Colorful Finishes

The pile of quilts is growing as I prepare to give a speech to a local women's group about quilting for charity.  I need lots of show and tell to make the speech more interesting and to make me more comfortable!

This first one is a rarity for me--made on the sewing machine! I got a charm pack and roll of strips from Connecting Threads in their Quilter's Candy prints. I removed a few because I didn't like brown and black with this collection and then made this quilt with the remainders. It took almost every square inch of the fabric.

 

This is one of my favorites of all time!  The fish patterns are from Sindy Rodenmayer at Fat Cat Patterns.  The other animal shapes are taken from the border fabric, which is exceptionally cute and of course, completely unavailable now!

I call this one "Mitten Match".  It has 20 matching pairs.  One pair is actually two left mittens.  I plan to put a label on the back to tell the recipient that it is a matching game.

Bear Family Doll Quilt

Here's the doll quilt I made for this month's swap.  It is now in the home of a quilter in Tennessee.  The cute bear patterns are from Sindy Rodenmayer at www.fatcatpatterns.com  (Her patterns are for 12-inch blocks, but I scaled them down to 6 inches.)  The little family is modeled after my son's family with their two little girls. 

I've really been enjoying these swaps.  This size quilt is just the right size to try out a theme or idea and get it done quickly.  My quilt this month came from Oregon and is so darn cute!  I will have to post a picture soon of all the quilts I've received to date.

This isn't all of the sewing I'm doing.  I'm still making quilts for Project Linus, with a little extra push on getting a bunch done before I have to make a speech to a women's group in September.  I'm a little nervous about the speech, so I want to have lots of show and tell to get me through it!  So far I have 9 quilts made for that day and hope to have 20 by that date.

Another Doll Quilt

I'm having a lot of fun with the Doll Quilt Swap on the Quilting Bee Forum!  Our theme this month, set by capable host Debbie, was applique, so I made a winter mitten quilt with a snowflake background.  It flew to New York, and its recipient seems to like it a lot.  I wonder what Debbie will suggest for next month's theme.

My quilt this month was from host Debbie in Idaho.  She used the darling paper doll prints, including a large doll on the front of the quilt.  I'm afraid to show it to my granddaughters, because they'll want to take it home.

Doll Quilts

As a member of the Quilting Bee Forum on Delphi Forums, I have the opportunity to participate in some really interesting swaps and group projects.  One of our swap hostesses, Debbie, has sponsored five swaps of doll quilts, which range in size from 16 to 20 inches.  I have participated in the last two, and these are my contributions to the wholecloth and winter blues swaps.  They went to quilters in Idaho and New York.  I received darling quilts from North Carolina and California.

We just started the sixth swap, an applique swap.  I have already gotten a good start on my quilt, which will feature bright colors.

Fingers Are Cold but Still Busy

I know many people hate winter, but since I started quilting (26 years ago), I have had a special appreciation for these months.  Being stuck inside provides extra time for quilting.  I particularly love doing my hand applique or hand quilting by the fire in our family room.  That would explain these two quilts that I'll deliver to the children's hospital this week.

The first one is adapted from a pattern in a Debbie Mumm book.  I had everything in my stash except the border print.

This bull frog design is from my favorite designer, Sindy Rodenmayer.  You can click on the cat on the right side of the screen to see her amazing site, Fat Cat Patterns.

Goodbye for now!  My fingers are warmed up, so I think I'll stitch a little more on my newest applique project while I listen to the Chiefs/Ravens game. 

Back in Action

It felt good to be back at my volunteer job at the hospital today and to deliver a quilt for Project Linus.  The Child Life employee said she had a teenage girl in mind for it already.  She just had surgery and will probably be hospitalized through Christmas.   It's probably already on her bed.  Things just work out!

This quilt top was made totally of scraps.  All I had to buy was the backing.  The levels in my bright fabric bins have really gone down!  Now here's my dilemma--should I work them all the way down making scrap quilts or go shopping to replenish them?

What Happened to November?

I just realized that I need to post right away or I will miss the whole month of November.  Ah, yes, November, the month I parted company with my gallbladder.  It turns out that all of those stomach aches and back pains were trying to tell me something! 

This post is your anatomy lesson for today.  Know your digestive system and pay attention if you have pains under your right ribcage.  I gave up my gallbladder a week ago and feel much better!

Newest Finishes

It's always good to finish things.  I love to start projects, especially with applique blocks.  I'll whip up the blocks and stick them in a drawer--or I'll make a top and then hang it in my UFO closet.  (There are way too many in there.)  However, in the past week or so, I've finished three things!  

 First is this little quilt (about 21 x 29) that I am donating at the hospital where I volunteer.  They're having a raffle to raise money for benevolence projects.  I hope it stimulates some ticket sales.

Next is this child's quilt that went to Project Linus.  The animal shapes are from a book called Polka-Dot Quilts.

This last quilt also went to Project Linus.  It's special because I got the border and backing fabrics on trips to Dallas to visit friends from my internet quilting forum. 

Yet Another Chance to Vote!

I've entered the Weekly Themed Quilt Contest on Quilting Gallery.  Here's the link if you'd like to view the teddy bear quilts:  http://quiltinggallery.com/tag/weekly-themed-quilt-contest/
As always, if you feel I deserve your vote, I'd appreciate it.  Anything I win is funneled back into my charity quilting.

The bear pattern was designed by Sindy Rodenmayer at www.fatcatpatterns.com

Finished Quilts=Eye Candy

Lots of pictures today!  I have finished several Project Linus quilts lately.  This is the way I always seem to work--start several quilts within the span of a few weeks, work on them all at the same time, and then finish them within a few weeks.  The first two quilts will go to the hospital with me tomorrow.

The last two quilts went last week.  I got to give the sea life quilt to the mother of a three-week-old baby who had been very sick in Pediatric Intensive Care but had survived and was going home that day. 

My Most-Traveled Quilt

While browsing through the file of quilts I've made, I paused on this one and thought about how far it had traveled to find its recipient.  My quilts have gone all over the USA, but this one, amazingly, went to an orphanage in Bangladesh! (There was an opportunity to donate through a member of my quilting forum.)

That little cutie on the right in the front row is now the owner of a jungle animal quilt I made.  His smile has kept me going for a long time.

Quilts for Beautiful Granddaughters

On Monday I will spend the night with my darling granddaughters, ages 4 1/2 and 2, and I will be giving them their new quilts.  I've had them ready for several months but was saving them for cooler weather.  However, the older DGD called and asked for hers, knowing that I had been working on it!  That made me feel so great that I'll be delivering their nice, warm quilts in 95-degree weather!

First is the two-year-old's quilt, full of hearts and little rag dolls.  Each doll has a different embroidered facial expression, from extremely happy to mad as @#$%.  This little doll loves to play with dolls and has a very nurturing way about her.  I hope she likes her dolly "banky".

This next quilt is for Miss Four-Going-on-Sixteen.  She chose a big fat quarter pack for me last Christmas.  After a little editing and adding some more fabrics (had to shop--darn), I made this daisy quilt for her.  I was lucky to find one of the prints for the backing, too, as well as finding my favorite Fossil Fern for the flower petals.

Monday night I might have to turn down the AC and tuck my DGDs in with their new quilts!