A Baker's Dozen of Large Quilts......

Here are pictures of all the large quilts that were collected this past Saturday. Not a one of these was made that day. Instead, various church groups make quilts for those in need and they donated the quilts they had ready to the "Sew and Share" project. They were all so pretty that I felt that they needed to be photographed. Where to do it? The green sheet thrown over my couch was not doing justice to my previous photos and then I thought, hmmmm, hang them on a clothesline! I don't have a clothesline but we do have trees. So the errand I ran yesterday was to get clotheline and clothespins. It was a beautiful day, perfect for picture taking. It took several trips in and out of the house to hang the quilts and take the photos but it worked.
There are twelve photos of quilts here. At the end of this post you'll find out about the 13th one that will make this a baker's dozen of quilts to donate!

The quilt shown above was made and donated by the ladies of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Henderson, MN. The side borders are actually a dark sage green. The sun was bright and some colors didn't photograph "true".
The green quilt below is "true" to the color I saw through the lens. It was bright and has a beautiful coordinating fabric on the back. I don't know who brought this quilt and the three pictured after it. They were dropped off in a big, bright blue plastic bag, no name and so I am playing detective to try and find out who made this generous donation.

The next six quilts were made and donated by St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Green Isle, MN. I know where these came from because the church secretary dropped them off and put them in my hands!

The large comforter in the photo below is king size and really fluffy. Reminded me of a big European comforter. It was my last photo to take and my dog, Kaiser, was tired of being inside so I brought him out while I took the last photo. He kept trying to "root" in my little rock bed on the right that is where my prized rhubarb is growing!

So where is the 13th quilt, you ask? It is sitting next to my sewing machine as it is the big one that several ladies were tying on Saturday afternoon. It needs a binding and then it will be done. I have some "administrative" stuff to do this next couple of days that relates to "Sew and Share" so it will be a few days before I can add the binding. I am in contact with Dawn and Kourtney at the Crisis Center in Iowa City and this morning spoke with Mindy at the Salvation Army in Cedar Rapids. They are aware of our project and feel that we have a "good handle" on what to make, donate, where it should go and how we will get it there. Just know that in the background, I am working to see that this all gets to those in great need. Mindy spoke of getting items to people in the smaller towns that have been devastated so we will see how we can make that happen.

I will be posting more pictures for the next three days of the items collected - baby quilts, pillowcases, etc. etc.. You might be asking, why post pics of the items being donated? Well, isn't a picture worth a thousand words? If you see something in this blog that makes you want to make something or buy personal care products or donate money to flood relief (or wildfire relief or whatever the need is in your community) then the pictures have spoken and done their job. The quilts shown above will go to people who have lost most or all of their possessions. Nothing we can give them will replace the tied quilt that their mom or grandma made or the embroidered dishtowels that dried the family china but it lets them know that someone else cares. Our small donation may be the thing that lifts someone's spirits in this difficult time.