Book and Quilt Sale for Ukraine refugee relief

 The plight of the people of Ukraine has been heavy on my heart these past few weeks.  Since I've been (hopefully temporarily) unable to do any kind of quilting tasks due to extreme joint inflammation in my thumbs and wrists, it seemed like a good time to weed out some hand quilting books and offer them to you, along with a quilt I hopefully began several years ago but which I will never be able to complete given my thumb joint issues.

My plan is to donate the proceeds from this sale to Quilted Twins who are so generously forwarding 100% of all donations directly to Poland where they are used to purchase much needed items directly for both refugees currently in that country as well as being sent across the border into Ukraine.  You can read more about their efforts via Becky's blog here.

First, the books.  My plan is to ship all books via priority mail.  If you purchase multiple books I will  combine the shipping costs to try to give you the best rate.  Shipping is only within the continental United States for all items.

The price of each book is a $10.00 donation plus shipping cost.  I will accept a check or money order. Please leave a comment letting me know which book(s) you would like.  If you're not a regular commenter, be sure to include your email address in your comment so that I have a way to contact you!

                                                                        SOLD

SOLD

 

SOLD

Next is the quilt I am selling.  I purchased the vintage top online several years ago intending to hand quilt it for donation to our local church camp benefit auction.  The quilt measures 113" x 91" and is in excellent condition.  The top was completed by an Ohio Mennonite quilter and was sold at her estate auction.  It is marked for quilting including the borders and sashings!  I added batting and backing fabric, and it is pinned and ready for the quilting to be completed.  I started the quilting in one block as shown.  Along with the quilt you will receive 7 spools of Presencia No. 8 thread purchased for the leaves around the 12 hand-appliqued/embroidered blocks. Also included will be the provenance I received from the online seller.

Asking $100 plus shipping for this amazing quilt-in-progress.  Please note that shipping within the continental United States will be expensive for this item due to the oversize box needed to accommodate the bulkiness.  I hesitate to try using a vacuum-shrink type bag for this since it is pinned and I'd hate to risk any rips occurring.  Best-guess estimate for shipping via the postal service is between $25-65.00 depending on your location, UPS is even higher.  If you live within driving distance from my location in western NY, I'll be happy to arrange local pickup.

QUILT IS NOW SOLD!

Not sure if the leaves around the hand appliqued/embroidered flowers were meant to be embroidered.  I chose to big stitch hand quilt them as shown below to cover the printed outlines, using the included Presencia thread.   This is the only block that has any quilting thus far.  I used regular white cotton quilting thread for a bit of outlining within the flower itself before I had to give up on the project due to my arthritis issues.

The backing fabric:

Leave me a comment if you have any questions or are interested in any of these items!  Have a great weekend!

At Long Last - Quilty 365 is Finished!

 For what is now years, this project seemed destined to never reach a finish but now, seven years after it began, this oldest UFO finally reached the finish line just before noon today!  It was my priority for the year and there is a huge weight off my shoulders to finally say "it's done!" 

At 110x114 inches this is my largest-ever finish, and most of it is hand quilted!  Here's how it looked spread out on the living room floor after finishing the hand-quilted portion - the entire central section.  The borders have since received some ditch quilting along with a few lines of serpentine stitching. What appears to be a sloppy binding is actually the backing basted to the front to keep the batting away from kitty paws.

And here it is on the bed for a test run prior to heading to the laundromat in a couple days for a much needed bath and hopefully a bit of shrinkage.  The plan was always to make this quilt "bedspread" size for a queen bed.  

Amazing how heavy this thing is!  My daughter likes weighted blankets and I think she will love this.  Maybe someday it will be hers, though it's going to live with us for awhile.  Got to be able to pet this long awaited creation for a bit before giving it away.

So many memories associated with many of the hand appliqued circles, of pets now passed, our time in Oregon, quilty friends who traded precious bits of favorite fabrics while we all made our daily appliqued circles, holidays, the anticipated grandson - now five years old, and so on.

A scrap from my son's wedding quilt - they've been married 21 years this June!

Remembering Griffen

Olie - our faithful Oregon beach buddy

I used Hobbs Polydown batting in an effort to keep the weight manageable, but chose to leave the fabric backing all those appliqued circles to give them a bit more loft - thus adding a LOT of weight.  Hand quilting thread is Aurifil 12 wt. while the machine quilting in the borders is Aurifil 50 wt.

The sashing in all these photos appears red, but it is actually a lovely burnt orange.

The back

So happy to cross this oldie off my list!  

I'm planning to purge my bookshelf soon, and hope to have another post next week of books I plan to sell.  The plight of the Ukrainian refugees has been heavy on my heart these past weeks, and proceeds from any books sold this month will be sent to the Quilted Twins Ukrainian Relief Fund that sends 100% of donations received to Poland where Becky purchases needed supplies that go directly to both Ukraine and to the refugees already arrived in Poland.  You can read about this effort on Becky's blog here. I've linked to the latest post as of this evening, though there are quite a few additional posts as the blog is updated nearly daily.

Til next time, happy stitching!