Scrappy Baby Quilt

I love it when people other than me give birth! This quilt was made for my new grandniece from some of my favorite scraps and home-made precuts. (When I have time, I like to cut my juvenile fabrics into 4" or 12" squares. This one used the 12 inchers.) 

The highlight is a fat-quarter with a hallucinogenic underwater scene, reminiscent of the Disneyland submarine ride. It's spent years in my stash, awaiting the right baby.

I also used 10" squares of some of my favorite kid prints. The squares down the left side have a Japanese theme: Frog fabric made in Japan, an elephant fabric that I bought in Japan, and a quilters' cotton with Japanese animal motifs. 

There are also adorable dogs, cats, and Hawaiian-shirt-clad jungle animals....

....rainbow dolphins, Scooby Doo and Hello Kitty, 

A colorful bubbly fabric runs along the bottom and top. I think every fabric in this quilt is a gem and I hope the baby (and her parents) have as much fun looking at it as I had making it!

Very Rare: Quilter Makes Bear

Here he is! My new best friend! He's tall (18"), quirky (crooked nose), enjoys California weather, is not a big talker, and doesn't have a name, because I don't want to get too attached to him.

I'm going to ship him out to a child with a rare disease, through the auspices of the Rare Bear project of Rare Science, a non-profit organization that seeks treatments for kids with rare diseases. On the back, each maker stitches in a tag with a number specific to that bear. 

Rare bears are made from a commercial pattern - Simplicity C5461, view E. It's only $5.96, and Simplicity is donating a portion of the earnings to Rare Science.  (No financial affiliation.)

Speaking of rare, as a quilter, I am someone who almost never touches a commercial sewing pattern. Undertaking this bear forced me to wrack my brains trying to remember everything the ferocious Mrs. Rich taught me in 7th grade Home Economics, circa 1970, where my semester project was a yellow paisley dashiki mini-dress. (I just did a Google search and found my dashiki pattern!: 

I didn't add the rick rack.)

The bear pattern was definitely more complex than that dashiki, so I made a lot of mistakes, like overlooking notches, and using imperceptible methods to mark placement dots (light Sharpie dots on the wrong side - fail!) I also initially stitched the legs to the neck. When I make another one, I'm sure I'll sail through much easily, because it really isn't hard once you grok the concept.

On the upside - especially for quilters - it's a great way to use up juvenile print leftovers. I used mostly scraps from a set of Jan Mullen children's prints purchased long ago. 

I am counting ten different fabrics I worked into this bear, not including the black felt for the nose, and the logo fabric the organization provides for the feet. 

If you want to make a Rare Bear, buy the pattern, and submit the form on this page. They will send detailed instructions, along with a numbered tag and foot fabric. Rare Bears also make a terrific group project - inspiration is here. 

Unfortunately, some of the project's instructions contradicted each other, and I went with the direction sheet that told me to stuff my bear.  The CORRECT instruction sheet said DON'T stuff it - headquarters does that.  So if you make one, don't worry about expensive postage - an unstuffed bear folds up small and light for mailing (plus they provide an address label and bag.) 

Want to see some real wowza finished bears made from this pattern? Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims' online organization, The Quilt Show, will hold a Rare Bear Celebrity Auction from November 2-6. Bears made by famous quilters will be auctioned. Peruse them from this page, and bid on them here. 

The celebrity bears will also be displayed in the Rare Science Booth at the International Quilt Festival,  which is also November 2-6, 2016, in Houston.  

UPDATE: The most astonishing of all is this bear, completely covered with beads and other embellishments, by Melody Crust. 

If you make/made a Rare Bear, I'd love to see a picture! Thanks to my friend Saraj for letting me know about the Rare Bear program!

Enduring the unendurable

(NOTE: This article was updated on 12-28-12, 8:10 am Pacific time]

I've been tracking ways to help the people of Newtown, Connecticut, scene of the school shooting. Here's what I've learned:

• Funds are needed more than anything else. A long list of Newtown-area charities that need money: http://newlondon.patch.com/articles/how-to-help-families-affected-by-newtown-school-shooting-26246878 . 
• Another list is on this CNN page. 
• Plus, the Western Connecticut United Way.
• Scholarships in the names of several victims are listed here. On the same page are family assistance funds.
• The Connecticut PTA (parent teacher group) is collecting monetary donations for Sandy Hook. 
• The Connecticut PTA is also collecting snowflakes, made from any material (paper is fine) to decorate the new building that the Sandy Hook Elementary children will be moving into after winter break. Info here. Free snowflake patterns in honor of Sandy Hook are offered by Embroidery Library Inc, here,  and by Sarah Vedeler designs, here. UPDATE 12/28: There are rumors that there are more than enough snowflakes, but the local PTA hasn't removed its call for them yet. 
• Project Linus, the international charity quilt project, is sending 700 completed quilts to Sandy Hook. They don't need you to make another quilt, but are accepting donations to cover shipping.
• A Connecticut quilter named Paula DeSilva is organizing a quiltmaking campaign at https://www.facebook.com/quilt2heal. Fabric as well as monetary donations are welcomed. 
• Quilts for Sandy Hook Elementary children are being collected by craft publisher Taunton Press, which is located in Newtown. Info: http://scrap-therapy-quilts.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-request-for-hugs.html . 
• The mother of Noah Pozner, 6, who died in the massacre has asked that trees be planted in Israel in his name, and in memory of all the deceased. Hadassah, the Jewish women's organization, has set up a page where people can purchase trees for $18 each. 
• The project I know the most about is a pillowcase project, launched by Becky Frazer, the owner of the Quilter's Corner shop in New Milford, Connecticut, about 15 minutes from Newtown.  Becky is hoping to collect 600 kid-friendly-fabric pillowcases to give to the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since announcing the effort Saturday, she's had calls from all over the country, and even from Spain, pledging pillowcases. Find updates at https://www.facebook.com/pages/QUILTERS-CORNER/182422601980 . Or contact Becky at quilterscorner@charter.net, phone 860-355-4516.  

Someone wrote to ask me a very good question - what's so great about pillowcases?

Answer:

(This is a child model, from the Million Pillowcase Challenge - see below).

Basically, it's a hug. From a distance.

Quilters' pillowcases aren't like the plain shmatas that you find in, say, my bedroom. Quilters make them from top-quality fun fabrics - two or more - plus, often, a decorative trim - piping, rickrack, etc. There's the main part of the pillowcase; a wide cuff; and then, optionally, a trim between them. They're quick to make, and, along with grieving for lost children, you're also thinking about color and pattern and combinations that might delight a traumatized child who could use something to smile about.

Becky suggested I make a "tube" pillowcase. Have you heard of that? Me neither. She promised me that it's easy, I'd enjoy it, and that there are lots of directions on the web.

Google found an excellent how-to video at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrYWCma9wgM. It's from the Missouri Star Quilt Company, who posted it to encourage stitchers to participate in a different charity, the monumental American Patchwork and Quilting 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge.

The directions are crystal clear, and, and as Barbara suggested, unexpected - there's a counter-intuitive roll-into-a-tube-and-stitch inside-out-maneuver that magically hides all the cuff seams. (The pillowcase doesn't come out like a tube - it's the rolling action that's tubular).

The video project requires three fabrics:

• Main fabric - 27" (= 3/4 yard) x fabric width, selvage to selvage (around 44")
• Cuff fabric - 9" x  fabric width (= 1/4 yard - NOT a fat quarter)
• Trim  - 2" x  fabric width.  

The video was made before the Newtown tragedy, but the instructor points out, "When you have people who are suffering, to have something that somebody made for you, it's really a sweet gesture."

If you prefer written directions, try these: http://blog.contemporarycloth.com/pillowcase-tutorial-by-jane-skoch-of-maiden-jane-for-remember-september/ . These directions are almost exactly the same as the method on the video, with the same fabric requirements (except the trim is cut to 3" instead of 2").

Becky said that she will personally bring all the donated pillowcases directly to the school. "If you want to send a quilt, I'll bring that, too," she added.

POSTSCRIPT I (12/19): It's been pointed out that there are now so many quilt-type projects that the people of Newtown won't know what to do with them. So contact and/or check the Facebook page of the Newtown sewing charity you want to give to and make sure they still need your handcrafted item. If they don't, donate the item to a charity in your area, and/or to the Hurricane Sandy quilt projects. There are still many people suffering in the cold from Sandy's damage.
POSTSCRIPT II (12/20): From a Connecticut reader who today attended a meeting of Newtown-area clergy: "The community of Newtown is COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED by the overabundance of attention...If you can continue to pray for the community and encourage the media to let them go on with their lives that would be great." 
POSTSCRIPT III (12/23): (From an AP story about how much the people of Newtown appreciate the gifts pouring in): "There were nine minutes of evil, and an infinity of goodness after that," Stratford said, sitting on a forklift loaded with gifts. "This is therapy for me."