Over the top

When Jan came back from hauling the latest stack of charityquilts to the distribution committee of her guild she was upset.  Seventy five baby quilts have gone to Pregnancy Care, and she wanted to start the stream back up for Ronald McDonald House.  She found the Ronald McDonald coordinator and was told No, enough had already been done for them.  Jan was so angry she turned and left the meeting.  In the parking lot she met the Pregnancy Care coordinator, who, of course, was happy to take more quilts for little babies.  But Jan came home to do a re-think.

She put the question out to her large quilting network, do you know a volunteer agency that could use quilts?  You can guess the response.  She met with a quilt shop owner who coordinates a homeless outreach program in another county.  Jan showed some crib quilts, which were happily accepted.  But Jan pressed.  Couldn’t you really use larger quilts?  Twin size, for instance?    Of course, but it was so much to ask, and she had never had a guild commit to that size.  She found she hadn’t asked the sister whose sister is committed to scrap eradication. Whose sister is committed to giving back.

I stayed in my corner, sewing those squares, completely unaware of Jan’s new crusade to place quilts.  That’s what I do best, and the drawer of squares got further ahead of me over the holidays.  I was sewing, but our guests were hanging out in the studio cutting.  Sigh.  It never goes away.  And I’m up to 175 crib size tops!

When Jan outlined our new project I thought I could help by using more five inch squares in one top.  I gave that up quickly, for two good reasons.  It increased the number of five inch squares from 117 to 180.  That doesn’t sound so radical, but for me it was a quantum leap in coordinating odd colors.  More important, it isn’t Jan’s style of quilt.  Now, I like borderless quilts—the blocks just run out to the end.  She likes borders.  Can’t have too many.  Flying geese.  Half square triangles.  She has any number of pattern names she uses for borders.  My limit would be my favorite, scrappy, and I’ve done those.  But apparently she has even more scraps stashed in her corner and is compelled to turn them into complicated borders.

She told me she intended to take some of my “more interesting” little tops and add borders to bring them up to twin bed size.  The first two went by me so fast I missed taking pictures.  Here’s the one she just finished.  How cool is this.  I think some kid will like it.