Yes, It's Going to be Another Quilt and a Pillow!

Lori and I are at it again!  Soo really got us going as well.  This twin-sized will be the major raffle prize to raise funds for a local ministry entitled "Carry On Bags.*"  

"Courthouse Steps"

It now has an appointment to be machine quilted.

Yes, there will be an accompanying pillow.   And here it is.

*(This ministry provides weekend food for youngsters needing a boost over the weekend prior to coming to school on Mondays. The supposition is that adequately fed children will approach their school days in a better physical and mental state and perform better scholastically.)

The raffle will take place this coming Saturday, November 18 at 10:00.  The winners need not be present to win.

Beginning at the end of August, the quilt and information was displayed in our Public Library, three local banks, the Civic Center, the Courthouse (naturally), a restaurant (Revelations), and now at Cambridge.  We have given presentations at local community organizations and some churches.  It has been a "wild ride!"  But fun.

Several local businesses have also donated prizes.  Now I need to contact the local newspaper to see if they would publish a picture and a list of all the businesses supporting the raffle with prizes.

Isn't this great??

SG and Lori

 Again, this post is not about a Mission Quilt, but you will enjoy seeing what we did recently!

We had our own overnight Quilt Retreat in a town nearby!  The first step?  Food!  Konnie came bearing Dutch goodies and Lori brought homemade muffins!!  Way to go, girls!

Of course we needed lots of "munchies," just in case!

With necessary goodies in the refrigerator!

Finally, here's a peek at our workspace (obviously after we had "moved in" and begun working!

"Click" on any of these photos to enlarge for greater detail.

Lori and daughter-in-law Traacie

Konnie

Soo

Soo's workspace

We had such a fun time that night, settling in and beginning work!  SOME people were organized enough to know what they were working on and had pre-cut their fabric!  Others (me) decided what we were doing after I got there!  I had fun figuring out my project and cutting fabric pieces necessary and was at work before you know it!

Lori and  Traacie cutting and ironing

Tah-dah!  First item on the board!

Let me describe that great "felt board" on the wall!  It holds quilt blocks well and is large enough to hold many pieces of work!  Guess what it is?  A plastic table cloth turned to the wall and which allowed us to use the fuzzy backing.  (I now have one on my basement wall!!)

The next thing we did was to go out for dinner.  My goodness, 1 1/2 blocks away we found a great Mexican restaurant!  We walked around town a bit before heading "home."  Tomorrow, we decided, we're headed for a great-looking coffee shop!

Yes, we really did each head for bed at a decent time!  The next morning found us back in the kitchen area... with all those yummy treats!

 Now that we were all on a "sugar high," as well as the motivation to "get going," we were soon back at our stations!

Check out Traacie's project!  She sewed all these little blocks together, and then what?  She cut sections out and re-sewed them together!!  Wowee!

 It is Beautiful!!

Soo's efforts were two-fold!

L

Lorie

Me

Konnie worked on a variety of small projects!

The project progress at the end of the retreat:

However, I missed Konnie's final projects!  They didn't "go on the board!"

We had a great time!
We will do it again, I hope!!
SG

This post has nothing to do with Mission Quilts!  But it has everything to do with three of us that make them!!

"Once upon a time," I treated each Lori, Konnie and myself to little quilter panels.

We decided to have a little "Quilt Challenge!" (during 2014).  Together, we went to a fabric store, we picked out three (four?) pieces of fabrics that we would each use.  After each deliberated on patterns, etc., we took another "fabric foray" and picked out companion fabrics to add to the predetermined fabric.

In November, the contest closed.  Here are the fabulous results!!

Konnie's wall quilt:
                             (front)                                                                (back)

 Lori's wall quilt:

and Mine:

Wasn't that fun?  The Big Reveal took place November 18, 2014! (Yes! Konnie already had hers totally quilted!!)

Lori, Konnie and SG

Watch This Space for Announcements of The Next Mission Project!!

Among the thousands of quilts "out there," what might be our next project??

I'm thinking it should be a little larger...  perhaps queen-sized?  That might take awhile!!  lol

Any suggestions?

SG

Breakfast In Bed? The Quilt is Finished and Sold!

This is the Final Chapter of the Breakfast-In-Bed saga.  Here she is, hanging next to other quilts, at the auction - all monies collected at the sale are used to join in Mission projects around the world. Such missions include Heifer, International, PET project, Church World Service, etc., etc.

Here's a close-up of the quilting.

The quilts below were also auctioned.

This was a queen-sized quilt, and the pieces were TINY!

 Another quilt with small to tiny pieces!!

A friend of mine really admired the black, white and red quilt, at left.

Okay, Lori, Konnie, Soo and Bab...

...guess what.  I couldn't let go of this little quilt.

It now resides on a twin bed in our upstairs guest room!

:-)

SG

Okay, Friends! Hand Quilting "Breakfast in Bed" is Finished!

Ever the gal in charge of Quality Control, Bab adds one last stitch or two!

Breakfast in Bed is nearly a reality!!  ;-)  What?  Did you forget that it needs to undergo a couple more steps?

Removing the pins and tacks that held the quilt to the frame.

We used a blue disappearing ink (disappearing with water) to mark our lines... so the quilt must be rinsed.

Wow!  It's off the frame!

There must be a binding applied to all four sides and corners...  (Thanks, Konnie!!!)  Not only did Konnie cut the binding pieces and sew them together, but she's volunteered to sew the binding onto the quilt.  This will eventually necessitate trimming all the excess fabric and batting before the binding is folded over and hand sewn to the back of the quilt.

What do you think?

This is the back of the quilt.  Perhaps you can see the stitching pattern?

We anticipate the rest of the work to be done in a week's time... with the deadline of its being displayed in the church sanctuary over the weekend of October 24-26.

We are quite pleased (happy, excited, giddy?) with the progress that has just been made.

But the fun's not over, yet.  If you can remember the Thanksgiving Ingathering of 5 years ago, when Lori and I took a Christmas Quilt, entitled "Jacob's Ladder" (we nicknamed it Polemonium) to the Missions Auction and it was sold for $255.

I wonder what will happen this year?  The Thanksgiving Ingathering will take place Saturday, November 1. I plan to be there...  I hope the others can be as well.  How about you???

It might be hard to let it go.   Do you suppose one of us will bid?  Or perhaps someone from our church congregation?  Or perhaps someone on Facebook??  (I'm going to advertise!)

You could bid, too, you know!

The saga continues!

Stop by in a couple of weeks or so.
SG, Lori, Konnie, Bab, and Soo.