Murphy, also at Intown Quilter. All of which resulted in this gorgeous quilt:
Here Ela, proudly and happily, shows off both the front and the back of her quilt with the help of Mica. I had no idea what she had put on the back: fabric from the Tree Top Fancy collection by Anna Maria Horner, which I just love.

Meanwhile, Shelby also sent me a picture of a quilt she finished. While she is still working on the quilt she was doing for Peace by Piece, she had always wanted to do a quilt from old jeans she had been saving. I had discouraged that, saying it would be to hard to work with for a beginner. Silly me, a quilt teacher should NEVER say anything to discourage students! Here is her jeans quilt, pictured with one of her cats.
Of course, I do not have a favorite student. Something a teacher also should NEVER have. But I must say that Kirsten definitely is the most prolific of the Peace by Piece quilters (not counting myself, of course, but I don't really count - if for no other reason, then because, unlike every body else, I don't have a full time job).
Here is a quilt Kirsten recently finished - after soliciting advice from all of us, via facebook, on the border. She had another one originally, but actually took it off and put this new one on. Either one would have worked, I think, but if she didn't think so, clearly the first one was wrong.

Kirsten even came to visit me - the first of the Peace by Piecers to do so - I await visits from the rest - around Christmas. She and her adorable puppy Theo, stopped by for overnight visits on their way to Chicago and on the way back. It was great.
Here is another Kirsten quilt, pictured with Theo. I know Kirsten have other quilts in the works - or perhaps even finished - and I hope pictures are forthcoming. I also know that Mica will finish her beautiful purple quilt. And I sure hope to hear again soon from Marie - who has traveled the world and is now a busy public defender in Washington, DC. Stay tuned.

Welcome to the World

This map of the world cheater cloth is very colorful and though infants obviously have no idea what is going on there, parents think it is a lot of fun, so I bought a couple of them for this very purpose. I hand quilted this one and gave it to our friends, Chris and Helen Adams, for their son and first born, Elias, who was born in August.
And, lo and behold, here is a picture I recently received, of Elias on the quilt. He must be around six months old in the photo and sure looks like a very cute, happy, and healthy kid!

Tiny Tree Skirt

A couple of years ago, Michelle and I made tree skirts from a pattern I had bought. I kind of made her do it with me but as it turned out we had lots of fun. Since we never have a big tree, I gave mine to my sister - but I have never heard whether she has used it? Then, subsequently I decided to make a tiny one - it is about 24" across - for my own tiny tree. It was only finished now, in January! several years later. But I will surely use it this year.

The tree skirts aren't at all hard to make, with the pattern I have. So why did it take so long? Because there are too many quilts to make and too little time, I guess. The only reason it actually was finally finished, was because of the Closer Club. Thank you Michelle, Closecutive Extraordinaire. (And for those of you who don't understand this reference, don't worry, it is really very much of an inside reference :))