August 2005

QUILTS, QUILTS, and more QUILTS

Last month we had a LOT of finished quilts at the end of the day. It was a RECORD day with 29 preemie quilts and 8 toddler/crib quilts! Do the math... that's a total of 37 quilts!!!!!!! WOW!!

Here's some more numbers for you: 

Our old record was 23 quilts made at our bee in February 2005. 

In 2004 we held 6 Peace By Piece Bees and made a total of 58 quilts. SO... Last year it took us 4 months to make as many quilt as we made at our Peace by Piece bee last month.

Now That's something to CHEER about!

Ready-Set-GO!

The last Peace by Piece Bee was so motivating that the activity has continued throughout the month. Fabric has been flying around, rotary cutters have been cutting, and sewing machines have been humming. And now we're ready for our next bee.  There were many Peace By Piece tasks that needed to be done in preparation for another record breaking bee. 

The Flying Fabric...

Making all those quilts has created a large amount of scraps. At our last Peace by Piece bee several volunteers got to play with a few of those scraps and since they seemed to find those scraps pretty enjoyable I decided to round up ALL the scraps I could find in the Peace by Piece stash. There were squares of many different sizes, strips that were left over from the many quilts we have squared in preparation for binding AND all those scraps that people have so generously donated. The squares have all been gathered together and sorted into neat bundles. The left over strips are all living in one BIG box ready to be made into kits and sewn into beautiful quilt tops. Many of the odd shaped donated scraps have experienced a little time with the rotary cutter. And there's been more than one sewing machine humming the days away to make a few tops that are now waiting to be layered and quilted.

THE HOLIDAYS 

That's right, the holidays are quickly approaching and we need to get holiday quilts ready. At the chance of sounding like a broken record I have to again mention that we need to make some holiday quilts. If you were at the last bee then you'll remember that I brought a collection of Halloween fabric and I think only one top got put together. We gotta make more than just ONE! So... I've made several Halloween kits for your sewing pleasure this month.

THEN THERE IS CHRISTMAS!

The Peace by Piece basket of Christmas fabric will be at the bee again this month. With Christmas still being 4 months away I know it seems really early to be thinking about making red and green quilts. BUT we don't have a bee in November or December so we really only have 3 bees to make quilts for this holiday. Just in case you're not aware of the way the quilt making process works at Peace by Piece... We make the tops at one bee and they return the following month layered and ready to be quilted. Now, for some reason not everyone is eager to get them quilted so it's not unusual for a quilt to attend several bees before it gets quilted. We really need to get started on those red and green quilts so save up some of your creative juices for making Christmas kits and tops.

Arizona Blankets 4 Kids Bee

Az Blankets 4 Kids will be holding their next bee on Saturday October 15, 2005 at the Chandler Police Department. If the Peace by Piece bee doesn't fill your need to do a good deed then please mark your calendar to attend their fall bee. For more information go to www.azblankets4kids.com 

BEE TIME! BEE TIME!!

It's time for us to do what we do and that is HAVE A BEE. That's right, it's bee time again! I hope your calendar is clear on Thursday August 25 from 10a til 3p, cuz I'll be at the CraftMart store located at Alma School and Warner in Chandler with Holiday kits and fabric for your sewing pleasure. As usual I'll be there with something SWEET to eat and DOOR PRIZES!

Hope To See Ya At The Bee!

~Wanda~