Bama Bound 1, 2, and 3 are Ready to Go!

Yay!  6 finishes to add to 2011 - all unexpected projects, but everything came out of my stash (except the little stuffed friends) and one item came off my insane UFO list that would have undoubtedly been there until 2012. 

I sure wish I hadn't had occasion to drop my other projects and do this one, but too many families due north of us lost their homes to the Alabama tornadoes. I was more than happy to help Bama Bound Quilts.  (Please check them out, and pass the word along if you can.)

You know, the trouble with getting the camera to read colors correctly just drives me nuts. I have to admit, it's rather interesting, because it's different in different lightings, as well as from fabric to fabric. For example, this may be the only photo in which the purple fleece on the back of that center quilt actually looks the way it does. The purple in the flannel, though - in reality, it's the same as the darker purple in the floral pocket accents, which look pretty close to true life in this picture. Weird.

The totes turned out so cute, I'm going to have to make one for our house, too. The outer shell is flannel, lined completely with a black twill. Pretty sure there's enough of both fabrics left to do one up.

 

These 3 quilts all came from a UFO that was at least 15 years old. I'd found it - lost and forgotten - in a plastic bag in an obscure closet corner when I made my Clean Sweep Round-Up in January. 

Two are baby/toddler size, and while the last one is too small as far as a bed cover or play mat go, it's the perfect size for a toddler/preschooler to carry around and snuggle with. So I'm sending it as well. They all have either fleece or flannel backs, for maximum coziness and tactile delight. 

I'm pretty certain that the UFO happily underwent the pains of the seam ripper, now that it gets to go snuggle with not just one person, but three little girls who will hopefully get a little comfort out of an unknown friend's efforts. 

Oh - and I love labels so much - found this free label graphic somewhere online and thought it worked PERFECTLY with these quilts. Thank you to everyone who shares such files - they make the world a better place.  :) 

Kiddo Quilts for Alabama

Bama Bound Quilts has asked for baby/children's quilts for tornado relief in Alabama. (Can you pass the link along on your blog?)

My brain was on overload, anyway, so I put my books down and went to my long-term UFO pile, where I saw a promising cheerful piece peeking out. . .

Pulled it out and found that it's almost queen-sized, but just a boring 12" checkerboard (albeit with a really cute purple floral fabric). 

Hmm, but these scraps of brights coordinate well (although the colors are all off thru the camara's eye). . . 

Frogged it and rearranged a couple pieces to yield two baby quilts and a cuddle blankie size.

Got my daughter to trace out flowers on fusible web, while I cut and fused. . . And now she's very sweetly pin-basting all three for me:

I'm going to do the quilting simultaneously with stitching the flowers down. Due to time, I'm just going to do a simple straight stitching about a 1/8th inch in since the edges are fused on. Think I'll use white shiny thread and do spirals in the big centers. Will do a meander on the rest of the quilt. 

Not sure if I'll have issues at the machine. I didn't have backing fabrics to go with this, no time to go to JoAnn's (an hour away), but I did have pretty purple fleece (which I think kids would find comforting, anyway) and a piece of pre-quilted pink flannel. I've never worked with these with quilting before, so I'm hoping the machine doesn't care.  :D   Wish me luck!

P.S. This camera really has issues these days  :/     It just can't read colors properly anymore.

Children's and Baby quilts needed for Tornado-devastated Alabama (pass it on)

Have you seen the massive destruction in Alabama from this week's spate of killer tornadoes?

The number of homes that have been literally blown to smithereens breaks my heart and makes me cry still. Not to mention the hundreds of lives that were lost.

Families are in desperate need of comfort, and this is something quilters can help with. A Tuscaloosa-area quilter is coordinating a drive for children's and baby quilts. 

Here is her plea and a link to the emerging blog. I'll be watching for delivery specifics, but in the meantime I've got some really fun Puss in Boots fabrics from who-knows-how-long-ago that needs to become a quilt or two! (p.s. - if you're a U.S. quilter, can you pass the world along on your own blog? Thanks, friends!)

Bama Bound Quilts

I am setting up a quilt charity for Tuscaloosa and Jefferson County. In particular need are children's and baby quilts. Please pack in a child/medium size tote. Please include a small stuffed animal. Entire neighborhoods were wiped off the map. Hundreds of families and children are displaced. They have NOTHING. Thanks.