19.3.12

4 Sisters (in law) and 12 kids = 5 quilts

It was a win-win-win day! It's Spring Break right now (2 weeks long) so my sister-in-laws, their kids and me and my kids got together to sew up some rag quilts. It was an easy enough project for everyone. My s-i-l's all know how to sew (one of them sewed her own wedding dress, so yes, she can sew very well!) It turned out to be a good day of working together and something to do on a rainy day. The quilts are going to be donated to our local Pro-Life Society where they will be given with care packages to new moms.  And as a bonus, our flannel stashes became a bit smaller.

Following is a pretty photo heavy post with some captions.  Maybe it will inspire a similar activity with someone else?!

M worked with Benjamin to make a Giraffe Quilt.  All of the fabrics had giraffes on them.  She's a bit a lot crazy about giraffes.

Benjamin, handing the pieces to M so she could sew them together.

Carolin was a bit disappointed that she couldn't sew anything but still happy to be with all of her cousins.


It was good to have lots of floor space to lay things out.

Deanna worked with S and Auntie Karen.

Kind of a beautiful sight to see!



Love this picture of Zachary watching his cousin at the machine!  

Take a picture of us hugging, Mommy!  I love that my kids have such a great relationship with their cousins despite the fact that most of them are quite a bit older.

Tada!  We're finished.  These two pretty much did the whole thing by themselves.  Though the snipping was shared by everyone.

Teamwork!  If you know Deanna you know that these colours suit her personality.  She picked them out.

The giraffe quilt!  Finished.  They did really well without too much help either.  

M with the pedal to the metal!  Because we had only 3 machines, M had to wait to start sewing.  Her quilt turned out really well!

Snip, Snip!  Deanna took a turn with the camera.


Melissa and Aunty Kathy's quilt. 

Last one finished!  Yeah, a day well spent.  And my house was full. of. threads.  Wow!

After washing.  I thought I'd take a photos after they were washed because it makes such a difference in how they look.






Apparently it's hard work holding up quilts.  As you can see, we are having a bit of sunshine today!  Gorgeous!


15 comments:

  1. WOWOWOW!!! I cannot believe that you made that many quilts in one day! And that you even thought to tackle this with that many kids! Way to go, and for a great cause!

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    1. Most of the kids are older than mine. The older kids helped keep Zachary occupied at times which was great. My sister-in-law (not one of the ones here) has an expression and I think it's a good one. "Bored kids are bad kids." So during Spring Break when it rains so much, it's good to do this sort of thing!

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  2. That is just AWESOME!! How wonderful to be able to sew with family, and to get so much done.

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  3. What fun! I remember sewing with my cousin when she came to visit. Are the quilts backed? Was the fabric pre-washed?

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    1. Because the quilts are made from scraps (crib sheets, pyjamas etc) they are prewashed. But I’ve been told that a rag quilt should be made with unwashed fabric so it frays better. There are two layers of flannel. The back will just look like a regular quilt and the front will have the frayed edges. Here’s a link to a tutorial that is similar to the way we did it. http://www.knitandtonic.typepad.com/SimpleRagQuilt.pdf

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  4. Fantastic!! Looks like a wonderful day and the quilts turned out very cute!

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    1. Reminds me that a friend and I have a bunch of sleepsacks cut out since last May that we had planned to make and donate. We should get back to that now that our babies are half a year old :)

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  5. How wonderful! What memories and beautiful quilts!

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  6. What a job well done! Loved seeing all the pictures too :) A great cause.

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  7. Looks like a really great day! I love all the pictures showing the teamwork and spirit of cooperation as everyone was working on the quilts.:)

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  8. looks fun - and you got a lot done in a day! great idea :)

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  9. Ack, this is SO wonderful! I absolutely look forward to organizing a charity sewing circle with my children when they are both able to sew. Very inspiring!

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  10. What a great blog site! Where are you able to find fabric ? Money is very tight here but I love to sew and would really like to contribute some of these dresses to local charities...

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