helen's quilt

I have a friend, Helen, who is sweet and caring and can always make me laugh. Seriously, she's hilarious. She's also authentic to the core and very knowledgeable of the gospel--all things I very much admire about her. One thing she apparently is not, is graceful. :)

While painting a room in her home a few weeks ago, she took a major dive off of or onto (?) a chair and got a spiral fracture in her leg. I'd describe what that is, but it's super gross and would make you cringe. I just did--eck. Following her surgery, she's been at a rehab center for physical therapy. As much as I'm sure everyone there is enjoying her humor and antics, I know she's going nuts without her family and friends.

To give Helen a little comfort and remind her we're thinking of her, some friends got together and made her a quilt. Actually, Jen Ostler did most of the work, the rest of us got to help. The whole thing came together in three days. I know...amazing!

  

JEN'S PROCESS FOR A GROUP QUILT:

• Choose a simple quilt design with blocks beginners can easily piece. (She used Little Man from the book Simplify With Camille Roskelley: Quilts for the Modern Home (Stash Books). Great book for beginners--and everyone else.)

• Purchase or pull together fabric from your stash. (Be sure to use your friends favorite colors.)

• Pre-cut all the pieces and stack into blocks.

•  Send out an e-mail (Jen used our ward's Google group) for everyone to either come over and sew a block or two or take one home and do it. (It took me about 20 minutes to sew and press two blocks.)

•  Sew the blocks together with the sashing and borders. Layer quilt top, batting and backing.

•  Make a run to a favorite quilt shop--or three--for a backing.

•  Send out or do the quilting yourself.

•  Give to someone who can bind a quilt lightening-fast (that's Monica Steelman).  

 

Jen embroidered a sweet message before sewing on the sashing.

After much contemplation, the extra little band of cream between the border patterns, was just what it needed. Great choice Jen, it's perfect. :)

I love the backing. Another friend, Amber Bonner, used scraps of the fabrics to make a matching bag. It's beautiful! 

Love you, Helen. We're ready for you to come home!

NOTES: The original pattern is for a baby quilt that measures 40 1/2" x 51 1/2". Helen's quilt is 60 x 76. Total blocks: 36. Fabric used: 9 fat quarters, 1 1/2 yards for sashing, 1/4 yard for border 1 (2" finished), cream scraps for border 2 (1" finished), 1/2 yard for border 3 (4 1/2" finished), and 1/2 yard for binding cut at 2 1/4", approximately 4 yards for backing (depending on if you use fabrics from the front for piecing). Purchase Simplify With Camille Roskelley: Quilts for the Modern Home for original pattern.

Also shared here:
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Whipperberry

Happy Scrappytripalong and a new toy!!!!

Oh, so exciting!!!!! I was able to get lost in the strips and sets of my #scrappytripalong quilt this weekend!!! Spent some time with Magnum, pi cutting these sweet fabrics!!

and with the help of a Joanns 40%off sale I bought my first OLFA rotary blade! I am IN LOVE...helps with my arthritic issues so much! I should have had one of these LONG ago!!!! Wishing I had gotten the 60 instead of the 45 but I am so thrilled at how much easier it is to cut fabric I am not going to whine!

 These were from Saturday!

This was the progress Sunday morning

The in house engineer said he was not loving the busy blocks so to keep the love I broke the blocks up and this is where I am now...I had to staple Pellon batting to the wall to hold all the blocks,LOL! It is seven feet wide and REALLY long. I am going to do something fun but I am still deciding what that fun will be...

Have you been working on your #scrappytripalong blocks?

a simple teacher appreciation gift

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at our school. Ella's teacher, Debbie Reiber, is one of those exceptional, amazing and gifted teachers. She's been a huge blessing to all of us. She's loving yet firm, consistent, and her classroom is very structured. These qualities are so important to help children feel safe. But she's also fun and creative, which makes learning a joy for her students. We couldn't appreciate her more.

Today was Ella's day to bring Mrs. Reiber a special gift. I know Debbie's favorite color is red and she enjoys quilting, because I gave her a questionnaire to fill out at the beginning of the year that asked her favorites. (I also passed it along to the room mother.)

I know I broke my own rule about not giving teachers anything apple-related, but this Apple of My Eye line of quilting fabric by Riley Blake I found is delightful! I purchased a fat quarter of each of the patterns the shop had and packaged them up in a simple clear box. I also included a gift certificate to the quilt shop and a heartfelt letter of appreciation from Lynn and me.

Simple is nice. I hope Mrs. Reiber enjoys. :)

Kim

tips for a RS basic quilting class

We had a lot of requests from the Relief Society sisters in our ward to learn to quilt. A couple of months ago, we held a basic quilting class that was very successful. Here's how we set it up:

One of our instructors, Monica, teaching binding.

Instructors
I approached three very experienced quilters to "team teach" the class, so no one teacher would become overwhelmed. We broke the class into a three part series and each teacher was responsible for one part. They were all so enthusiastic and did an awesome job!

Marina's finished table runner.

Project
We started by getting together to throw around ideas and choose a simple project. We decided a table runner was doable and would teach all the basics of quilting. 

Monica designed a pattern and instructions for a runner that included a border. (She teaches at American Quilting in Orem and has designed her own quilts.) Each teacher then took the instructions and made a table runner. It was nice because they all looked so different and appealed to a variety of sisters.

Roxy sewing on her binding. I love that "vintage" machine! Works like a charm.

Information and Instructions
We sent out the details via e-mail and in the RS binders, along with a supply list for the class. Ruth has a gift for choosing fabrics, so she typed up a great handout on fabric selection that was also included.

Fabric Selection
I arranged to have our instructors available at a local quilt shop--Just Sew in Highland--one Saturday morning to help sisters choose fabrics and answer questions. The shop gave our ward members a discount on supplies purchased for the class.

I went in later to thank the shop owner and let her know we had received multiple compliments about how wonderful and helpful her employees had been. She responded by telling me she thought things had been very well organized. We'll be working together again for some other upcoming classes. ;)

Class Schedule
The two hour classes were divided up according to the quilting process.
Week 1: Rotary Cutting/Sewing taught by: Ginny
Week 2: Assembly/Borders taught by: Ruth
Week 3: Binding taught by: Monica

*We had a two week break between weeks 2 and 3, so projects could be sent to the quilter. (We're lucky to have two sisters in our ward who have quilting machines!)

Each instructor was responsible for the demonstration and instruction--along with any handouts--for her week. The other two teachers were available to assist.

Set Up
Set up was relatively simple. We used the cultural hall all but the last week. The first night (rotary cutting/sewing), we had one section of tables for cutting and another set for the sewing machines. Our demo table was placed in the center. The following two weeks we only needed tables for sewing machines. (All rotary cutting was done on the first night.)

Snacks
We provided a few bowls of munchies (pretzels, M&M's) on a table for snacking. We couldn't possibly quilt without chocolate!

We have very supportive brethren. Two even made their own runners!

Encouraging Others
We encouraged sisters who weren't taking the beginning class, to join us and work on other quilting or sewing projects, or a quilt we made for a special sister in our ward who was in an accident and bedridden.

It was so rewarding for me to see  so many sisters learn a new skill. As a result of the class, there have been break off groups who have worked on other quilting projects and one of the instructors, Ruth, will now be heading up a monthly quilting group/class.

RS birthday celebration

We held our Relief Society celebration last week. It was a delightful evening and I had tons of help from many talented sisters.

This was the invitation I created. We send ours out via e-mail to all the sisters so it worked great. (I had another ward ask to use our invite, but when they tried to print it out it was slightly pixelated. So if you use the image from Pinterest, know that it's only about 400 x 600 pixels and can't be enlarged.)

Seriously love this little couple though--they make me smile. They were perfect to set the stage for our vintage theme.

I had these branches and glass jar left from the wishing tree at Patrick and Ashlee's reception in January. I created a "spring-ish" tree for the serving table by adding tulle pom-poms I made. I also tied a variety of vintage ads to the branches.

The kids gave me a vintage Schwinn bike for Christmas. I LOVE it! I set it against a pink vintage door backdrop and added a cupcake liner garland to greet the guests.

Tracy B. made five of the most darling garlands from doilies, twine, patterned paper, ric rac, cupcake liners, book pages and burlap. (Can't believe I missed a photo of the burlap garland, I loved it! It had fabric hearts on burlap flag pennants.) The last photo shows my favorite garland in the background. We hung them all criss cross at the front of the room. They were perfect.

For the table centerpieces, Patti gathered up glass jars and lined the insides with vintage photos. She chose really great photos.

For dinner we stuck with our favorite (okay, my favorite) spring-time meal--a yummy and healthy salad bar. Louanne did an beautiful job gathering and preparing all the ingredients. Just check out that spread. We had sisters in the ward bring a variety of homemade dressings, and Marci and Tirage made homemade rolls. It was absolutely scrumptious.

And since no meal would be complete without dessert, I asked Breanna to come up with something simple and delish. Oh my goodness, these Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Chip cookies were perfect and better than any bakery cookie I've ever tasted. And I love the way she packaged them up--a simple cellophane bag tied with bakers twine.

 

As we finished dinner, our RS President, Marci, gave a short message about simplifying our lives. We gave each of the sisters a 4x6 print of this quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley as a favor. I saw it here originally and loved it, but wanted something a little different to fit our theme.

We had recently finished up a three week beginning quilting class, so we thought it would be the perfect occasion to have a quilt display. Many of the sisters who made table runners in the class brought them to share. We also asked the other sisters to bring quilts they had made or vintage quilts they owned. We have some very talented quilters in our ward!

Ruth did an amazing job displaying the 40+ quilts she gathered from everyone. She used a variety of ladders with poles, tables, chairs, quilt racks, etc. to drape and hang them. It was quite impressive. She also asked everyone to share the story behind each quilt or simply who made it/who it was for on a tag that was pinned to each quilt.

left to right: Delayne, Brenda and Shauna.

We also presented a very special quilt to our friend Brenda. She recently sustained a very serious injury and is confined to bed rest for three months! Uggh! We were so excited she was able to attend the celebration with us. Many of the sisters in the ward got together and contributed to or helped sew the beautiful quilt she's holding on her lap.

Delayne and Shauna have both survived cancer in the last year or two and have also received quilts we've made for them. They shared how meaningful it was to receive such a special gift they could use throughout their treatment and be reminded of the love their friends have for them. We love these sisters so much.

 I take my calling as Relief Society Meeting Coordinator very literally. My board is very small (but a huge support), but I also have a huge pool of these talented women to choose from and so many who are willing and love to serve. I am able to delegate and coordinate with the sisters in my ward who have specific talents and gifts and use them for individual projects, classes or celebrations. It works beautifully and I love that no single person or group is doing everything and becomes overwhelmed and stressed out. It also works because I have a Relief Society President who trusts my skills and inspiration and let's me go with it. It also helps that we both think very alike--keep things simple, simple, simple and simple, and let go of the unnecessary. :)

Don't get me wrong, my calling is still a lot of work. It's challenging and requires some mad organization skills. But I love it. And it's extremely rewarding for me to see the sisters shine by sharing the things they love most and helping others learn and develop new skills.

Happy 170th Birthday, Relief Society!

Update: I have had so many women ask for the ads and photos we used for our birthday celebration. I have all the vintage ads in a folder you can download. The photos weren't saved, but Mr. Google can help you find some. From now on I'll have everyone send me their portion, and we'll make them available on the post. :) So glad you love our ideas!

Really addicting pockets of lovely

I was straightening my fabric closet this weekend and ran across something I had completely forgotten about...Liberty of London squares!!!!!! First of all they should rename this Liberty of LOVELY! It is lovely, everything from the color to the feel is lovely. I will start the petition Monday first thing :o)

I bought these to make a cathedral window quilt months ago but somehow never had the motivation to actually start.  I started looking at these again and I was curious just how hard could it be?????

I cut, folded and ironed and they look like little pockets!!!!

This is some of the LOL I am choosing from!!!

Sewed the LOL into the pocket...

This is what I have so far but I cannot seem to stop!!!!! I am sure this will take some time but I cannot wait to see what each window looks like. They are all so beautiful in their own way.

The other thing I was able to accomplish was cutting in to the new Denyse Schmidt line so I will be announcing a SWEET giveaway in the next few days fi I can pull myself away from making these cute things :o)

Linking up to WIP Wednesday

Kim

Pay it forward ( a Cluck Cluck Sew pattern Giveaway)

Back in October I participated in the 100 Quilts for Kids event on Swim Bike Quilt. It was great to make a quilt for donation but there were prizes too! You cannot get more win/win than that situation!!!!

I was fortunate enough to receive ALL of  patterns from Cluck Cluck Sew. Did I mention ALL of them!!!! There are so many I thought I would share in hopes that someone will make one of these lovely quilts to donate next year to a cause close to their heart.

Many thanks to Allison for her generous gift to such a worthy cause!!!!!!!

One giveaway winner will win all three of these awesome patterns!!!!

	( All photos are from Cluck Cluck Sew)
To enter the giveaway: 1.  Leave a comment saying howdy :o)  2. You have a second chance by leaving a comment if you are a follower ( love you guys!!!!) or a new follower ( I have lots of love to give!!!!) The giveaway will be closed on Wed November 9th and a winner will be chosen on Thursday November 10th I will be choosing the winner using Random.org  Good Luck!!!!!!