Finished Quilts part 1

So life has been hectic for several months now, and I have been feeling a little bad that especially in the last two months I haven't been as productive as I would like.  Had I had a crystal ball, and would have known the journey my life would be taking this year.... I probably would have put this project on the back burner for at least a while.  But in the past couple of days a few friends have made statements that have made me feel better.  One friend explained that the project is probably something that keeps me sane, it allows for me to loose myself in something other than the truly important things that is going on around me...and I get to bring comfort to someone in need.  While at the quilt shop another quilter reminded me that the goal was 12 quilts for the year, and that I should quit beating up on myself because we did 12 in the first 3 months.  Thank you to both of you, I needed to hear it.

So lets see some of the completed projects:

This top was donated by Diane Larson.  I added the brown borders to give it just a little more width.

Here is a close up of the block.

And when I went into the quilt shop to purchase the backing for this quilt Lonnie donated it to the cause.  I also found the binding for this quilt in a sack of donated fabric from Lonnie.  

I think the quilt turned out really pretty....Diane said she wasn't sure how long the top had been in her UFO pile.  Here is another top that Diane sent.

Isn't it bright and cheery?  Earlier in the year Jan, had donated some fabric that she decided that she didn't like anymore.....and guess what... it made the perfect backing for this quilt....don't you think?

Someone is going to love this quilt, I just know it.

I'll have more pictures on Tuesday of finished quilts.  I just need to do the paperwork on them, before I call the center to drop them off.

Everyone try to stay cool.

ICQ # 32 & 33

While I was visiting my Dad for Fathers Day, these two quilt tops came in to Adel Dry Goods and Quilting for our comfort quilts.

They were both donated by Leslie Jackson.  Jacque tells me that Leslie also has the binding made for them and that she has volunteered to bind them also. (So love that!).  Both of the quilts are pretty much the same. Check them out.

Here is the first top.

Here is the second top.

These tops are almost mirror images of each other, except the blocks are set just a little different in each version.  Also look at the upper right hand corner... each quilt has a setting block in the border. Each of those is different also.

When I first saw these quilts I went Oooohhhhh!  Second thought was...that border material looks familiar.  I think Nancy donated a bunch of that fabric, or something similar.  Note to self must open closet door and see if by chance I have any of that fabric left to use as backing material on one or both of these quilts.

I hope to have one of these tops done in July, and the other is scheduled the first week of August to be quilted.

A big thank you again to Leslie for donating them.

I'm back

I was out of state visiting my father and sisters for the past couple of weeks.  Did you miss me? I might have fooled a couple of you by prewriting my posts and scheduling the time that they would post.  It gave the illusion that I was working hard....


I am back now, and getting back into the swing of things. (so hard to do after and extended break from Lenni and Squiggy)


I have been working on my schedule for July.  I have 5 customer quilts already scheduled for July.  Customer quilts are great, those quilts are the ones that continue to fund this group.  I buy backing material, batting material and thread with the proceeds from the customer quilts.


The plan is that I hope to quilt both of Joyce's jelly roll quilts, the 9 patch that was donated by Diane's sister n law, and one of the quilts that was donated by Leslie in July.  Are you scratching your head and wondering about that last quilt?????? Well don't worry those quilts will be featured in Tuesdays post.  I would have shown them to you now......but I have to find my camera first (DARN OLD TIMERS DISEASE!!!) I have no idea where I put it when I unpacked from my trip....I just hate that!


I hope I can actually meet my goal in July.  I know that 4 quilts does not seem to be to lofty of a goal, but I do have the 5 customer quilts, and a quilt that I need to make from stitch one and have delivered in California by August 7th for my sisters birthday. So it will actually be a total of 10 quilts that will need attention in July.


Pictures on Tuesday of the two quilt tops that Leslie donated.

Donation from Beth

I received a call from Beth Baker Brodersen a couple of weeks ago.  She had been into Adel Quilting and Dry Goods.  She had a quilt that she needed quilted and asked if they knew of any organization that could use fabric.  They gave her my name and number and we set up a time to meet.


When Beth brought me the quilt top, she also brought these goodies for the closet stash......

I don't think any of those cuts of fabric are less than a half of a yard. And then there was this also....

These are all larger cuts of fabric also.... in flannel and fleece.


Houston I have a problem I have ran out of bolts to put these larger cuts of fabric on...... Aaaahhhh poor me, such a terrible problem to have. (lol) 


Although I am not exactly sure what we will make with this donation, I do know that it will be wonderful and warm.


Thank you again Beth for the donation, and for supporting Iowa Comfort.

Donation from Celia McCollum

My closet overflowth! No bloggers program dictionary did not like that word at all....but it is my blog and I will use it  if I want to! Picture me sticking my tongue out at the computer screen with my thumbs stuck in my ears waving my fingers also.   Now isn't that a grown up picture.  I have had a tug of war with Blogger for the past 10 days....and Blogger won.  I have had to upload to their new an approved format to be able to post pictures and now I have to learn a whole new program....so now you understand my lack of maturity...and I will now move on to the actual post.


When I stopped by Open Sew earlier this month Celia was so happy to see me!  I was running later than normal, and she was beginning to wonder if I was going to make it.  Now I would like to say it was because of my charming personality....but I think it had more to do with the fact that she had loaded her car with a donation for Iowa Comfort...and she didn't really want to take it back home with her.


Take a look at what she had for us:

 Large cuts of double knit fabric, that can be used for doggy and kitty mats for Aheintz 57 shelter.

Inside that box were more large cuts of fabric.


I'm hoping by the end of summer to have a new toy for my longarm...and this fabric is going to be perfect to play with it on.  While learning the new system....I will be able to create a lot of beds and mats for the animals. Lets just hope that my plan works the way I hope it will.  If not the fabric will still be used for the same project, I'll just have to do it myself.


Thank you again Celia! 

Iowa Comfort Quilt # 31

First I must apologize. I thought I had already posted about this quilt...but when I went back and researched it I realized that I hadn't. I have had this quilt top for several weeks now. It is scheduled to be quilted in July along with quilt 29 & 30.

I'm hoping you will remember Diane Larson, she sent me that box of quilt tops...six to be exact. Well she happened to mention to her sister in law that she had donated the tops to Iowa Comfort. The next time Nancy Larson came for a visit, she brought this top to Diane to donate to us also.

Here it is draped over my longarm. Totally scrappy, which I love! Here is a close up of the blocks.

All of the blocks are 9 patches, but alternate every other block with the fabric placement of the prints or white.

Nancy's mother made this quilt; her name is Ruth Dyvik of Story City Iowa.

I just want to thank Diane, Nancy and Ruth for the donation, and apologize again that it wasn't posted sooner.

Binding choices

First I want to tell you that I have been having problems for a week with this post.  Blogger is not allowing my pictures to import in.  I'm working on it.....and this post would have been better with pic's.

While comfort quilt # 21 was still on the longarm I started thinking about what color I wanted to bind the quilt in.  I should have been thinking about getting it done.....but then I have had quilt ADD for a while now, and just have trouble staying focused.

I went to closet and started pulling fabric from sacks of donated fabric that I had stored in there.   SHHHH don't tell my husband that I have a stash of sacks waiting to be sorted and put in the nice basket/shelving unit that he spent all that time on.  I had such good intentions......

Anyway back to binding (see what I mean about ADD, I have the attention span of a knat!)  Here are some of the choices I pulled out to audition against the quilt.

There was a green that matched the green in the florals.  There was a purple that altho it matched the purple in the florals also it was immediately rejected because it was just to light.  Then I pulled out this deep wine colored fabric.  It matched the dark pansies wonderfully so it stayed in the mix.

I had it narrowed to the dark green and the wine colored fabric. I needed some guidance so I had my husband come in and give me an opinion.  He thought that the wine colored fabric looked better.  It is only now as I am writing this post that I remember dear hubby is colored blind, and can't really see green. Green is his least favorite color because it looks brown to him.  Duh I wonder why he picked the wine fabric? So we checked it against the backing material. Decision made and I was happy with the choice....the wine colored fabric was the right choice for the quilt. I put all of the runner ups back into that sack of fabric for sorting.  Then I measured the wine fabric...18 inches width of fabric...not enough..ARRGGH.   No problem off to the local quilt shop, I was sure Jacque had used that fabric in a shop sample.  Well actually it was in a BOM a COUPLE of years ago.... so no she did not have any left.  As luck would have it thou she had the exact shade the darker sashing in the quilt. 

Jacque cut a yard of fabric for me. As I was getting ready to check out, Lonnie asked if it the quilt was a comfort quilt.  When I told her yes, she said that she would donate the fabric and paid for it.  Such a good friend!  Thank you for the donation Lonnie!

Who loves binding???

I don't know what is the matter with me?  I am having a hard time focusing, and even harder time completing tasks.  I have given up on my GET R DONE list, and my entry into the Adel Quilt show this year.  I do still have a quilt to make for my sisters birthday in August..... I really should start that soon.

This last month I had several customer quilts....which was a really good thing because I needed to buy batting for our quilts. Between the customer quilts and family things going on I only managed to quilt ICQ 18, 19. and 21. Only ICQ 18 has the binding on it.....sheesh can you say "What's wrong with you Debbie??"

I have a rush quilt and pillow sham that I received yesterday.  It is a raffle quilt to help pay for medical expenses for someone that was in an accident.

With baby Owen’s arrival I have had to juggle my schedule again. (AWE POOR ME)

 I have also blocked out June 12th thru the 22nd for some personal time.....

When am I going to get to work on the binding for quilts 19 and 21????  So if there is anyone out there that just loves to bind quilts and wants to help a frazzled quilter, let me know.  I won't feel any embarrassment at all in my failing....well at least not this time. LOL

Baby Owen

He is here!  You will forgive me for being a grandma, but I have to show him off.

Here he is just about an hour old.  Caught him mid sneeze in this photo.


He was born yesterday at 3:20 pm.  Mom and baby are both doing well.  Mom was really exhausted she went into labor around 4:00am, and she pushed for just over 2 hours before he made his actual debut into the world.   I might be biased but I think he was worth it.


He was 8 lbs. 6.2 ounces at birth and measured 20.5 inches in length.


I have a picture of Mom and Owen, but I wouldn't have wanted my picture posted out on the web right after I delivered.  So I hope to be able to get a couple of her and baby O this morning that I can share.


Here is one of Dad and Owen.

Dad could use a nap also.

So no quilting for me yesterday.  Farmers market for me this morning.  Mandy had her heart set on going, and getting some cupcakes today.  Think I'll pick her up some and drop them off to her this morning at the hospital.

I have a customer quilt to work on over the weekend, and another one for Monday.  Then back to our comfort quilts later in the week.