It's like my birthday

It amazes me how in the short time span of a little over a year, that Iowa Comfort has grown.

Last year I was told that a goal of 12 bed size tops for the local crisis center was lofty.  

We made a total of 65, with the help and generous contributions of fellow quilters.  Some were pieced and quilted last year.  Other tops were found in closets and donated. Some were pieced and quilted by one and then donated to Iowa Comfort.  ALL WERE A BLESSING to someone that needed just a touch of warmth, and the knowledge that someone cared.

At my last quilt meeting, I went empty handed (no show n tell for me this month) and when I left I had help taking things to the car.  It seems to be a recurring them anymore...ain't it great!

Here is a sampling of what I came home with.

Nancy's mother Donna has knitted another afghan for us.  That yarn is so soft!  I have to be very careful to keep them put up, because Mork and Mindy really like them!  (they think I am a mean mommy because I won't let them have them)

Then I received this.

Deb Y. brought this to me.  It was given to her by a quilter that is no longer able to quilt.  I will show you one of the tops today....but since there are seven in there so I will spread them out over the next couple of posts.  There are also about 7 queen (I think) size sheets in the very bottom of the bag.  I will need to experiment with those as backing to make sure my longarm can handle the thread count okay.

So here is the first quilt I want to show you.

Hexies are hot again....but I think this one is probably from a different era.  OH and it is completely hand sewn.  I had to get my dear husband to come in and lift it up for me....and as you can see I still didn't get it all in the picture.  It is at least a double and maybe a queen.  I just love that hot pink hexie in the center!

Just a couple of other things.  We are having a community sew day this coming Saturday.  I plan to spend the next couple of days packing the car with things for us to do.  I will be providing coffee and snacks.  Hope you can join us for all or part of the day.

After the sew day, I will be getting ready for my trip to California. (March 9 -17)  I will be gone for 8 days which equals 3 posts.... I will try to get some posts ready in advance....other wise you might just be seeing some Bonnie Hunter type posts.  Last night one of my traveling friends asked if we would be stopping at quilt shops while out there.  She isn't a quilter....but I wasn't going to say no.  She has no idea what she just got herself into!

Blogger is being bad

Sorry everyone I was going to show a couple of pictures today...  but as I write this post, blogger is being difficult!

It I try to add pictures it totally messes up my message.  And it is randomly putting the pic's where I don't want them.

Definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing and expect different results.... so the pics will wait until Tuesday.

So I will remind you that our community sew day is next Saturday, March 2 at 10:00 am at the Adel Library.  Come with sewing machine, regular sewing supplies, seam ripper (very important for the kits) or bring a mat and a cutter and help kit pillow cases, or chop up fabric for doggy beds.

We are going to try to make 75 pillow cases for the center again this year. ( this should help bring down some of the fabric I am having a problem storing)

I plan to spend the weekend getting quilts ready to deliver next week.  Which means I have paper work to do also.

I may even try to get my own quilt back on the longarm, to finish quilting it this weekend.  I only have the borders left to do...just need a kick in the backside to get it done.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Imagine my pretty purple name here.

Blogger still won't let me upload my pic.... 

Learning to count with Maisy

While at the AQS quilts show in 2011, I picked up some cut little panels.  Most of them were child themed, and probably remnants left on the bolt.  Not full panels by any means, just pieces of panels.  

Then they came home with me and sat in a basket, waiting for someone creative to make them into a cute quilt for a child.

I put the panels up for adoption, and Colleen T adopted Maisy.  Here is a link to what I gave her to work with.

 http://iowacomfort.blogspot.com/2012/01/here-is-fourth-panel.html       ( In case that doesn't work it is Jan. 16, 2012 blog post)

I wrote in that post I thought that this would be the toughest of all of the panels to make a quilt out of.  They were long and narrow, and I had no vision.

 

I am just really happy that I know when to let someone else take a project and run with it.  THE QUILT IS ADORABLE!  Take a look.

So very bright and cheerful! Colleen went to her scrap fabric to find crayola colors to make the top and bottom piano key borders.  The individual blocks did not fill in completely around the center, no problem Colleen fill in with a cheery strip set.

I love how in each of the blocks Maisy introduces you to a number and an object.  1 Lady bug on Maisy's nose.

 Eight ducks in the pond.

Maisy taught me something new today.  I guess I never thought about elephants having fleas......

I really like how all of the blocks have random numbers in it also.  This truly can be an educational learning tool also.  

Colleen not only designed and pieced the quilt but she also quilted it and bound it.  Love the bright green on the back.

This quilt is such a cute piece of eye candy!  I am so glad that I didn't do a thing with those panels.  I know that this quilt will be loved by the child that receives it.

Thank you Colleen for all of your creativeness and hard work!

Pretty little quilts!

The Adel Christian church has a quilting circle.  The ladies get together a couple of times a month and make quilts for charity.

Late last fall, a HUGE sack of flannel fabric was donated to Iowa Comfort.  I happen to be working on one of the quilts for the church group and when Donna G came by to pick them up she happened to mention that she gets bored.  So I offered (some might say I pounced on the opportunity)  to let her play with the sack of flannel to help keep her mind busy.  I figured it was a win win, Iowa Comfort received quilt tops, Donna could stay busy and she could work at her own speed.

Donna decided that she would share the fun and took the bag to the church meeting and all of the ladies have been working on that never shrinking bag of flannel. Rumor has it that they have made 9 quilts out of that bag of flannel and the bag is still full.

Last Friday I received another installment of quilts from the group and they are just darling!  Take a look.

This quilt is so soft! And I love the blues and purples with the splash of yellow in the center. Bubbles, clouds, suns and rainbows... how fun is this quilt!

This quilt is also made of flannel....so of course it is cuddly.  This one dragon flies, hearts and multi colored starts.  Then there are the blue, green and yellow bricks in it.  I LOVE the small yellow border..it is such an eye catcher.

This quilt would make a great I spy quilt.  If this wasn't headed to a child in need.... I could see myself playing with Owen in a few months and asking where is the cow? How about the feet. Now tell me where the blue stars are.

The last quilt is in soft blues and whites, with just a little bit of other color.  Most of the prints are stars, then we throw in some teddy bears and bows.  Add an outer border of baby feet and hands with little hearts and you have a perfect quilt top for a small child.

Every quilt these ladies have made have been adorable.  Thank you one and all for making these and the previous tops you have made.

I am not sure that I have everyone's name, so I apologize in advance if I missed you.  The group is made up of Donna G, Margaret B, Terri B, Mary S, Ruth H, Marilyn H, Sue B and Mary O.  THANK YOU LADIES for all of your contributions, I appreciate each and everyone of you and the time you spend working on these tops.

PS I have more flannel should you want some more variety.  :-)

Mail from Diane

Diane L. is an avid power quilter.  I met her through an online group that I belong to.  She amazes us all on how fast she can whip up bed size quilt.... to us it seems that she can do it in a blink of an eye. (Maybe she has a little genie or witch in her possession) I sure am envious of her abilities.

Earlier this month she was cleaning out one of her closets....the other joke online is how many closets does she have with quilt tops in it....  I don't know and I don't care, because the tops that she doesn't believe she will ever finish get sent to Iowa Comfort.

About a week ago I received a flat rate priority mail box from her. I promptly sent her a message that I had received it.  Diane responded that she had more for me, but the box was full and she couldn't get anymore in it.

Let's just say Diane got her moneys worth out of that box.  I could not believe it when I opened it and I found the following tops in it.

 Isn't this pretty!  I took a close up so you could see the center fabric.

I love this quilt also, so soft and romantic.

 Here is a sampler, and the picture does not do it justice. Very pretty.

I could be wrong but I think this might have been a stack and wack. Very rich colors in it, and it will be striking on a bed.

The last quilt that she sent was this little twister quilt.... or at least that is what I think it is.  Either way it will brighten a child's day when they receive it.

SEW much fun to open mail, especially from Diane!  Thank you so much for your donations Diane.  I have several to quilt before these, I hope to get them on the long arm by April.

More tops to show you on Saturday, so come on back and see what the ladies from the Adel Christian Church have been up to.

Community Sew Day

I know this post is a day early, but Jacque Johnson just mentioned it on  her blog so I want to make the information easy to find.

I am having the first Community Sew Days on Saturday March 2, 2013. I will only be having 2 this year, the second will be in the fall. That is a Saturday, and we have the large meeting room at the Adel Library from 10:00 to 4:00 that day.

I have several small kits ready to be sewn together.  I will also have fabric there to make pillow cases with.  In addition to that I have fabric that needs to be cut and prepped to make doggy pillows for the local shelter.

So if you would like to come and help I would really love it.  Bring your sewing machine and regular sewing supplies.  Or if you want to help, but don't feel like sewing bring your mat and rotary cutter and play with the fabric to kit doggy beds or pillow cases.

I am hoping that we can get 75 pillow cases donated again this year for the Crisis and Intervention Agency.

I will provide snacks and beverages that day, come for the whole day or just for a couple of hours.  All help is greatly appreciated, and the finished projects all stay in our local community.

Hope to see you there! 

PS this post is my Saturday post.

January in review

 Hard to believe it is already February.  So I thought I would show you the quilts that were finished or donated to Iowa Comfort in January.  

I will be getting the labels on these quilts over the next two evenings, so they will be ready for delivery by the end of the week.

For this post I am just showing finished quilts, but I won't be identifying which ICQ#. ( just me being lazy)  When I post them in the gallery they will be identified.

 Let's play a game of I spy.  Can you find the quilt above that was pieced by me???? We will just say that I failed to follow instructions ...and my quilt walks to its own drummer.  

And Wanda H sent us these quilt this month all ready for delivery.

These two quilts were actually pieced and quilted last December, but didn't get bound until last month.  So they will be ready for delivery also.

Donna has been busy making us these comfy blankets, so warm and cuddly.

We have one more quilt that is currently being bound by a volunteer. I count 15 completed quilts for the month of January..... it is going to be a good year!.

This week I am working on customer quilts, so I can order more batting in the near future.  I do hope to get at least 2 quilts quilted for Iowa Comfort before Thursday.  Friday is Open Sew in Adel, and I want to take advantage of the extra space for applying binding, and Celia's offer to bind a quilt for me.

Have a great week everyone!

Its cold outside!

Winter has returned to Iowa, and I know that I was spoiled with last years winter.... but I am not liking this sub zero weather.  The good news is that the ground hog will tell us today, whether we have six short weeks to spring, or six long weeks of winter left.  Either way it is only 26 more days to March, and then spring is just a hop skip and jump from there. 

Today I think I will show you some of the donations to Heintz 57 dog shelter.

 Rozetta F saves scraps that are to small for anything else for me.   She brought me two full plastic grocery sacks full of them.  I brought them home and added them to my holding sack.

Yes that sack hold the contents of future doggy beds.  I know when it gets almost full I have enough to make 3 nice size beds.

Everything from small pieces of batting, dog ears and slivers of fabric and even some interfacing that wasn't working gets cut up into small pieces and put in this sack.

This sack contains left over fabric from other quilts.  That three inches of backing and batting on all four sides that I need when I quilt a quilt. And any other fabric that is deemed unusable in quilts.

My plan has always been to see if any of the kids that need community service hours for the school would like to take on this project.  I just need to get off my backside and go talk to the school.  Maybe I will do that next week.  Then I can take this sack to the Community Sew Day, and get it all chopped up.

 When that first sack is full, I start stuffing.... and wa la... I get three  medium to large doggy beds.  I also have about 6 mats that I need to get binding on, for the shelter also.... maybe this weekend I'll get them done.

Tuesday I will show you all of the quilts we did in  January.

Have a nice weekend and stay warm!