Two-a-day

Four weeks ago, Judi and I answered the call for 7,000 quilts from the Kansas City chapter of Project Linus. No, we did not commit to make thousands, but we did announce that we would try to average two a day for 28 days.

Today is day 28.

There were only four days in the past four weeks when I did not have the longarm machine in motion. I usually work in the afternoons. Judi, on the other hand, spends evenings in her sewing studio. She’s worked on quilts every night in the past four weeks.

A majority of the days in the past month we have completed two quilts a day. The two quilts I quilted on the longarm machine in an afternoon were the two quilt tops Judi made the night before. We typically used a strippie design with nine width-of-fabric pieces and eight straight seams. The pattern was simple enough for two-a-day to be possible.

28 days times 2 quilts per day equals 56 quilts

We completed 56 quilts in the past month.

Most the quilts have already been delivered to Project Linus. Judi took a batch yesterday. Those quilts delivered to Project Linus in the morning went to the Kansas City chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace in the afternoon. SIHP provides beds for children who have been sleeping on the floor. SIHP has build days when folks actually construct bunk beds given to families. In addition to a new bed and mattress, 21 kids will receive a twin-size quilt made in our basement.

As any quilter will tell you, where there’s quilt making there are scraps. We have IKEA storage units for the fabric stash. Twenty-five percent of our stash may be pieces width-of-fabric but less than one yard. So, folks, we likely will have a month or two of scrappy quilt making as 2022 begins.

Until then, we’ll make a few more Project Linus quilts for delivery by Thanksgiving Day. And we have a couple of Christmas quilts … sing with me, “Santa Claus is coming to town.”