Quiltsy Cares – Sally Manke

It is my pleasure to introduce you to another of the Quiltsy Team today. Sally Manke (whose Etsy shop bears her name) is a quilt artist who presents trunk shows and teaches quilting and fibre art workshops in the USA and beyond. As a retired art and home economics educator, Sally has spent years working with fabrics, fibers, color and design. Art quilts are the perfect blend of both of her passions that come together in her unique colourful quilts.

Sally lives on the shore of Lake Michigan in northwestern lower Michigan and she chose the MunsonMedical Center Cancer and Oncology Department  as the charity to receive this donation quilt. She knows that we all have friends and relatives who have been involved in cancer treatment and feels that quilts offer immediate comfort to patients and their families.

Sally donated a lap sized brightly colored pink and green quilt. It is the perfect size to wrap around the shoulders or to cover the whole patient. It is a whole cloth quilt with a pieced back quilted on her long arm machine. The fabric department at her local Ben Franklin collects quilts each March to celebrate National Quilting Month. Every year they select a different charity. Sally's Common Threads Quilt Guild in Bear Lake Michigan participates.

 Sally has been sewing since about age 6. It was before she could reach the foot pedal on her great

aunt's Feather Weight Singer. She made her first quilt during the winter of 1974-1975. Sally joined the Quiltsy Team in the late winter of 2011 and says that this is her go to group for support both personally and professionally. She enjoys working with any kind of fiber but her favorite quilts are art quilts! No pattern, sometimes no plan, just the joy of creating. Coiled rope baskets are my my runner up favorite.

Sally can be contacted by:

www.etsy.com/shop/SallyManke
www.pinterest.com/sallymanke/
www.facebook.com/sally.manke.fiber.artist

This blog post was written by Quiltsy Team member, Kathy Kinsella

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Quiltsy Cares-Featuring Treese Pflum

Today Quiltsy Cares is featuring Treese Pflum of Quiltnutz. Treese has donated a completed lap-size quilt (pictured at right) to her guild,  Coachella Valley Quilt Guild, who will then donate the quilt to a charity.
When I asked which charity her donation would go to Treese told me, "The guild donates quilts to different charities in our area.  I never know where the quilts I work on will end up.   Many community members, that do not belong to the guild, often  bring their quilts to us and we pass them on to different charities."

Some of the charities the Coachella Valley Quilt Guild donates to are, Shelter from the Storm, Barbara Sinatra Children's Center,  Riverside County Department of Aging, Care Transitions Intervention Program, just to name a few.

Mrs. Pflum is an active member of  Coachella Valley Quilt Guild where she serves as the block challenge coordinator, creating mini-quilt lessons for guild members. She has been very active in her community serving as president for the Cathedral City High School Band Boosters and  although her last child graduated in 2012 she continues to work with the band boosters.

A sample of Treese's beautiful machine quilting

When I asked Treese what she loved most about quilting, she said, "I love the quilting first.  It’s very satisfying to figure out the best quilting motif to use to enhance the top.  Second, I really enjoy the design process. This starts with pulling fabrics and deciding on a color palette, those fabrics and colors really dictate the design."

A small portion of the Wedding Ring quilt

I asked Treese how she got started quilting.
"My mother gave me a box of unfinished double wedding rings that belonged to her mother.  I knew how to sew, but didn’t have a clue how to make a quilt.  I decided to applique the rings down and then tied the quilt.  That was in 1978 and I was hooked.  I went out and bought a new sewing machine and never looked back  I used that double wedding ring quilt until about five years ago, when I took it apart and re-purposed the pieces in a quilt for my mom."

The beautiful piano quilts

Treese said the most unusual quilts she has made are the piano quilts. She has always loved sewing and quilting, and is constantly working on new projects, when not working for her clients.  Her quilting philosophy is simple:  she believes you are never too old to quilt.  Staying active and continuing to challenge herself keeps her young.  She loves sharing her passion for quilting and wants others to enjoy and use her finished quilts.

Mrs. Pflum has been a Quiltsy Team member since 2011 and is an award-winning professional quilter and fiber artist.  From her studio in Cathedral City, California, she creates original fiber/fabric art, wall hangings, and quilts for clients around the United States.  As a professional quilter, she finishes quilts for other quilters, and teaches beginners how to make these items.  She has been quilting since 1978 and opened her studio in 2012 after working in the newspaper industry for 30 years. She has been using a long arm machine to complete quilt tops for over eleven years and specializes in free motion quilting.

Read more about Coachella Valley Quilt Guild's work with charities on their website or contact them at this address:

Coachella Valley Quilt Guild
P.O. Box 3121
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

You can find Treese here:
Website
Etsy

Quiltsy Cares .... Karen Relfe of Make Mine Patchwork

Today the Quiltsy Team is recognizing the donation of Karen Relfe , of Birmingham, AL. Karen's mother began teaching her to sew when she was old enough to thread a needle and she has never stopped.This beautiful baby quilt is one of those that she donated to charity this year.

Karen has donated several items including her baby quilts, Christmas stockings, zipper pouch and soft toys to One21, a Christian ministry whose primary purpose is to take the story of Jesus Christ to young people struggling to find peace in the world. They do this by partnering with another organization, Back2Back, helping young people in Mexico, Haiti and India. Karen's daughter and son-in-law have traveled with One21 to Mexico twice to help set up and teach at camps for students.

Karen has been quilting for about fifteen years and she simply can't stop designing and making all things quilted. Karen has had her Etsy shop, Make Mine Patchwork, for about four years and has been a member of the Quiltsy Team for about two years. She loves to make anything that can remotely be called a quilt, from patchwork burp cloths and bibs to quilted purses and makeup bags to full size bed quilts. She enjoys designing things that are unique and beautiful but still serve a practical function. Karen especially enjoys working with people to create a one-of-a-kind gift for someone they love that holds a special meaning for them.

Karen has received so much joy over the years from her craft, she decided it was time to pay it forward and bless others with her gift so she began donating to charitable groups such as Project Linus, the Million Pillow Case Challenge and The Sleeping Bag Project. It is especially meaningful to be able to donate to a group like One21 that has touched her family personally.

This blog post was written by Quiltsy Team member Kathy Kinsella of kathykinsella.etsy.com