Disappearing Four Patch

I belong to the Georgia Friendship Guild.  I love this group of ladies.  We have a business meeting the first Wednesday of the month and a workshop on the third Wednesday of the month.  I admire the ladies who have served in the Vice President slot as they are responsible for planning the programs and workshop.  It is a challenge to find interesting topics on a limited budget.  

One of our workshops this past year was a disappearing four patch.  I've seen the pattern many times but have not tried it.  This particular pattern used big blocks... 10 inch.  I used two layer cakes.  (Anyone who is familiar with my stash knows that I have an abundance of layer cakes thanks to Missouri Star Quilt Company's deal of the day.)  

I had a layer cake of beach prints designed by Paul Brent who is an artist from Panama City, FL.  We had several of his prints in our condo at the beach.  I combined it with a white layer cake.  Here's the result...

Isn't this a happy quilt?  I quilted it with a light blue thread.  I was so pleased with the end result.  Joe and I made a trip to the Outer Banks in October.  We spent some time with Joe's friends, Frank and Ann.  I gifted this quilt to them for their hospitality.  They have a home on the Pamlico River in NC and the quilt seemed to fit the decor of the home.  

I see another one of these in my future.  I have many layer cakes just waiting to be stitched, cut, and stitched again.  After all, isn't that what quilters do? 

Kiwanis Charity Quilt

My husband, Joe, belongs to a local chapter of the Kiwanis International.  His group is The Jonquil City Kiwanis Club.  (Smyrna, GA is the called Jonquil City.)  The motto of Kiwanis International is they are dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time.  

Joe's group works with our local schools to support the children.  At the elementary school level, they read to children and donate books to the library.  In middle school, the sponsor Builder's Club which is an organization that teaches the children how to plan and run projects.  In high school, they support Key Leader which builds the skills our children need to become the next generation of leaders, and give four year scholarships to a graduating senior.  

The club funds their projects by selling Vidalia onions in the spring and pecans in the fall/winter (now).  Both projects are hard work for the members.  It requires many volunteer hours to source product, procure product, and sell product to raise funds.  

To help supplement their fund raising, I made a quilt for them to be raffled.  One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales of the raffle tickets go to Kiwanis.  I purchased the materials to make the quilt and donated them, along with my labor, to the club.  Here's the quilt...

 

The pattern of the quilt is called a Hunter's Star.  My friend, Nelda, suggested that I made the quilt in blue and gold which are the colors of Kiwanis International.  All the fabrics in this quilt came from one of my favorite local quilt stores, Tiny Stitches.  

The quilt raffle will be held next Tuesday, December 9th.  I am anxious to find out who has the winning ticket!

Baby Quilts -- My Summer Work

It seems that my circle of friends includes a lot of young people who are having babies.  My niece and nephew are at the top of the list.  They welcomed their young son, Silas Alexander, last summer.  My niece's only request was for a colorful quilt.  

This pattern is called Sunburst from Pat Wys' book Spotlight on Neutrals.  Pat's book, of course, uses neutral colors, but I knew this happy, sunny quilt was the perfect choice for these colorful fabrics.  The background fabric has giraffes on it and I just fell in love.

The next quilt was made for a friend of my son's, Wes and Jamie.  

They named their daughter Novalee, which I just love.  It reminds me of the movie which starred Natalie Portman where she had her baby in a Walmart.  In the movie Novalee overcame her rough beginnings to become a successful young mother.  

Jamie sent me the sweetest thank you note for the quilt.  It means a lot to know that your work is appreciated.  I know Baby Novalee will be as sweet as her mother and this quilt. 

The final quilt was for our housekeeper and friend, Ester.  She had her second baby this past summer.  

Ester has a daughter who is about two years old.  She didn't find out the sex of this baby until she was born so the quilt had to be gender neutral.  This is a larger version of the pink quilt above.  It has eight patch squares where the pink quilt has four patches.  The eight patches have a lot of designs on them which will make this a great "I spy" quilt.  I love the brightness of the blue and the blue quilting just popped. 

As Al Roker says, what's happening in your neck of the woods?