Catching Up With Jack's Basket Quilts--Part One

Wow!  Our members really make the sewing machines hum! 
Above is a stack of baby quilts recently donated to our ongoing Jack's Basket charity drive.
I know it's hard to see all of these at a quilt meeting, and I thought the whole group would like to know what wonderful baby quilts are going out to Jack's Basket from Ties that Bind.

This is part one, 8 baby quilts that have already been sent in November and received by the charity.  (Part two will cover 12 more, so stay tuned!)  I have tried to take a full photo and a detail of each one.

This lovely quilt will brighten up a nursery.  I really haven't been very good at knowing who made which quilt, so I apologize for that.  I do know that this one was made by Colleen T., and uses a pattern Nancy P. gave us in 2018.  (Click HERE to go to that pattern.  Scroll down past the photos of our hard-working members.) 

Don't you love this?    A big square of adorable fabric, coordinating borders, and very nice quilting make it perfect for a new baby.  This one was made by the team of Nancy P. and her mom.

Below is another one by Nancy and her mom.

I have sometimes seen these framed blocks called Happy Blocks, and the blocks in this quilt are very happy and sweet.  It's so nicely quilted, too.

These next 5 quilts are all made from the same basic pattern, but each takes on a different look when made with different fabrics.

This quilt, with the awesome jelly beans fabric, was made by Joan L.

All the rest of these quilts were pieced by Nancy P. and her mom.  Nancy did the quilting.

 

Aren't these great?  Cute fabrics, simple piecing, bright colors, great quilting!

The letter we received from the Jack's Basket organization was very appreciative of our work.  We can be proud of contributing to their cause of welcoming babies with Downs Syndrome, and assuring their families that they are not alone.

If you are making a quilt for Jack's Basket, please use soft cotton or flannel fabrics.  The quilts should measure roughly 36 in. square, and be suitable for a new baby.

Update on Jack's Basket

I thought you might like to know how we're doing on collecting quilts for Jack's Basket.  (Click HERE for information on this charity and our project.)  Here are some photos of the wonderful quilts that have been donated.

The little legs in the photos belong to my grandson, who was "helping" me.  (He took about a thousand photos himself, mostly of his shoes.)

You can see what a terrific group of quilts these are.

Bright and colorful, warm and comforting, all to go to a good cause.

Nice work, ladies!

I'm sure these quilts will brighten someone's day.
Want to see the backs?

Plus 10 more I didn't get photos of!

After the September meeting, we had a total of 13 quilts, seen here laid out on the table, ready to send.

Even with Marie Kondo-style folding, I could only get ten quilts in this big box.  So this is how many I sent.
There is an extra postage charge for using such a big box, so next time I will ship fewer quilts in a smaller box.  We have three quilts ready to go right now.
I will keep doing this as long as anybody wants to make the quilts.

Just to recap, the Jack's Basket charity requests quilts 36 in. square, to go in the baskets they give to new parents of Down's Syndrome children.

Congratulations on donating to a great cause!  We really are the little quilt group that could.

Quilts for Jack's Basket

Hello, Ties That Bind Quilters.

This is Jack.  He has Down's Syndrome.

Because of him, his family started a 501c3 charity that donates gift baskets to families like theirs, that include a child with Downs Syndrome.
The baskets welcome the baby, and contain items to help the parents cope, and especially to let them know they are not alone.  Each basket includes a blanket or a quilt.  All items are donated.

This year, as part of a charity quilt drive online, I made these quilts for Jack's Basket.  I brought them to the April meeting (I think) and of course I mentioned why I had made them.

May's meeting was cancelled, as you recall, and I was sick with a summer virus when June's meeting rolled around, so I stayed home in bed.
One of you lovely people made these three quilts for Jack's Basket!  Colleen brought them over, and I took these pictures.

These little quilts are terrific!  They're made from novelty fabrics, which you know kids love, with soft batting and cozy flannel on the back.

Both of the blue ones have under the sea themes.  These will be so cute for the babies.

Piggies!  I have to admit, this one is my favorite.  The quilting is great on all of them.

If you are the generous and talented person who made these quilts, could you let us know?

I have already mailed off the quilts I made to Jack's Basket, which is in Utah, since they were due by June 1.

But--what if we filled up another box?
How about this one?

All 3 of the quilts above are already in this box.  There is plenty of room for a few more.

So, if this is something you'd like to do, I will collect finished quilts and mail them to Jack's Basket.  I will do this through the August meeting (August 21, 2019).

They would like quilts that are 36 in. x 36 in., made of soft cotton or flannel.

Please note:  this is NOT an official charity project of Ties That Bind.  We agreed years ago to limit our official giving to local charities.  We are just doing this as individuals.

If you'd like more information about Jack's Basket, click HERE for their web site.

Thanks to all the quilters who stitch for the joy of others.

April Meeting Show and Tell

Hello, Ties that Bind Quilters!  I hope you were able to come to the April meeting.  Our speaker was renown quilt show judge Maribeth Schmidt, from Cedarburg, shown above with one of the wonderful quilts she brought to share with us.

Now for more show and tell!  The following photos are just some of the terrific items shown.  More will follow in next week's post.

I wish I could have gotten a close-up here--the prints are bugs!  Specifically, praying mantis, I think.

This quilt was made from the army fatigues of the recipient.  Isn't this the perfect pattern?

Colleen made this phone stand.  I absolutely WANT one.

A cute scrap quilt for charity.

Bright and beautiful!

Strings!

Lovely colorful top!

A traveling quilt, with lots of Route 66 fabrics.  This is the front ...

And this is the back.

Great job, everybody.

More photos next week.  Til then, keep smiling and keep sewing!

Quilter's Sale April 9th

The Kettle Moraine Quilters will hold a sale of craft items, fabric, books, UFOs, and many crafting supplies donated by their members on April 9th.  The money raised will be used to buy batting for the charity quilts they make.

Leave your credit cards at home!  Only cash or check will be accepted for items.

Here are the details.

When:  One day only, April 9, 2019, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Where:  5th Avenue Methodist Church, 3233 S. 5th St., West Bend, Wisconsin
Enter through parking lot door.

Good hunting, ladies!  It's for a good cause!

Double Friendship Star, Block #3

Hello, Ties that Bind Quilters!  This week's blog is about our Friendship Star Quilt Block of the Month, called Double Friendship Star.
I'm going to take you through the sewing step by step, but you'll need your instructions from Pam for cutting directions.
Ready?  Here we go!

For me, the first step was the hardest--choosing fabrics that went together, but had enough contrast to stand out.  In the end, I went with the classic 1930s combination of print and solid.

With the fabrics decided, it's on to the cutting. 
Once everything is cut, I always lay it out like a jigsaw puzzle, so I can see where I am.

The block is a 9 patch, and each square in the 9 patch measures 4 in. finished. 

Four of these squares are the corners, and are super easy.

Two more of the squares are large half square triangles, made from a background triangle and a triangle cut from the fabric you chose for the big star.  Just sew those triangles together, and trim to 4.5 in.

That's six squares done already, with only 2 seams.  This isn't hard, is it?

There are only 3 squares left, and these are a bit more complicated, but just half square triangles and squares.  These are pictured at the top of the second page of your directions.

Center Square

This is the center of the block.  You need two squares, one of each star color, and two half square triangles made of the star colors.  They are arranged as above, and stitched.

And here's the finished center.

Next comes the square to the right of the center, still in the center row of the block.

This time, we have a square of the big star fabric, a square of the background fabric, a square made of a background triangle and a big star triangle, and a square made of a background triangle and a small star triangle.  Easy sewing.  (For some unknown reason, I didn't take a photo of it finished.  I'm blaming the cat.)

Now for the last pieced square, the center square in the bottom row.

This one is a tiny bit more complex.  There is one square of background fabric, two squares made from background triangles and big star triangles, and one square made from a big star triangle and a small star triangle.

If you got this far, you're almost done.  It's all down hill from here.

Just sew all your sections into rows, and the rows together to complete the block.

And that's it!  Isn't it cute to see that little star peeking out?

Here's all my blocks together.

I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

If you didn't get the directions, be sure to contact Pam W.
Big thanks to Pam for designing this quilt for us!

It's A Stitch Quilt Show

The It's A Stitch Quilt Show is coming up in early May (that's only a month away!)
Entry forms are due by April 12th.

For information about the show, entry forms, and links to all the Seed Packet Challenges from 2012 to 2018, click HERE.

Keep on quilting!