Quilts from Quiltitude!

I was contacted recently by Penny, who is a member of a quilt group in Cottingham (the Northampton one) called Quiltitude.  They have made lots of lovely scrappy Linus quilts - my favourite kind!- and she wanted to bring them over.  We agreed a meet up in Harborough last Monday, but we had to cancel due to the weather.  The quilts were in her 'mobile cupboard' aka her car boot, and she was keen to deliver them, so kindly brought sixteen lovely quilts over to me. 

Here she is holding one of them.  She couldn't stay for long, but we had a lovely chat about the value of quilting as an activity and the friendship and love we quilters get from each other.  Her group recently lost two members, and being able to come together and make a group quilt was a way of grieving and healing all in one activity.  We are so lucky to share this fabulous hobby, which does good to others and benefits ourselves so much as well.  (Incidentally, Penny took away a bag of UFOs and kits, so it made me doubly happy!). This brings our total of donated quilts to over 420!  And there's still a couple of weeks to go before the new year! 

Sad news and good news

For quite a while, a lady called Diana donated quilts on a regular basis from Market Harborough.  I'm sure she'll forgive me if I say they were rarely complex, but always beautifully made in bright fabrics.  I hadn't heard from her for a while, but this week was contacted by her daughter, who said she was no longer able to quilt, and she was keen to donate the quilts which had been finished.  

Here is the pile of twelve quilts, with a gentle swan one on the top.  I don't know what I'll do when I can no longer sew, but let's hope that's a while coming!  

On a cheerful note, Julie and her sister Lynne organised a Bellydance Hafla (it's a performance party which is great fun) in Rugby, and plan to donate any profits to Linus!  How kind! 

Here are the dancers from a Day of the Dead inspired number.  Lynne is seated in the yellow dress and Julie is looking haughty immediately behind her.  What fabulous costumes!  They invited us down to have a stall at the the show, so we could meet people and share the kinds of things we did, but unfortunately I've been laid low with a heavy cold, and didn't wait to be sniffing and snorting all the way through the show, and certainly didn't want to potentially share my germs with everyone.  It was a shame we missed it, but maybe next year we'll get along.  Thank you to Diana, Julie and Lynne for supporting Project Linus! 

More happy quilts

Hannah, the play specialist at Ward 27 of the LRI contacted me to say they were very low on quilts and could I bring some more.  Normally it's not a problem, but unusually, I didn't have many quilts in store!  But since Rocheberie was looming, and there was a challenge to be judged, I guessed there would be quilts donated then.  Luckily, Hannah was able to wait a couple of weeks and so Paula and I went over on Monday and delivered 36 lovely quilts. 

Here we are (Hannah is the one with the ears!) with a bright Bonnie Hunter scrappy design.  I'm sure the young people on Ward 27 will think it's fun! 

Project Linus at the Coalville Quilt Show

Quilt shows have been like buses recently.  You don't go to one for ages, and then three come along all in a row!  Helen very kindly invited us over to Coalville to fly the Linus flag and luckily Julie and Maria were able to go and set up a stall. 

It looks unmanned to me, but I imagine that Julie was taking the photo, and Maria refused to be in it!  There are plenty of quilts on show, plus a demo, and lots of people stopped by to say hello.  

The show itself was a little smaller than the last two we went to, but the standard was just as good, and as varied. 

Here you can see a Dear Jane finished quilt.  Awesome!  Thank you for inviting us, and well hope to come again next time! 

Project Linus at the Big Textile Show.

Over the weekend we flew the Linus flag at the Big Textile Show at Leicester Racecourse.  IT is very kind of the organisers to allow us to have a free stand at this busy event, and we always look forward to it. 

Here are Maggie and I during a quiet moment on Sunday.  Julie and Maria held the fort on Saturday and had a lovely time.  We had fabric and magazines to sell, lots of quilts and thank you cards on display, and I demonstrated the 4corners jelly roll quilt pattern which we made up at a recent Knit and Stitch.  Lots of people were amazed at how simple and quick this was. 

It was lovely to meet so many new people and of course to see old friends.  A special thank you to those who brought quilts, especially Jill-Marie and Jean.  Keep up the good work! 

A lovely time

Yesterday was misty and grey here in Leicestershire, so what better to do than load up the car with quilts and drive up to meet Judy from Fostering Futures to deliver them!  We meet halfway between our homes and have a coffee and a catch up. Perfect! 

Here we are, Julie, Maria, Judy and myself in the cafe.  It was really busy, but we managed to get a table, and endured the envious glances of some customers who had to stand up.  Can you see I'm holding an envelope?  Judy had had a coffee morning for Project Linus and had raised enough money to pay our venue rent for the year, and two rolls of wadding!  Thank you so much all you generous people!  We were overwhelmed by your generosity! 

It was worth the trip for Judy too, as she took away 81 quilts for her looked after children.  

We managed to get a passer by to take a photo for us.  It was lovely to see Judy and hear all her news.  We were sad to hear that she may be moving away - well, sad for us, but happy for her.  Were determined not to lose touch though.  Good luck to her! 

Jars

Back in July Paula and I went over to BArleston to do some sewing with the ladies of a U3A Craft Group.  We had a very successful and enjoyable afternoon, making ars from various fruit and vegetables fabrics, not to mention fabrics with shells, buttons, pebbles, dominoes, mittens, trainers, candles etc!  

Here, at long last, is the completed top. It looks great and will be a fun quilt for a young person to snuggle up with.  Thank you ladies, you did a great job. 

A bag of quilts

Today I had a visit from Richard, whose wife Jane sadly died. She was a quilter, and he decided to honour her memory by having a fabric sale and quilting day, to raise money and make Linus quilts. 

He said he couldn't believe how the 'second hand' fabric went, and how generous people were.  He raised about £3,000 from the sale (makes me quake at how much my own stash would fetch!) and about 50 quilts were made or started on the day from Jane's fabrics.  

He very kindly brought 22 of the quilts over to give hugs to Leicestershire children, a county where Jane had formerly worked as a nurse.  What a lovely thing to do, and a special way to honour his wife's memory.  Have no doubt that all these gorgeous quilts will go to spread love and joy! 

Exhibition

This week has been Feast Week in Lutterworth - that is the feast of Saint Mary - and there have been various events going off.  Not least has been the Arts Exhibition at the United Reform Church here.  They always ask Knit and Stitch to exhibit there, and we are always very happy to do so. 

Here is our stall, with quilts, knitted garments, toys, puppets and fiddle muffs for Alzheimer's sufferers.  All these items are made for charity, which is fabulous. 

We also took the opportunity to get together to knit or sew, and chat to people who stopped at our stall (and each other!).  It was a lovely few days, and it was great to see so many friendly people. 

Donations

I have assembled a group of quilts ready to go to ADAPT a charity which works with prem babies and their families. 

There are 47 lovely quilts here and on top I have put three quilts which have been made in response to the 2017 challenge.  Apparently new born babies only see in black and white, so items with a strong contrast help to develop the visual cortex.  These ones will be perfect!  Thank you Gloria and Pat for these. 

Afternoon in BArleston

On Wednesday Paula and I set off to some sewing with a U3A Craft Group in BArleston.  Due to pure stupidity (on my part!) we took a wrong turning and we were about 10 minutes late arriving.  I was so sorry to do that to the ladies: I know from experience how stressful it is waiting for a speaker to turn up, and trying to think what on earth you'll do if they don't make it!  Anyway, we got there and hit the ground running, quickly getting the Group sewing. 

We were making jars, and the ladies loved using fabric with fruits, buttons, shells and goodness knows what else on them.  Here they are at the beginning of the session, and you can see the empty design wall at the back of the room. 

They all worked very hard, and quickly the jars lined up. 

Here is the final array.  Plenty to make a Linus quilt in less than 2 hours!  Thank you so much ladies for your welcome and your hard work!  Now to put them together!  

More sewing

Yesterday we had another sewing day at 'Hannah's Room' in Ibstock.  We had been invited by the lovely Roxana, who not only provided the venue, but kept us well supplied with tea, coffee and snacks!   What a lovely lady! 

Here we are busy, busy!  Julie is admiring the scrappy Bargello blocks we've already made, (we made enough for two quilts!) while Christine is still beavering away! Paula is on the edge of the shot and she is indefatigable!

At the other table was Jenni, Susan, Anne and Lesley, from Quilting Together in Shepshed.  They were lovely ladies and worked hard to also make nearly enough scrappy windmill blocks for another quilt!  We made a serious dent in the scraps bin, and had a great time too! 

A big thank you to Roxana and all the ladies, including Maria, who was dashing away with the smoothing iron!  Look out for the next sewing day soon! 

Sewing day

L.Today we went over to 'Hannah's Room' in Ibstock for a Linus sewing day! We were a little disappointed with the turnout, as several people who had wanted to come had had to cancel at the last moment.  Besides myself, Paula, Julie and Maria there was Gail, Roxanna and Roxanna's talented daughter, Charlotte.  What we lacked in quantity, we made up for in quality! 

Katy Jones from 'Quilt Now' magazine had sent us some fabric, and we used the layer cakes to make some disappearing nine patches. Here are Julie, Paula and Maria beavering away. 

And here are Charlotte and Gail. 

While we were working, Roxanna sorted out some unlovely fabrics which she donated to Linus!  She is one generous lady!  We will certainly love and use them, in fact Gail and Maria promptly snaffled a couple for backing.  Result! 

Paula chose the Windy Day set of fabrics.  Here she is laying them out. 

Maria had the Nautical set and was a bit concerned that some of the fish were swimming upside down.  They seemed to manage! 

Julie had this set in turquoise and green.  Gorgeous. 

Gail's set was called Juicy, and had crisp colours and delicious fruits.

And here is Charlotte, who hadn't intended to sew, but was seduced by the simple pattern and beautiful fabric.  In the time she completed six blocks, which was awesome! She is hoping to finish the rest over the weekend.  What a star! 

And here is the completed top!  Charlotte certainly did a great job on this! 

Thank you so much to everyone who came today, and especially to Roxanna for hosting us all.  There will be another day on May 25th so book in with Roxanna if you'd like to come along. 

Talented ladies!

Just heard that a Linus quilt has won a prize at the Uttoxeter Quilt Show!  The '100th' quilt from the very talented ladies at Quilting Together in Shepshed won third prize in their category!  

Here it is again so you can admire it.  I am delighted at their success and not at all surprised, as they are very talented (and generous) ladies!  Well done! 

Also thanks to the kind fairy who donated the lovely fabric bundle which inspired it all!  All donated fabrics are put to such good use. 

Adventures in the LRI

Today my husband and I went up to the LRI to take some quilts to Ward 10.  Pip, the housekeeper there, had rung me to ask if there was any possibility of getting some quilts.  After my visit to Shepshed, I was looking forward to more quilt requests!  

Pip said they had storage and could take up to 100 quilts!  Here are 75 quilts in the most rickety and recalcitrant trolley the LRI has in its keeping!  This one definitely had a mind of its own, but luckily Richard managed to keep it on track! 

And here we are with the quilts.  Pip is on the left with the houses quilts, and two other nurses chose quilts they liked too.  Pip said,' You should see the parents' faces when we bring the quilts out!  They are amazed and delighted.'  Just another reminder of how these quilts aren't just snuggly blankets but important markers of caring and love. 

A visit to Shepshed

There has been an advert on the to recently, for Travelodge I think, where a family is very excited about going to Slough.  Slough isn't known for its attractions, but in the advert, the attraction is grandma and grandad!  I felt a bit the same about my recent visit to Shepshed.  It's not the most attractive of towns, but I was very much looking forward to going there, to see the ladies of Quilting Together.  I always take some boxes of fabric with me, and they usually take most of it home with them. 

Here they all are, diving in!  Other people's fabric is always more desirable than one's own, and this must have been very desirable, as I brought very little of it home. 

And here are the quilts waiting for me to take home.   I was hoping they would all fit in my car.  

Last year I gave the group a bundle of lovely black, grey and red fabrics, which had been donated.  I thought they would be able to put them to good use.  I wasn't wrong, as this is what they have created.  It's ultimately for Linus, but it is being entered into the Uttoxeter Quilt Show, so look out for it there. 

I also left some of this racing car fabric last time.  The black and white checks look great here. 

This is quarter log cabin alternated with some framed ladybird fabric. 

This train fabric has been bigger up by clever framing of each block.  

This quilt uses up some strips of feature fabric. There's something to interest everyone there! 

The group have been exploring scrap and string quilts, and this one uses scrap blocks to great effect. 

This one is hidden nine patch.  It uses the scraps left over from the Uttoxeter quilt. 

This log cabin is a masterclass in using value.  Gorgeous. 

The block here is quite straightforward, but the arrangement adds an extra dimension.  It looks almost circular. 

A blast from the past- a tee shirt block made into a very modern medallion quilt. 

Churn dash with a pinwheel centre. Looks quite nautical. 

Another great use of strings. Mother bold colours are set off by the dark sashing.  

Hexagons with attitude! 

I don't know whether this was made by hand or machine, but either way, these stars look dreamy. 

This green spiders web looks very attractive.  Just like four comfy flowerbeds. 

I don't know quite what's going on here, but I love the colours! 

Clamshells, Jim, but not as we know them!  The peeping pandas are so cute! 

This one looks very complex.  Is the block an on point nine patch framed with triangles?  I think it's the coordinating fabrics which link it all together in an intriguing way. 

I have more photos, but couldn't show all of them, as there were a grand total of 99 (ninety nine!) beautiful quilts!  I was delighted to load them all into my car, and I can assure everyone that they will be finding new homes very soon. 

Thank you so much ladies, and I look forward to seeing you all again next year, if not before!