This is one of the most interesting hops ever. Thank you Joan for having us think about the whats, whys and how comes of our quilting.
I have a couple of quilting items that came to mind once I slowed down and thought about it.
My first topic is a quilt I made in 2008/2009. In November 2008 I had my right hip replacement surgery. At the time our home was 2 story and my quilting space was on the 2nd floor, not a place where I could readily get to during my recovery period. I was home by myself during the day so stairs and sewing were out of the question..
One of my very dear friends came up with a surprise and a plan. One evening MJ came home from work to a plastic kitchen garbage bag full of scrap fabric at our front door. My friend figured that I could sort the scraps, iron the scraps and cut scraps in stages at my kitchen table while recovering. It made for a wonderful quilty workout with no specific goals. It did get me out of bed and made me use my brain for planning.
By the time I did all of the prep and came up with a goal I decided I wanted to give running my sewing machine with my left foot a try. MJ set my machine up in the kitchen and I packed up all of the odds and ends I thought I would need ( it was like going on a mini retreat ). Slowly but surely I made blocks, (all with those cute little bees in the center) put together rows and then ta da there was a quilt top. I sent it out to be quilted .I am very sorry that I don't remember to whom I sent it but she did a wonderful job.
By the time I got it back from the quilter I was back at work. The quilt came back and was hung over the banister between my living and dinning room ( without being bound ) to be admired by all for ages.
Today, still unbound, this quilt takes it turn being hung over the back of a living room chair with other quilts I have made for me and can't bare to give away because of their background stories.
The other quilty topic I want to hit on is making Kennel Quilts for Small Shelter Pets. I started to do these several years ago. I believe I got the information about this project from someone in our qroup during one of these hops.
These quilts are pretty much like 12 x 18 placemats. They are generally requested by shelters around the country who take in pets after various natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and wild fires. I have included the link for lots of information about the group which includes a link to join. The Quilt Pattern Magazine is the group that sends out the information for where and when quilts are needed. There is no pressure from the group just the occasional notice of need.
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Many of the mats pictured on their sight look like they are preplanned patterns. I generally make my Shelter quilts from my scrap box. I usually keep batting and backing size scraps cut to size and on hand so that if I'm between projects I can knock out a mat or two and set it aside for when the request comes in. I'm pretty much of the mind set that I can make 2 scrappy in the time it would take me to do 1 measured out preplanned. I'll take 2 scrappy. I don't think the dogs and cats who are sleeping on them care.
The pictures here are mats I made last week while at a mini guild retreat. (I made 8 but apparently didn't take a pic of the last 3). It's my favorite type sewing for these occasions. You know when you are doing so much talking, laughing and eating that mistakes happen. When sewing together scraps you can't find / notice the mistakes. That and sharing/swapping scraps is alway fun.
Well I hope this met the base idea of this hop. I love how open our hops are to personal interpretation.
Below is a full list of the weeks contributors. Please, if you get the chance, stop in to each for a visit and to leave a comment.
Monday April 17
Tuesday April 18
Wednesday April 19
Thursday April 20
