why didn't I think of this sooner?

Color me silly---after I posted all those still pictures of the quilt display, I could have just loaded them in my webshots album and let you look at them floating by in a slideshow. I did that yesterday, after the fact because I needed to order prints for our photo album. Then the light bulb belatedly went off. I DID try to embed the link but all that did was mess up my sidebar section--maybe I should have shrunk it down to fit the existing size of my sidebar??

If you feel compelled to go look at them all again, here's the link:
http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/560086966KpGwov
I forget sometimes that I DO have albums up HERE that contain a couple years worth of our quilts--many of the same ones out on the pews are in the 07 album, save the ones from July that I haven't had time to add.

Thanks to all of you for your lovely comments about the quilts. I look at them all spread out on the pews and visualize a young person who might be seated there with that quilt wrapped around them. I am proud of our efforts but we "ain't done yet" This is only the third time in our 7 year existence that we have been able to spread them out like this. In past years they were mailed off or donated locally in smaller numbers to various locations. It has just been the recent push to gather a nunmber of quilts for the same spot that we have stockpiled quilts for any one year. We don't take them up till we have enough for ALL the available beds with some to spare so the kids don't have to worry about "when will I get my turn?"

I have gotten some questions from some fellow bloggers about what they can do to help our efforts and offers of donated tops and so forth. While we are happy to take those unfinished projects on, I know of another effort that might be a way you can help an equally good cause. I would like to direct you all to my friend Pam's website (formerly of this stash webring) HERE. Pam and several of her local friends in Oregon are trying to get 200 quilts for Mexico by April 2008. I know first hand what an effort it is to get THAT many quilts together and I have about double the amount of people making them than she does! Stop by her place for the particulars. She has tons of pictures of children in Mexico and Sierra Leone where they have delivered quilts in previous years.

On a more personal note, I hope to have the little Ohio Star quilt done today so have something new to share with you. I took the last hand quilting stitches last evening and got a good start on the binding. Then the phone rang---my mom who I had talked to in a little over a week so let the gabbing begin. No sooner did I hang up did I start IM'ing Norma. Those two are leading me down the primrose path, so to speak! I want to do it all, don'tcha know? My mom pointed out the Grandma's Scrap Basket pattern from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company that I believe could be used for a Heartstrings type quilt and Norma's color catcher pieced strings. I had emailed her a site to look at and we were off and running. Then Norma found a picture of one in a webshot album HERE. Between this and the 4 patch stacked posie Norma shared with me a few weeks back, I may have picked out part of my upcoming birthday present, LOL.

Sorry for the pictureless post but there are plenty to be seen in the previous 4 posts, so maybe I'm not all that sorry after all, LOL. Have a great day in whatever you chose to do...........

quilt display 1

What a wonderful day for the Bama Belles Quilting Club! It is always so moving to me to see the quilts laid out on the pews like this--reminds me of seeing "old friends". Friday afternoon, 5 of the group and Jane's granddaughter laid out 93 quilts. A disclaimer: 17 of them were quilts from '06 that I had set aside for the Boy's Ranch so you may see some of YOUR old friends as well. I told the girls that I knew that they were in the bunch at Linda S' house and could easily pull them out if we did not have enough room. Consensus was: put them out and we will enjoy them again. I guess that makes up for the ones we have already delivered to Presbyterian Home for Children (PHFC) in Talledega earlier this year that didn't land on the pews for the exhibit.

I posted the pictures "backwards" as you know how the blogs go newest to oldest--there are 4 posts (20 pics) to see. Right after our display ended the girls helped me gather up the quilts since they were headed to three different locations. The bulk of them, of course, were delivered to the Boy's Big Oak Ranch. Lois counted 68 but I have been number crunching and verifying my documentation from the past two years with the pictures all evening-- mathematically it should total 67. I seem to be missing one, LOL--I looked very carefully at these pics to be sure I didn't spot it.

I set aside 11 that will go to PCHC soon and have 15 to send to WTIL headquarters as soon as I round a couple of boxes. Of course when I asked DJ to help me haul them back in the house his comment was "I thought you gave them all away today" ---close but not quite yet. . Thanks again to the blogger friends who have helped us to reach our goals for the kids and of course, my dear Bama Belles---look what we can do when we put our minds to it.

SOOOOO, I'll hush up and let you enjoy the show-----

quilt display 2

Continuing back up the right side of the pews

Now, starting from the back of the left side facing the entrance

quilt display 3

Amen Corner 1

Amen Corner 2

Looking right from the altar back--moving towards the back in rest of the pics

More follows---

quilt display--overview

wrapping things up

Because my mom knows what the Bama Belles meeting schedule is, she told me the other day on the phone that she knows I am going to be posting some quilt pictures right around that time. LOL, today is no exception.

We are, more or less, wrapping things up for the Boy's Ranch since we will put the quilts out on the pews on the 28th and then deliver them to the facility right after that. If you are interested, photos of last years exhibit can be seen in my August 06 archives---two posts, I think, starting with THIS one dated around 8-19, I think. I'll be posting pictures again this year so stay tuned.

Pictured is the Heartstrings top the Belles pieced, I assembled and Ginny quilted with a nice red zigzag. I spent a good chunk of Monday doing the binding.

I just took a trial run up to the Ranch right after lunch since I was not sure how to get there. Good thing too, as I misread the directions the Social Worker had given me on the phone. I got it straight in my head now and enough to write up directions to anyone in the group who needs them.

When I arrived at the meeting site yesterday, there was a package waiting for me. Ashley (I don't believe she has a blog for me to link to---yet) had emailed me a couple weeks ago to ask if we accepted donated quilt tops. She had a couple of children's quilts sitting in the closet that she knew she would not be quilting. I think she felt that they might be better put to use by someone else.


So here they are, with our thanks! Finn will love her orphaned block quilt on the left---a little Ohio Star is peeking out along with a couple of scrappy nine patches and crumb blocks. The center one has cat fabrics plus the same fabric she used for the one on the end in a Once Around log Cabin type set. The group loved them, Ashley. They were trying to figure out just how that third one went together--just where the blocks were. I half expected to see someone with a ruler and paper mapping it out. We dug around in the donation bin and found backings for all three of them and they are pinned and stacked on my armoire.

Next up---Beverly's mystery quilt from the JOY quilt group '06. She had just picked it up from the long arm quilter. I love the blue and yellow combination for quilts. We asked the two tallest people to hold it up for a better picture but they were begging me to hurry and take the picture while someone else was giving them instructions to lift that corner or the other. Aline's version of the same pattern that looks so different because of the colors used can be seen HERE

I think they pinned 6 quilts including the three tops that Ashley sent. I had told Theramae that I didn't want to pin all day since I wanted to hand quilt. I knew there were 7 tops in the closet if they felt like pinning---and there still are, LOL. She and I got things set up to pin a top she had made and I started to help and so did Lois. Then reinforcements came and Lois and I started on other things. I got busy taking pictures and helping Beverly with a quilt idea she had. (It's on point so she needed to know what size to cut the setting triangles and so forth)

Jane had a really pretty Warm Wishes variation in purples and a really cool folded pinwheel top that she is still working on. I hope that she and Sarah will show us just how they did the block at a future meeting. She said that you cut a square in inch smaller or larger than the background and it looked as though you folded it in half on the diagonal and then folded the tip back so it almost looked like one that you would make from paper. Sound familiar to anyone? One of the girls thought it might be a fun sew in block. Agreed!

The bowtie quilt is one that I assembled from blocks that Lois, Beverly and I made. Boys need a bowtie quilt! There may be another one that I saved out from last year for them but I would have to check my documents to be sure about that. Pat had put a rush on the binding so it would be ready in time.

A couple of the girls were sewing--Lois on some more Puss in the Corner blocks. Janet was working on her "Crossing Pathways" top (Eleanor Burns Still Stripping book) from the last meeting and just lacked sewing on one border. I was hoping it would be done so I could share a picture of it. Diane is making the same quilt--they took the same class--but was not happy with her color choices. Diane recently retired from teaching so we hope she can come sew with us more often. Pat was trying to figure out what to use for a backing on her McCloskey butterfly quilt---I found something that I thought might work in the donation bin. Judy and I convinced her it was a better choice, LOL. Of course, Judy had just come from getting her eyes dilated for an exam so Pat had to take my word for it. It needed seaming but she borrowed Janet's machine to take care of it and it is pinned as well and sitting on my armoire.
.

Some of us had not brought lunch with us and Pat ran us over to Quizno's to get some sandwiches to bring back. Love those turkey bacon, guacamole sandwiches. Judy got us started on them. Next meeting they are planning a potluck for my birthday. How sweet of them!

I came home with 7 finished quilts and 4 pinned tops. I counted 30 finished quilts in my bedroom and I can only guess just how many are over at Linda S' house. Monday evening I told Mom that I was down to 3 tops and thought I could get them quilted this week . I could then say, however, briefly that I was caught with the Wrap 'Em quilts. But that's okay---more quilts for more kids somewhere.

Here is Finn's Ohio Stars #1 all quilted. I have two motifs of 7 hand quilted on the stars with alternating snowballs. That's what I'll work on today for a while. Not sure what happened to today but it is 4:15 already. And I've done diddly except walk, make breakfast and nuke lunch, update the quilt document, take care of our banking deposit and run up and back to the Ranch--oh and type this up, of course. Till next time-----

quilting--the slow way

I was about ready to start binding our Heartstrings quilt yesterday but then realized that I needed to print up a special label for it. Since the ink needed to set up and so forth, I opted to machine quilt the little Ohio Star quilt (some of Finn's blocks and some blocks I made with Finn's fabric and/or my stash). I started hand quilting the heart motif last evening. I enjoy hand quilting but really don't get much time to do it anymore---not when there are quilts to get done for donation. Well, this is one too but since I know we have enough to take to the Boys Ranch, the biggest push is about over. I am having fun with this!! Even better, no seams to deal with. I could totally see doing a whole cloth quilt.

For years I did not machine quilt and resisted it like crazy. I like the looks of hand quilting best for my own quilts but who has the time? When Joy and I got started making them for WTIL and she was getting stuck doing mine too, it was definitely time to bite the bullet. So sometime in 2000 I learned how. I still do not like to free motion. I don't like a quilt to be stippled within an inch of it's life either--not for kids anyway where I am a firm believer in the "cuddle factor". There are some fantastic machine quilters out there using domestic machines, long arms and everything in between. Just won't be me, LOL.

So the binding will get done by Saturday on the Heartstrings top but I am going to enjoy slowing down and taking these stitches. DJ noticed what I was doing and asked me if was hurting my hands. Not really but machine quilting isn't any easier of those bothersome thumbs either or cutting and doing the claw fingers thing. Look at it as exercising the joints. Where is this day going to? It is almost time to think about fixing supper. Didn't we just eat?