Another binky day

About 20 different kids and 10 of the same kids showed up today.  It was a very full house!

 My son taught the other kids how to tie a tie using fabric scraps.

 The final stocking.  We made 277 complete stockings this year.  So happy to have so many stockings to fill for our returning wounded soldiers who fight for our freedoms in this country.

 Organizing the quilt tops that need quilting.

 Once again using the Studio fabric cutter to roll through the scrap bins.

My son is quite proficient at sewing now.  As the kids said, he 'sews like a man'.

Binky Patrol Sunday

Woke up this morning with a super bad migraine, but what's a girl supposed to do?  How about quilt?  And then take a picture upside down :)

Headed out to Binky Patrol, not thinking I would return with a van full of quilts, but that's what I ended up with.  There are 5 boxes of quilts that will be shipped to Alycia in Colorado for the fire victims and a couple thrown in for the Quilts of Valor.

And to think I started off the day with my tubs empty.  I called my friend Mary who does deliveries for me and said to come over and take all of my quilts and blankets! They need to get into the hands of the kids and I'm not able to do it now.  We had a great talk and she left my house with her car loaded.  I'd say she had about 75 blankets.  How did I fill up so quickly?  I will probably keep about 10 blankets on hand, just for emergencies, but get the rest out as quickly as possible.  I have a couple of friends who adopted some kids and they love to take blankets to CPS for me.  Their kids love to talk to the kids who are waiting for forever homes and to give the blankets away.

QOV finished

 Here's the front...

and the back of the Quilt of Valor.  A small way to say thank you to a service member who gives so much to protect my family's freedom.  This quilt will be on its way to Alycia in Colorado on Monday, along with lots of comfort quilts for the Colorado fire victims.  We are having a packing party tomorrow at our Binky Patrol meeting.

100th quilt for the year

If you are looking for the Red, White and Blue blog hop, look down further on the blog :)

this is the 100th quilt I've quilted so far this year!  Woo Hoo!
No, I didn't piece all of the quilts I've quilted, you see we have quite the assembly line going around here.  I'm the area coordinator for Binky Patrol (www.binkypatrol.org) and we get together at least every other month, more often in the summer to make quilts for kids.  I have about 20 loyal committed ladies and teens who work on these quilts.  Some gals love to cut fabric with my Accuquilt Studio fabric cutter.  We make lots of these quilt kits from the pattern that can be found at maryquilts.com  Some love to sew the tops together and then they bring them back to either me or my friend Carla.  We quilt them up and then pass them along to either Rhoda the binding beast, Judy or Nancy to finish off.  Then, they give me a call and I pick them back up and find homes for them.  I pass them off to Kathleen or Wendy who take them to Solano Child Protective Services where they are given to foster kids, they go to Mary who takes them to NorthBay Health care, or they go to Nurse Family Partnership for moms and new babies.  Some quilts get the personal hand delivered touch and go to kids I know.  I teach high school and hear about a lot of kids who need a quilty hug.  I give them to the counselors at my school to pass along or friends of friends.  I get emails from friends all the time saying they heard of a family who lost a parent or someone was in a car accident and needs a quilt.  I always keep a few quilts on hand for emergencies, but can whip up a quilt pretty quickly if needed.  I just timed myself and made a quilt for a local girl battling cancer in 5 hours and 40 minutes.  She loved it :)

I'm quilting up another one to give to my kids' tennis coach whose son was in a motorcycle accident.  He got out of the hospital yesterday.  The doctors said it was a miracle he is alive.  I believe in miracles and I also believe in quilty hugs!