Raffle quilt for K9 Kindness Rescue

I love my dogs. I have three of my own and a foster dog from K9 Kindness Rescue, Inc.

A few months ago K9 Kindness took in Rosie, a heartworm positive dog that was pregnant. Her delivery was very difficult and costly because of the heartworm, but because of K9 Kindness, Rosie and her pups are doing well and some have found forever homes.

When I heard about Rosie, I decided to make a raffle quilt for K9 Kindness Rescue to help pay for her veterinary costs which were about $1,000. The quilt guild I belong to makes raffle quilts for big events and they always make good fundraisers. Folks who wouldn't normally spend hundreds of dollars on a quilt are more than willing to spend a couple bucks for a chance to win one, especially when the money goes to a good cause.

In less than two weeks, the quilt has raised close to $250, so I'm crossing my fingers that we'll reach the $1000 goal by the drawing in June.

Now here are some fun facts about the quilt. The Hidden Pinwheel pattern is of my own design and was inspired by a vintage quilt I saw. The blocks are set on point for effect. The first border is made with mitered corners and the second one is made from more than 100 hundred of flying geese circling the quilt.

The bright teals and turquoise fabrics remind me of a beach vacation every time I look at them. The quilt is quilted with variegated teal and white thread with designs inside every triangle. The backing is made from snugly flannel fabric for extra softness and warmth.

The quilt measures 56 inches by 84 inches and is large enough for a twin-sized bed. Although this size also makes a great couch throw because you can cover up with it completely while watching TV.

The drawing for the raffle quilt is June 11, 2011, at the rescue's Dog Dayz of summer Beach Pawty and Dog Wash at the PETCO in Moline, IL. You do not need to be present to win.

I'll be at PETCO in Moline with the quilt and raffle tickets at a K9 Kindness Adoption event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 9. We're working on some other locations to display the quilt at. You can also purchase tickets at StephanieSoebbing.Etsy.com. They are six for $5 or $1 each.

Pillowcases for Japan's animals

I'm a huge dog lover. I have three cocker spaniels of my home and I also have a foster dog that will stay with us until she finds a forever home. 

So when the earthquake hit Japan, I wanted to do something for the animals affected by the devastation. I've made several novelty pillowcases that I'm selling to raise money for World Vets, an organization that is helping to rescue companion animals displaced during Japan's earthquake and keep them in no-kill shelters until they can be reunited with their owners.

I'm donating 50 percent of the pillowcase purchase price to World Vets relief efforts in Japan. Click here to see the selection.

Or if you'd like to donate directly to World Vets, click here.

Gnomes, dogs and sewing

If you're wondering why I'm talking about gnomes and dogs on a quilting blog, I'll explain.

I have a friend who love gnomes. She has a cute little set in her house. So when I found Michael Miller's Gnoming Around fabric collection I had to let her know about it. Soon a plan was hatched to make gnome pillowcases. And this is the result.

I've also been hard at work on a quilt that I'm donating to K9 Kindness Rescue, Inc., to raise money to help homeless dogs. I got the top done at a quilt retreat I went on last weekend and started to quilt it. I've included a sneak peak in the photo at the top of the blog.

What are you working on?

Sewing dilemmas

I have a meeting of the Next Generation Quilters tonight and I'm not sure what to bring to work on.

The first option is a quilt I'm working on to donate to K9 Kindness Rescue to be auctioned off at the organization's trivia night next month. But it's a scrap quilt and all the pieces are arranged just so, which means carting my entire design wall to the sit-n-sew.


The next option are pillowcases. I've become slightly obsessed with making them recently. I have several that I'm going to sell on Etsy and about a dozen more that I'm making as favors for my sister's bachelorette party. It's a slumber party and I think you can tell from the fabric why they're appropriate for that event. Here's a link to a photo I shared on Twitter.

Happy New Year ... a little late

Hello all. I took a break from the shop and quilting in general in January because my husband and I started remodeling our kitchen.

Right now we're refinishing the cabinets which is a long, messy job, but the new stain is giving the almost 60-year-old built in cabinets new life. As we near the end of this phase of the project, it's time to get back to quilting and blogging.

I plan to update the blog much more frequently this year. I've got a lot of fun projects planned, including one that will help the community. You'll hear more about that in a few days.


In the meantime I wanted to share photos of the quilts I made for Christmas. The brown one you've seen before in various stages of completion. It was for my parents. And although it contains hundreds of triangles, I didn't cut a single one for this project. Someday I'll have to make a tutorial on how to make hourglass units and flying geese from squares.


The second one is and Illini quilt for my brother- and sister-in-law. My husband found this pattern at Sew Sassy in Urbana, Ill., while I was stocking up on Illini fabric, which can be kind of hard to find when you live on the border of Iowa. I liked it because although it is definitely an Illini quilt, it doesn't contain one scrap of licensed Illini fabric.


If any of you get the pattern, buy a couple extra yards of backing fabric. I ran out when it came time to piece the back.

I've got one more belated Christmas present still in the works, but I need to get my dinning room table back before I can finish quilting it. Right now it's filled with all the dishes and cookware that normally would be in the cabinets but have been removed for the refinishing process.