Wednesday, May 13, 2020

A Quilter's Legacy

A couple months ago, a quilter friend of mine passed away after a long and fulfilling life. Find out more about Janet here:  A Tribute

Janet made lots of quilts for donation to various organizations, like the hospital NICU, Veteran's home, and others. Her daughter found a large stack of these in progress. Janet had a goal to make 50 of these but did not complete her task.

The Sunday Sew and Sews agreed to finish this project in her honor. Recently, Janet's daughter brought four carloads of stuff to my house for this reason. It has taken some time to organize all the quilts to get them ready for the Sunday Sew and Sews to pick up but they are ready:








Janet was very organized. She had a notebook with four typewritten pages of all the donation quilt tops she had made. That was enormously helpful to me as I found each top, selected a back, batting and binding for each and got it ready for someone to complete:

 The binder also held many patterns Janet had collected over many years for donation quilts--from magazine pages to those printed off the Internet, all neatly stored in the binder.

Just one page of four

The sizes she used the most for various purposes

It took the better part of 2 days to get all the quilt tops ready. There were at least 50 bins of fabric to go through for backings and bindings and bags of batting to cut. I found good selections for each quilt, including the 3 that needed borders added or backing pieced together.

Dining Room Command Central

Garage Staging Area

Janet had two favorite designs she liked for the quilts she made for children. One pattern she designed in 2004, she called the Sawtooth Star Quilt. Janet loved Seminole Piecing and often added it to these quilts as well as her own:

With Seminole pieced border

Very simple border

The one she called "My Favorite Donation Quilt: is very simple--she let the fabric do the talking:

Super Simple

Seminole Pieced borders
Some little boy will love this
Both of these patterns finish at less than 45" wide so one length of fabric makes the back. It take 1.25 yards for the back and just over 1/3 yard for binding.

When people say "I don't have time to make donation quilts" I will think of these and how easy they are to put together. 

Once in a while she made a more time-consuming quilt to donate:

Floating Stars--she probably got these in a swap

Two of the Sunday Sew and Sews volunteered to quilt a bunch of them on their longarms. Robin took 16 and Holly took 10. All I had to do was be sure I gave them all the yardage needed for big backs and batting and binding for all those quilts.  There was a full roll of Warm and White batting and many bags of 3 yards of 90" wide batting, so plenty on hand for the longarmers and plenty to cut into pieces for the remaining 20+ quilts to be done on domestic machines.

When the 26 being quilted by Robin and Holly are done, they will pass them on, along with the binding I included for each quilt, to another Sunday Sew and Sew for final completion.

Now the Fun Part: Once I had all the quilts prepared, I could look through the bins to see what I might want. Oh, yes, we each get 3 bins for our own personal use. There are thousands of yards of fabric here:




As I am making Quilts of Valor at the moment, I was thrilled to find yardage of reds and blues I can use for borders and backs--thanks, Janet! She tended to buy everything--all colors--all styles, fat quarters and 3 yard pieces. The women will have fun this weekend picking out their 3 bins to take home.

One simple rule: no cherry-picking, you take the whole box. Fortunately, Janet had things pretty much in organized groups in the bins. There is sure to be something here to make everyone happy. Three people have already come to get quilts to work on--they were surprised to see all these boxes to choose from.

There are also lots of books--some she even had two copies of. Sadly, today most quilters don't want books, they want to find everything for free on the Internet or YouTube. There are some real gems here, some from 25 years ago, some very recent. I hope they find a new home. If you are looking for a specific book from the past, let me know, it might be here  and I'm  happy to share:


Last Summer, Janet did a giveaway of TONS of fabric and she told us there was still plenty left. Read about that here: Do I NEED More Fabric?  She was right...

I thought I have a lot of fabric, now, really I don't feel so bad. While I often say "I have a sinful amount of fabric"  what I really mean is "I am the curator of an extensive personal textile collection".

Janet would be pleased to know her 50 or more donation quilts will be finished and donated in the next few months. We are pleased to do it in her honor and memory and her family is ever-so grateful. Do you have a "final arrangements plan" for your stash? Since none of us will live forever, that's not a bad idea. 

Let's quilt,

Barbara

30 comments:

  1. This is an incredible honor to a friend and I love that many quilters will share a legacy of this lady. We had something very similar a year ago with one of our Catskill Mt. QUilters Hall of Fame member who passed. The family donated all her extensive 'textile collection' (which was probably twice what you picture) to any one in the HOF. Many members within the 5 county area were blessed to be a part of carrying on her work for donation to QOV, Wounded Warriors, and many local charities.

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    1. So good when quilters step up to help their friends.

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  2. I can truthfully say I never want that much fabric! I'm pleased with what I have to work with and thank you for showing this as it re-enforces that to me. It is nice that she did so much for charities and I'm sure all that received the quilts were always so pleased.

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    1. At some point it is more of a curse than a blessing.

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    2. I did not want that much fabric but bit by bit pieces came home with me. I quit buying fabric three-four years ago, except.... when something really looked good. This post is a huge wake up call to buy NOTHING for 3-4 years... and yes to get a plan for what is left when I am gone.

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  3. I will remember your friend, Janet, as the Sew and Sew who did the Halo Medallion in blue and white. Also, the person who introduced me (through the magic of the internet) to "Seminole piecing." The current quilt I am working on has that border, so I will remember her today as I work.

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    1. Sue, Janet would be thrilled this is part of her legacy too!

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  4. Your friend left a beautiful legacy! I'm very fortunate to have a fairly large fabric stash most of it acquired before I retired in 2010. Especially helpful now that everything is so much more difficult to find with the virus shut-down. I've made mostly donation quilts since retiring and some for the kids and grandkids, but hope to never have that many UFO's when I leave this earth! I love quilt books and have been hoping to find a copy of Merikay Waldvogel's book Childhood Treasures, Quilts by and for Children, and would be happy to reimburse for shipping if there is an extra copy in the boxes.

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    1. I am sorry, that book is not there and it is a good one.

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    2. I bought a copy of this from Amazon UK just 18 months ago. It actually came from Thrift Books in Atlanta and was about £6 at the time. There must be others out there (the one on the Amazon site is around $50 now)if I ever want to sell mine I'll be happy to contact you - and it wouldn't cost $50 dollars either. Elaine in UK

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  5. UGH, that's what bothers me about my stash..what will happen to it when I die. I'd like it to go to a bunch like you guys but not sure what will happen. It's fantastic that you guys will pass along the good she did and was doing.

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    1. Start a small group. All it takes is one person to ask another “are you interested?” Then more say “me, too!”

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  6. Sometimes I feel... odd (not guilty, bad or any other negative usually applied) about the quantity of fabric I have. Then again, as I'm working on a scrap-ish quilt, I'm glad I already have the fabrics. And since waltzing into a store and looking around isn't really possible right now, that's another reason I'm not going to feel bad (just can't get into the online fabric shopping - yet). Sometimes I sort of envy those who keep just enough fabrics for the current project, usually when I'm pondering where to stuff the most recent acquisition. Even then, it's more "I should sew faster", not "I should not have bought...".

    You and the other Sew and Sew members are doing a really nice thing to finish up Janet's unfinished work.

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  7. I forgot to say - no, I don't have anything official about my hobby items. I did point out a few things to DS and say "don't sell that on a garage sale for $5, like the Featherweight and some vintage attachments. I guess I really should make it more official. It seems like when we had our wills done, there was mention of a way to do such a thing for tangible property like fabric and books without re-doing the will..... Yay. Another thing to check into. :-/ :-)

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    1. My attorney told me to make a detailed list of the important stuff I want to go to specific people, like special quilts and my machines, and keep it with the important papers so the Executor will know my wishes. It is easy to update but it is not official and does not have to be followed.

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  8. LOVE IT!!!!!
    and love your group there!
    Inspiring blog today....as always
    Teresa

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  9. Such a nice tribute post about Janet's legacy, Barbara. It has given me A LOT to think about!! I think I'd better cut down on the knitting and start putting together some UFOs.

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  10. Barbara, you are so generous of heart and time to do this for your friend. Your ladies are lucky to have you. Wish all of quilters with our large stashes could be so blessed when the time comes. I'm in the process of sorting out, clearing, organizing my stuff - nowhere near hers - and it's giving me pause to consider how much I can reasonably accomplish. Be blessed.

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  11. What a wonderful thing you are doing to honor your friend and her wishes. This took a lot of effort on your part to organize. I think you should get an extra tote. :)
    I have used her favorite donation pattern a few times (I think it is from Mary Johnson--could be wrong). It makes up quickly, and with well coordinated fabrics, it is nice looking. Love the Seminole piecing she added. At times I have added a border when I want it a little bigger.

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    1. I don't see anything like this on Mary Johnson's blog or website. It's pretty simple but I am sure someone has written instructions. Janet let the fabrics decide how wide they needed to be than added a variety of strips to get to the 45" or so square size.
      Don't worry, I feel well taken care of in the fabric department!

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    2. Janet, it is a Mary Johnson pattern, 2007--I found a copy of it in one of the many pattern binders Janet compiled. Thanks for the lead!

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  12. Thank you for taking care of Janet's quilts.

    My grandmother and I were in the same quilt quild and when she passed away, she was working on her Lotto Quilt (each month, a participating members name was chosen and we all made a block for them using their specifications). In fact, on one of her last days she was 'active', she called me at work and asked me to come over when I was done. She was so proud because she thought she had picked the perfect color for the sashing and border and lo and behold she was right! (I had been helping her with choosing colors for quilts). Sadly, she pieced the quilt but wasn't able to quilt it. Our guild stepped in and took turns hand-quilting it. Then they presented it to my mom.

    I can tell you from experience how much it means for friends to step in and help finish a quilt. What y'all are doing means more to her family than you may realize.

    Your friend has a wonderful library - I saw some great Jinny Beyer books in there (I also have them :) ).

    One book I am looking for is "Old Voices, New Impressions" by Jeana Kimball. If it is there, I will be happy to pay for it to help if you need more batting for her quilts and pay for the shipping.

    Thank you again for taking care of your friend's dream!

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    1. Thank you, Michele. Every time I see Janet’s daughter or get an email or text, she always says how much she appreciates all this effort. We do know she means that sincerely. And she always says she believes Janet is happy too.

      Sorry, that book is not in the boxes.

      So glad your guild helped your family too.

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    2. Thank you for looking for the book :)

      I'm so glad that you have been receiving good feedback from her family. I'm sure that helps with the work of going through her things.

      Take care, stay safe and healthy :)

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  13. I do have a "final arrangements" plan for my quilting gems. If my BFF outlives me, she gets 1st dibs (and vice versa should it end that way). After that, all my goodies will be donated to my guild to be used in ways that they deem fitting, whether it be to enhance stashes for themselves, donation quilts from the guild, or whatever. Someone may even want to hold a sale of my quilt supplies to be donated to a charity. Our guild has done that in the past and raised loads of $$$. However it ends up, my stash will be happily put to good use.

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  14. Bless your heart. You are a true friend. Your organizational skills at their very best. Truly a labor of love. Blessings.

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