more quilting

I would call today successful. A little nap, a little quilting, a little laundry and the kids went to the movies...finally. They sure move slow around here :) I forget what is was like to be young. I'm always in a hurry to get things done and they seem to think they have forever and a day to do things. I need to take a lesson from them and slow down a little bit. Maybe my migraines would go away?

quilting today

Despite the never ending migraine and house guests, I am finding time to get some quilting in :)

Quilting makes me happy. That is a good thing, because the pile of quilt tops seems to be never ending. I love that. Have I told you before that when I get down to about 20 quilt tops, I start to get nervous? I can't sleep and start to worry? Well, no worries here. I have plenty to keep me busy. Do you see your quilt top getting closer to finished? These will be headed to Rhoda later this week to be bound and boxed for Japan. I wonder how many more I can get done today. My house guests don't get up very early so I try to be respectful of their sleeping and wait until they are awake before running the quilting machine. Now that they are awake, I can make all of the noise I want! I just loaded more backing on the frame and the 50 yard roll of batting I got from JoAnn.com and am good to go for a little bit! As long as the migraine meds don't knock me out, I should be able to get a few more quilts done today.

Freda in Elk Grove, Ca

I'm always in awe of people who can do applique. This summer (only 4 days away!) I am going to learn how to do applique. These two cuties have applique and pieced blocks and are so very cute that I just know children are going to hug them and never put them down. Thanks so much Freda for joining with us.

Remember everyone, tomorrow is the last day to pop your quilts in the mail.

Today, my son will be heading out to a local amusement park for fun thrill rides, my daughter and boyfriend will be taking my little guy to the movies and I may get some quilting time in. I do have some (ok lots) of grading to do, but the quilt tops are really calling to me.

Our local quilt shop is having a quilt day for Quilts of Valor. I really do need to stop in there and check it out. They asked for my help about a month ago, but then they never called me back. I think they thought I would just remember. If I didn't see it in the paper yesterday, I would have totally forgotten about it! I have so many other things going so I hope they aren't counting on me being there all day :)

West Valley Binky Patrol

These two little cuties came from Claudia and the West Valley Binky Patrol chapter. The one with the animals has some really cute hand quilting on it. Thanks Claudia!

Judith Fry in San Luis Obispo, Ca

These two beauties were sent in by Judith just in time! I now have 879 quilts boxes up and ready to ship. The last day to ship for this project is Tuesday, May 31. We will still be working to get all of the quilt tops quilted and hope to have everything done by June 10 and onto the next project. What will it be? Quilts of Valor? Quilts for the tornado victims? Local quilts? Maybe a little vacation?

Amanda

Amanda is a student at my high school. She said when her grandmother heard about the Quilts for Japan project she wanted to help out so they got right to work and made these three quilts together. She surprised me this week and brought them to school. I love surprises like this. My daughter has been writing letters and bringing them to Amanda's grandmother who organizes a group called A Million Thanks. It is a program where regular people like you and me write letters to thank soldiers for their service to our country. My daughter has been writing letters for over a year now and giving them to Amanda's grandma who boxes them up and ships them over to Iraq and Afghanistan. It's cool how we can all work together to help people who need a comforting word or hug!

Melissa's quilt

Melissa sent this gorgeous quilt a long time ago and I did take a picture, but my picture wasn't as good as hers :)

She sent an email asking if I got the quilt, along with this picture to help me remember which quilt was hers! After 855 quilts, I still remember this one because it has my favorite colors, red, white and black. I promised myself that when I'm done with this project, I'm going to make myself a quilt just like this one. (yeah, right! I never make myself anything)

Thanks Melissa (Mama Mel) for joining our efforts to comfort the children of Japan.

Fiesta Days Parade

Today was the day my son has been working towards for a year. He led the band in the Fiesta Days Parade. He twirled and spun the mace and didn't drop it! He was so proud and happy. The sun shone and the kids had a great time. I came home and took a nap to try to get rid of the migraine and woke up to pouring raine. What? Where did that come from?

super bad migraine

Ugh, day 2 of super bad migraine :(

Judy, Judy

Carly has a friend named Judy. I love Judy. Judy calls and my heart goes pitter patter! You see, Judy has a love of fabric. You may call it an obsession. Well, Judy decided it was time to pass on her love of fabric to Carla and to me. SO, she started packing up all of her fabric and bringing it by the suburban load to Carla's house. After about the 4th trip, Carla called UNCLE and so Judy called me. Judy came over on Sunday with her 2nd load of fabric and these wonderful quilts and a whole bunch of fleece blankets. I have enough fabric from Judy to make 1,000 more quilts! Thanks Judy! You are a fabric angel!

The last of the North Wind Quilt Guild Quilts

Here are the final quilts from the NWQG. They donated 70 quilts for Japan. It is nice to be so supported by my local guild.

Kiwanis of Lodi

Sent these quilts and a total of 25 very cute and cuddly rag quilts just like them in a variety of colors on Sunday. They used the Accuquilt Studio Rag die cut to make them. That die is definately on my list of MUST GET! Thanks ladies! Love them.

855

So far I have 855 quilts in boxes. More are arriving on a daily basis so I hate to say that I'm done, but all of the quilts that are in my house are currently counted and in boxes! Do you know how good that feels? They are out of bedrooms and showers and bathtubs and almost all in one place. My son's room still has about 8 boxes that need to be moved into the living room, but I just don't have the energy to do it today. These will get moved to my friend's house soon. Her husband works for Fed Ex and he will be taking them to Sacramento where they will fly to Japan soon. The end is near! But not too near. I still have about 100 quilt tops waiting to be quilted. Hurry, hurry. School can't end soon enough!

SLO Quilters Inc

I got two HUGE boxes of quilts from the San Luis Obispo Quilters Guild. These ladies have been busy! Seriously. Some of these quilts would have taken me my entire life to finish. Or probably longer because I would have given up before I was done.

One of the things I love about quilting is there are so many patterns and designs out there and always the next quilt is my favorite. I will never be able to try every pattern and I love being able to see all of these quilts and touch them. Even better than a quilt show where nobody is going to come along with white gloves and tell me to NOT TOUCH the quilts :)

And, if you want to come and touch the quilts, you had better hurry. I only have the quilts that have been stored in bags in the un-used shower and bathtub in my house left to pack. I have over 600 quilts packed and ready to ship and another about 200 quilts in my house. I'm guessing there are about 100 more that need or have binding that aren't at my house that will be done this week and who knows how many in the mail. That's a lot of quilts to touch! Talk about fabric overstimulation!