A Couple More Quilts for Oso

Have you been reading along with my collecting of Quilts for the Oso Mudslide Victims? here and here…

Well, I finally got mine done!

I made two kid sized, fleece doggy themed quilts. These light look familier, e=because Santa made the kiddo one a couple of years back. And then Santa left the scraps at my house…. They have been in a bag taking up too much space since.

I tried to sell them on Craigslist… No takers.  And on my parents listserve thing. And, you guessed it… No takers. So then I thought maybe I’d donate them to out local fabric shop for Project Linus and get a discount on fabric… But I just couldn’t give it away. Yes, maybe I have some hoarding tendancies… But ys know what? It’s perfect that I never got rid of it because I made it into two quilts and 2 doll quilts!

The original one that Santa made was a disappearing 9 patch, so there were a couple of already pieced 9 patches in the scrap bag. There was also a ton of already cut pieces for more 9 patches. So I decided to go with that and make a few more for another disappearing 9 patch!

Do you see the pattern? Basically for the disappearing 9 patch, you piece together 9 blocks, each of the same size. then cut it in half 2 times and turn them all around. So the pattern is a bit tricky to find! Such an easy apptern that almost doesn’t look like a pattern!

And for each one, I made a little doll or stuffie quilts to go ao;ng with it. This one used a little bit of the nine patch!

For the second one, I used all my scraps. Just total improv scrap piecing. Piecing until I had nothing left and actually had to reach into my fleece stash to finidh it off! I ended up making four little pieces and then put them all together and then kept going around to the back.

And of course, it needed a little one to go along with it!

And now I need to go back to getting some kids clothes together before vacation!!!

Quilts for Oso Update

Last month, I know you heard of the horrible mudslides here in Washington.

And then I posted about the wonderful woman behind the blog, Layers of Hope, who is running a quilt drive for the victims of the mudslides!  Well, I had a great response. Some quilters contacted me and we ended up finding ways for them to donate without the quilts actually going through me to get to Layers of Hope.

But then this big box showed up with some fantastic goodies for the quilt drive. A lady in California quilts and also spends time in Texas with another group of quilters, the Rayburn Crafters.

The box was super full with quilts and knitted blankets! I was like a kiddo on Christmas morning going through the box and seeing all the fun pieces. And as I was looking at each one, these cute little things kept falling out….

Hats! Adorable little hats were packed in throughout the blankets!

Most of the quilts are baby and toddler sized. They are small in size, but not in detail or love! Each one of these quilts are hand quilted, which I know is a labor of love.

I picked some of my favorite details to show ya! I love the retro little girl fabric and the funny lady bugs! The embroidery and hand stitching is just always fascinating to me as well!

Then there was also this quilt in the box. It’s nice and big and I’m totally in love with it! It’s made to look older than it really is. Doesn’t it look like something you’d and in an antique shop? Love it!

and I’ve started my donations as well, but more to come on that!

I’ve been in touch with Layers of Hope and am dropping of the box this weekend!

 

 

Call for Quilts for Oso

This week our state has experienced a devasting loss. They are saying the mudslides are our worst natural disaster since Mt. St. Helens eruption. Last I heard the death toll is around 20 and 30 are still missing. Unfortunately this is part of the better news, in that the missing has been dropped from 90 to 30.

Families have lost everything. It’s just hard to even write about it…

I just keep thinking about one of the stories I heard in the very beginning, about a rescuer trying to find people. They could hear them, but couldn’t get to them due to the amount of mud. Can you imagine? That person is going to hear that voice for years to come. I can only hope that eventually he was able to get back to those trapped.

image via CNN US

And I read this:

“There was this gray cloud . . . and then I saw it taking out trees 100 at a time,” she said. “I started screaming for my kids to get out of there. I’m screaming, ‘It’s a mudslide!’ ”

Within minutes, the roar was gone, and Langton opened the back door.

“I looked out on complete devastation,” she said. “I heard two ladies shouting for help. I heard another voice screaming, ‘Help.’ I couldn’t see him. I said, ‘Sir, could you raise your arms so I can see you?’ He said he only had one arm. The other one was just hanging there.”

She helped rescue them. -excerpt from The Washington post,  for the full article click here.

image via CNN US

Between the stories of the immense loss there are more stories of hope and of people helping people.

Like this one from the pastor of Oso Community Chapel:

“I was expecting someone to say, ‘I lost my brother or I lost my house and I’m angry’ — and that would have been OK,” he said by phone Sunday. “But today what we heard was, ‘I was in trouble and a stranger stopped and helped me.'” – excerpt from CNN, read the whole article here. It’s a good one.

the before and after, image via CBS NEWS

I don’t know these people, but they are only about an hour from me. The only thing I can think of to help is to give them something made with love. And that’s a quilt. They lost everything. I know they need so many more things than a quilt. But the love that comes with something hand made can truly make a difference.

Online I have found a woman called the Quilting Granny from Layers of Hope. She is spearheading a quilt drive for the community.  I’ll be making one to give and I’m hoping you will too.  There is tons of information on The Layers of Hope blog, but a brief run down is:

Only new, handmade quilts, please.

Needed by April 19th!

Sizes should be at least:

1. Baby sizes 42 x 42
2. Toddler sizes 52 x 52
3. Twin Size 68 x 86
4. Full Size 78 x 86

We want them to cover for adults at least someone who is 6′ tall for length.**They can be quilted, crocheted or knitted, they must be handmade, no store quilts!**

If you can, you can drop off or send directly to any of the following locations:

Town Square Fabric and Yarn
445 SW 152nd Street
Burien, WA 98166
Tell Christina or Cynthia they are for Layers of Hope – Quilting 911 Oso quilt drive and they will hold them.

If you live closer to the Oso area or Canada, you may drop them off with:
Mary Udman at the Skagit Valley YMCA
215 E Fulton Street
Mt. Vernon, WA 98273

In the Centralia/Chehalis Area there are two drop off points:
Sisters Fabric
476 N. Market Street
Chehalis, WA 98532
Tell Jody or Bobbi they are for Oso

and

Quilters Junction
1728 Gold Street
Centralia, WA 98531

Or you can send to me and I promise I’ll get them to one of the drop off locations before April 19th. Just email me for my address!

There is a huge need for all quilters to help! And yes, the timeline is short, but please help if you can!