"Tropical Checkerboards" top...again

I sent these leftovers from the tropical things I had cut up for Rachael while in Florida and they arrived in those boxes I just got the other day. I decided to get right on them and make up the top that I wanted to make before I put the larger pieces away.

So I made myself another quilt top - this one is a European Single. I think it is about 62”x84”.

I think I’m going to finish it up and make it for the Charity auction that they always hold in December for handicapped children from our town.

Last year I opted out because of time and energy concerns. However, this year if I work ahead of time, then maybe I can produce some things that have crowd appeal. It is very common in our part of the world for people to buy a vacation to a warm place like Spain, a week in Egypt, Morocco or Tunisia - also Crete, Portugal or Cyprus — all places on the Mediterranean. They tend to be pretty good deals for a hotel and meals plus the flight (around $500 for one person for a week in the shoulder seasons (spring/fall). I don’t know what it is NOW, but that is what it used to be if you could get a last minute deal. I’m sure they’ve gone up. I’ve not looked.

I’m hoping someone will be willing to bid up on this one and anything else I put in there - and not just get it for $25.:) But once I donate it, well, it’s theirs to do with as they wish. I told them last time I didn’t want the 2 quilts I made back - just put whatever they earn towards the kids. A lot of people put two things in the auction - one for donation to the cause and the second one the money went back to the artist. I told them to just keep all the money from both of mine - I didn’t need it back to me (as I had made them with the whole purpose of donating).

It’s not as if I’m being overly generous - I pretty much have kept more quilts than I have room for. I’m working on whittling them down- but sometimes it’s like giving away kids. (OK, just a slight exaggeration!)

The cause usually involves contributing to rehab for kids with things like Cerebral Palsy or other major life-changing illnesses like that. It’s hardly too much for me to give what I can to help parents whose kids are truly struggling.

Last year when they asked me, I was sad that I had to say no, but for my own sanity, I had to. I had nothing left in the tank to come up with something in the week or week and a half I had left before the deadline.

I want to at least showcase some quilting and patchwork - as I think it helps introduce the idea to local people.

If I work well ahead of time, I can have them ready by late October with absolutely no stress to me. That sounds really good to me.

This is the one I left in Florida for longarmers to quilt.

Once again - all I did was use the very same fabrics as in this one - as I had extras that I brought with me over to Poland. This top shown on the right was left in Florida. I did change my one shown above a little as I made it smaller and I put a white spacer in between the first colorful border. I wish I had done it with the one on the right.

Anyway, here are some close ups of the fabrics used.

I really do like them - as they are so cheerful and happy. I think this will be a popular theme for people in Poland as they do enjoy their trips to the Mediterranean.

As such, I am also working on making a pillow- a big decorator one - to go with this set - not a pillowcase - though I suppose I could include one of those as long as I include the pillow (as they tend to use the big European ones that are much harder to make a case for though the smaller ones are gaining popularity) in the set.

I do have some more fabric and could add a pillow and pillowcase to the set to be used on the bed. I do want to add the decorator pillow with some leftover squares. I might as well. I made too many subsets of the pieces I used (strips of 4).

And I know. This isn’t anything revolutionary. But I still like it. I hope someone here in our town likes it as well.

The other good thing about this one was that I was able to use up almost all of the little squares I had cut and prepared for the one in FL and was able to use up all the little pieces of tropical prints I sent over to myself. I left a few larger ones which can go on my shelves with my other similar fabrics.

Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey.

Have a great day wherever you are reading this!

Becky Petersen6 Comments