Do I have Gibb's DNA????

I am beginning to think so.  I have rules and exception to rules.

And if I am perfectly honest there have been times I have wanted to reach out and smack someone upside the back of their head.

The rule is I try to post on Tuesday..... so here is a random Friday post.  The truth is that last Tuesdays post has generated a little buzz.

Nancy H. reached out to me and explained that her woman's church auxiliary group would like to do a community project.  Nancy thought of Iowa Comfort.  We had a nice discussion yesterday and we decided pillowcases was probably our best project for them.

Bad news was I didn't have any already kitted for them.  Good news was Nancy was okay with me giving her bolts.  She thought they could get them cut and kitted themselves.

So I went through the vault this morning can came up with this pile.  I delivered it to her this afternoon.  The stuff on the top will be very easy to use as the body and cuff of a pillowcase.  There should be fabric inside that tub that can be used as the flange of the case.  Now since I was not prepared.  I told Nancy to use what ever fabric she wanted and to send back what she didn't use.

Nancy also told me that she might have people help that did not sew.  So the bottom half of that tub is filled with fabric that just needs to be pressed and folded on to a mini bolt for me. I can not tell you how much help that will be!

Then this afternoon I had an email from Sue D.  she was sifting through her fabric and had some Hope quilts projects percolating. I mentioned that if she had fabric that she no longer could remember why she purchased it ( come on you know we all have that fabric deep in our vaults).  That pillowcases was an efficient way to make room for new fabric.  I quickly heard back from Sue!  It appears that she is allergic to pillowcase sewing! (wink wink)  Okay so I took poetic license there... I think her words were more like refuse to do that kind of sewing. Which got me thinking, a very dangerous thing for me!

We are all creative and generous, but as I tell anyone who asks me to mend something for them.  I am a quilter not a sewer.  Sue is a quilter not a pillowcase sewer.  Perhaps there are more of you just like Sue.  So I think I need another exception to my rule of not accepting fabric right now.

SO HERE IT IS:

I will accept one yard cuts width of fabric  (36 x 42 ish) that are made of cotton or flannel for pillow cases.  You do not have to cut it, just lightly press it make sure that it is a yard cut.  Please make sure that it is exactly a yard cut.  When I get it I will cut the body and the cuff, and find a coordinating fabric for the flange.

I have a couple of people who like to sew pillowcases for Iowa Comfort if I have kits available. This could be a win win for those of you wanting to expunge that fabric from your closet.

If you decide to take advantage of this rule exception.  Please makes sure to tell me who the donation is from and that the fabric is for pillow cases.

Alright back to my regular schedule of posting.  New post on Tuesdays.  An awesome Hope Quilt!

Stay warm!

First donation of 2015

Okay so that isn't quite the truth.  The donation actually came in in December, but after I had already closed out my records for 2014.

SOOOOOOO this is the first donation to the center in 2015.  (See what I did there?)

I love the fact that the first donation, is something they really need and something that needs replenished on an on going basis.  

I am talking about pillow cases of course.  Every client that enters the center is given a new pillow.  With our donations they are also given a pillowcase that they will also get to keep.

This donation came to us from Mindy R.  and was dropped off at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods for us.

Aren't these just adorable!  I love how all of these could be considered masculine.  The last time I was at the center one of the staff members commented on one of our Hope quilts that was being donated.  Something to the effect that this quilt could be for a little boy.  I went back and checked out the photo gallery.... and there is a lot of pink and purple in those quilts! 

This years resolution is to try as best as I can to balance the donations with equal numbers feminine and masculine quilts.  At least with the hope quilts.  Hope quilts go to small children and aren't used on beds. 

I am going to try to do the same for the pillowcases.  Which means I need to get 6 girl pillow cases made up ASAP.

So if by chance fabric management was on your New Years resolution this year.  The center could really use new pillowcases.  It is a great way to clear out some of your smaller cuts of fabric and is a quick and easy project.

Here is a link to a tutorial if you need it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrYWCma9wgM

Thank you Mindy for your generous gifts of time and talent!  I can already see the smile on a little persons face!

Special thanks also to Jacque of Adel Quilting and Dry Goods for her continued support of Iowa Comfort.  I appreciate the fabric that you have donated over the years and that you will act as a drop off center for Iowa Comfort.

Have a great week everyone!

Again my rules....

So I broke them.  This time the rule that I broke had to do with fabric donation.  

I am currently overwhelmed by my lack of fabric management!  I am not accepting fabric donations at this time.  But with every rule there is an exception...and this donation meet the criteria for the exception.

The donation came from my friend Jan M.. She did a little cleaning in her sewing room and found some fabric that she was sure she would not use.  

Now I know that Jan only purchases quilt shop quality fabric... and usually purchases large quantities when she does.  Add to those facts that this fabric was already on mini bolts, which means I don't have any work involved with the donation,  how could I say no? I would have had to have been insane.

Here is what the donation looked like when it arrived;

When I finally decided that I really needed to be able to find my quilt room floor again.  I took this box and did this with it.

From the box, to the shelf.  Easy peasy.  I can see the colors, I can tell about how much fabric is on the bolt.  I see several backings for Hope quilts in there.  

At some point I will get all my colors on the same shelves....but that day isn't today.  Today I am just satisfied to have the box off the floor.  And extremely grateful that Jan thought of Iowa Comfort!

Have a good week everyone!

okay so I lied.

What is the old saying?  God laughs when you make plans...

I told you on my last post that would be the final quilt of 2014 to be donated.  That was the plan.

Plans do get changed though, and so did mine.

I received a call from Colleen T.  Through the grapevine she had heard of a family that could use some assistance during the Christmas season.  They had actually made on to an organizations list, and the family had created a wish list.

The family is a single mother with 4 children.  Two boys and two girls.  This particular family also happens to be a family that sought refugee status here in the United States.  Limited communication skills were available.... but given what they were asking for it was obvious that there was a need.

The family asked for used beds, the mother wanted to get her children up off the floor.  The only other thing I remember on the list was A LAMP.  Not toys, not electronics not even food or clothes.  The mother just didn't want her children to have to continue to sleep on the floor.

Colleen asked if by chance I had any quilts that I could donate.  The group that was trying to assist this family were going to not only try to supply at least 3 double beds.... but also the bedding for them.

This family is in Polk county, and our donations usually stay local.... but I will just say it, they are my rules and I decided to break them.

My quilting machine had been in service for a little while. But I got it back in time to quilt up this top that was donated by Jean V.

Colleen put the binding on from her stash.  She tells me that this quilt will be on an eleven year old girls bed.  It sounds as though there will be a bed for each of the family, and they won't have to share.

Jean I just want to thank you for the beautiful quilt top.  I had felt bad that I hadn't gotten it quilted yet.  I now realize that it always had a home... I just didn't know where it was yet.

Colleen thank you for binding the top, and all the time you took to help this family.

I am glad that we were able to supply a little bit of comfort to this family.  

I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful Christmas.

The last quilt of 2014

Here is the last quilt of 2014.

One of the ladies from the Adel Christian Church pieced this top for us.  I quilted it and also managed to get it bound.

It has already been donated.  One of the staff members at the center thought that this little quilt would be given as a Christmas gift this season.

I know this post is short and sweet....but I have Christmas and birthday presents to wrap.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Donation

This quilt top was donated by Jean V.  Much earlier in the year.  I love Jeans quilts!  They are always bed size and so cute.  I have at least one more of her quilt tops to get quilted...maybe two.  She is such a supporter of  Iowa Comfort and I so appreciate her time and talents.

Speaking of time and talents.... Nancy H took this quilt home after I quilted it and bound it for me.  She is also one of my volunteers that I so appreciate, always willing to help anyway she can.  She has even volunteered to help me get caught up on getting our hope quilts quilted.  I will be sending her two of them to quilt for us.  

Nancy has a long arm and these will be great practice quilts for her to play on. I call that a win, win, win situation.  Nancy gets to practice, I get two more tops moved off the to do list, and the center has two more finished products to pass out.

Right this minute I am sitting on standby..... you see that part below.

It actually holds my bobbin case and hook in place on my longarm.  It is suppose to be straight. 

So even though APQS is booked tight for service the next 6 weeks. They recognized that this was a problem that I could not fix myself and allowed me to bring Lenni up for service this morning.  

I hope to get her back tomorrow.  I have 4 customer quilts to get finished, and then I can start working on that pile of tops for next years quilts.

More show n tell next week!  I promise to have a post up the next couple of weeks. (I can make that promise because I am going to draft them tonight)

Have a great week everyone!

What I am thankful for

Hard to believe it is the week of Thanksgiving.  

As I plan my week, which involves cooking, baking, customer quilting and cleaning pretty much in that order.

I wanted to take a break and give thanks to all the wonderful people who have helped Iowa Comfort over the last three years.

Originally I wanted to do one quilt a month.  As of the end of this year we have donated 157 quilts to Dallas and Madison county charities.  We have also donated countless doggy beds and blankets to AHeintz57 dog shelter.   I actually delivered 6 beds to the shelter this past Saturday.  Amy told me that they came at a wonderful time.  She said that they had some bony mommies that were so going to enjoy being up off the cold hard floor.

Needless to say with all of your help we have brought comfort and joy to many over the last several years. I am so very thankful to each and everyone of you that has helped along the way.

My volunteers are very generous and talented.  

Some made whole quilts ready for donation, others made quilt tops.  
I have had longarmers donate their time and talents on some of the projects.  

Others have come to community sew days and sewn, pressed, cut kits or helped with fabric management.

I have those who have taken scraps home and cut them down for the doggy beds.

Others donated fabric....oh the pretty fabric I have received. 

My all time favorite volunteer are those who offered to bind for me.  There is no way we would have donated a fraction of the quilts without your generosity.

So thank you one and all for your generous spirits.  I truly appreciate each and everyone of you.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family or friends.

Absent

Yes I have been absent over the past several weeks.  Additionally I have also felt a lot of guilt over not getting my posts up each week.

Recently my youngest son made the following off the wall comment to me.  " So Mom, you say you can only manage 2 obsessions at a time?"  It wasn't exactly what I had said.....but he is right I have taken on more than I should have at one time.  

Man I hate it when he is right. Especially when it means I need to set some priorities in my life.

I have taken the last several weeks to think about the things I love to do, the things I like to do, the things I must do and what is no longer bringing me any joy at all.  

For those of you who don't know I really have about four obsessions right now.... 5 if you count traveling....and I really can't juggle them all.

The top of my list right now is regaining my health.  This blog isn't about weight loss or exercise so I am not going into detail here.  But a good chunk of my day is dedicated to this goal, which means other things are moving to the back burner.

Iowa Comfort is not moving to the back burner, but I am setting different goals for it.
  
Right now my time is being spent quilting customer quilts for Christmas.  That is how I fund Iowa Comfort, so very few quilts will be finished between now and the end of the year. 

I am spending my evenings working on fabric management, and kitting bed size quilts. 

Once I have the current quilt tops I have on hand quilted, I may organize a community sew day.  Let me be clear that is next year if at all.

Either way the goal for next year is 12 bed size quilts, anything more than that is extra.

For those of you who have donated fabric or other supplies.... no worries they will be used for the intended purpose.  

What is moving completely off of my plate is the doggy beds. The scraps are over taking my house, and I am overwhelmed when I can't get them made up quickly or completely.  ( currently I  have 5 that need to have the sham made for them).  I also have 4 garbage sacks of scraps that were not cut down small enough that I will need to work with prior to it going into a project.  This project does not bring me any joy anymore.  So I will not accept anymore  scraps for this purpose.  I would encourage you to do as I am going to do.  I will continue to make them for A Heintz57 shelter from my own projects.  You can do the same, they will take any size you want to make.  They do appreciate a case or a sham over the bed so that it can be easily laundered.

Last but not least is this blog.  At this moment in time, it feels like a job.  I plan to continue it....just not on a designated weekly schedule.  My posts will be sporadic between now and the end of the year.  Hopefully once things calm down I will have plenty to share again.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Camera not working

I have been on vacation the last couple of weeks.  My husband and I took an impromptu trip to the Canadian Rockies earlier this month.  Which means that not a lot has been done in regard to Iowa Comfort the past two weeks.

To add insult to injury my camera has decided to be difficult this afternoon.

I have two finished quilts, but the camera won't let me get upload them for some reason.

This coming week is going to be a busy one for me.  I will be working on customer quilts. So not a lot of time for Iowa Comfort quilts.  I am going to try to take inventory on how many quilt tops I have that need to be quilted.

I know this post has been short and sweet.  I will leave you with a totally no quilty picture of me standing on a glacier.

The silly girl from Iowa believed the weather man and did not pack our winter coats for our trip.  It was 25 degrees on that glacier and that sweatshirt was no where close to warm enough!

Have a great week!

Diane's donation

Diane L. has a magic closet that holds all kinds of quilty treasures in it.

Diane is also in the process of moving from a house that she has lived in for MANY years, to a new house.  Gives me chills just to think about having to move.  I have lived in this house for over 30 years.

So as she was sorting through her quilt tops, she ran across one that wasn't going to make the move to the new house with her.  Instead she decided to donate it to us, and allow it to bring cheer to someone who was having a rough go of it.

 

I really like this quilt top!  It is always amazing to me what I see in a picture versus looking directly at the top.  Here in this picture I see the same block in three different color ways. Two with dark green pedals, three with white and green floral pedals and four with light green pedals.  I find that extremely interesting and fascinating.  I would of never thought about doing something like that and yet I love it.  And yes I know that there are subtle differences in each of the blocks, so no two are identical.

This top reads very feminine to me and is going to be a great donation quilt for the center after I get it quilted.  I think I will spend just a little more time with this one, and maybe quilt feathers on it to make it a little more special than what I normally do with these donations.

Thank you Diane for sharing once again!  That magic closet of yours must go all the way to China.

Have a good week everyone.