Sandy Quilts - Updates!

(if you are looking for my giveaway, go here - open until 6 AM EST on Monday, December 17)

Lots of updates to share about the Hurricane Sandy quilts project.  Look closely, and maybe you'll be able to see your quilt blocks in one of these photos.  First of all, more quilts have been finished and delivered:

Thanks, Char, for quilting and binding and shipping  it.  Thanks to everyone for the blocks and the backing! 

Thanks, Anita, for quilting and binding and shipping it.  Thanks for everyone for the blocks and the backing! This one is backed with a flannel sheet someone donated, so it will be nice and soft and cozy!  And do you see in the top of the photo, there's a scrappy quilt on that chair and a quilted tree skirt, I think.  Gosh, I wish the photo panned out more so I could see those better - I love looking at other people's quilts!  Oh, and Anita, saint that she is, is currently quilting yet another of these quilts for us!

Thanks, Marilyn, for quilting and binding and shipping it!  Thanks everyone for the blocks and backing! 

There's another completed and ready to be delivered quilt here with me that just got its binding from one of my guild members (thanks, Karin!) and needs shipping off - I'm waiting for the other one here that is getting bound by another guild member (thanks, Judy!) so they can go together, hopefully early next week.  Photos will come later for those two.

Then, there are a bunch of completed tops!  I'm still working on assembling my fifth top, but here are 3 more that are currently living with me until I can find a volunteer quilter or get to them myself:

Thanks, Pam, Kerry and Elizabeth (all from my quilt guild!) for assembling them, and thanks to everyone for the blocks! (excuse the mess in my sewing room!)

Plus, Becki assembled one top, and is in the process of assembling another:

Thanks, Becki!  I swiped this photo from your FB page.  Am I forgiven? 

In addition to that, there are blocks being assembled by 7 of my local friends and guild members.  Thanks Alma, Nancy, Elizabeth, Michelle, Julia, Caroline and Sue!

The mail for the past week has brought in more than 100 more blocks!

Thanks, JoAnn, Nancy, Eileen, Kay, Sharon, Teddy, Beth, Carolynn, Annette, K Roy, Lori, C Berge, Diane and Carol!

We are now at just under 1300 Disappearing 4-patch Blocks received - enough for over 30 quilts! (that doesn't include other types of blocks sent or quilt tops or completed quilts sent - just amazing!)

And they ARE being delivered to those in need!  Check out this link on Victoria's blog to see a photo of the first of our Disappearing 4-patch quilts and it's recipient!!!!

Plus, we've gotten these messages of thanks from Blankie Depot in NJ and the Acacia Network in NY:

11/16/12 from Blankie Depot:

Dear Erin & friends in service to others,

This afternoon, we received your beautiful donations, thank you so much! 

Every cozy and cheerful quilt will be heading to a specific volunteer outpost in Long Beach Island, Howell, Long Branch, Keansburg and Red Bank, NJ.  The families affected by Hurricane Sandy had been without electric and gas service until just this week.  Many "islanders" have lost their homes and it is our mission to provide warmth and compassion during a time of unthinkable loss.  Some families are going to be without permanent housing for some time.

Thank YOU for sharing your time and creative talents with NJ residents affected by the storm.  It has been such a pleasure to take your calls, respond to your generous emails and experience how beautifully the crafting for charity community comes together to help others. 

Hugs from this Jersey girl!
Hillary

12/7/12 from Blankie Depot:

Dear Erin,

Thank you for sending additional quilts to us.  We are coordinating a delivery to families in Wall Township on Saturday and your beautiful contributions will be a part of that special day.

We greatly appreciate the time and considerable talents you are sharing with families impacted by the storm.  The show of solidarity across the country is a strong message of hope and healing.

Hugs from your friends @ Blankie Depot.

12/8/12 from Blankie Depot:

Box two arrived this morning, Erin!  Just beautiful.  Along with quilts created by fellow volunteers we will be distributing donations to families impacted by the storm in Hoboken, NJ on Monday.  Your compassionate donation brings a good deal of comfort to those displaced by the super storm.

Thank you so much!

12/3/12 from Acacia Network:

Thank you so much for the beautiful quilt and/or warm clothes you donated to the Bumble Beans and Acacia Network Quilt Drive. Rest assured that your donation will be received by someone who truly needs it. Thanks again for your kindness. A thank you note will follow if you provided an address with your donation.

Together, we are making a difference!  Thank you to all of you for helping make my little goal of making a quilt or two for Hurricane Sandy victims into a huge, happy, scrappy dream come true!

(and my apologies if I have left you off my thank yous or Heroes list - I'm not the most organized person in the world, so keeping all of this straight is straining my little brain!)

It's a party!

Quilter's Blog Hop Party, that is!  To celebrate the Quilting Gallery's 5th birthday, bloggers around the world are having giveaways.  Click the graphic below to see the list of other participating bloggers, but not until you keep reading to see what is happening in my little corner of the world!

Note that the party doesn't officially start until Monday morning, so if you are visiting on Sunday night, she may not have the list of links up yet.  If not, check back on Monday to join the fun!

For any new readers out there, here's a quick introduction.  My name is Erin, and I have been quilting for about 10 years now.  I adore working with scraps, and I cut my scraps into predefined sizes, using a system very much like Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System.  I rarely follow a pattern, either while piecing or while quilting.  I am a hand quilter, so it takes me forever to finish projects, but I do my best to always have something with me as I rush through my busy life to work on while waiting in doctor's offices or sitting on bleachers watching my kids play sports or even just during my lunch break.  In addition to being a quilter, I am a mom to 2 boys and wife to the most handsome man on earth, have a full-time job in college admissions, take and teach karate, am a cub scout den leader, and teach an after-school quilting class to kids grades K-5.

Recently I've undertaken an effort to provide some warmth and comfort in the form of quilts to those were affected by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey, and I've been so blessed by quilters all around the world, sending enough blocks and completed quilts to donate more than 3 dozen quilts so far.  You can see an up to date list of all the ANGELS who have helped with my project over there on the right under the heading MY HEROES.  Understandably, I joined this Blog Hop so I could give a little something back and to say THANK YOU!

Since I've been working on the Hurricane Sandy Project, there have been quite a few projects that have been moved to the back burner for a while.  The longer they sit there, the more I want to get back to them.  One that has really been calling to me, and that also very much illustrates my quilting style, is my color quilt.  Using 1.5" precut squares of scraps, I have been spelling out color words with scraps of that color.  I have no idea yet how I'm going to put them together, but that is par for the course with me.  Here's what I have so far:

THE GIVEAWAY!

Do you have projects that you look forward to getting back to eventually?  If so, leave a comment letting me know what that project is.  Or are you one of those amazing people who has no UFOs, who always finishes what you start?  If so, leave a comment and let me know your secret!  Either way, I'll enter you into my drawing.  I'm a visual person so links to photos of projects are encouraged, but certainly not required. Just one comment per person, please.  I'll leave the giveaway open until 6 AM EST, Monday, December 17. That's when I get up for work.  It'll help me get out of bed on a cold, dark Monday morning if I have something fun to look forward to other than my job (which I love, but which I love a little less at 6 AM on Monday mornings).

The winner will receive a package of over 150 assorted 2.5" scrap squares,

plus, three approximately half-yard cuts of a fabric that a co-worker brought back from abroad for me (I believe from India) that I love, but can't for the life of me figure out what to do with.

She brought back a yard of each, so half goes to you, and half stays with me.  I'm hoping to be inspired by what someone else does with it.

I will ship anywhere in the world.  Please know that you cannot win if I have no way to get in touch with you, so please, either be a blogger with an email address in his/her profile, or leave your email address in your comment.

I hope you will come back to visit again!  Enjoy the party!

The flip side

I've got two quilts being picked up by members of my quilt guild for binding today.  That's two more that can be delivered any day now.  Woo hoo!  And while the fronts of the quilts all pretty much look the same, the backs don't.  Look at this wonderful pieced backing from Maureen in OR:

I'd have to switch between having the disappearing 4-patch on top and the pieced backing on top if it were MY quilt!

Kid stuff

Some people wonder how and why I do all the "extra" stuff I do.  After all, I've got a full time job, a family, a hobby that keeps me busy.  But I gotta tell you, that "extra" stuff is what keeps me sane when the job is a drag and the kids are driving me bonkers and my dirty house makes me feel like an unfit mother and wife.  I can go into the karate studio just as low as can be, but after taking my black belt class and then teaching my intermediate class, I am flying high - every time!  And then Cub Scouts and the Ready To Quilt workshop at the elementary school - those are just more opportunities for me to be creative and hang out with kids!

The kids are almost finished with their colored and embroidered blocks for the Fair entry quilt we are making.

My Kindergarten through 2nd graders have turned out to be the most industrious. 

I guess I didn't realize until looking at these photos that they tend to self segregate by gender. But aren't they cute? 

Of course, I didn't have a real plan for the quilt design when we started, but yesterday I started whipping up some alternate blocks for them to sew their blocks to.  Here's a preview of how that quilt will look:

This will go across the top or bottom

They aren't sewn together yet - the kids will do that.  They outlined the letters with a backstitch and colored inside. 

Some ladies in my guild donated fabric for the Ready to Quilt kids, so I picked four the four largest pieces to combine in these quarter square triangle blocks.

And then, last Friday, the Cub Scouts and I were in the Christmas parade (whoever heard of a Christmas parade in NOVEMBER!?!).  We partnered with the drive-in movies again, and marched along behind a truck that was playing Frosty the Snowman on a big screen while we munched popcorn.  We made our "cars" again this year, but I gave myself a break and instead of making them out of cardboard (I swear I nearly got carpal tunnel from cutting so many boxes up last year!), I bought poster board and made them into "sandwich board" cars with some muslin strips across the shoulders.  The boys got really creative with their cars:

Yup, that's a deer peeking out the back window of the FORD truck 

My son even thought to put a seat belt on his driver!

Can you see that his lights are made out of tinfoil?  Who thinks to bring tinfoil to a parade? Clever kid! 

Can you see the little Christmas lights he drew around his windshield? Get my vote for most festive! 

Yesterday and today, the weather has been in the low 70s.  I'll admit to being affected by the weather.  This balmy weather has me skipping around and singing like a kid!  Just think, I'm on my porch in short sleeves and barefoot writing this right now, watching the sun go down...in DECEMBER!  For this child of the Maine woods, that is nearly unheard of!  The hubby and I like to joke about taking off for Panama when things get rough at home and work - well, guess where I got quilt blocks from yesterday?

Thanks, Marina from Panama! (Hubby wants to know why they quilt in Panama if it is warm all the time.  Don't worry guys, in time, I will educate him to our ways.)

And today, I got 71 more quilt blocks in the mail from Lola in VA and the Rainbow Plantation Quilters in AL.  Thanks, guys!

Luckily, I made room in my sewing room today - I mailed out 8 quilts to Blankie Depot in NJ.  That's 14 delivered so far by me, and I believe 3 or 4 more have been delivered directly from the people who have been kind enough to quilt quilts for us.  And there are many more to come.  

Do you know that I've received over 1165 disappearing 4-patch blocks so far?

That doesn't include the ones made by me or those in my quilt guild or those that were made and delivered to me in quilt form or all the orphan blocks and unfinished blocks and tops you guys have sent.  Together, we are making a difference in the lives of those who are still suffering the effects of Hurricane Sandy.  Everyone reach over your shoulder and give yourself a nice pat on the back!

And for my final bit of kid stuff - look at one of my little fellas drew for me in Ready To Quilt yesterday - just melted my heart! (and he obviously knows I love scrappy, improvisational quilts!)

Sunday sewing and mail call

It was a crazy week for me at work, one that included a full meltdown featuring LOTS of angry tears.  Does anyone else cry when they are angry?  Does anyone else hate that they cry when angry? I always feel like it makes me seem weak, but oh, did I need that cry!  Thank goodness my husband works nearby, so I called him to walk with me so I could vent and cry in a safe environment.  Next week has to be better.

I didn't get to sew at all this week, but I'm trying to make up for it today.  In addition to putting together another Hurricane Sandy quilt top (you guys have sent me enough blocks to keep me busy for months!  Thanks!), I also started on December's Block Lotto blocks, Star Crossed.  I've made three so far, but plan to make more, hopefully the full 9 for more chances to win!

In addition to working my tail off all week, I also opened LOTS of mail from all of you:

Wednesday's Mail: 17 blocks and some yardage for backing plus a completed quilt - Thanks, Cathy from AZ and Cindy from OH!

Thursday's Mail: 4 completed quilts, 4 quilt tops, some orphan blocks and LOTS of disappearing 4-patch blocks (I forgot to count before adding them with the others) NOTE that Wendy and her quild guild are responsible for a lot of this mail, but I left my notes with the guild name at work - sorry about that!

Completed quilt - thanks, Lane in TX!

Completed quilt - thanks, Lane in TX!

1 baby quilt top, various blocks - thanks, Laurel in LA!

Completed quilt - thanks, Wendy and the Common Thread Quilt Guild! 

Completed quilt - thanks, Wendy and the Common Thread Quilt Guild! 

HUGE quilt top - thanks, Wendy and the Common Thread Quilt Guild! 

Quilt top - thanks, Wendy and the Common Thread Quilt Guild! 

I LOVE THIS QUILT TOP - thanks, Wendy and the Common Thread Quilt Guild! 

60 blocks - thanks, Barb in AL, Mani and Christine in Ontario, Margaret in Alberta and Wendy and the Common Thread Quilt Guild! 

Friday's Mail: 8 blocks - Thanks, Sherril and Kay from MA!

Saturday's Mail: 6 blocks - Thanks, Dianne from VA and Terrie and Sharon from CT!

Monday - 1, Erin - 0

Yesterday kicked my butt.  Getting back into a rhythm at work was rough.  After work, I taught the READY TO QUILT class at the elementary school, and they didn't assign me a helper yesterday so that was rough.  The kids were doing more embroidery, finishing up some of the letters we didn't get to last time, plus creating the blocks for the county fair quilt.  It will be an alphabet quilt, so the kids traced some designs that I brought onto fabric, colored them, and then started to outline the letters with a back stitch.  Their blocks are looking pretty good, but I swear, all I did was thread needle after needle after needle...

Then my son had basketball practice, and I took him to not one, but TWO wrong schools before I got him to the school where he was actually having practice.  He hates being late.  Poor kid, he got the wrong mother for that.

When I got home, I opened the Hurricane Sandy Relief Quilts mail:

There were 15 of these beauties donated.  I'm going to find a green to sash them and have a ball putting these together. Thanks, anonymous member of the Hooks and Needles Guild in SC.

35 more blocks - thanks, Hooks and Needles Guild in SC, Karin in South Africa, Ann in TX and Denise in OR! 

and that was it.  After I finished reading to the boys at bedtime, I got in bed to read for myself and was out like a light before I even turned a page.  My hubby got home shortly after 9 to find me knocked out, drooling on my book, lights blazing.

I keep thinking today will be better, but it is lunch time and I am in a foul mood.  I'm going to look ahead to after work - NO SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES!  I'm going straight home!  (well, after a quick stop at the library and the bank...)

Plus, a family friend (Uncle Ted) is coming for a visit from Maine AND I already have dinner in the CrockPot!  The day just has to get better, doesn't it?

Back at it!

I'm back at work. Yay.

(was that convincing?)

The problem with working is that it keeps me from doing other things.  I put together another quilt top this weekend, but I have so many more to go!

The 4th top I've assembled so far.

4 more blocks arrived on Saturday - thanks Marlene from New Zealand and Robin from CA!  Aren't they pretty?

And I finished one open block on my Scrappy String Star quilt, but there are 3 more of those to fill up.

I'm loving the look, even if I did orient it sideways.  Looks very folk artsy to me. 

Close up of my big stitches with embroidery floss

I made 4 freehand mugs for November's Block Lotto, but I'd love to make the maximum 9 blocks so I have more chances to win.

Instead, I'm at work.

Better get back to it.

Happy Monday, everyone. (in my best Eeyore voice)