more donations

Over the last couple of weeks I have had several donations come in.

Jean V gave me a call and asked if she could stop by with a few things.

I always love it when Jean calls.  She makes the most beautiful quilt tops from her scraps from left over projects.

This one did not disappoint!

It was windy outside, so I had to find someplace in the house where I could photograph it.  Mindy is not happy that she was disturbed on my KING SIZE bed. ( that is her thrown during the day) But she let me know quickly that she approved of the feel of the quilt.  You see Mindy loves fabric, especially quilt store quality fabric.  She gave me an ear full when I pushed her off the top so I could fold it back up.

Here is a close up of the block used in the quilt. So simple and yet such a great block to use in a scrappy quilt.  I envy Jean's vision.  Every quilt top she brings me I think that would make a great pattern for me to use up some of my stash!  Now all I have to do is get back to piecing.  I do have some smaller cuts of fabric that I haven't kitted yet.... I am remembering this block when I start cutting again. She also sent the binding along for this quilt, already sewn together and pressed...just waiting for the quilt top to get its turn on the longarm.

Jean also sent along a couple of Teddy Bears.  They were very much appreciated at the center when I dropped them off.  

The center said that gently loved, clean stuffed animals are always welcome.  They are used at Christmas time, birthdays and in their outreach programs.

This month at my Circle of Friends meeting, I got a few more donations.

Dian W made up these 4 pillow cases for us. She said that she tried two different ways of constructing them ....wasn't sure which she liked best.  Then told me if I had any more kits to let her know she could get them sewn up for me.  NOTE TO SELF:  jump on that!

Officially these are Pillow cases 284-287.

Jan M. stopped by to pick up a quilt that I quilted and dropped off this batting.  She thought I could use it in future projects.  I have enough there to do three Hope quilts if I am very careful.

When I stopped by Adel Quilting earlier this month, Julia S. was working.  Julia is a local longarm quilter, that does beautiful work.

  When she purchased her machine it came with some thick batting that she didn't really care for. She asked if Iowa Comfort might have use for it either in quilts or doggy beds.  Sight unseen I told her yes I could find a use for it.  Now that I have it in my possession, I can tell you it will be used in Hope Quilts.

Thank you Jean for all of your donations to Iowa Comfort over the years!  This top is beautiful and will probably be used when a client transitions out of the center.  Many of our donations are used to help set up housekeeping during that transition phase. 

Julia and Jan thank you for the donation of batting.  It came at a really good time, these donations will allow me to use what I have on larger projects...maximizing our donations. 

Dian, thank you for the pillow cases.  I will be in touch with you after the community sew day about some pillow case kits.

Now for my shameless plug!

Saturday is the only community sew day that we will have this year.  It will be held at the Adel Library starting at 10:00 am. to about 4:00 pm. 

I will have quilt tops and pillow case kits available to be worked on.  Additionally I will have a basket of precut fabric, that needs to be separated by size and color. (So don't let the fact that you don't sew stop you from dropping in)

There will be snacks available for munching on, and I will have Subway sandwiches and a couple of salads for lunch break.

Come for the day, or come for 15 minutes.  Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!

Hope to see you there!

Iowa Comfort quilts 174 & 175

My good friend Nancy H. asked if she could assist in quilting a couple of Hope quilts.   Well YA, we could do that!  I think it took me all of about 4 hours to round up a couple of tops, batting and backing.

This little panel was donated to us last year.  I wasn't sure if I was going to add anything to it or not.  In the long run I decided it was fine as is.  

Officially this is ICQ #174.

Nancy not only quilted it for me, she also put the binding on and donated the little bear that I sent along with the quilt.

ICQ #175

This little quilt was pieced together by the ladies from the Adel Christian Church, the fabric had been dropped off at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods.

Nancy quilted and bound it for me.  Along with donating that little puppy that I sent with the quilt at donation.

It did not go unnoticed that the quilt with kitties on them got a puppy dog friend.  So it was a puppy or a hippo....I went with puppy.  

The center also commented on how of the six quilts that were donated.  Four could be delivered to either boys or girls, and these two would be perfect for a boy and girl.

YEAH my madness works!  I can not tell you how my OCD messes with my mind when I am figuring out what to work on next. 

Thank you so much Nancy for not just these quilts, but all of your continued support for Iowa Comfort...from the stuffed toys to binding, piecing and quilting.  So much more gets accomplished because of your talents and generosity.

Special thanks also to the Ladies of the Adel Christian Church for all the piecing you did on that donated flannel.

Jacque J. I so appreciate all the support that Adel Quilting and Dry Goods provide to Iowa Comfort.  You are such a great friend to the cause.  I would not be able to do half of what we have accomplished without you! 

Finished quilts

Betty W. stopped by the house the other day with several gifts and donations.  Before I show you the wonderful gifts, she brought up something that I need to address.

You see Betty had been trying for over a week to get a hold of me.  She told me that the phone just rang and rang.  

Yes it does that, because we disconnected the house phone....and for some odd reason the phone company does not put on a message saying that it is no longer a good phone number. So if the number 834-2430 is the number that you have....you won't get me.  I am not going to put my number here on the blog, but you can email me at Ruby621@msn.com and put Iowa Comfort in the subject line.

Now on to show and tell:

Betty has been busy and dropped off FOUR completed Hope quilts for donation!

Lets take a look at them:

This darling little quilt is made of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger fabric.  So very cute!  It also has the added bonus of being a quilt that can be given to a little boy or girl.  Officially this is ICQ #170.

Speaking of adorable!  This quilt is it!  I fell in love with it at first sight.  Now again this quilt could be given to either a boy or a girl.  I have a feeling that with the green alligator accompanying this quilt...it may just end up with a little boy.  I know that this little quilt is going to end up in shreds one day, from all the love that it endures.  Officially this is ICQ #171.

My camera was not being cooperative on the top picture.  Try as I may I could not get a picture of a quilt that would do it justice.  Take my word for it, this is an awesome little quilt. Cute as a button, and since it had a little black dog in the fabric, I had to send the little black poodle along with it.  Officially this is ICQ# 172.

I am running out of adjectives here!  This is my favorite of the four.  I know I shouldn't have favorites....but this quilt is so darn cute!  Cute as a bug on a rug....or and elephant on a quilt. So very bright and colorful.  This quilt is ICQ# 173. 

In addition to these four wonderful quilts, Betty sent along a few other goodies for us.

Betty sent along 12 one yard cuts for pillow cases.

So I spent this evening making pillow case kits for the community sew day on May 2.

Which brings me to a request.  I am trying to plan the food for the community sew day....so I would greatly appreciate a head count.  If you are planning on attending, could you drop me a comment here on the blog, sign up for the event on FB, or even email at the account above. I would be so grateful!

I want to thank Betty for her generous gifts and talents! Also thank you again for the toys Nancy H.

More finished projects next week....so make sure to come back next week.

Community Sew Day

Way back in February, wait no late January, I attempted to set up a community sew day at the Adel Library.  I was hoping for February, would have been happy with March.....but no love!  The library was booked right up to May 2nd.  In fact it was May 2 or May 18 those were the only dates available at the time.

Now I already have a standing appointment on May 2nd.  It is the first day of the Des Moines Farmers Market.  I go every week with my Mother.  But I really need the community sew day so I booked it for 10:00 am.  I will just tell my mother that we have to do farmers market at 7:00 so I can be back in Adel for the sew day.

I have said before that I believe things happen for a reason.  Take this sew day.  I would have preferred it to be earlier in the year, where there might of been fewer conflicts and thus a bigger turn out.  In the past I have never had a problem getting the library scheduled.  So I was disappointed.....but now I see where there might of been a reason for the delay.

You see out of the blue my friend Jackie O offered to put together one of the kits that I have ready for the sew day.  It surprised me when she volunteered....but I jumped on that request ASAP.  I gave her a kit at open sew last month....and I learned several things that is really going to help at the community sew day.

You see I spent several weeks cutting 10 x 10 squares of Asian fabric for these kits.  Okay so they were suppose to be 10 x 10....,

In the kit that Jackie was putting together for me, she had four squares that were not, they were more like 9.75 x something or other.

First lesson:  Have extra squares available at the community sew day for any other miss cuts.

Jackie got the quilt put together for me and gave it to me at Circle of Friends the following Monday.  She did a wonderful job! Check it out.

All of the kits will be put together in this pattern it is the double slice layer cake pattern by Missouri Star Quilting.

In case you are not familiar with the pattern here is a link to Jenny's tutorial.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxC-0T5lXw4

Hope that link works.

When I kitted these kits, I did the math and put enough squares in the kit to make a twin size quilt.  As you can see this quilt is wide enough.....but not long enough for a twin size bed. This one will probably become a double after I add borders to it.  I don't want to add borders to the others.

Lesson 2: Go back and add blocks to the kits to make them the right size.

Had the community sew day been planned earlier, I would have had 8 quilts that were the wrong size.  Or I would have had kits that could not be completed because of miss cut fabric.

So I am extremely grateful that Jacki O offered to test this kit for me, and pointed out potential pitfalls prior to the community sew day.  My fairy quilting godmother was looking out for me, and she sent me Jacki O!

I would like to thank Fon's and Porter for the donation of the fabric that went into these quilts.  The twin size quilts were beautiful Asian fabrics.  We also have some lap size quilts made up of Christmas fabric.  The lap size quilts will be Christmas gifts for clients of the center.  Here is a close up of some of the Asian fabric.

Let's talk a minute about the community sew day.  I could use sewers, ironers and sorters.  So if you don't sew, please come and man an iron, or sort some fabric for me.

I will have 10 to 15 kits for quilts ready to be sewn together.

I will probably have several pillow case kits, should pillow cases be your thing.

I also have a basket of precut fabric that needs to be sorted by color and size.

SO as you can see we have something for everyone! Please consider coming to help out whether for an hour or for all day.

I will have some snacks for the day.  I plan on ordering in some sandwiches once I know how many are there.  So if you are planning on coming but not right at 10:00 please let me know so I can make sure to order enough food.

Hope to see you there!  

Drum roll please.....

I have the best friends in the world! Just thought I would put that out there for the whole world to know.  In case you might have forgotten I set a lofty goal of 250 pillow cases by April 1..... and it is April 1.  BTW this is a special no joking around post!

A couple of months ago I was approached by Nancy H.  She told me that she belonged to the Woman's Auxiliary of the Dallas Center Church of the Brethren. 

The group had decided to have a service day, and Nancy told me that she had purposed helping Iowa Comfort.  She wondered if there was something that her group could do to help.  She was unsure of how many would be there to participate, or what skills participants might have.

We decided that pillow cases and fabric management would be the most helpful.

I quickly delivered this tub to Nancy.  It was full of pieces of fabric that needed folding and put on mini bolts.  It also had pieces of fabric that at one point I thought might be able to be used in pillow case construction.  That tub had been stuck away in a closet for over a year.  I also delivered several bolts of floral fabric at the same time.  

I really took advantage of Nancy's friendship, and I do feel guilty.... this was a monumental task.  My only saving grace was I told her use what she wanted and to feel free return whatever they didn't use.

Nancy and Joyce worked on that tub prior to the service day.  Ironing, cutting and sorting.  Preparing kits for sewing.  When they couldn't find a coordinating fabric they searched their own stashes.  

They raided there own stash frequently.  I know I don't know every fabric that I sent to them.... but I know a lot of it was not in that tub.

The day came for the group to meet.  Joyce joined the group and there were ready to start whipping out pillow cases!  Many sewed, several ironed, some folded fabric on mini bolts. 

There efforts were amazing!

Okay just in case you had trouble counting them.  There are 20 pillow cases in all but that last photo.  For a total of 106.

Officially these are pillow cases 149-255. 

The left over fabric was placed on mini bolts for future use.

I can't thank the ladies enough for all their help and contribution to the pillow case challenge.  Special thanks to Nancy for thinking about Iowa Comfort and organizing this service day.  Also thanks to Joyce and Nancy for the fabric contributions they made to complete the pillow cases. 

Joyce also took these kits at open sew and got them all sewn up for me.  Like I said I have some awesome friends.

Officially they are pillow cases 256-264.

Jan M.  found this fabric in her stash and she decided that they would make cute pillow cases. 

Officially they are pillow cases 265-266.

Jean V stopped by earlier this week and dropped off these.  She wanted to make sure to get them to me prior to the April 1rst goal. 

So bright and beautiful.

Officially these are pillow cases 267- 281.

These last two cases were made from my stash.  I have at least 30 more kits to get made up.  I plan to work on them over the next month.  First I have to learn how to use my new serger. 

Officially they are pillow cases 282 & 283.

So as you can see we hit our goal!  I want to thank each and every person that helped.  The center is so grateful.  We will never know how these gifts will brighten someones life.

Now I am going to be greedy, just putting it out there in the universe.  If you were planning on assisting in this challenge but hadn't gotten to it yet.  Please go ahead and make up a pillow case or two.  The center could use up to 500 pillow cases a year...I just couldn't ask for that many by April 1....but maybe by Dec. 31.

Thank you all so much for your generosity!