Comfort Quilts

"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver." -Barbara de Angelis

A couple weeks ago, I was honored to deliver 26 quilts to Kavanagh House, a residential hospice care facility in Des Moines. Frank was able to pass peacefully because of the excellent care he received here.

The quilts were made and donated in his memory by:

• Iowa Quilters, an online quilt group
• Iowa Comfort Quilts, a local non-profit
• Guests at Fall 2017 Ladies of the Lake Quilt Retreat 
• Generous and kind friends

All of the quilts were distributed to employees of Kavanagh House. They drew numbers and then selected the quilt they wanted. The feedback I received was that it was an exciting day and the gifts were very, very appreciated.

This is Ashley, Frank's favorite nurse, with the quilt she picked. It was made and donated by Jenny Osler.

Jan Prigge's share

Combining the row quilt pattern from Piece Time and a couple of our row kits, Jan made this very cool quilt for her son the bicyclist.

 Thanks for sharing, Jan!

We have several more of these bike row kits with laser cut and prepared to fuse bicycles at 25% off now.

Lemon Drops

Lemon Drop Cake This is a cake recipe but I bake them in mini muffin tins to make Lemon Drops, a very refreshing and light dessert. Mix batter Batter: 1 box of lemon cake mix 1 package lemon Jell-O 4 eggs 1 C water 3/4 C oil Pour in greased tins or cake pans and bake 350 until it passes the toothpick test. Refer to the cake mix box for times. After baking, cool slightly and then poke holes in the cake with a fork. Drizzle glaze over cake Glaze: 1 1/2 C powdered sugar 1/2 C lemon juice Frost Frosting: 1 - 8 oz tub Cool Whip 1 tub pre-made lemon frosting

Marti's share

Isn't this cute? Marti says this is what happens if we leave our sewing machines idle for to long!

And another quilt Marti is working on. Love, love, love this!
PS: All set-in seams!

Holliday Sewing

I didn't do a lot of sewing for gifts this year but here are a few things I made.

I made several of these coin purses for friends, trying to select fabrics that made me think of the recipient.

Liv wanted doll clothes so I made her this little flannel mattress, pillow and sheet.

and a a little bunting, bib and diaper for her baby doll. I guess I did not really need to use waterproof fabric for the diaper.

She also has an 18" doll that needs jammies. This is a book we have in the shop, $14.95. The directions are very good and the construction quite simple. The front has Velcro for the closure with buttons stitched on for effect.

From all of us

To all and to all a Good Night (and day)

Annual End of Year sale!

Do you have your calendar marked for our annual end of year fabric sale? 

Cherish the holidays with loved ones but have your tennies by the back door so, as soon as they depart, so can you. Or bring them along!

• Tuesday, December 26 through Saturday, December 30
• All fabric cut from the bolt - 25% off.

Open Sew Dates Correction

If you marked your calendar for 2018 Open Sew Dates, please correct March to the 8th and 9th. Sorry!

                January 11 and 12                  July 12 and  13

                February 8 and 9                    August 23 and  24

                March 8 and 9                        September 13 and  14

                April 12 and 13                       October 11 and  12

                May 10 and  11                        November 8 and  9

                June 14 and 15                         December 13 and  14

Purple Bag News

End the year with celebration!

Everyone gets 25% off fabric cut from the bolt during our end of year sale but, if you have a purple bag, bring it in between December 26 and 30 and take 25% off your entire purchase! That includes fat quarters, notions, patterns, kits and gifts!

What else? Well, since it is the year, we will draw for 10 gifts from all of the purple bag drawing slips we have collected all year.  Watch here to see if you are a winner!

Holiday Treats

How cute. Bake brownies in mini muffin tins then use frosting and a strawberry to top.

Open Sew 2018 Dates

Some have asked about our 2018 Open Sew Dates. Here they are. For the most part, Open Sew is scheduled on the 2nd Thursday and Friday of each month but there are a few exceptions so time to mark your 2018 calendars and join us. It's free!

Open Sew 2018

Bring your machine and projects and join us for Open Sew at the Adel Library. This is a free event. Come for one day or both. The room is secured overnight.

Hours are 10 am until the last stitch is made each day.

Coffee plus ironing and cutting stations are provided.

                January 11 and 12                  July 12 and  13

                February 8 and 9                    August 23 and  24

                March 8 and 9                        September 13 and  14

                April 12 and 13                       October 11 and  12

                May 10 and  11                        November 8 and  9

                June 14 and 15                         December 13 and  14

Introducing!!

These are the new fabrics for the 2018 All Iowa Shop Hop. The postmarked prints are actual Iowa towns with their incorporation date. Sometimes colors look dull on paper but these fabrics are very rich in color. They come in April.  Fun.

Another bright quilt!

This is the 3rd and last quilt Deb S needs to complete for Christmas gifts for her 3 sons. In this one, she used the pattern, Nellie's Hope Chest.

This quilt is made from squares and half square triangle unite. The original pattern requires 5" squares for the offset squares. but Deb wanted it bigger. She cut her squares 6 1/2". Great results! Thanks for sharing, Deb.

November Quilt Circle

Quilt Circle of Friends meets in the shop the 3rd Monday of each month except December. We share a little quilting and family news and then it's on to our favorite thing,  - - show and tell.

Abbie A. shared this beautiful Crazy Quilt made by her grandmother.

Nancy J showed us the wall art she created by wrapping some cheery fabric around a canvas.

and she shared these little sewing kit keepers she made for each of her daughters.

Bonnie created this wall art by trimming and sashing a panel then framing it to hang on her black, white and red room. 

and matching throw pillows for the same room.

Celia shared this quilt. These are blocks given to her by QC members as a comfort quilt after the passing of her husband. We loved the fabric she used to bring them all together so nicely.

Here is Sue's version of a quilt from our Ladies of the Lake quilt retreat. Such a happy quilt!

Deb has three sons and each is getting a large bright quilt for Christmas. These are half square triangle units collected in a QC exchange plus about another million (more or less) that she made.

Some of the QC members are also members of an online group, Iowa Quilters. Members of that group made these blocks and Deb S, Nancy J, Joyce S and Jackie O put them together. This will be a comfort quilt to put in their stash so it is ready to go when needed.

And then it was time to present some comfort quilts. Our 2016 Fall Ladies of the Lake Quilt Retreat guests were each given a piece of ombre fabric. A good sample of that fabric is used on the border of this quilt

The guests were asked to make a 12" block using the ombre and coordinating colors and bring the block with them to our Fall 2017 retreat.

Some of the retreat guests gathered up all of the blocks and made these three quilts.

Abbie A. made these beautiful labels on her embroidery machine.

All three of these quilts were gifted to Nancy J. She has a daughter fighting a very tough battle with cancer. Nancy will pass these three quilts on to her daughters children (Nancy's grandchildren) and her son in law.

Many hands were involved in these quilts, each reaching out to give comfort and strength where needed. Thank you to all.

Marti enhanced the heck out of this panel, a quilt for her husband. Below is the back she pieced for it.

Marti also shared this pretty quilt.

Margaret shared this beauty.

And here is her version of our Barn Quilt Block project. We will be offering this as a bom after the first of the year.

Joyce S showed us this little scenic quilt she created.

Joyce also showed us this pretty quilt of greens from her stash.

Nancy made this quilt using the Disappearing Hourglass Block.

Trish showed us the mini barn quilt blocks she has been painting. She used these to make ornaments for her barn themed tree. 

This is one of over 20 trees that were decorated and displayed at Adel's First Christian Church.

Lonnie did this demo for us. This is the Disappearing Pinwheel Twist, featured in the last issue of Block.

• Stitch 2 - 10" squares, right sides together, stitching on all four sides.
• Cut it diagonally in both directions.
• Measure 2 1/8th inch from the center seam to the left and then to the right and cut.
• Turn the outside pieces around and stitch them to the center.

This makes a rectangular block. Lonnie used this pattern to make this quilt:

After drawing for a few prizes and enjoying a little snack, we adjourned.

There will be no December QC meeting. The January meeting will be a potluck and game night. We decided to do the sock exchange again, filling fun socks with little gifts. I'll post more on that later.

Thank you to all of my special Quilt Circle of Friends for your companionship and support over this past year. I value you all as my extended family.  

Holiday blessings to all.

New twist

Cindy M came in to show me this quilt. She used Lonnie's idea to finish this panel.

Cindy has made several of these quilts and has started switching it up a bit. Here she used log cabin blocks for the corners instead of star blocks. Isn't this cool?

And then she uses up strips of fabric for the backs. Very nice. Thanks for sharing, Cindy!

Pre Quilted Tote

Just in is a bolt of this pre-quilted fabric.

Great for making a tote to carry your mat and ruler to sewing events. Plus, by laying the empty tote flat on a surface, it can be used as an ironing pad.

Also a nice size tote for carrying a couple quilts.

To make this tote:

• Cut two repeats of the pre-quilted fabric design.
• Pin and stitch 15" length of handles on the inside, alining raw edges at the bag top and bottom (these are the more narrow ends). The strap ends need to be 7" from each side. Stitch close to the edge to secure. It will be covered when the top and bottom edge binding is added.
• Put binding on the top and bottom edge.
• Turn the handles up and top stitch through all thicknesses to keep them up.
• Fold the quilted rectangle in half, wrong sides together and stitch side seams
• Finish by binding the side seams.

Holiday Gift Special

 

From now through December 23, these hand made scarves are on special for $15 each (regular price is $25). These are very comfortable to wear and make a great gift to accompany a gift certificate. Send in your someone special to do some shopping for you!

The long strands of yarn drape around your neck and then simply tuck through the hand crocheted cuff.  They are light weight and non-cumbersome around the neck. Oh, and very pretty!