TBT: Sawtooth Stars & Signatures Friendship Quilt

It seems that I've been MIA from the sewing scene this summer, and I have been somewhat with a fractured elbow and hands, but mostly I have been working on a couple of secret projects that I couldn't share. One of those secret projects is finished and has been gifted so for today's Throw Back Thursday we're going all the way back to May of this year when the Dine 'n Dash Quilters gathered to make their latest friendship quilt - this Sawtooth Stars & Signatures Quilt.

The Dine 'n Dash quilters is a group of farmers wives', friends and mostly neighbors in western Kansas who get together around the premise of quilting but really just gather for a day of laughs, food and fun. My mom and I were invited into the group a few years ago.

Every year they make a friendship quilt for someone in the group. This year, one of the youngest in the group - she started sewing with the group with her mother and grandmother at the age of 5 - was the recipient of the friendship quilt in celebration of her 8th grade graduation. And I was in charge of the project.

We gathered one day in late May to make our signature blocks and companion blocks, then I took them all home and spent the first 3 weeks of June completing the quilt top. The layout of this quilt was really interesting and I'd love to make a scrappy version of this quilt some day.

Once the top was complete, I passed it on to another Dine 'n Dash member to prep the quilt for quilting (there were a million strings on the back of this quilt from the fabric fraying! I'm so sorry to dump it on you Dianne!) and binding after it was quilted.

A couple of weeks ago, the group presented the quilt to our young quilter. She truly seemed to appreciated the gift and spent lots of time reading each message written on the blocks. She got a kick out of everyone including their age, since she has always been told to include her age on each of the friendship blocks she has made in past quilts. I hope it is a gift that she will treasure for a lifetime.

Quilt Stats:

• Fabric: Colorworks Concepts by Deborah Edwards for Northcott. It featured a panel of signature squares for a friendship quilt.
• Quilt Pattern: Sawtooth Stars & Signatures by Patti Carey.
• Finished Size: This was huge! 89" x 113".
• Quilting: Machine quilted with an all-over pattern.
• Piecers: Members of the Dine 'n Dash Quilters group.

I'm still working on my entry for the Moda Bella Challenge (my other secret sewing project). Deadline is September 12. Wish me luck in finishing it on time. Can't wait to show you the finished quilt!

~Sharla

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A Quilter's File Folder

Almost a year later, my mom and I, along with my aunt, took a last minute trip to Missouri Star Quilt Co. this week. MSQC was our destination when my mom and another aunt were involved in a car accident that landed them in the hospital/rehab for 2+ months is Kansas City last August. While they were in rehab, Jenny Doan and her husband, Ron, visited them (see this post about their visit). It was a wonderful gesture and greatly appreciated.

As a thank you to Jenny, I quickly made a file folder similar to one I had made last year to carry all of our trip paperwork. That file folder soon became our medical file during our stay in KC. When Jenny visited, we talked all things sewing and I showed her my file folder made from Kraft-Tex and fabric. She commented that it would come in handy for her when she traveled for shows. So, of course, I wanted to make one for her. Click here to see the original folder.

The folder features an applique silhouette of a sewing machine on one side....

And fabric trim along the flap on the other side.

Inside, there are two divided sections to hold papers and a place to insert business cards.

We had a lovely day shopping in each of the MSQC shops but did not get to see Jenny because she was filming tutorials. One of the employees, however, took us over to Jenny's office where she sews and I was able to leave the file folder along with a note for her on her sewing machine.

Jenny sent a sweet thank you via email the next morning along with this photo. I hope she'll enjoy using her folder as much as I enjoyed making it for her.

~Sharla

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Happy Mail: Little Town

Look what arrived in my mail box today! A bundle of 10 fat quarters of Amy Sinibaldi's new collection "Little Town" by Art Gallery Fabrics!

I won this bundle in an Instagram giveaway AGF held after spring quilt market in May. I got to choose which of their new collections I wanted my FQ bundle from and I chose this line because I just loved the colors. It was so popular that AGF sent me a message saying that it had actually sold out a few times so it delayed my prize delivery.

Although it has a hint of Christmas in the prints, I think it would make a darling quilt for a little girl. The free pattern with this collection is cute and simple but I don't have a need for a little girl's quilt. What would you make with this bundle? Help me find the perfect project!

I want to thank Art Gallery Fabrics for this lovely bundle of joy! The fabric is so soft yet crisp, I can't wait to cut into it and make something fabulous!

~Sharla

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