Grandma's Kitchen, block #15: Games Shows and Soaps

It's week 15 of  Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen quilt along. Only ten blocks left! I can already tell that I am going to miss these weekly trips down memory lane. The name of this week's block is Game Shows & Soaps. 

As usual, I veered off a bit from the TV theme into one of my Gramma Ann's favorite ways of spending time: playing cards.

While Gramma did watch TV--she loved Dr. Oz, Touched by an Angel, and Texas Ranger--I'm starting to feel pressure to focus on the things that really defined Gramma's personality. (Pat, if you are looking for ideas, I have a list for you!)

As I have been working on each block, my mom and aunts have been sharing stories and snippets, many of which are new to me, and that I will now remember as I look at this quilt. What I didn't realize is how much this quilt will also mean to my son. 

Last picture of D and Gramma Ann, September 2012. 

D was three the last he saw Gramma and five when she passed away. He remembers her because we show him pictures and talk about her, but his own memories are getting dim. The blocks for this quilt live on the large design wall in our laundry room, next to my craft room. The other day I was working in the craft room while D was getting ready for bed. He came into the laundry room with his dirty clothes, and I heard him talking out loud as he looked at each block and recited the memories he knew that were instilled in each one, and asked for more information about the ones that were unfamiliar. Gramma lives on.

When I was girl, probably close to D's age, I spent a week one summer at Gramma and Grampa's house in Blackduck while our dog had her puppies. I was young enough that I thought it was fun to be in that little town of 600. Gramma and I ran a garage sale, baked lemon bars, and I walked all over down exploring the library, running errands, and enjoy summer freedom. But the highlight of the week is that Gramma and Grampa deemed me old enough to grown up card games. Grampa taught me how to play widow whist, and the three of us played every day. 

I'm actually not sure what game Gramma is playing with my Aunt Terri and Uncle John. It's the only photo I could find of Gramma playing cards.

As an adult, maybe after Grampa passed, our game changed to Gin 13. It's now I game I play with my family. One of D's favorite family traditions is that we play a card game or board game most nights with dinner. It's a tech-free way for our family to connect and draw out our time together. I love it. And it started with those games of widow whist 30some years ago.

Gramma also enjoyed casinos. In fact, more than once our holiday gatherings were held in a casino. Lots of food and no clean up. The adults were happy. And I'm sure it helped that there was alcohol and slot machines. Oh, and family!

It's been interesting how this project is, on one hand, an ode to the past, but I continue to be surprised at how rooted it is, also, in the present. My half a modern block is inspired by the Delft wallpaper in Gramma's kitchen of the 50s and 60s. The block was announced when we were in the Netherlands. The next week's block, Cups & Glasses, made me think of the Bailey's Irish Creme Gramma loved. It was announced when we were in Ireland. 

While I was waiting for this week's block to be announced, I was reviewed my list above and wondering when I could work in the playing card block fabric I bought shortly after Gramma passed in 2014 for the memory quilt I would "someday" make. 

Then on Sunday night, October 1, 2017, a shooter killed 58 concert-goers in Las Vegas and injured hundreds more. This tragedy has been weighing heavy on my heart, and when I see the cards in Gramma's block, I will remember the happy hours we spent playing cards together. But I will also remember these sad days when our nation is mourning.

For my quilter friends reading this, the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild is collecting blocks and  quilts to distribute to survivors, family members of victims, and first responders. You can find more information here.

I'm trying to decide if I have time to make the quilt that came to mind as I was praying for those involved, or if, after making four hurricane relief quilts, a memory quilt, and a cancer quilt, I need to make a nice happy baby quilt or finish the wedding quilts in my to do queue. Who am I kidding? I'm sure I'll make this Cards & Cowboys quilt.

Tutorial for Cowboy Book blocks here. Card trick block tutorial here. 

To end with a little bit of happy, I have updated the three blocks I wasn't content to keep so I'm all caught up.

Previous blocks:

#1: The Kitchen Table

#2: Sticky Buns

#3: Key Holder
#4: Half A Modern
#5: Glasses & Cups
#6: Wash Day
#7: Oh My Stars
#8: Grandma's Apron
#9: Kitchen Window
#10: Recipe Box
#11: Peppermint Swirls
#12: Kitchen Door
#13: Sunday Dinner
#14: Salt & Pepper
#16: Small Change
#17: Pantry Goods
#18: The Fridge
#19: Mending Basket
#20: Lovely Dishes
#21: Telephone Time
#22: Pick a Posey
#23: That One Thing
#24: Grandma's Purse
#25: Famous Cookies

If you'd like to see what I'm currently working on, follow me on Instagram at de Jong Dream House.

Linked to:
Pat Sloan (Click here to see more Games Shows & Soaps blocks)
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts
BOMs Away @ What a Hoot Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Let's Bee Social #198 @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
Link Party @ Tweety Loves Quilting
MCM #91 @ Cooking Up Quilts
Midweek Makers #93 @ Quilt Fabrication
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Oh Scrap! @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
Wednesday Wait Loss #36 @ The Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIPs Link Up @ Silly Mama Quilts
WIPs on Wednesday @ Esther's Blog
Works in Progress @ Silly Mama Quilts

#89 Garage Sale Vintage

When I wrote about the three Texas Strong quilts I recently finished for Quilts of Compassion,  I mentioned that I finished a fourth quilt, which I called my Vintage Garage Sale quilt.

As you may have guessed, I bought this quilt at a garage sale a few years back. I just spent way too much time looking for pictures I may not have taken when I first brought it home.

I thought I was buying a completed quilt top as part of a taped up tote of quilt supplies. I definitely got my money's worth with the other items in the box, but this quilt was not quite what I thought.

I was really excited to see all the fun vintage prints. Like this:

And this:

When I first opened the quilt, it was nearly king size, all made of 2" strips of various lengths. But then, when I looked closer, I found lots and lots and lots of rips like this.

As well as places where the fabric was threadbare and about to tear, like this:

I was so bummed. I knew that I could save myself some grief and toss it, or I would be looking at many, many hours of taking it apart and putting it back together. Knowing that someone worked hard to start this quilt, I knew I would be challenged to finish it.

This project was a definitive UFO (unfinished object). I'm guessing a few decades from when it was first pieced by it's original creator, and another two or three years of stop and go progress by me.

I had to go along each strip to see if there were any major holes along the way. About one in three strips had at least one unsalvageable block. I carefully used my seam ripper to separate the rows with ripped blocks. Then sewed the complete rows back together. The resulting quilt was much smaller, about 60" x 70".

I found several yards of a blue print in our charity fabric closet that I thought would work for the back. It was around this time that Hurricane Harvey hit, so I knew I was going to donate it. If I was more picky, I might have done a little more research into the age of the original pieces (my quilting group's consensus is 50s or 60s) and looked for a more vintage backing. There was enough of the print that I decided to make a border as well.

After adding the blue border, I cobbled together my scraps to make an outside border from the original strips.

I wanted to use as much of the original fabric as possible. I think I did a pretty good job, because after throwing away the shredded pieces, this is all I had left. 

My original thought for quilting was to echo the strips, but I quickly discovered that the strips were a bit wavy and that quilting would only extenuate that. I decided to go with a much more forgiving--and quicker--spiral instead.

You can see the quilting better on the back.

I brought my the quilt, along with the three Texas Strong quilt to my quilting group. We had a total of 71 quilts to donate to Quilts of Compassion's Hurricane Relief deployment. 

What first caught my eye about this quilt is that it reminded me of a quilt I cuddled with a child. It was my go to quilt when I was sick, and when I was scared or sad, I would take it and crawl into the space underneath the stairs in our basement.

At the time of the garage sale, my mom had the quilt. There are no quilters in my family tree. The quilt was made by a generous neighbor who used clothes worn by my mom and her sisters.

The quilt is now safe with me, but that's post for another day.

When I decided to finish this quilt for Quilts of Compassion, I thought about the person who will receive it. My prayer is that this quilt is symbol of how even when things seem out of control and overwhelming, with time, life can be beautiful again. I hope it will give comfort and warmth and serve as a reminder that they are loved and their struggle is not forgotten.

To see more photos of this quilt in progress, look for #garagesalevintagequilt on Instagram. To see what I'm currently working on, follow me at deJongDreamHouse.

Linked to:
BOMs Away @ What a Hoot Quilts
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Let's Bee Social #198 @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Link Party @ Tweety Loves Quilting
Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
Main Crush Monday #91 @ Cooking Up Quilts
Midweek Makers #93 @ Quilt Fabrication
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Oh Scrap! @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Sew Some Love @ Kat & Cats Quilts
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
Wait Loss Wednesday #36 @ The Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIPs Link Up @ Silly Mama Quilts
WIPs on Wednesday @ Esther's Blog
Works in Progress @ Silly Mama Quilts

Quilts #86, #87, and #88: Texas Strong

I didn't have any quilt finishes in August--partly because we were on vacation for half the month, partly because I'm doing a lot of social quilting, and partly because I've been dealing with massive headaches due to my brain injury. BUT...I finished FOUR quilts in September, as part of my One Monthly Goal hosted by Elm Street Quilts. Today I'm going to talk about three of them, my trio of Texas Strong quilts I made to be distributed by Quilts of Compassion as part of the disaster relief recovery. 

But first, a little personal history. Many, many moons ago, long before digital camera or smart phones, I was a poor recent college graduate in Des Moines, Iowa. Even with my new degreee in Human Relations, Religion and Linguistics, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was looking for a job in Residence Life, but hadn't landed one yet. I was offered a job on campus as Assistant Hall Director for our largest hall for the summer, which housed incoming freshman and their parents for orientation. 

My boss, the Hall Director, was Karl. He and his wife were very recently married, and put off their honeymooon until after the school year was done and our summer hall was open. As he and his bride left he sternly warned me, "Do NOT call me unless there is a HUGE emergency." (Did I mention this was before cell phones?). So I was on my own, running the hall, managing the staff, and welcoming hordes of new students and their families to Drake University.

This was July 1993. And Des Moines flooded. I was woken up in the middle of the night by an RA on rounds when the power went out in our building of 600. And, as I soon learned, throughout the city. The VP of Student Affairs arrived a short time later and we went door to door with flashlights, waking our confused guests and urging them to get on the road home.

Iowa Cubs stadium

For two weeks we were without water. Anheuser-Bush stopped making beer and shipped water instead. President Clinton came to town to survey the damage and this iconic photo was taken.

"I feel your pain."

During this two week period, I got the news I was waiting for: my first real job offer, as a hall director at a college in Texas. I packed up my things and headed to Houston. Oh, the irony. Rescued from a flood by moving to Houston. 

Flash forward (cough, cough) 24 years and I'm sitting in my comfortable, air-conditioned home, with running water and electricity and I see pictures of flooding in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. All of a sudden, I was 21 years old again, alone and dealing with disaster. I had to do something. First I sent money. Then I started thinking about quilts.

I did a quick Google search for Texas quilts. I knew I wanted to make a flag because Texans are mighty proud of their state. (The "Don't mess with Texas" slogan was very popular when I lived there). I found four styles I really liked. 

1. Wonky log cabin. Found on Pinterest with no source. GRRR! 2. Squares. Uploaded by Holly Cooper. The quilting on the star inspired my quilting. 3. Long strips. Uploaded by Megan Myers. 4. ItsaLindy on Etsy

I loved the idea of making my quilts from scraps, so I choose option 4. The only version of this quilt I found online was the one posted by ItsALindy on Etsy. She opened her shop in 2010, but hasn't had any sales and this is the only image in her shop. I have emailed her, but haven't heard back. It's quite possible that she forgot she had the shop and doesn't check her mail. I don't know her real name so I don't know how else to look for her to find out if this is her original pattern or if there is another out there. At any rate, it was easy to reverse engineer. But I would like to give credit where credit is due.

At the same time I started these quilts, I stumbled upon a garage sale of a late quilter whose kids were selling her stash and supplies. This was one section of her mostly quilt shop fabric.

I came home with a pretty amazing selection of fabric for these quilts and my Tula Pink butterfly. 

Then it was time to cut lots of strips. I hoped to make a nice dent in my scrap stash, but I really didn't! I did have have a nice trip down memory lane as I remembered the quilts and people I made with my scraps.

Between the simplicity of the pattern and the magic of chain piecing, the blocks came together very quickly.

I'm always amazed by scrappy quilts. Prints you think you could never use turn out be just the right bit of interest in a bigger pattern.

Because I used scraps and strips from the garage sale, I aired out the quilts while I worked on the stars. 

The stars are made of scrappy white strips.

I usually back applique with Heat N Bond Lite and use my Silhouette Cameo to cut shapes, but because the star was so big, I made it freehand and used Sulky KK 2000 basting spray to hold it to the quilt before appliquing with a zig zag stitch.

I was rethinking my decision to make the stars out of strips when I saw how tiny some of the corners were.

For quilting, I echoed the star.  1/2" inside the star, and 1" around the star.

I was really proud of my 8-year-old. He loves NASA and has been praying for Houston in particular. He loves all things space, and has dreamed of working for NASA since he was three. (He used to want to build rockets, but now he wants to work on the Mars habitats). I wanted to include him in the process, so I asked him to calculate how much binding I would need for the three quilts. I was really impressed with his work. 

He explained his "new math" as he worked the problem and I realized that much of what he's learning to write out is the way I do math in my head, like counting by tens and then ones. Then my mind was really blown when my husband showed him how to convert his long math into algebra and he totally got it!  He had no problem filling in the blanks and X didn't scare him at all. I told him that I didn't learn algebra until 9th grade, and still it confounded me. Yay for new math!

I used the same binding for all three quilts, and using my son's calculations, I had just enough. I usually wind my binding around a spool, but I needed to go big.

I finished the first quilt as Niels was putting D to bed. He asked if he could sleep with it. 

Ever since I started quilting four years ago, D has always wanted to "add his love" to the quilt by snuggling in my finished quilts. With his connection to Texas, I was happy to say YES.

I hung the quilts out again for photos. D is signing "I love you" to NASA and everyone in Texas affected by Harvey.

Niels thought I should have a photo with my quilts, too.

Early in the process, I decided that I would send these quilts to Quilts of Compassion. 

Fun fact: Quilts of Compassion was founded by my friend and fellow brain injury survivor, Janice Grimes. We met when we both lived in Grand Rapids fifteen or so years ago. Janice started Quilts of Compassion in 1999 and I have been able to watch with admiration as her ministry has grown from donated quilts to our local hospital to the national, multi-faceted organization it is today. At long last, the head of my church's quilting group invited Janice to talk to our group and I am so thrilled that Quilts of Compassion is now in our rotation! We were able to donate 71 quilts for the Harvey deployment.

This is Janice and I with the fourth quilt I donated. I'm calling it my Garage Sale Vintage quilt. I will be posting about it soon because it has a unique story all of its own.

As with my Quilts for Pulse quilt and other quilts I donate,  I may never know who receives these quilts, but my hope and prayer is that they provide comfort in a devastating time. I hope they feel the love and prayers that have been poured into each stitch and as they cuddle underneath it, they are overwhelmed with the knowledge that someone cares for them and sees the struggle they are facing. As a family, we are praying for them as they face the long, difficult road of rebuilding and grieving what has been lost. I know flooding. I know Texas. I know loss. I hope they know they are loved. 

To see more pictures of this quilt in progress, look for #TexasStrongQuilts on Instagram.  If you'd like to see what I'm currently working on, follow me at de Jong Dream House. 

Linked to:

BOMS Away @ What a Hoot Quilts

Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts

Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts

Linky Party @ Tweety Loves Quilting

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River

Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Main Crush Monday #90 @ Cooking up Quilts

Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt

Moving It Forward @ Em's Scrapbag

Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie

Oh Scrap! @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She

Sew Some Love @ Kat & Cat Quilts

Wait Loss Wednesday @ the Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

WIPs Link Up @ Silly Mama Quilts

One Monthly Goal: September 2017

As I write this on September 1, I am breathing a sigh of relief. Our long summer vacation is nearly over. My son's school moved to a new building over the summer. Between the early date that we had to be out of our old building and the late date that we took possession of the new building, we have had a long summer! My son has had a blast with 7 different camps, learning coding, engineering, and math with Brain Chase, working on his Dutch with Memrise, learning cursive with a workbook, and of course, 3 weeks in Europe visiting family and quilt shops. At this point, I'm happy to let him have a few days to stay in his PJs and watch videos all day while I sew. 

We're on the home stretch. We had our open house for the new school and it looks amazing! Here's the art space.

And this is my little contribution. I made the turquoise cushions for the benches. 

All that to say, we are ready to back in our school routine. And I am excited to have hours of free time to sew each day! Which brings me to my September One Monthly Goal. 

Like nearly everyone, my heart has been broken by the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. I am so relieved and thankful that my friends in the area are safe and have very little damage. I lived just north of Houston for a year after I graduated from college. It's hard to wrap my mind around what I see v. what I remember. 

As a quilter, my first instinct is to make something. Of course, I know that immediate need is cash. So after making a few monetary donations, I've set my mind to more tangible gifts. So, my September OMG is to make 3 quilts for folks affected by Hurricane Harvey.

I found a few patterns on Pinterest that I think will come together quickly. 

Pattern by EspritDecorGifts

Uploaded to Pinterest by Megan Myers

Source: itsalindy

I've landed on the last option. I like the idea of making a dent in my stash. I started working on the quilts today. First I pulled from my yardage stash.

Next, I grabbed my red scraps and cut as many strips as I could. I didn't really make a dent, after all.

As far as how to get my quilts into deserving hands, I will be working with my local quilt group through church as well as a fantastic organization called Quilts of Compassion. 

Quilts of Compassion was started by a friend of mine from our days in Michigan. Here's more about her story and the mission of Quilts of Compassion. 

After a terrible car accident in 1999, a young woman laid in a small hospital room suffering immense physical and emotional pain from her recent trauma. It was a daily fight to conquer the feelings of hopelessness, fear and loneliness that tried to overwhelm her. However, this despair was turned to hope and encouragement one afternoon when she received a beautiful quilt from a hospital Chaplain. This seemingly simple gesture had a profound and life-changing affect on this troubled young woman. With the quilt wrapped tightly around her at night, she felt God’s warm presence surrounding her, giving her peace and comfort during this trying situation. It was at this point she realized she wanted to give this wonderful gift to others…the gift of hope and encouragement to those that are hurting. 

Quilts of Compassion was started in 1999 by this one young woman as a way to reach out to others in need. With their mission of giving hope and encouragement to those that are hurting, the Quilts of Compassion ministry works with volunteers from local churches and community organizations to gather fabric, make quilts and deliver quilts. In doing this, it has brought encouragement and hope to the hurting, but also has taught volunteers about the joy of giving. To date over 60,000 quilts and afghans have been delivered to hospitals, nursing homes, retirement communities, homeless shelters, Hospice facilities, rehabilitation facilities, half-way houses, at-risk youth facilities, homes for abused and neglected woman & children, in the missionary field overseas (Haiti, Guatamala and India) and Disaster Response in the United States. 

Okay, time to get back to work!

Edited: While the Gulf Coast is dealing with Harvey and Irma, our Western States are burning up. I have been looking for an organization working on quilts for fire victims but haven't heard of anything yet. If you know of something, please let me know in the comments!

Linked to:
Elm Street Quilts September Goal Link Up
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Let's Bee Social #193 @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
Main Crush Monday #87 @ Cooking up Quilts
Midweek Makers #88 @ Quilt Fabrication
Monday Making @ Live Laugh Quilt
Moving It Forward @ Em's Scrap Bag
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
TGIFF @ Devoted Quilter
Wednesday Wait Loss #31 @ Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIPS on Wednesdays @ Esther's Blog