Quilts for the Church

As part of the Quilting Ministry at Symons Valley United Church, I quilt liturgical wallhangings, such as Covenants , and also the compassionate quilts made to give to people in the congregation as needed.

We had, at one point a few years ago, built up an inventory, combined with a few years where people stayed relatively healthy, and thus we hadn't had to make compassionate quilts for some time.  When the quilts were all gone, we had to start making again.   These two were needed and gifted almost as soon as they were finished.  So, they have found their homes, and are providing comfort to people as a tangible reminder of the love, hugs and prayers from the remainder of the congregation.

 The compassionate quilts for adults, to date, are all Yellow Brick Roads, and all batik fabrics.  For a very long time, we had leftovers from the permanent banners in the sanctuary that went into the quilts, (and scraps from the quilts that predated the banners in the banners), but we have exhausted that supply now. 

One of the quilters says her husband even recognizes the pattern now, when he sees it.  He should!  I  think we've made about 40 of these. 

 we use a very plain backing, as members of the congregation will sign their well wishes on the back before it is gifted to the recipient.

 I like to quilt these in pairs, as I can get two on the same wide backing.  The quilts usually measure about 49x50 (give or take an inner border) 

This next one is for a child or youth when needed, the last time we made one it wasn't used for 7 years, so we hope to be as lucky with this one, and it can age well in our cabinet.

 The fabrics in this are so fun, and, it  uses bits from the prior child/youth compassionate quilt, so there is that continuity. 

Periodically we gift quilts to the elders (that's a much gentler and better word than Octogenarians--which is hard to determine, since some people age so very well, and we aren't allowed to ask)  in our congregation, unsigned, but able to be signed should the occasion arise.  We want the elders to be wrapped in our love when they are well, having reached such a lofty age, they shouldn't have to wait to be ill as well.  We are working on building our supply of these as well.

and this last little quilt has gone to the Foothills hospital, as part of the quilts my other guild makes for babies in a unit at the hospital.

Elephants, quilt density and loading two at a time.

These elephants were the inspiration for these quilts.  I found this flannel, and knew that was what I wanted for backing these two baby quilts (my cousin had twins), and then I had to find fabric for the tops. 

I made 2 disappearing 9 patch quilts, with the same 3 fabrics in them, only the fabric placement and binding varied.

 The light fabric has adult and baby giraffes

And the grey fabric has adult and baby tigers, monkeys, elephants and giraffes

I started out quilting a wavy zigzag from block corner to block corner, which leaves an unquilted space about the size of my hand...according to the batting specifications, this density is enough to hold the batting stable and hold the quilt together. 

 However, I took into consideration that these are baby quilts, and will be washed weekly, daily, monthly??  Depends on how the day goes, as any of us who have had children will know.  So, I wanted more quilting, and added a line of stitching between the existing lines.

 and I'm much happier with that quilt density.

Here's a photo showing that I loaded the two quilts together--I made the backing long enough for both and when I reached the bottom of the first quilt, I just added the second, about a 1/2" or 1" away, and kept going.  This saves time in loading and saves backing, because usually I need 6" extra for each quilt, this way I only needed 7" extra total (thus saving 5" and a bunch of time)

Yellow Brick Road

 I can see that I took these photos while the camera was still MIA, so these are less than ideal phone photos.  Yellow Brick Road for the church ministry.  Freehand quilting.  These photos do no justice to the colors in this quilt.

Mystery Quilt

This was a mystery quilt at Needleworks a few summers ago, and I pulled all the fabrics from my stash.   I added the outer border, and maybe the outer two borders.  I used every inch of fabric...I think I've got a 6" square left.   I've quilted it with a Tuscany wool batt and flannel backing, very cosy.  I just love the turquoise in this quilt. 

I consulted with my daughter, and she thought we should leave those poofy squares unquilted...it looked better before being washed...live and learn.

It's crinkled up nicely in the wash...but it makes it a bit harder to see the quilting in the photos.

 There are ferny feathers in the borders, and the pink and green fabrics have fern's printed on them.