Today there are seven quilts up for grabs. All you need to do is tell me here/Facebook/e-mail that you want a quilt and it’s yours. It can be for you, you can give it as a gift – that’s up to you. Let me know, first-come, first-served and it’s yours. (I’m hoping to have more ready to give the second weekend in December.)

I can hear some of your questions.

• No, you can’t pay me for them. I don’t want to get back in the crafting “business” with sales tax and all that again. If you feel the need, put a couple toys in a Toys for Tots box or send a check to a charity. My preference is the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, but they can all use help this year. But that is totally up to you. There are no strings attached.
• Yes, I will ship. If you are local we can make arrangements to connect, or if you live away I will ship it to you (or the person you want it shipped to).
• Yes, I am completely serious about this. I enjoy quilting and have more than I need. Please, take them, use them and love them.
• Yes, they are easy to care for -  they are all machine washable and dryable.

Ok? Click on photos to see larger versions.

Quilt #1 – Orange Crush – TAKEN

This quilt was made from a mystery quilt pattern by Bonnie Hunter. This is a good sized quilt (70″x89″) and will fit a twin-sized bed (maybe a full).  And on the left-hand side, that’s an…ummmm… design choice!… yeah, that’s it! That little rotated block says “This end up” or “Put pillow here”.  It wasn’t a mistake, I meant to do that….

But honestly, even if it get rotated around to another side, the quilt is intricate enough that it will never be noticed. Heck, I spent 2 years looking at it as I finished and only saw it when it was photographed like this last weekend. I didn’t see it when I photographed it horizontally.

Quilt #2 – Christmas Quilt

This is a scrap quilt of many different Christmas fabrics. It is a lapsized quilt (58×76).  The border and backing are snowmen on red fabric. The pattern is from Successful Scrap Quilts from Simple Rectangles by Margaret Rolfe and Judy Turner.

Quilt #3 – Scrappy 4-patches

This is a generous lap-quilt in “country” colors (62″x62″). It is  from the “4-patch Plaid” pattern from Pat Speth’s Nickle Quilts.

Quilt #4 – Dr. Seuss – TAKEN

You’ve seen this quilt in progress on this blog, but it’s turning into a candidate for the Island of Misfit Toys. It was supposed to be a raffle quilt, but then wasn’t wanted. Then I offered it for fundraising and there were no takers. This is a good sized quilt (70″x86″- twin) and I’m sure there is someone out there who appreciate it. Is it you?

Quilt #5 – Batiks – TAKEN

For more modern tastes, this lapquilt is made from batiks in the Tonga “Jungle Fever Pattern”. This is (54″x72″)

Quilt #6 – Water’s Edge Postage Stamp Quilt

If you prefer a softer palette, this might be for you. The fabric line is called At Water’s Edge and is soft yellow, roses, greens and blues. This is a lapsized quilt (56″x56′).

Quilt #7 – Flannel Rag Quilt

If you are looking for a quilt to cuddle under with a cup of tea and a book, this it it. Made with three layers of flannel, it is soft and comforting. It is a generous lap quilt (68″x68″) and would also work as an extra layer on a single bed.

Fine print: This giveaway is really intended for my friends. If I don’t know who you are, you probably aren’t getting a quilt, even if you respond quickly.

I’ve got a crockpot full of granola going on the countertop, and the smell of oats and almonds and cinnamon is delicious. Almost as good as the smell of baking cookies and better for me since I control how much fat and sweetener there is.

After the fiasco of the last time I cooked oatmeal (first I scorched a pot so badly I had to throw it out, then my microwave died on the second try) I’ll cheat and just pour hot milk into the granola for breakfast.  It’s something I got hooked on in Greece.

You don’t even want to know how long these pull-out drawers for the cabinet have been sitting in my dining room.  This week they finally got installed.

Of course there are still two more in the dining room to go into one of the bathroom cabinets. Maybe next week. One room at a time.

Kate has been spearheading a “what can we do?” drive and has set up with an independent bookstore in Lake Placid to track orders and take donations.  Others are sending new hardcover books.

I’m sending books (what else would a librarian do?) and I’ve offered to go up and help. But I wanted to do something else, so I’m sweetening the pot a little to see if I can drum up a little more support.

I’ve got this great Dr Seuss quilt that I’ve made. You’ve seen me cut it out and now all that needs to be done is to finish the binding. So I’m offering it up as a “thank you” for someone who donates to one of two damaged libraries – Wells Memorial in Upper Jay, NY or the West Hartford Public Library in Vermont, which also sustained major damage.

Kate’s blog has all the information about contact information for the bookstore, and the libraries, so I won’t repeat it here.

If you want to get books or money to me, I’ll pass it on. If you want to write a check directly to the library or send a book, that’s fine too. There’s no minimum or maximum amount. Just let me know in an e-mail or in a reply to this post that you have made a donation and your name will go into the drawing for the quilt.

Now off to the sewing room to get the binding done so that I can get a picture of it!

I got 3 of the 4 pieced borders together and went to put the first one on…. No way. It was about an inch and a half longer than the quilt side I was trying to attach it to. I tried it this way and that way, and no dice.

And you know, I never really loved how that border looked on the sample quilt. So it’s gone.  I’ll take a trip later today to the quilt shop  and see if there is something that I like for a plain border, or I may just skip a border on this completely. (Though if I do I might need something a little less dramatic than the plain black binding in the kit.)

I cut a few pieces out of one of the borders for another project I am working on, but I’m not even going to spend the time trimming scrap pieces out of these. They can go right into the trash.

On to the next project.

The last few weeks I’ve been pushing hard to finish up some of the projects. While I’ve made great progress, only one charity quilt has actually gotten done. And it doesn’t help that I haven’t really been enjoying what I have been doing. These have tended to be projects that have gotten stalled, and I’m finding there is a reason why they were stalled. Most of them either have a complicated next step or some other reason that I put it aside.

The current project is the borders for the reproduction stars quilt. These are pieced borders making a zig-zag of triangles. The triangles have been cut for a couple months, but I’ve been intimidated by the them (and I misplaced the instructions.)  So this afternoon I found the triangles and went on an excavation mission in the sewing room and found the instructions as well. And honestly, the first border wasn’t too bad. It took about half an hour to make the first border, and I expect the others will take about the same. Add attaching the borders and I should be able to finish the top up in 3-4 hours of work.

A big thunderstorm blew through the other afternoon and the windows along my cutting table were open. I didn’t think much about it, sure things were a little damp, but I knew they would just dry out.

Apparently not quickly enough for my rotary cutter which is showing rust spots. If I thought about it, I know other blades like Swiss Army knives and scissors can rust. I just never though about it with a rotary blade.