Hope quilts

It is snowing gently this afternoon, and I am glad to be in the house were it is warm.... oops guess I just gave away that I am writing this early... ah well.

Hope the snow from Friday hasn't caused much of a headache for you.  My husband told me I couldn't go out in it, so I am spending the day running Fonzie and getting the labels on the last 9 quilts for donation this year.  I hope to deliver them all on Monday morning, or least that is the goal.

Today I want to show you the quilts that I delivered earlier this fall to the Department of Human Services.  They will use their discretion on handing them out to a child in crisis.  It was my first delivery to them, and I loved watching the smiles come across the employees faces as they looked at the quilts.

ICQ 37

 ICQ 38

ICQ # 39

All three of these quilts were donated by Lynne completely finished.  They were the perfect size for a young person and I love how each is so different.  It will give the case workers a lot of choice when they decide to pick a quilt.

ICQ # 40

ICQ # 41

ICQ # 42

ICQ #43

All four of these quilts were made and donated by Betty W for Iowa Comfort.  All were so soft and cuddly, and I can see some young boy playing with his cars on ICQ #43, cant you? Or a little girl setting down to play tea with Winnie on ICQ 3 41.

ICQ#58

ICQ59

Rhonda H came to a charity sew day in Northern Iowa and put together these two little quilts.  I love how she made them so bright and cheery!  And I had that one panel for a long time and couldn't figure out what to do with it.  So glad that she was able to make these two awesome quilts!

ICQ#44

Pat A was at the same charity sew day that Rhonda attended. She brought with her some starter/ leader strips that ended up making the 16 patch blocks.  Then she sashed the blocks and added cornerstones to make this bright and cheerful quilt.

ICQ #55

This quilt was made by Penny.  This quilt was so soft and warm, I know it is going to bring a smile to a little girls face...and I can see it becoming a security blanket for who ever gets it.  It screams let me wrap you up and bring you comfort.

ICQ# 53

This quilt was made by Heartstrings.  It is an online group that make strip quilts for those who need comfort.  Peg volunteered to quilt the top for the organization and bind the quilt.  Then Peg was able to donate the top to the charity of her choice.... and we received the donation.  This top was larger than the others, but I thought that sometimes older children need comfort also...and it told me that it belonged with the others.

Most of these quilts came to me ready to donate, and all I had to do was put the label on them.  I would like to thank everyone that created these quilts for supporting Iowa Comfort.  I know that all of the quilts will be well loved by those who receive them.

Have a nice weekend...

Merry Christmas!

It will be a quiet day around here today.  We met up with family at my Mom's house yesterday afternoon.  That allows everyone to get to the other side of their families today.

I plan on getting the binding applied to the last quilt of the year, and I should be able to get it all stitched down in the next couple of days.  It is a large quilt for one of the family beds at the center.  I'll get a picture of it before I deliver it on Friday.

Speaking of deliveries, here is are some pictures of the quilts that I delivered to Iowa Crisis and Advocacy on October 30th.

 quilt 35

 quilt 36

 Quilt 47

 Quilt 48

 Quilt 53

Quilt 54

The first four quilts are all double or queen size, the last two will fit a twin size bed.

Quilts 35 and 36 were donated tops made by a group of ladies up in northern Iowa.  They quilt for charity, but did not have the means to get the tops quilted so they were donated to us.  Thank you Marcia and Friends!

Quilts 47 & 48 were pieced by Renise and Viv, at a charity sew day that Lynne hosted earlier this fall.  The fabric was donated by Jacque at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods. Thank you ladies for your support

Quilts 53 and 54 came to me from Peg.  Peg is another longarm quilter and she volunteers her quilting on quilts from "Heartstrings" a group that makes string quilts for charities.  Once the longarm quilter is done quilting the quilt, she can donate it to a charity of her choice.  Peg's choice was Iowa Comfort.  Peg thank you for thinking of us, and sharing your talents!

Hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season!

Going to the dogs!

I had Owen over night and almost forgot to post today.  I usually don't feel old, but I usually need a nap after a visit from one of the grandkids.... and they are such good grandkids!

I also almost forgot that I was making a trip to Aheintz 57 dog shelter this afternoon.  Today's donation was two big doggy pillows, and 15 doggy mats of various sizes.

I had made another delivery to the dog shelter on October 27th.  I just hadn't gotten it posted yet.  This is what I took up on that visit.

More pillows, and more dog mats.  

The pillows are made from double knit fabric that has been donated to Iowa Comfort.  Knit fabric doesn't work well in quilts, but is wonderful for these pillows.  The inside is full of those little slivers of fabric that are left over when cutting for piecing, or left over batting.  I can't keep those pillows around my house for long....cause Mork and Mindy get upset when I won't let them have them. (Not like they don't already have 5 or 6 around this place.... but they always want the latest one made. 

The mats are made when I am practicing a new design on the longarm.  I throw fabric on and test the design to see if I want to add it the mix...or to determine the time that the pattern will take to stitch.  When I am satisfied that I have mastered the design, I pull off the quilt sandwich cut it into a squares and use up my binding tails from previous quilts to cover the raw edges.

Amy says that they have a lot of puppies that will be ready for adoption after the first of the year... so if you are looking for a puppy..... think about Aheintz57 shelter.

2 little quilts

A short little post today.  

So much sadness over the last several days.  I have stayed away from the computer, and spent time with fabric.

I did manage to quilt two small quilts for Iowa Comfort on Sunday, and I am working on the bindings at night.

Yesterday I did make 10 pillowcases that I will be sending to Connecticut.  Such a small thing.  I know that the goal was 600.....but I bet that there will be many more than that received.  I actually think, given how many places I saw the request, that they will probably receive 10 times their goal.

I heard that project Linus also sent quilts to Connecticut.

I hope that these donations can be a small moment of calm, for those that get them.  I know while working on my pillowcases it provided me with a moment of peace.

Hug your family.

A Special wish of Comfort

I know (or at least I hope) all of the quilts we have made bring a touch of warmth and comfort to those who receive them.... but I really hope that the little girl that gets comfort quilt #46 feels the love when she gets it.

First I want to tell you a little bit about how this quilt came to be, and then I will tell you where it is headed.

As most of you know this year has been a tough on for me, and doing the comfort quilts has been a blessing....and sometimes it feels consuming.

Lynne Mulder decided to host a charity sew day with a group of online quilting buddies, with the tops coming to Iowa Comfort earlier this year.  

Deb Steere is one of the ladies that showed up to help out that day, and she brought a ton of fabric to donate also.

Sandy Olson, another member of our online group, was drawn to a red, white, pink and lime green jelly roll that Deb had donated.  She decided that she would do the 1600 quilt with the jelly roll.  Sandy prefers not to have the diagonal splice between the ends, so she cut 2.5 inch pink squares to put between each strip of fabric.  And started sewing the ends together.  I had to head back home early afternoon. So I finished sewing the body of the top together at an one open sew about a month ago, but I didn't bring enough border to finish one border... so the quilt sat waiting for me to get back to it.

About two weeks ago I got a call from Jackie Orton.  She belongs to the same online group, and we are both members of a local quilt group.  Jackie is also very involved with the local school alumni.  One of the school's alumni has a preteen daughter that is battling cancer, and is undergoing chemo in Iowa City.  The alumni group was hoping to get a comfort quilt made up for her and contacted Jackie (because she is quilty!), Jackie and I spoke and we knew this quilt belong to this little girl.

Jackie took the quilt home to finish putting the last of the borders on it.  Nancy Hagelberg, quilted the quilt using meandering hearts. The quilt was then passed off to Joyce Scott who finished the binding on it, and the quilt was given back to Jackie Orton for the label to be attached.  Oh yes.... Nancy and Joyce are both members of that famous online group, and the local quilt group.

So as close as I can remember 7 people had a hand in making this special quilt, and I have to think that maybe there was a little help in timing from above.... so that this quilt went to the right person.

Here are a couple of pictures of the quilt finished.  I think it turned out beautiful, and I hope that it truly brings comfort to the child going through this difficult time! 

Jackie created a very touching label for the quilt, I chose not to show it here to maintain the privacy of the child receiving the quilt.

As I sit here and write this post, I realize that my year hasn't been all that tough....and there was a reason I was drawn to create Iowa Comfort.  

A special thanks to all that had a hand in the creation of this quilt.

My Christmas wish is for a full and speedy recovery for the little girl who received this quilt.

Finally I am BACK

Man it is good to be back!  The last 8 -10 days have been ROUGH! 

On my last post I told you I was feeling a little icky..... well it got bad.  I haven't been ill for over a week in a very long time, but I made up for it with a vengeance.  There are four days that I am pretty sure I never left my bed, and I think I slept all but 6 hours of those 4 days.

Back to more pleasant things.  I have all but one of my customer quilts completed for the year.  I hope to get that one done by Wednesday.

Today I am working on getting the binding on one of our comfort quilts, then I can bind it over the next several evenings while sitting in front of the TV.    

I have two small quilts to get quilted for Iowa Comfort yet this week, and then one large one next week. The goal is to have all three of these quilts quilted and bound for delivery before the end of the year.

If I make that goal it will mean, with A LOT OF HELP FROM MY FRIENDS, we will have donated 65 quilts to local charities to provide a little warmth and comfort.

I would say we have had a pretty spectacular first year.  We left the initial goal ( the one that my son and husband thought were lofty) in the dust within the first couple months of 2012.  I have no intention of setting a numeric goal for next year.  We will just continue to do what we have been doing and see how it all works out.  

I do have 30 kits ready to be sewn together, and 14 quilt tops ready to be quilted already for next year.... So I just know that it will be another good year!

I'll have pictures of a delivery for you on Saturday.  Have a great week everyone!

More donation pics

 Rose Ann Christiansen donated a bag of fabric a couple of weeks ago.  I apologize to her, for not recognizing the donation before now.  I probably have enough material for all of the posts for the rest of the year already....but I do try to get donations on in a timely fashion.

Here is what Rose Ann sent us:

Five or six different check prints, each one being around a yard.  I am thinking we could make several lap quilts with this fabric...and DHS told me that there was a need for quilts for elderly persons.  They do occasionally have cases where an elderly person has been abused, and would like to provide a quilt to them for comfort. 

Rose Ann also provided these:

She must have been practicing her quilting skills.  These are 2 layers of fabric sandwiched with a layer of batting all quilted up.  There are six different sets, just waiting for me to add a binding to them.  Then they will be donated to the local dog shelter.  They will provide warmth and comfort to a dog being transported in a crate.  These mats might very well be the first nice thing that a dog has encountered in a long time.  AHeintz 57 shelter specializes in finding homes for dogs that have been abused or neglected.

Thank you Rose Ann for your donations.  I'll put it all to good use, I promise.

Just as a heads up, I am feeling a little icky, and my husband has been ill for a week.  So if there is no post on Tuesday, you'll understand.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

The rest of Diane & Lois's donation

On Saturday I showed you the first couple of tubs that Diane and her mother donated to Iowa Comfort. Here is a picture of that donation just as a refresher:

In that middle tub ( the grey one with the green lid) there was some fabric, but mostly it was chunks of batting that can be used in either the hope quilts or our doggy mats.

Then there was the blue tub to go thru.  I worked on it Sunday as I was quilting a customer quilt.  Here is what I ended up with out of that tub.

Now that is the same stack of fabric, just from different angles.  Count them....yes that is an additional 14 bolts of fabric.  Most of those bolts have a minimum of 3 yards of fabric on them.  So lets just call it another 42+ yards of fabric. 

Much of this fabric will be used for backing material for the hope quilts.  Since we have 35 of the hope quilts kitted already,  I will be busy piecing backings together for them later this month and early next year.

Thank you again Diane and Lois for the donation.  I will put all of the fabric to good use.

PS.  I really am out of room now, so please either hold on to any future donations, or donate to another charity that can use the fabric.  Thanks so much for being so generous and awesome!

Lucy you have some xplainin to do!

Earlier this week I heard that very phrase from my husband. 

It went something like this.

"Honey I'm starting to cook lunch." 

"Okay, but I have a lady coming over from Adel with a fabric 
donation." 

Hubby says' " I thought you got the word out that you don't have any room right now to store more fabric?" 

Me " But the lady didn't get the news and she already had it loaded and was at the quilt shop... so I told the shop to send her on over."

A little while later up drives Dianne Melendez in her SUV.  I walk out to greet her and realize that I might have a little problem.

Diane's mother Lois Schmid was in the middle of a move, and they took the opportunity to reduce Diane's and Lois' stash.  The back of her SUV was full!  

I quickly decided that since it was a nice day, we would just unload the car on the bench out back, and I would bring it all in after I ate my lunch....and when my husband was back downstairs. Which is exactly what I did!  Take a look...

I brought it all in and stacked it up in my computer room...hubby rarely comes in there. Those two bottom tubs are 77 gallon tubs, the top one was a 55 gallon tub, and a large sack of fabric.  And you know, I no more got it all stacked and my dear hubby came into my room.  He took one look at the stack and said "Lucy you have some xplainin to do!"  We both cracked up and he said "Seriously where are you going to put it all?"

Yesterday while in the quilt room, I tackled the top two tubs.

 There were lots of flannel pieces.

Check out all of the butterfly fabrics.

And all of these floral fabrics.

And then there is this.  If there was more than 2 yards of the fabric, it went on a bolt.  There are 26 bolts there... for a minimum of 52 yards of fabric.  I still have that bottom tub to dive into, so make sure to come back on Tuesday to see what was in that bottom tub.

A big THANK YOU to Diane and Lois for sharing their fabric with Iowa Comfort.  I know a lot of this fabric will be used to piece together backs for the Hope Quilts.

Donation from Jacque

I just have to give a great big THANK YOU to Jacque Johnson, owner of Adel Quilting and Dry Goods.  

Without her I would be hard pressed to be able to accomplish the things that we are doing for Iowa Comfort.  She allows her shop to be a drop off for fabric donations when I am in need of them, and has donated fabric to Iowa Comfort.  She promo's Iowa Comfort events on her blog.  She sends customers my way for quilting.  Those customer quilts are the funding for Iowa Comfort, that is how the batting and backing get purchased. And as if that wasn't enough support she has also donated this quilt.

The quilt was made from strips that had been collected at a previous retreat.   Jacque put flannel on the back of it and quilted up.  Such a warm and cozy quilt that will makes someones year!  So pretty!  I think the pattern is available at the shop.

And then there is this:

Jaqcue collected 10 inch squares at her retreat in fall colors.  Then donated those squares to Iowa Comfort.  Last night after coming home from Circle of Friends I started sorting these blocks into like colors. The first pattern I thought of when I saw these blocks was a star...I see some time with EQ7 in my future.

Thank you again Jacque for all of your generosity.  Thanks also to everyone who donated the 10 inch squares of fabric.

I would like to wish everyone a safe and joyous Thanksgiving.  Hope you come back for Saturdays post.

Yummy!

I am running behind schedule this morning, so this is going to be a quick post. I forgot that I was suppose to be in Adel this morning for our last meeting of Prairie Woman's Sewing Group.  Hard to believe that it has been six months already.

Back to today's post.  Today I want to show you a donation quilt from Pat Dorman.

The quilt is completely finished, so it will be donated before the end of the year. All I need to do is get a label on it and measure it.  Depending on the size it will either go to Crisis and Advocacy Center or Dallas/Madison Co. DHS.

Are you wondering about the title of the post?  Well the quilt pattern is called "Yummy" by Jaybird Quilts. I think it is a wonderful quilt.... I am also thinking about how my green and blue bins are overflowing with fabric.  I could see this quilt being made many more times in a future sew day.

Pat did a wonderful job piecing and quilting this quilt.  When she quilted it she cross hatched the quilt... and she did a great job! (much better than I could have)

Thank you for your generosity Pat! Some lucky person is going to love it, I just know it!

Make sure to come back Tuesday to see another donation.  

Have a great weekend!

Sue Denny part 2

Today I am going to show you the rest of Sue's donation.  There are still three boxes to share with you.  Here are the content of two of those boxes.

 Above there are some large pieces of white fabric, sit either pink or blue little flowers on them.  There is also a bag of smaller pieces that can be cut down to be used in a 9 patch quilt I have on the design wall.

 There were several pieces of kids novelty prints.  A large piece of batik fabric, with coordinating bright fabric to use with it.  And see that fabric in the top row 4th from the right?  It is the PERFECT fabric to bind a comfort quilt that I just finished on the long arm.  LOVE IT!

 A whole jumbo bag (2.5 gallon) of sewing/quilting themed fabric.

 Also a jumbo bag of child fabric.  We have Winnie, Thomas, Humpty Dumpty, Elmo and Hello Kitty in there.

This is the last of the fabric from these two boxes....mostly in the blue family. 

And then there is the last box that I opened.

I did not have a space large enough in my house to lay it out flat! This is a queen/king quilt top.  I recognize the pattern it is called Radiant.  And remember that bag of sewing themed fabric from above? Take a look.

All of the fabric in the top is sewing themed.... spools of thread, scissors, buttons and more!

This quilt top even came with a back....

 Above is a picture of the pieced back, and below is a close up of some of the different fabrics that are in the pieced back.

Now isn't that just adorable and SMART!  I have recently gone to piecing backs together for several of the hope quilts.  As of yet I have not gotten this creative.... but I think I see it in my near future.

THANK YOU SUE for your wonderful donation!

I have a few more donations to show you in upcoming posts, and some pictures of deliveries made.  So don't forget to come back and visit the blog.