Saturday, December 29, 2012

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...



Tuesday, December 25, 2012

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!


Saturday, December 22, 2012

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.


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

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.


Sunday, December 16, 2012

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.



Tuesday, December 11, 2012

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!




Saturday, December 1, 2012

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.