August 2008

WHAT'S BEEN GOIN' ON ???

There's been a whole lotta people stayin' busy since the last Peace By Piece Quilters bee. All kinda stuff has been leaving the Peace By Piece Quilters closet and coming back... well, looking a lot different. Doreen has made a whopping 66 Preemie kits, 27 of them are Christmas themed. Yep, it's time to start thinking about the Holidays. Denise contributed to the Preemie effort by making 7 Preemie kits  and 4 Preemies. She also took a 'problem project' and turned it into a cute heart quilt. Janet took enough fabric to make a BIG pile of flannel Child kits that I'm sure you'll be seeing in the kit suitcase soon. Then there is  Linda's project, she took a BIG roll of batting and 10 tops home. She got them all layered, tied and is in the process of attaching binding. Doreen also applied binding to a couple that I quilted. Shirley took a bag of Preemie kits home and will bring them back to the next bee finished. Sherry has a couple of fabric collections from the closet that she will cut and sew into tops and deliver to the next bee. Then there is Terry who never fails to bring us finished quilts every month. To everyone who chose to spent time at home making charity quilts...THANK YOU. You are very impressive group of gals all workin' hard! 

THE SPECIAL PROJECT...

Check out the special project Denise and I did this month. These quilts are the result of an on-line Mystery Quilt project. We used fabrics from the Peace By Piece Quilters closet and followed the Mystery steps to complete these quilts. We had so much FUN that we thought you may enjoy doing a Mystery project like this.  

We'll be taking a vote at the next 2 bees to see how many volunteers would like to participate in a charity Mystery Quilt project. 

There was a donation of fabric from the Cactus Patchers (a chapter of the Arizona Quilters Guild) and their President, Nancy. A bag full of cute child friendly prints. They will all look adorable when sewn into quilts. I'm always surprised at the never ending generosity of quilters.

THE CUTTING EDGE QUILTWORKS 

The most dedicated Peace By Piece Quilters endured the triple digit temperatures and made their way to our July bee at the Cutting Edge. And boy did they sew up a storm. Well... maybe not a storm. There was no rain or cooler temperatures, but there sure was a BIG pile of quilts! They made 38 quilts! WOW. A whopping 22 Child size along with 16 Preemies were done at the end of the day. We were only able to send such a large number of quilts out into the world because so many volunteers did so much work at home before the bee. Way to go volunteers! 

 35th AVE. SEW AND VAC...

August 1 was the date of the the first Peace By Piece Quilters bee at this new bee location. The gals that work there were very helpful and welcoming. The classroom was perfect for our needs. A few people stopped by to see what we are all about. Some first time bee goers, Ann & Patricia, came and sewed with us. A new quilter, I think her name was Carolyn, spent most of the morning with us learning how to make Preemie blankets. Volunteer Sherry, and her husband Bruce, stopped by to drop off some quilt tops Sherry had made. At the end of the day we had completed 19 quilts. 10 Child size and 9 Preemies.

A REALLY SPECIAL LADY...

We had a very special visitor spend a little time with us at 35th Ave. Sew & Vac. Her name is Carol Petlis. Carol and her husband dropped off 102 quilts! These were all very lovable Child size quilts. That was an overwhelming large pile of quilts. But the really amazing part is that Carol made every quilt herself. The pile represented a whole years worth of quilt making for Carol. As we visited with Carol we learned that she has been doing this for 4 years, about as long as the Peace by Piece Quilters have been making quilts. To date Carol has made 444 quilts for Arizona blankets 4 Kids. 444 quilts! The amazing story continues... Carol has bought all the fabric and batting for these 444 quilts and made every one herself. She said she feels as if all the children if Arizona are her grandchildren. 

What an honor and inspiration it was to meet Carol.  

AZ BLANKETS 4 KIDS HAPPENINGS...

The annual AZB4K Camp hosted by Cutting Edge Quiltworks was August 15-17 at Emmanuel Pines Church Camp in Prescott. I've not yet heard from any of the attendees or AZB4K Board members but I'm sure we will soon hear about how much FUN they had and how many quilts they made. 

QUOTES & TIDBITS...  

Do what you can, for whom you can, with what you have, from where you are.

~Author Unknown~

May your needle stay threaded and your seams be straight.

~Eleanor Burns~

The Peace By Piece Quilters have made 284 quilts so far this year!

UPCOMING BEE DATES...

The Peace By Piece Quilters will hold the next bee on Thursday, August 28 at the Cutting Edge Quiltworks. Thanks to all the dedicated volunteers there will be lots of cute Child and Preemie kits to sew and a BIG pile of finished quilts.

On Friday, September 5 the Peace By Piece Quilters will be at 35th Ave Sew & Vac! I'm sure this bee will be as successful as the bee we held there last month and I look forward to all the new people who will come and sew with us. 

SEE ya at the BEE!

~Wanda Dix~