Fruit Loop Quilt

Many of you know that I have nine grandchildren that I adore. This is Jane who is a second grader and recently turned eight. Getting her ears pierced, finally getting to wear glasses like her sister, and getting a new quilt from her Lolly are three top things on her "This Makes Me Happy List"! Her little brother, Edmund, looks pretty happy too!

I try to always have a Leader/Ender project that I'm sewing on as I make another quilt.  The nine patch blocks for Jane's quilt were pieced as leader/enders way back in 2011. They waited patiently to become a finished quilt...so glad it works that way!

If you've never used leader/enders, but would like to try it with your scraps, there is a tutorial in my sidebar that explains the process. It's a great scrap buster and just takes a little planning and organization.  It's a habit that I don't want to break!

This was Jane's reaction to her new quilt....it makes my heart burst with pleasure! Right away she began looking for fabrics that she recognized from clothing I've made for her. I remember doing the same thing with scrap quilts that my grandmother made!

Fruit Loops is a twin size quilt and machine quilted with an edge-to-edge circle design.There's nothing better than a washed and dried quilt in all of it's crinkly goodness!

Jane agrees.

Quilts Matter

Fifteen quilts. Fifteen young people on the other side of the world.  A match made in heaven, I think.

It was a special day. My husband, Fred, and son, Drew, called each child up to the front one at a time and presented them with a quilt. Fred explained that it had been made especially for them and that no one would ever take it from them. I had labeled each quilt with a name.

Quilts are not the norm in Nepal. These kiddos had never seen one before. 

I think the happy faces tell you what they think of quilts though!

The children are learning English and many of them wrote me handmade notes of thanks.

A common theme among the notes is how much I must love them to make them a quilt.

One young man wrote that this is the first gift that he has ever received and how happy that it made him.

I will treasure these notes forever.  They bring a lift to my heart but at the same time a lump to my throat.

I feel like I have a bond with these children now. Kids that I may never meet personally have become some of "my kids" now. Because of quilts.

These children are all disabled and lead a much more challenging life than I ever will. Because of the cultural caste system in Nepal they are usually overlooked.

And yet their joy for life and thankful spirits are evident and contagious. I could learn a lot from them.  

Being a part of this project has been such a pleasure. I see why Drew cares about them so much.

I'm convinced more than ever that quilts matter. Giving matters. Kindness matters.

Often I've heard quilters comment about a quilt they are giving away that it is JUST for charity, usually said about a project made with fabric that they dislike or is of low quality. I have a different view and want the quilts that I give to always be beautiful and ones that I would be proud to gift to family or friends. 

You just never know what a difference you are making in someone's life when you give a quilt away. I feel that you are giving part of yourself.

Thank you again to my quilter friends who helped make this all happen for these children by giving of your time, talent.....and quilts! You made a difference.

Quilters Make Good Neighbors

 You may recognize this quilt as being made using the "Village" pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company. It was a lot of fun to create each little house using five inch charms from my stash collection. 

My favorite houses have fussy cut windows or doors with fun surprises like bunnies, a mushroom, a flamingo or even a goldfish, to name a few.  I quilted it with meandering wavy lines and bound it with the same black/white dot used in most of the roofs.

The builder went on strike before the entire village of 132 houses were constructed, so my village is more of a hamlet, I guess, with 64 homes. As written, the quilt would have been quite a bit larger if I had kept going and made spaces between my buildings. 

This size perfectly fits the wall at the end of a hallway in my home. Each time I see it, I am reminded of the enjoyment of building the houses along side my sewing buddy, Vicki. I named it, Quilters Make Good Neighbors because, they really do!