Joy to the world! These quilts are done!

A local quilt shop, Wish Upon A Quilt, donated fabrics to our guild for our annual February month of quilting for charity.  As the chairperson of the Outreach Committee, I decided to audition some patterns to be used during that month's marathon quilting endeavor.  This fabric line is called Jungle Fever, by Free Spirit, and it is truly wild!  I had a hard time figuring out what I could do with it that might appeal to a child or teen, but I found the right venue from Hoffman, which put out a free pattern called Trade Winds using one constant color ( I used a bright batik in yellow) in the basic block, seen below.  It's a great pattern to use up your 2 1/2" strips!

The basic block is NOT the windmill.  It's the square around the windmill.  The quilting is a Baptist Fan pattern.  There wasn't any sense in doing anything fancy -- too much motion in the fabrics to make any but the simplest quilting choice.  Nonetheless, the curves of the fan smooth out all the topsy turvy angles of the Trade Winds pattern and make it not so jarring, don't you think?

And then, after piecing it all together, I needed a coordinating backing.  Well, the donated fabric was just in sample swatches -- not enough for even one piece borders, much less backing.  So I happened to have this swirly, bright fabric in my stash and decided to use it -- just right!

This quilt will join others in being donated to Hannah's Place in Roanoke Rapids, NC, a shelter for women and children.

Then, on the opposite pole of color saturation and design, there was this sedate, muted log cabin quilt that had been sitting in my unfinished basket for a year or so.

Since I wanted this one to go to the VA Hospital in Durham, NC, I thought I would quilt it in an Americana motif, with symbols of our country in a pantograph.

If you click on the picture, you will see the White House, the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Statue of Liberty, George Washington, the American Eagle, the Declaration of Independence and other reminders of our great country's heritage.  Hopefully the veteran that gets this quilt will enjoy having this tribute to his or her service.

And now, off to my lurkim.  Phyllis McK handed me another of her darling quilts at the guild meeting yesterday, and I am eager to get it done quickly for her.