Our Annual December Date...

Not sure how this tradition got started....but....every December hubby and I go out on an afternoon date.  The past few years, we went to Strathmore mansion to view the Miniature Art show.  That was closed today.....soooo.....we went to Brookside Gardens.  Of course, I had an ulterior motive for picking Brookside Gardens this year.  A local talented group of women...aptly named Cloth & Chocolate, have an exhibit there until February 5th, 2010.  So, if you happen to be near Wheaton, Maryland, go take a look.  Richard and I enjoyed the exhibit, then walked over to the greenhouse.

We just had to get a picture of Percy to show our son.  Of course, he's 16 now and definitely did not appreciate our humor in reminding him of how crazy he was for Thomas the Tank trains when he was little. 

We took a walk around the grounds.  The snow is gone, but the lake is still iced over.  It was beautiful day, almost 50 degrees, clear, clean, and crisp.  We weren't the only couple there walking hand in hand and we weren't the oldest couple there walking hand in hand.  The big surprise of the day, however, was

YES!!!!!   That's a robin!   Spring is on the way!   Wooohoooo!

The weather outside is frightful...

but the decorations are soooooo delightful.
Yea, they're up again! 

The only thing unique about my Christmas decorations is that the tree and the bulbs hanging from the fireplace all rotate continuously.  So the Christmas ornaments hanging from the tree all sway a little as the tree moves around.

With all the stuff to be done, I've been remiss in posting my record of service quilts.  Here's a bunch from November and December

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanuukah to all.....oh and lots and lots of spare time in the New Year for your favorite quilting projects!

I entered the Quilty Pleasures blog tour last week and won a copy of Quiltermaker's 100 Blocks magazine.   It arrived at my home this past weekend.  The blocks included are fabulous including the Butterfly Cabin block designed by Jackie Robinson of Animas Quilts. (I won the magazine by visiting her site).  Almost makes me want to do a Dear Jane with a bunch of these....ummm, maybe next year.  The magazine is definitely a keeper so look for it at your local quilt shop or bookstore. 

And.....wooohooo.....I received mail from the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild.  This guild is sponsoring Quilting Natural Florida II, an exhibit in the Florida Museum of Natural History from February 6 - April 25, 2010.   My quilt, "Blackened Palmetto" was accepted.  Hubby wants to go to Sun N Fun in April, so we'll be able to go see the exhibit in person as well.

Quilting Therapy for a hectic life....

Okay, so Mom went to the hospital for a week in October and dutiful daughter that I am....I spent every day visiting and fetching stuff from her apartment.   She's home now with new meds recovering from her stay in what she thought should have been a four-star hotel...but alas was just a hospital room.

Charity quilts completed this month included 4 quilt tops with fabric donated by Liz (left column), 2 cheater panels quilted and bound, 2 quilts made from donated blocks, and a bunch of preemie blankets with fabrics donated by Kathy.  This bunch of charity quilts completes the use of fabrics donated by Liz a few months ago.

I wanted to call attention to this charity quilt.  The blocks were donated by Diane Heller, who obtained them by participating in an Internet block exchange in 1995.   All of the blocks were signed.   Here are some of the contributors: Marilee Sherwood, Jessica Drennan (Ithica, NY), Pat Newbon (Pagelcyn, CA), Sue Trandt, Colleen Gaskin, Sari Goldbaum, Karen Kutzner, Miriam Siebenthall (San Jose, CA), Lynne Capehart, Cathy Slater (Little Rock, AR), L. Obetra (Chicago, IL), and of course Diane from Wheaton, MD.  It really is a small world, isn't it?

On a final note....Imagine my surprise when my senses woke up last week and I discovered that Fall had arrived in our neighborhood. I just love the crispness of the air.

Quilt Festival: Fall 2009

In November 2008, Friendship Star Quilt Guild sponsored a class from Jennie Rayment titled Tinkering with Texture. I barely finished this piece in time to submit it in our annual quilt show.   I couldn't think of a name for it, so I relied on one of my fallback naming systems.  I named this one after one of my favorite cartoon characters: Boris Badinov (the short soviet spy in Rocky and Bullwinkle).  But, instead of just using his name, I called it Boris Bad Enough.  Why did I pick him?  Well, I had just retired from working at an Agency where I belonged to a quilt guild named Undercover Quilters.  Having worked there for 37 years including durng the "Cold War", it just seemed fitting to pick Boris.

The lull before a new project

This is a quilt I completed last year for an auction at my son's high school. I learned a lot from this quilt....okay so I paper-pieced the building and then had to sew all over it to make it look right...big mistake. I understand it was a big hit at their Grand Celebration event. There's another grand celebration this year and I've got until March to complete it. Yesterday, I designed the new quilt:

Today, I'm going to the Sewing Expo near Dulles Airport in Virginia with my friend Chris. I'll be looking for some of the fabrics for this piece. I received permission from the school to use this photo, that was taken by staff members for some of their publications. I hope to incorporate some of the thread painting I learned on my last project to create the "grey" gradations in the statue.

There's a giveaway on the Quilts etc. blog. Why not check it out? http://karensquilting.com/blog/a-give-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2730

Cutting it close....

Here's my quilt with lots and lots of thread painting (see previous post for picture I took in Florida in 2008). Images of entry must be postmarked on Oct 1st and I still need to bind and add sleeve and embellishments. Here's some close ups of the threadwork.

Yes, it's pretty much threaded to death. I think I used close to twenty different thread colors, not including the three variegated threads.

Check out http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com for the upcoming Blogger's Quilt Festival.

In addition to thread painting...

The following were handed in at my guild meeting this evening. Two quilt tops with Liz B. fabric. Four pillowcases and a bunch of preemies (most of them made with Kathy F. fabric). One quilt as you go yellow/blue unfinished blocks contributed by a guild member. Another snoopy cheater panel (oh so cute).

I've been thread painting all week.....weeewww....is that a lot of work. I haven't ruined it yet, so only time will tell (see my previous post on Creative Challenges.) I'll post an update soon. Our guild is taking a bus trip to the PA Quilt Extravaganza in Oaks, PA on Saturday, September 19th.....can't wait.

Creative challenges...why oh why?

Ok, so I thought I was a better quilter than I am and decided about 6 months ago to enter a quilt in the Quilting Natural Florida II (QACDG.org) Spring 2010 exhibit. A picture of the quilt is due to them on October 1st....nothing like waiting until the last minute, is there? Anyway, I was born in Florida and my husband and I visited in Spring 2008 where I took some interesting pictures. Here's one from a hiking trail at Fort DeSoto Park:



When I came upon this scene, it looked like a fire had destroyed a bunch of palm trees. When I got home, I found out that the park regularly does this to keep the palm tree population to a minimum. What struck me about this picture was the contrast between the blackened tree trunks and the vivid green new growth from those charred trunks. Here's my Phase I interpretation of that photo:

The green crocodile batik on the left hand side will be the border for this quilt. I still have a long way to go with thread painting and other artsy techniques for making it look more like the quilt in my head. If I could start over again, I'd have done a lot of thread painting on the sandy area in the lower part of the quilt....hindsight (oopsy). So, I'll just have to do the best I can with what I have and go from there. If it doesn't get ruined while I'm thread painting, I'll send the picture and hope for the best. If it does....well then I've already learned alot. Your suggestions for saving this creative mess (I mean challenge) are welcome.

Getting back in the groove...

Affectionately known as my 100-year project, the applique in this quilt top was finished at small group (Spoolgirls) on Tuesday evening. It actually only took about 9 months to do the hand applique (only at our every-other-week meetings). Even though my stitches are too big, I'm pleased with the results. This pattern is from from Pacific Rim http://www.prqc.com/patterns.htm. Now, all I have to do is sandwich, quilt, and bind. Let's hope it doesn't get waylayed in my quilt cave and really become a 100-year project :-). So, it's time for decisions....how am I going to quilt this one?....what's my next applique project to do at the meetings?...and, what's the meaning of life anyway?



I'm reading a new book: "A Lion Among Men" by Gregory Maguire. This is Volume 3....volume 1 was an allegory on the life of the Wicked Witch of the West (yes, from Oz)...volume 2 was aptly named "Son of a Witch." This one is examining the life of the Cowardly Lion in Oz before Dorothy happened on the scene. I just thought I'd share a question from this new book that sort of describes how my mind seems to be working now that I'm experiencing the later part of my fifties: "Who knows when memory, unbidden, will burst out and take hostages?" I suspect all the chatter in my guild about losing memory as we grow older is really just selective memory that hides when we need it, but allows us to remember things we haven't thought of in years. Woah, that was deep....maybe too deep for this quilting blog?




Here's my contribution to this week's Service Projects Workshop....a bunch of preemies, one quilt top with donated fabric from Liz, one cheater panel from Ellen (the snoopy dogs on the panel feel like real fur), and a Linus quilt (made with UFOs donated to our guild.)

Surviving Universal & Disney

Finally....I'm starting to get over my hiatus (I mean, vacation) to Universal & Disney in Orlando, Florida. Hot was the operative word! But, my son, Mike, and his friend, Mason, enjoyed themselves immensely. Just a quick punny point....my son's last name is Dixon...so these two are affectionately known to me as "Mason and Dixon" :-) Making them get up early in the morning paid off because they were able to ride their most-prized rides several times before the waits got too long. Here's a picture of Mike and Mason in front of the Universal globe and Mike and me waiting to have lunch at Bubba Gumps.

After two days at Universal, we were ready for the crowds at Disney. If you read my previous post, you'll know that my one goal was to get a picture or two of my son, who happens to let me get lots of a picture of him with his hand in front of the camera. Teenageship is definitely NOT one of those times that pictures are welcome. Hopefully, he'll look back at these sometime and appreciate his youthfulness. In the following picture of Mason and Dixon having lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, Mike looks like he's trying to say to me....enough of the pictures already (at least a close up of this one is my souvenir of his new braces! Oh, and I got the bottom two pictures as I accidently spotted them hurrying to take one more trip down Splash Mountain.

So, what did I do? I attended all of Disney's musicals, rode a few rollar coasters, shopped without hurry, enjoyed myself watching people, and took pictures of flora and fauna. Here's a few of my best pics of the flowers in Universal and Disney:

The three pictures of lily pads on the right were taken right after a rainstorm in front of the China pavilion at Epcot. Wow, I'm just going to have to make a quilt of that last one with all the glorious veins and the water droplet at the center.....someday. My final pictures are of birds. I found myself in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom taking pictures of birds, who didn't seem to mind the crowds around them.

Off to Disneyworld with two 16-year-old boys...

Here are a few quilts I'll be dropping off at our service project workshop on Thursday.

The left column has a hot balloon cheater panel made into a Linus quilt, 2 Linus quilts made from UFOs donated to our guild, and a bunch of preemie quits. The right column has three fat quarter Linus tops made with fabric donated by Liz B.

...then it's off to Disneyworld. My son, his friend and I will be avoiding blisters, afternoon thunderstorms, and sunburns to be entertained by Mickey Mouse. We haven't been there since my son was 7 years old, so this will be an interesting trip. I'm getting too old for those rollercoasters and I've been to theme parks with teenagers before....so I'm prepared to enjoy myself watching every show and generally enjoying the parks. The miracle of cell phones will allow them to ride themselves silly while I do my own thing. My only goal will be to take one picture of my son (preferably with his new braces showing :-) and his friend . Hubby is staying home (that lucky guy) with the dog.

Lancaster Always Gets Me

After I got it all together and laid it out, it is a lot of fabric! Who can resist Hoffman batiks at $6 a yard? Obviously, not me! :-) For just a little excuse, I've already started designing (roughly) my guild challenge which is not due until March. The theme is "Diamonds are a girls best friend" and the quilt must have a black background and at least 10 diamonds showing on the quilt. Just a little peek at the design....my dog, Misty, will be in it. Hence, I bought a lot of reddish browns in Lancaster. Here's Misty in her favorite pose:


My quilting guild, Friendship Star Quilters, in Gaithersburg, MD kicked off a new quilting year on August 3rd. I brought the following charity quilts to that meeting:


On the left side are a bunch of preemies, and two linus quilts. The sunny yellow quilt and one more like it were donated to the guild by Kathy F. The three quilt tops on the right were made with fabric donated by Liz B.

Hershey Quilt Odyssey: Exquisite

What a wonderful weekend for an outing! My friends, Chris and Diane, and I drove to Hershey, Pennsyvania this weekend for Quilt Odyssey 2009.

We met a bunch of fellow guild members for lunch at the Hershey Grill and had some very sinful desserts....Creme Brulee and Reeses Peanut Butter Pie (Wow!)

The quilts were so exquisite at the show (aren't they always exquisite here?) that I had to go back and look at the quilts twice. Here's a sampling of a few of my favorites:

No trip to Pennsyvania would be complete without a visit to Lancaster's quilt shops. We spent the night there and shopped all the next day. I guess I'm going to have to get busy making some more quilts because I bought enough fabric for several quilters. Don't we all?

Knoxville: The Good, The Bad, and The Interesting

The Good:

The American Quilter's Society (AQS) Quilt Expo in Knoxville, Tennessee was held this past weekend. Knoxville is beautiful, affordable, and a nice place to visit. The convention center was easy to find, the parking was nearby, and the Market Square two blocks into the city had fabulous sandwiches on homemade bread. There were plenty of people at the show to help us find some excellent non-chain restaurants nearby. We went to Peerless, Chez Guevara and Aubreys during the evenings we were there.

I enjoyed myself immensely with a fellow guild member, Marie Q. and her daughter, Mickey. Marie and her daughter graciously allowed me to tag along to view our Guild Challenge quilts in the show. While the guild didn't win a ribbon, it was still an honor to be chosen. I, certainly, got a big kick out of seeing my quilt there and will remember it the rest of my life, even if this is the only time. Here are pictures of Marie and I standing next to our quilts:

The Bad:

I try very hard not to be a complainer. That said, there were just a few "bads" I thought might be worth mentioning. (1) Even white glovers weren't allowed to touch the quilts. No one at the show was allowed to see the backs of quilts or have their own straightened. Presumably the reason was that the poles were faulty and would fall down. (2) The number of guilds allowed to show their challenge quilt in the show rose from 8 to 18. This makes it easier to get in the show but harder for your guild to compete for a ribbon. (3) This show was recently moved from Nashville to Knoxville. Having not been to the Nashville show, I can't say whether this one was better or worse. I do know that for some reason AQS opted to have this show on the same weekend as the International Quilt Show in Long Beach, California. I can't help but think that our better national quilts went there instead of here. The rainbow in this "bad" is that the show did not attract a large crowd and most of the classes had openings. A local waiter even told us his wife, who is a quilter, hadn't even heard about the show until the day before it started.

The Interesting:

After viewing all the challenge quilts, Marie and I defintely agreed that in order to get a ribbon or honorable mention, the guild quilts must have a lot of quilting and a lot of embellishments. It also doesn't hurt for the guild to establish a reputation with the AQS judges by entering the challenge regularly and constantly improving quality.

Finally, I must mention a little observation in the air travel arena. Now that airlines have started charging you to check even one bag, more and more passengers are opting to bring their suitcases onto the plane. Once the plane fills up with suitcases, the airlines take the suitcases that won't fit under the seat in front or in the overhead bins and puts them in the hold with the checked bags (no charge to you). As a result of this practice, people seem to be lining up at the entrance to the plane with no regard for what zone was called so they can store their suitcases with them. Even so, those who have to have their suitcases checked, get to pick them up right outside the aircraft without having to go to the baggage claim. I can't help but think these new practices are an accident waiting to happen. I'm now rethinking my August trip to Florida with my son and his friend. $15 one-way for one bag will pay for an awful lot of laundry detergent. I'll save $90 ($45 each way) if I can get the three of us to all do the same.

Getting ready for Knoxville

I'm abandoning my hubby and teenage son to go to the Knoxville Quilt Show http://aqsquiltnews.blogspot.com/ tomorrow. As much as I love my family, I'll just have to leave them to their own devices for a few days. (To be truthful, the only one who will probably really really really miss me is our daschund, Misty :-) Hope my son remembers to at least let her out a few times a day. Before I get on that plane though, I'll be bringing the following to Charity Quilts this morning.

The top left picture shows 14 preemie quilts made from fabric scraps. Top right picture are 10 preemie quilts made from Liz and Jane's fabric scraps. The middle left picture contains two quilted tops using fabric from Liz. The right middle picture has a QUAYGO (QUilt As You GO) made from a donated center panel and more scraps. Finally, the last picture shows 4 quilt tops made from Liz's fat quarters. Three fat quarters and a border = one charity quilt top.

Quilters: The Musical

My friend, Chris, and I drove to Annapolis, MD last night to see "Quilters: The Musical" at the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre. I first heard about this production at the Annapolis Quilt Show in June. The producers collaborated with the Annapolis Quilt Guild http://www.annapolisquiltguild.org/index.html and a historian at the Smithsonian Institute to create the quilts for for the show. Quilters: The Musical is a joyous and moving celebration of American Womanhood – as told through the eyes of a pioneer woman and her six “daughters” -- combines music, dance movement and interrelated scenes of vivid dramatic intensity. Its initial smashing success in Denver was followed by six Tony awards when it reached Broadway. QUILTERS is a rich mosaic which captures the sweep and beauty, the terror and joy, the harsh challenge and abiding rewards of frontier life. And the quilt itself brings an additional theatre surprise.


Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre http://www.summergarden.com/ is an outdoor theater in the heart of downtown Annapolis. We were informed that the theater was once under water (the left brick wall was where ships in the 1700s docked). Read more about the site at http://www.summergarden.com/buildinghistory.html.

I must say that I enjoyed the show and the experience! And, the quilt made by the Annapolis Quilt Guild was exquisite.

Sometimes a quilted-to-death cheater panel works

I was looking for a long narrow quilt to bring some summertime joy into the house. I purchased a cheater panel a few months ago and just finished quilting it.

Okay, so I know it's the middle of July....but I must say these colors on my wall are already spreading magic. Why just this morning, I asked my 16-year old son to bring the garbage cans back to the garage and he did it (truthfully, I had to hold his lunch hostage). But, he did it and that sometimes is a miracle in itself....you mother's of teenage boys know what I'm saying. Anyway, I like to quilt cheater panels to death. Here's a close up:

It's great practice and....if I mess up.....it's only a cheater panel. Also, I ordered Quilter's Dream Green batting from connecting threads (http://www.connectingthreads.com/tools/Quilters_Dream_Green_Batting__D20984.html

and tried it in this quilt. The website says: Dream Green is a soft, cozy batting made 100% from recycled plastic bottles! Finished quilt may be machine-washed and dried with little to no shrinkage. This unique eco batting is wrinkle-resistant, and allows you to stitch up to 12” apart! This size keeps seven plastic bottles out of landfills.

I must say that I like it! There was very little distortion with this much quilting. I'm going to try the bamboo batting next.

Finally, to keep up with my fellow quilters (just the ones who include garden pictures on their blogs), I feel I must include the following picture of the Black-Eyed Susans that have just started blooming in my Maryland yard.

Beautiful, aren't they?

Summertime is quilting time!

There's nothing better than a morning walk (before it gets too hot)...some chores...and then afternoons of quilting...

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, Liz B., gave me a bag full of material she decided she didn't need anymore. Here's what I did with it:

She had lots of fat quarters. I found out quickly that three fat quarters and a 5" border would make a charity quilt top...sort of using a stack, whack, and shuffle approach. Six quilt tops were made and I still have a pile of FQs in my quilt dungeon....uhhhmmmm... quilt cave, I mean. The tops will be taken to our service projects workshop on Thursday, where they will be sandwiched, tied, and bound.

The middle two pictures represent two QUAYGO (QUilt As You GO) quilts I made. Liz supplied the center sections. Next I took all of her baby fabric and incorporated it into 12 preemie quilts. Preemie quilts have a top and a flannel bottom (no batting). These will be donated to the Holy Cross Hospital Preemie Unit in Silver Spring, Maryland. Finally, Liz'a material was used in 5 pillowcases for cancer patients. Okay, I was having way too much fun, because I also made the following in the last two weeks.

The top two pictures show preemies made with donated fabric. The ones on the right were made with remnants of pre-quilted fabric donated by Jane. Two QUAYGOs are in the middle, each made out of donated center panels and batting scraps. The left bottom picture is a quilt top made with 3 fat quarters (with high heels and pocket books on them). Finally, there are 10 pillowcases waiting for someone to love. Hopefully some cancer patient will appreciate the Simpson and New Orlean Mardi Gra fabric. At any rate, I understand that Children's Hospital needs teenage boy pillowcases more than any other. Now, I have one of those (teenagers, that is) in my home. He's 16 and likes everything plain or black, black and black. No wonder they have a hard time getting ones that teenage boys like! Your suggestions are most welcome.

My first watercolor kit

I just finished the robin watercolor kit I purchased at the Quilting Unlimited show in 2007. It's only about 11" x 15", but it'll make nice wall candy in my home. Robins are special to me. My grandmother, Beulah Gertrude Robbins (just love her first and middle name :-), made pocketed beach towels when we were young. Every beach towel she gave to family had a Robin appliqued to the pocket.

I've got to get a life!

But, making these quilts really satisfies my creativity urge.


Last week, my sister and I attended the Annapolis Quilt Show in Annapolis, MD, of course. Lots of beautiful quilts and great vendors! My sister is NOT a quilter. She is, however, a hair dresser and massage therapist. Many years ago when she first started her profession, I went to a few hair shows with her. Since she lives near Annapolis, I decided that she owed me an afternoon at a show of my choice (Hey, any excuse for an outing with your sister is a good one, right?). She did enjoy the show and we also shared a nice lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.

Thanks to a fellow quilter, whom I respect immensely, I'm going to the Knoxville Quilt Expo sponsored by the American Quilter Society at the end of July. I'm going to see my Florida Quilt hung at the show (a first for me). It will be one of eight quilts submitted to AQS for our guild challenge. Whoohoo!

Hobo backs

What a stash buster.....making hobo backs for charity quilts! What's a hobo back? It's a quilt back pieced from scraps. My quilting scraps are sorted by size and color. Scraps are cut to the inch and sewed to rolls of like colors. For instance, all blue 2" wide scraps are sewed together end-to-end and put into a big roll. Here's a charity quilt I finished this week using a cheater fabric donated at our quilt show.

See how the back is composed of mostly blue scrap fabrics. This is what I call a hobo back. I simply took the blue roll of scraps, cut one the length I wanted and kept sewing the lengths to the together. The quilt was constructed by first sandwiching the blue part of this back with the donated dog strip. I quilted those together, then added two strips of dog fabric to each side in order the make the charity quilt the desired size (at least 36" x 36"). For the bone strips next to the donated dog center, I pinned a scrap strip (right side to the back) and the bone strips (right side to the front) and sewed a quarter inch seam. After pressing the front and back open, I added a strip of batting in between (pinning so that the batting abutted the quilted center. For this strip, I simply sewed a straight line every inch or so to secure the batting in place. To add the next row, simply trim the piece and keep going until the quilt is big enough.

Here's another charity quilt with a hobo back. You may think that the horizontal rows are difficult to construct. Not so! I'm working on a formula for figuring out exactly how much is needed. For instance, the horizontal rows above are constructed using alternating orange, yellow, and green scraps. These particular scraps are 2" wide. Therefore, one repeat (when three 2" strips are sewed together) measures 4.5". Divide this number into the length of the strip, in this case 42". 42/4.5 is 9 and some decimal places. Round up to 10. Multiply 10 times the desired width of the horizontal stripe. These strips were 8", so 10 x 8 = 80. We need three strips, so i then multiply 80 x 3 = 240. For some reason, adding 20" to this total seems to give me very close to what I need. If you know why this is so or have a better formula, please reply. To construct the horizontal strip then, just measure out the first color to 260". Sew the second and third colors onto this strip. Lay the strip on your cutting board and cut 8" segments off. I usually square each segment too. Then sew these strips end-to-end. Voila, horizontal stripes for a hobo back!

Mark Lipinski and another day on the Chesapeake Bay

The Quilter's Unlimited show in Chantilly, VA was fabulous as usual. On Saturday night, my friend, Chris and I went to see Mark Lipinski at Chantilly High School. What a hoot! And, to top off the trunk show, I won a Sidewinder by running down to the stage with a four-leaf clover (the one printed on my business card, that is).

My father's 78th birthday was the reason for this fishing trip. The fish were not so big, but my father and his three daughters (including me) had a blast!

Cats, horses, and patriotic fun

This charity quilt is simply constructed from alternating strips of cat fabric (black and white) and some rich blue patterns. I sandwiched the black strip in the middle and used one of those fancy stitches on my sewing machine to secure the layers. I pinned the next two strips to the top of the sandwich and two backing strips to the back of the sandwich and sewed them on. Next, I added a batting strip between the back and front and used the fancy stitch to secure. Repeat four more times and a charity quilt was born!

What rich colors for the horses! I must admit that I would never have used these colors together in a quilt of my own, but they go together great! Some child is going to cherish this charity quilt made out of donated horse fabric strips.

A donated UFO (the center block including the green strip) was the foundation for this charity quilt. I added a border and practiced quilting circles in the blue strips!