Using the Fons and Porter Peek-A-Boo quilt pattern, we created a community service project using novelty fabrics in a quilt as you go design.
This was made possible by the Stitchers taking fabric from their privates stashes and monetary and fabric donations from our co-workers.
Two flannel quilts that were also created for our service project.
This poem is from the Fons & Porter, February 10, 2009 online newsletter. Enjoy!
From a reader…
I'm but a Quilter
A user of needle and thread
I create designs of color
To lay upon your bed
I know of strips and borders
Of angles, points and stars
Although I make no money
It keeps me out of bars.
In lieu of doing a large quilt for the Friends of the K-State Libraries, the Scholarly Stitchers have decided to do a "Community Service Project."
We will be making a couple of Peek-a-Boo quilts for the Konza Prairie Quilters Guild "Quilts from the Heart" project. The Konza group makes quilts each year for the Crisis Center and Emergency Shelter in Manhattan, Kansas. An average of 150 children are served by the centers each year, and the goal is to provide them with a quilt of their own. Quilts are made in various sizes for boys and girls from infancy to teen. They are not intended as bed quilts, but rather "cuddle and comfort" quilts.
What is a Peek-a-Boo quilt? The pattern we are using was designed by Liz Porter of Fons and Porter. It is "a nifty way to feature novelty fabrics in a reversible quilt-as-you-go baby quilt."
The pattern was featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, September/October 2006 issue.
I was so excited yesterday to see the Country Woman magazine in the mail! I thought all quilters could relate to this.
On the back is a poem titled "Quilting Fever" by Beverly Page, Winthrop, New York.
I can shop all day
and hardly spend a dime.
But let me in a fabric shop --
I nearly lose my mind!
I see those lovely fabrics
so pretty and so bright
My eyes take on a glassy look
(it really is a fright).
My knees, they start to shaking,
my nose begins to twitch.
As I look at all the colors,
my fingers start to itch.
I picture Dresden Plate
done up in yellows and blue
Oh, look at that lavender
just right for Sun Bonnet Sue!
Across another aisle
it's true I almost ran
For a shade of brown I had to have
to make for Overall Dan.
Drunkard's Path or Ohio Star
pieced in that real bright red
Would be absolutely beautiful
covering my bed.
I gasp, I pant, I simply
lose all sense of time.
As I pick out all the colors
that I have to have as mine!
I hurry home, my purchases
clutched tight beneath my arm,
Dreaming of the quilts I'll make
and how they'll keep us warm.
Housework gets forgotten but
I have no pangs of guilt
As I start cutting and a-piecing,
'cause I'm going to make a quilt!
Reprinted from the back cover of Country Woman magazine, March 2009 issue
Today the Scholarly Stitchers met to lay out the blocks for one of the two signature quilts we are making for a colleague who is retiring in March 2009. We discussed the layout, borders, and the steps needed in order to put the quilt top together.
K-State Libraries staff and others will be invited to sign the quilt blocks after January 5, 2009.
The group discussed that we did not want to limit our creativity to signature quilts and that it could get very expensive if everyone who retired expected a signature quilt. It was discussed, but not decided, that we might make additional signature quilts for those who are retiring with 30 or more years of service.
The group discussed possible projects of Storybook Quilts, one of Fons and Porter's novelty quilts using circles--this is a style of quilt as you go, and French Braid quilting.
Whatever we decide, I know that it will be something new and everyone will learn a new technique.
Till next time....Happy Sewing!
Picking up a copy of the K-State Collegian on Wednesday, November 12, 2008, found me smiling at the front page. The words "In Stitches" done in a patch-work motif with a couple of photos, by Chelsy Lueth, of my quilting group, Scholarly Stitchers, jumped off the page. Writer Sarah Rajewski did a marvelous job with her article "K-State Stitchers use quilting as artistic expression, for charity."
Rajewski wrote, "For the Scholarly Stitchers, a trip to the fabric store is as exciting as Christmas morning."
How true that statement! Any quilter will agree.
Members of the Scholarly Stitchers also sew up their own projects as Christmas gifts. I know that I have some in the works. For instance I am working on the late Laurel Birch's "Bountiful Blessings" wall hanging, the "Angels Watching Over Me" wall hanging, and a couple of Christmas stocking. The wall hangings can be found at Keepsake Quilting.
You still have time to sew up something simple for Christmas. You can order kits online at places such as Keepsake Quilting or buy them at your local quilt shop. A couple of my favorite quilt shops are All About Quilts in Manhattan, Kansas and Country Cousins in Concordia, Kansas.
From one quilter to another: I am sew happy to sew pieces of fabric together and call it a quilt...
Happy Sewing!!!
I want to make a quilt.
Where do I start?
First of all, one must realize that quilting is not a cheap hobby.
Pick a pattern. For traditional quilts there are many patterns from the late 1800s to mid 1940s. For a non-traditional quilt, you may design your own. You can make an art quilt or a combination of all and/or some patterns.
Choose a size. Do you want to make a twin, full, queen or king size or maybe a wall hanging, a lap quilt, or a table runner.
Choose your fabric and color choices. Purchase quality fabric. For a large quilt you may end up spending 100s of hours making it and you want it to last.
When you least expect it a story appears about what you are doing. In Today's News From K-State Media Relations, a listserv of K-State news, there is a great article about the Scholarly Stitchers titled "One stitch at a time: K-STATE LIBRARIANS PIECE TOGETHER STORIES THROUGH THE ART OF QUILTING."
The article reads:
"MANHATTAN -- Out of sight, behind the miles of shelving at Kansas State University's Hale Library, librarians gather to tell stories that have nothing to do with books.
Are you rushing to get just one more block done for that Holiday Quilt you are making? Or maybe, you need one more block and have no idea which one to make that will add the extra something to your quilt.
Visit Quilt Block Library and watch the latest video on creating a candle quilt block. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the "Free Patterns" tab to see if any blocks give you inspiration for that one last block you need.
Till next time...
Happy Quilting!
The Scholarly Stitchers have started a new quilt project: a signature quilt for a co-workers retirement.
Within the next 2 years, we have two co-worker's that will be retiring: one in March, 2009 and the other in June 2009. To send these ladies out with a bang and memory they will cherish forever, the Scholarly Stitchers are making signature quilts.
Right now we are concentrating on the person retiring in March. Their quilt will be the colors of blue and cream. The cream material being perfect for people to add their wishes, little notes, and signatures.
If you would like to make a Signature/Memory Quilt here are a few places to visit for ideas.
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