QUILTING WITH THE lUTHERANS!

 Yesterday was my quilting day at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Fort Walton Beach, Fl.  A group of 70, 80 and one 90 year old meet twice a month to work on mission quilts.  This year our mission has been rocked by the explosion in Beirut which took out 3 containers full of quilts, personal care kits and layettes.  In addition Covid-19 has also taken a toll.  

Our group has made over 100 quilts this year, however our participation number is down due to Covid concerns.  Also, Lutheran World Relief is not sending a truck to pick up our quilts this year.  A truck usually comes in August to a church in Daphne Al and we drive over with our quilts to distribute them.  But this year, that isn't going to happen.  

We have a blessing of our quilts in August where we display them in our church, laying them over the pews as in this picture 

This is such a special day for the quilters but this year, we aren't even back in the sanctuary yet.  It will happen later.  We offer our parishioners the opportunity to purchase one of the quilts for $50.  The money we earn through this goes to purchase batting and supplies.  But we always have more than 100 quilt to go to LWR in addition to school kits and personal care kits.  Its all up in the air for now.

There was an article at https://lwr.org/news yesterday where the whole Lutheran church is trying to replace the loss in some way.  The quilts need to by 60 by 80.  That is it.  They can be whole cloth or pieced.  Yesterday was our day to meet at church and I spent time creating backs out of gifted sheets.  The backs are 64 by 84 and we lay them on a table.  Then we layer the batting.  And then a top that is 60 by 80.  The quilts are tied.  And then the backing is folded up and hemmed.  My job is to cut 10 ½” squares out of donated fabrics and cut offs from sheets.  Another woman takes the squares and lays them out in a pleasing fashion, 48 of them.  Another woman sews up 3 a week but she is in her 80’s and slowing down.  In fact we are all over 70 and one woman is 94.  Sallie irons everything.   She is the best ironer.  And then there is a group of 5 or 6 who tie the quilts. 

Yesterday I spent my time cutting out backings from donated sheets and other fabrics.  One woman was sewing so I would take pieces to her to sew up.  Then I paired up backs with completed tops. 

My suggestion to you, is there a Lutheran church in your community?    Reach out to a Lutheran Church and see if they have a quilting group.  Not all of them do.  If you can find a quilting group, they would appreciate any donation you could give. 

LWR was established after WWII when the German people were impoverished after losing their homes and lively hood.  There is a large contingent of German Lutherans in the Midwest and so they set up an organization to ship needed food and supplies to their families and friends in Germany after the war.  Thanks for being so generous.  

Carol Stearns

LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF

 The explosion in Beirut Lebanon is a real shock to everyone and to a host of Lutherans around the world who make quilts for Lutheran World Relief (LWR).  The explosion took our shipping containers full of quilts, baby layouts and school and personal care quilts that are put together from Lutheran Churches around the world.  You can find out more information here  https://lwr.org/story-hub/more-600000-humanitarian-aid-refugees-destroyed-beirut-explosion

We work hard at our Lutheran Church making quilts and care kits year round.  

The photos above picture the quilts we make during the year.  Our quilts are collected in August when a truck is sent to a church in Daphne, Al to retrieve quilts from a variety of churches.  We display our quilts in our church to be blessed prior to boxing up and taking to Daphne.  This year the truck isn't coming so we will have to pack up our quilts and store them until something happens.  When we display our quilts in the church, we offer them to sale for the congregation to purchase for $40.  In so doing, we raise funds to purchase needed supplies, like rolls of batting and anything else we may need. 

Of course this is all changing because of Covid 19.  What a dismal thing to have happened in the world but with God's help, we can pull through this.  

If there is a Lutheran Church in your town, maybe you would consider donating excess fabrics, sheets, blankets and such.  We often use blankets and quilted bed coverings as batting.  Our quilts are 60 by 80.  My job is to cut the fabrics into 10 1/2" squares.  In addition, I put the backings together, pulling sheets or fabrics to sew together.  

So instead of taking your used sheets, mattress covers and more to Goodwill, find a Lutheran Church that makes quilts and donate there instead.  With the loss of these quilts and supplies in Beirut, the need is even greater.   

THE SCRAP HAPPY SAMPLER

 So, I've been doing The Scrap Happy Sampler through my local quilt shop, Stitcher's Quest, for about a year.  We are winding down our monthly meetings and I'll be ready.  This sampler was a great opportunity because, as long as you completed your two blocks each month, the next two blocks were free!  Free is good!  The other reason I wanted to do the sampler is because it used the Miss Rosies Cake Mix papers to make all of the half square triangles (HST).  I had never used these papers so this was an opportunity to learn soething new.  Here is a video showing how it is done. 

I think I should have watched the video earlier.  One of the things I keep forgetting is to lower my stitch count.  This helps to keep the stitches from tearing out when you remove the papers.  I remembered to do it this morning but then, I had to make an adjustment and it reverted back to 2.5 and so I forgot to fix it.  Oh, well.  

Another thing I learned from watching the video this morning was to how to easily tear off the papers by pressing them first.  I hadn't done that and it looks so much easier.  If you havent' tried Miss Rosies Cake Mix papers, they are designed for layer cakes!  I dont buy many layer cakes but just recently purchased one on sale from Stitcher's Quest.  Now I"ll be looking for a pattern.  Another nice thing about the papers is that your HST are fairly perfect, no trimming involved!  So if you have to make a lot of HST, its a good investment and almost fun to do.  You do have to trim off those pesky dog ears though.  

Once I get the hang of this blogging 101, I promise lots more pictures!  Until next time, make beautiful quilts, one beautiful quilt at a time!  

TESTING QUILTS

So for a few years now, I've been testing quilts for www.kitchentablequilting.com 

Erica very quickly puts designs and writes quilt patterns so I have the opportunity to test quite a few. The most recent was the Iris Quilt and Erica wrote a post on her blog showcasing her pattern testers quilts! Mine is the next to last one on this page  http://www.kitchentablequilting.com/2020/07/the-iris-quilt-pattern-testers-quilts.html When I saw this quilt pattern I instantly thought how perfect it is for scraps! So I pulled all the scraps I could find.  It went together so fast and easy.  I had a very big stack of 2 1/2" strips in the light aqua color and decided to use it for the background sashings.  The quilt cost me zero dollars and when finished, I donated it to my church for a donation quilt to Lutheran World Relief.  Those quilts need to be 60 by 80" so I had to add an additional row.  All in all it turned out beautifully.  I'll likely make another one out of scraps.  I have more of the light aqua strips.  

BLOGGING 101 CONTINUED

I'm still navigating the new blog to try and see how I am going to work this. I am excited to be able to share my quilting and design expertise with you. Now to find some followers. Today I am working on a project where I have to make 480 four patches that measure 2 1/2" square. Its a pattern from a magazine and I'm a sucker for little things like that. Each square requires 4 four patches, 4 2 1/2" squares and 2 4 1/2" squares. Two of the quilters in my guild have passed this year and somehow I inherited 2 bins of fabric an a smaller bin. Most were darks like civil war or thimbleberry and the pattern I'm doing will be perfect to showcase them. I need 120 blocks or more with the parts listed above. I'll post pics when I get a chance to do so. Right now I just want to blog. Making those 480 4 patches is quite a chore. But I'll get there and can use them for leaders and enders while I'm sewing other things. I read somewhere that you should leave quilts and not fabric when you pass away. How many quilters have we known who have passed leaving an enormous stash and several machines. One of the quilters redid her will and named another quilter in it as the person who was to get her sewing room when she passed. The other quilter died suddenly with a recurrence of cancer but she had plenty of quilting friends who were called upon to take the stash and distribute it. I managed to cut quite a few fabrics in 10 1/2" squares to take to my church for Lutheran World RElief quilts. You can find more about that at www.lwr.com. Then I've taken the remainder and working on cutting the squares for the quilt mentioned above. I'll keep you posted! Until next time, make beautiful quilts! One beautiful quilt at a time!

BLOGGING 101

So I've been working with Kayla Pins who is Jo Kramer's daughter. Jo blogs at www.joscountryjunction.com. I love reading jo's posts as she is such a caring and generous person. And so far, Kayla has been the same! I have enjoyed working with her. She set up my header and has been very patient with me. Thank you Kayla. I'm hoping she can help me with simple things as well. Like how do I highlight something so that my readers can click on it and go directly to the site? Let me know!

DECORATING WITH QUILTS

When I was about 10 years old, my mother gave me the best gift of my lifetime. She taught me how to sew! My mother was a seamstress as was her sister and their mother before them and many other relatives as well. My first project was a blue cape for my doll edged with red binding and a red cross embroidered on it. I can still see myself holding that little cape and sewing a basting stitch to affix the binding. From that little cape I blossomed into an accomplished seamstress, dressing all my dolls with homemade fashions. By the time I was in junior high, I was making clothes for myself. In high school I had my own sewing machine set up in my bedroom and I could whip out a dress in a day for any occasion.

Time passed and in 1984, I purchased my decorating business and I soon found that my knowledge of sewing, how a garment is put together, helped me immensely in designing window treatments for my clients. I could visualize how the fabrics would be sewn together to make the finished product. When I designed a valance or top treatment that was not the norm, I would go to the workroom and together we would devise a plan on creating the new vision. I had developed a love of beautiful fabrics over the years and I was thrilled when the new fabric books would come in. I would sit down and put different designs together to envision new looks for my clients. And when a fabric book became discontinued, I would find it hard to part with it.

I eventually solved the discontinued fabric problem by donating them to local quilting groups at the Lutheran churches or taking them to schools for the teachers to use. I continue that practice today. This past summer, I decided to take a quilting class to refresh my skills in making quilts. I had only dabbled in quilt making over the years and I wanted to see if I would like to get back into it. That class got me hooked again! And I’ve discovered 2 lovely stores in town that offer quilting fabrics and classes. Instead of mindless TV watching, I now retreat to my spare bedroom where I’ve set up a space for quilt making!

But what to do with the finished quilts? A perfect solution is to use them for decorating purposes around the home. They can be thrown over a table for a tablecloth or hung in the bath as a shower curtain! Quilts that are worn can be cut up and made into pillows or used to cover a chair seat. They can be used as spreads for a bed or neatly folded at the foot of a bed. Or how about a stack of finished quilts displayed in a cupboard with the doors open!

As I’ve visited the quilt shops the last couple of months, there have been lots of patterns and fabrics available for the fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Drape one of those completed holiday projects over the dining room table; add a couple of candles and some gourds and you have an instant centerpiece!

And here’s a lasting project for the whole year! I just finished the perfect quilt sized for hanging, 34” square. Install an adjustable black metal rod over a console or desk in your foyer. Sew a rod pocket onto the back of your quilt and hang it on the rod. Then devise a plan to make 11 more 34” square quilts, one for each month or occasion of the year! Every month you will be redecorating and visitors to your home will instantly know you are an avid quilter! Until next time, have a happy decorating day!