Gimme Shelter Part Two

The first day of the New Year seems like a great time to show you the second pair of baby quilts that Dori generously made for the women's shelter this holiday. Whereas the first two were all about triangles, these two are very strippy.

The first one is made from a collection of greens and corals and finishes off with a very soft look. The same colours are used in the border.

It's backed with a pretty soft grey and coral print and was made for one of the little girls on the list.

And look at that - another pair of colour coordinated scissors! :)

Of the two of them apparently this one is Rob's favourite (Dori's husband).

So much so that she made him a set of matching potholders. He is an excellent cook so I'm certain that these will be more than welcome.

It sounds like these potholders are becoming a bit of an obsession with Dori and a great way to use up her scraps. She recently spent half a day organizing her smaller fabric pieces into colour coded shoe boxes so I suspect that there may be more on the way.

The second one is also a string quilt but made in blocks rather than rows.

Apparently this was the most challenging and time consuming of the lot. She had planned that it would be all blocks without a border, but it was taking too long to come together. Luckily, she found more of the blue polka dot at a new quilting/yard shop so the wide border came to the rescue.

She used orange with a small white dot for the backing but the day after she delivered the quilts she realized that she had put the dots to the inside so it is just a solid orange backing. Ha - too much going on!

I can only imagine the surprise and delight at the shelter when these four parcels were delivered - it is such a thoughtful gift and speaks to the generosity of quilters and their willingness to readily share the comforts of their creations. Good for you, Dori.

And happy New Year everyone! Nothing like a little quilty inspiration to start off a new year. May the coming year bring you peace, joy and time to truly enjoy doing the things that you love....M

Gimme Shelter

My sister Dori has been busy, busy, busy with Christmas sewing for the past couple of months. She always checks in with a women's shelter near her to see if they will be having any mothers with young babies over Christmas and then likes to make a quilt for them if they do. Well, this year they said they'd be having not one, not two, not three, but four, so her work was cut out for her! She sent through lots of great pics as she was putting them together (I'm training her well) so I'm going to share them with you in two bundles.

The first is made from a bright and cheery collection of 60 degree triangles in pinks, reds and a few mauves; it looks like there's a bit of light green in there too.

It's mostly florals but there are a few stripes in there too.

Rows all marked and ready to sew. Don't you just love that pincushion?!

Whereas my machine is down in the bowels of our basement in a room without any natural light, she has a beautiful sewing room on the third floor of their home. It's not huge but it has a great cutting space and nice lighting.

And here's the finished product. I suspect that this one was for a little girl, given the colours, and I'm certain it will be treasured.

The second one is also made from triangles but this time HSTs and lots of graphic prints.

Pretty amazing that even her scissors match, but then you have to know Dori...


















The white really sets off the prints nicely.

It looks like this one might be a favourite of Bennie's....M

The Christmas Quilts

On December 23rd I put the finishing touches on my Christmas quilts - come take a peek.

Nantucket was the second one to be bound but the first to go onto a bed. It is bound with the same toile that I used for the backing and the fabric does a nice job of pulling together all the whites, reds and creams in the blocks.

It's also a nice soft contrast to the precision of the nine patches and large stars.

Once it was ready I wasted no time dressing the bed in the guest room with it. That extra wide nine patch border is a winner in my books.
















I love a red and white quilt and this will be a great one to tuck in under.

Then it was time to get Country Charmer onto our bed. The Official Cookie Tester had hung his stocking with care at the foot of the bed so it seemed only right that he should have a new quilt too.

He totally loves it and is already negotiating for it to stay on the bed all winter and not just for the holidays. I think he's got a very good chance of that happening.

It's really beautiful and was the perfect quilt to wake up to Christmas morning.

I am finding it really hard to believe that I made both of these in time for Santa's visit and was able to get them quilted too, given my late starts. Seeing them folded up with Fly Away Home that  I made last year was a real treat - I never imagined having a collection of Christmas quilts! Guess it's all just part of the miracle of Christmas (and a very firm deadline :) )....M

Merry Christmas!

So happy to share that Christmas quilts were finished just in the 'Nick' of time for Santa's great ride and I will share pics with you in a few days. In the meantime, here's wishing you all a beautiful, joyful holiday with the ones you love. May you keep Christmas always in your heart.

Merry Christmas!