First Quarter, 2024 Finishes

 WOW !!!!  

2024 is FLYING BY.   The first quarter of 2024 will soon end, and my stack of finished quilts is all going off for donation - mostly to immigrant families.  I hope these kid-sized quilts snuggle up close and warm !!

These  are going to Quilts Beyond Borders, where they will probably be donated to immigrant families in the Pacific Northwest. I hope some little ones enjoy them !

Kathleen

Hands2Help 2023

 Well hello -  I'm so excited that Hands 2Help (learn more HERE) is going so well this year - well done to everybody !!!

This year a whole bunch of different things all came together and I had a big ol' pile of quilts to give !  

I sent them to an organization called Quilts Beyond Borders -  they will go to refugees - there seem to be so many these days -  Afghan refugees, Ukraine refugees, Syrian refugees.   

I hope my quilts make them feel snuggled. Most of these quilts come from scraps in one form or the other.  Some were partly done by friends and fellow sewers.  They are all headed to their forever homes now !

Travel well, my friends, and snuggle hard - there are lots of kids who need an extra warm hug  :)

Kathleen

SUDDENLY JUNE 15

 Wow - all of a sudden it seems like the world just sped up three times faster...  

The last couple of weeks have been exhilarating and exciting.   Let's see...

My show quilts have been busy:

"Pas de Deux II"  hung in the Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, TN.

This piece, completed just as everything locked down for COVID in 2019, was just in the local guild, the Western North Carolina Quilt Guild.  It won a lovely 1st Prize in its category.

And a new modern piece, titled "Andromeda" was in the same contest, but obviously in a different division - the Modern Division...  and won an Honorable Mention - hooray !

And now I am busy trying to tidy up - why don't I keep things tidy?  Why do they always turn into a mess and I have to roll my sleeves up and dig in....... oh well,  just go do it.

keep on quilting,

Kathleen

February is Over???

 Surely February has a few more days... all those things I was going to get finished ...  

NO?   Well, then i am planning for March to be a really great month...

I did finish a few donation quilts during February.

Found these pieces in a ziploc bag... 

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A top donated to Jo Kramer and then passed to me.  It's big and cuddly, and will go to Quilts Beyond Borders.  Its big enough to cuddle a whole family !!

Blocks from a monthly lotto by the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild.   Sometimes I just love brown !

more lotto blocks, many using various types of crumb and string techniques !

Don't ya love purple?  A top sent to me for quilting by a group called Heartstrings... they make lots of string quilts for donation, and sent me this one for quilting and donation.  It's ready to go now!!

 

 

 

OK, that's the donation quilts for February - but that's not all that was happening...  so stay tuned for the next post which will feature the activity of the Show Quilts during the past couple of months - they are feeling left out !

Quilt on,

Kathleen

 

January Recap

 Well, somehow it's the 19th of February, but let's do a recap for January anyway.

Six donation quilts were completed and sent to Quilts Beyond Borders - they will go to Afghan refugee children or children in the Syrian refugee camps.  Snuggle well, little quilts!

... from jo kramer, donated by one of her readers.

top made from my scraps - i still have more scraps !!

more of my scraps - i love a good string quilt

orphans and blocks from a Block Lotto of the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild

top from jo kramer, donated by one of her readers

top from jo kramer also.  This one went to a special lady who just found herself in an assisted living, and needed a hug and a reminder that spring is coming !

And this quilt, titled 'Bodega Bay", hung in the Road to California show - always a gigantic honor to be in that show !  

And next it has been accepted to hang in AQS Quiltweek Daytona Beach !  Sorry about the other 'bits" hanging on the design wall - I forgot to crop the photo before posting !!!

FEBRUARY SNUCK IN WHEN I WAS NOT LOOKING... but let's see what I can find interesting to share with you soon !

Kathleen  

Block Doctor is IN

A friend wrote me recently.  She was so frustrated.

Her blocks had a health problem - they were not coming out the expected size.  

She wanted to participate in a block lotto ...  but her blocks were not coming out reliably to the required size.......  I tried to give her a few tips, but I could tell she just felt like "what is causing this to happen"??????  She needed INTENSIVE CARE ,  lol.

So I asked her to mail me the block.  And i put on my 'BLOCK DOCTOR'  coat.  

She sent Three blocks - one looked perfect.  But another, which should measure at 12.5 square, was not close.    It was 12.25 - well, the top row of the 9 patch was 12.25.  The middle and bottom rows were larger.  

This photo is more informative -  see how the seam curves down on the left side?    aha, there's the problem....

So - the autopsy began, and I took apart that row of blocks, and laid them carefully one on top of the other - and this is what I saw:   

Aha:  diagnosis:  the blocks, which were supposed to be 4.5, range from 3.5 to 4.0 to 4.5

That will certainly cause an uneven block.

MORAL OF THE STORY:  Cut the blocks and stack them - if they are all supposed to measure the same thing - UH OH -  back up and re-cut.

cut precisely,  sew straight - that's the gist of the thing  :)

the reality is a bit more difficult.

isn't it????

Keep trying

Kathleen

January ????? egad how did that happen?

 Exactly HOW did it get to be January?   

I keep being tempted to say farewell to this blog - but then I remember how much I have enjoyed other blogs and continue to look forward every day to reading these little capsules of quilter's lives.

So - here we go - a little capsule of my life.   Just for you.  

I have completed two quilts since the New Year.  And for the first time, I set up a folder on my desktop and am determined to keep track of every single finish - well, we shall see, won't we?

First was this delightful barn quilt.  Someone made it and gave it to Jo Kramer of jo's country junction blog fame - and she passed it to me for quilting and donating.  I adore it - and now that it is all finished, I'm sending it to a program that provides quilts for Syrian and Afghani refugees, people who have and are suffering so much.  I just know it will be loved!

The other fabulous news is that this adorable kitty is better.  We spent about six months doctoring her through a kitty liver disease.  We had to syringe feed her 4-6 times per day.  But now she is eating reliably on her own, I am so glad.   

To take the excitement over the top - my new quilt, 'Bodega Bay', is in California, and will soon be shown in the Road to California show.  Here's a photo:

Yep, I am a busy girl.  And I can't wait to be even busier....

there is a quilt on the machine calling to be now, 

but i am going to pop some popcorn, snuggle up in a blanket, and invite a kitty on my lap to watch the late-night news.   

you take care now and stay well!

Kathleen