(Click on any photo to make it larger)
In an earlier post, I mentioned the wonderful magazine article done about the inmates at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility (Carlisle, Indiana) in the PLUS unit who are quilters. These men create quilts.....as many as 30 a month....to be given to homeless people, service families, and other service type projects. They also made a quilt that won a 3rd place ribbon at the Indiana State Fair this year.....with 3-D pigs on it for the theme "Year of the Pigs". I tried to find a photo on-line but was unable to find one.
These quilts are ones that were brought to Evansville to show to the Kairos team, who will be going into Wabash for a Kairos weekend in a few weeks. My husband brought them home and stretched them out on our living room floor....best I could do! They are stunning. Especially considering the lack of tools and materials that most of us quilters take for granted!
These guys have a great feel for color and pattern in my opinion! They are mostly self-taught and have only a few sewing machines to use and have to use children's safety scissors to cut the fabric. All of their quilts are tied.
I just love this cat quilt! The black squares are a satiny fabric....wonderful feeling quilt.
Some of our local quilters were able to put them in touch with a southern Indiana company that has lots of home decorator fabrics that are thrown away.....so now they are providing them to the prisoners to make sturdy quilts for homeless people. Most of us quilters only want 100% cotton fabrics, but these guys make do with whatever they are given and make beautiful and functional quilts. I imagine they feel pretty good when you are sleeping under a bridge somewhere! Isn't the color and pattern of this one wonderful?
A close up.....it reminded me a lot of men's neckties or suits.
How about this pattern? Lots of folded 3-d triangles!
A close up to give a better idea.
This would be a typical quilt for a homeless person.
Another...love the big cat fabric in the corners.
An interesting pattern....simple but effective.
I thought this one was pretty amazing considering their lack of training! The stars are of a red satiny fabric....sort of like neck ties again...and really looked nice!
They need lots of supplies....mostly batting, sewing machine needles, pins, and of course fabric! If you have anything you wanted to donate or know of any supplier that would donate anything, I'd love to hear from you!
For any of you reading this who are local to Evansville, IN, the Kairos Prison ministry is always looking for Chocolate Chip cookie bakers. Each Kairos weekend....there are 2 a year in every Indiana prison....requires about 50,000 HOMEMADE cookies! That's a lot of cookies!
The coming Kairos weekend is Oct. 21-24. If you have any interest in making cookies, contact me for the recipe and instructions. mvfreeman2@gmail.com
.....but I was getting way too much help from the cats.
Any new quilt has to be inspected to see if it gets their stamp of approval.
"I'm not sure I like this one......put it on your lap and we'll test it there for an hour or two."
Linda B did a great job of quilting it with bows on the main part of the quilt and Christmas trees in the border.
Both cats seem to prefer the old Christmas quilt....softer because it is tied, not quilted...and it's on my lap. I can't read a book without a covering of cats, which is pretty nice in the winter time!
.....but I was getting way too much help from the cats.
Any new quilt has to be inspected to see if it gets their stamp of approval.
"I'm not sure I like this one......put it on your lap and we'll test it there for an hour or two."
Linda B did a great job of quilting it with bows on the main part of the quilt and Christmas trees in the border.
Both cats seem to prefer the old Christmas quilt....softer because it is tied, not quilted...and it's on my lap. I can't read a book without a covering of cats, which is pretty nice in the winter time!
