Special delivery!!

I'm back!  What a wonderful trip to NJ and NY.  Part of the joy was not having to drive - the boys and I rode on the sleeper bus with my husband's basketball team, so during the ride I napped, watched movies, got some work done, and worked on the binding for the disappearing 4-patch quilt.

On Friday, I got a ride to Keyport, NJ to deliver quilts to Hillary, the President of the Blankie Depot, which is right in one of the affected communities.  (on the drive there, we saw boats upside down in people's yards - very surreal!) I dropped off 5 quilts there (I still wasn't done with the binding on the 6th).

There were 180 other quilts in her dining room, too, all scheduled to be distributed on Monday. 

Hillary is not a quilter, but is a fan and friend of quilters, so she had some treasures in her house that she allowed me to photograph.

Hand quilted and hanging on her living room wall - I love the pattern and the colors 

Close up of a hand quilted tablerunner in her living room

Then, on Saturday, the boys and I went to NY to visit Victoria.  (visit her site, she has a more complete photo of the quilt) I did some binding in my hotel room,

and on the train to New York, but I finished the binding on the quilt while sitting in her awesome loft in the garment district.  She joked that part of how she can get so much done is living and working in what used to be a sweatshop and having the spirits of all those garment workers from days gone by helping her out.  I love it!

And you know what else I loved?  Getting an in-person peek at her quilts in her newly released book, 15 Minutes of Play.  I'll definitely be buying this one!  It is technique, not patterns, and her quilts are so creative and inspirational!  I'll be honest, I was pretty star struck while I was there - I've been reading her blog for years and have so much respect for her.

After leaving her place, the kids and I walked to Bryant Park to ice skate on Citi Pond.  Apparently, my boys have never gone ice skating before, but they took to it like ducks to water.

The purpose of the trip wasn't just for quilt delivery, of course, but also for basketball.  My husband's team won their season opener against Tufts on Friday, then lost a heart-breaker to Rutgers Newark on Saturday.  Since my husband is from New Jersey, much of his family came out to support him, which was wonderful!

His mom, his brother, his sister, his niece, two cousins, his aunt and his aunt. Even more people came out Friday night, but of course I forgot my camera!

Then, when I arrived home, look what was waiting!

35 packages in the mail!

It took me an hour and a half to open it all and record all the addresses in my spreadsheet. (Please know that if you've sent me anything, you'll be receiving an official THANK YOU in a couple of weeks.  For now, I'm just trying to keep up with the mail - and my job, and my kids, and my afterschool program quilting class, and karate, and cub scouts - so I'm not emailing anyone directly, just listing names on here under MY HEROES and adding them to my spreadsheet for later.  I hope you understand.)

All those packages yielded this - 312 blocks, one pieced backing and 3 other solid backings, lots of yardage, $100 for batting, 65 assorted other quilt blocks, lots of yardage, some flannel squares

Thanks, Julie, The Quilter's Group, Cheryl, Hetty, Ruth, Pam, Charlene, Judith, Kate, Betty, Candy, Diane, Nicki, Selina, Maureen, Erin, Megan, Sarah, Ellen, Linda F, Gain, Patricia W, Linda B, Karen, Suzanne, Patricia C, Valierie, Patty, Doreen, Alice, Sharon, Barb, Becki, P Thomsen and the Sew Blessed Quilters!

AND

A Jelly Roll quilt top that I may try to add borders to in order to make it twin sized - thanks, Alice! 

A fun, completed baby quilt - thanks, Barb!

And a completed snuggly flannel baby quilt - thanks, Barb!

The notes of encouragement that you guys include are so sweet, but I gotta tell you, this wouldn't happen without ALL OF YOU!!!  You guys deserve the thanks!  Without you, I may have gotten two quilts done and up there, but more than likely just one.  Instead, we are going to keep dozens of people warm this winter.  THANKS!

Erin