Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Another Week - More Quilts

Tomorrow, it is time to make a delivery of Compassion Quilts to the hospital.
We are already working on next month's order!




I was happy to see this lovely scrap quilt in the pile to photograph today.  It proves to me I CAN make a nice scrap quilt.  All of these florals were all leftovers from previous quilts.  Mari sent in the backing fabric and local quilter Terry quilted it up for us.




Board President Penny made this Split 4-patch quilt top.  She has been busy using up a bunch of fall colored fabrics in her stash.  I think this might be the last one to be shared.  She also donated the backing fabric.  A huge thanks to Kelly for quilting it up for us.




Kelly also quilted up this fun string quilt I put together.  Some of the blocks are mine and some were donated.  I think I have enough blocks to make one more.  Elizabeth sent in the red star backing.





We received a package from Cheryl this week and it contained a couple of finished quilts.  I adore this little slanted heart design.  Plus, it is flannel, so it is super snuggly.  




Cheryl also sent this lovely patchwork quilt.  It too has flannel.  We set these aside for our big kid quilt donation later this fall.  We need to start working on those deliveries now!




And finally, we have finished another Jewel Box quilt.  Janet created a really cool design using both color and layout.  Holly sent in the fabric we used on the back.  It has tiny little letters on it.

That is it for today.  I think 6 quilts in half a week is pretty good!  And we certainly couldn't do it without all the Many Hands and Many Hearts that work together to make these Compassion Quilts happen.  Thanks so much!





Sunday, March 16, 2025

Oh Sscrap! : Getting On With It

I have been procrastinating on a project and I think I need your help to get it finished.



Remember these scrappy zipper blocks I was making?  I am not in love with them.  I made some poor fabric choices but I am not ready to give up on them.  I have decided on a next step, but once again I find myself stuck.

I am hoping you can help.



I want to just break up the chaos of the blocks by putting a solid vertical sashing between the blocks.
I dug through all the solids that have been donated and am ready to share three best colors
First up is this pink.  I have to admit this is my least favorite, but it does blend the most.



Next is this green.  I don't hate it...


And finally, there is this vibrant blue.  It is bright but maybe that will take the focus off the blocks. 
There are not a lot of solid choices in the stash.  I tried some neutrals and black but ruled them out quickly.  With this layout, I think I only have to make about 5 more blocks (which I think are already cut out), and I can sew it up and call it done.

I want to spend minimal time on this one; so I don't want to sash each block completely.  
I am ready to cut my losses and move onto the next quilt.

Feel free to add your favorite in the comments.  
I will go with the color that has the most votes!


*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

Quilting is more fun than Housework


 

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Friday, March 14, 2025

A Few Friday Finishes

Happy Pi Day Everyone!

Just a few finishes to share today.  All of these tops were ones I assembled.



I have had the blocks for this quilt piled next to my sewing machine for weeks.  It feels so nice to finally have it finished.  These are blocks from our Churn Dash block drive last year.  We still have quite a few blocks to sew together but if we are going to up our Veteran quilt deliveries, we are going to need to make a lot more quilts each month.  It won't take us long to burn through the blocks we do have so a new RWB block drive will be coming up soon.

Thanks to both Stephanie and Holly for the backing fabrics.




This sweet little flannel quilt was made from some purple scraps I had.  I just made rows of different sized squares and sashed it horizontally.  Cindy quilted in some little hearts and loops which just added to the cuteness.  Karyn sent in the adorable flannel back.

It is super cuddly!



Remember this project made from some orphan blocks we received?  I spoke about it in this post.  Well, I finally finished it up.  I not only used those orphan blocks, but I used up a bunch of scraps making this pretty quilt.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I finally used the last of my favorite purple floral.  I am going to miss this print.  We have used it on numerous backs, bindings and it is even on the front of this quilt.  I have long lost the tag on who donated it but it sure has been a winner!

That is it for today.

Eat pie to celebrate the date and have a fantastic weekend!



Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Some Mid-Week Finishes

Here at Many Hands and Many Hearts, we are working hard to work through the big backlog of quilt tops we have right now.  A few more longarm quilters have joined the team so it is full steam ahead!




The mom of a Board Member is a quilter and has offered to sew together "kits" into quilt tops.  She doesn't live in the area so the items are shuttled back and forth during visits.  This was a kit I put together from some fabric I pulled out of my stash. The pattern came from 3 Yard Quilts.  Barb did a great job choosing the perfect pattern for the pieces I sent.

The light backing fabric came from Jeanine (the dark was a leftover).  Local quilter Laura did her magic and sewed on the binding.




Check out this Split 4-Patch quilt.  We lost track of who sent this one in.  I neglected to log it in before I sent it off to Laura to be quilted.  It can get a bit crazy when big shipments arrive and quilts are moving around.  My house is really little! On the back is more of the Cars fabric sent in by Kelly and her sis.




Here is a Happy Block quilt top that has been hanging around waiting to be quilted.  This cute quilt has a school theme.  I tend to pull the type and gender of tops depending on the orders coming up.   So some tops hang around for a bit. A big thanks to Jeanne for not only putting the blocks together but she sewed up the back for us.  The pieces on the back were from Julie and Carol and Cindy quilted it up.  All I had to do was sew on the label.





Mari put together this adorable little quilt top.  I think the backing was some leftover flannel from a previous quilt.  It was just the perfect size.  Cindy quilted this one too.  We welcome Cindy back.  She had to take some time off and we are so happy she is back.

I pick up some more quilts from longarm quilters tomorrow so that means more quilts will be finished soon.  We are back up to a finished quilt a day rate. That makes me really happy!



The next block drive has been released.  It is an easy one using just low volume fabrics.  You can read more about it in this post.  So I hope you are able to dig out those scraps and make a few blocks.

Enjoy the rest of your week!



Sunday, March 9, 2025

Oh Scrap! : Simple Inspiration

Sometimes inspiration for a quilt can come from the simplest item.

One of our "Pickers" let us know they had a couple bags of fabric for us.  The bags contained a lot of yardage, quite a few printed panels and a few previously cut squares.  There were quite a few squares cut from some material that looks like blue bandanas.  


I try to find some quick inspiration for things like cut squares because they can create a storage problem if we can't attach them to something quickly.  I took a quick dive into the scrap bin and saw a bunch of Cars fabric.  It wasn't perfect but I knew it would all come together into a small quilt.



We even had some Cars fabric for the back.  Kelly and her sister sent in all these prints, and we sure have been using them a lot lately.  I have been trying to make a couple scrap quilts a month to try and keep up with some of the scraps that get made making all these donation quilts.

I have plans for some of the other cut items, but they went into kits to send out to be sewn.

Scraps sure make great donation quilts!


*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

Quilting is more fun than Housework

 

  Follow Me on Bloglovin'                 Follow Me on Feedly

 

Friday, March 7, 2025

Supporting Each Other

Rather than share some finishes today, I thought I would share how generous the hospital we work with
is - we give quilts to them and they give to us!



Our quilts are all delivered and controlled by the volunteer office.  Recently I reached out to my contact there to see if she knew of any grants the hospital might have that we could apply for.  When she heard we were getting short on batting, she made sure two bolts were shipped to my doorstep.



Then this last week, they contacted us to say they received a large donation of fabric and wanted to offer us whatever we could use.  A HUGE thanks to Janet for heading over there to sort through and grab some of the items we thought we could use.  We filled the cart! 

I haven't seen everything that is in this shipment.  But I do think there are lots of precuts, some yardage pieces and a whole bunch of cut squares and orphan blocks.  We don't have the time to go through all of this now, so it is parked in my longarm studio.  This was the first time Janet picked through essentially someone's sewing room so we want to go through it together so I can give her feedback.  From a quick glance, I think she did really well!

Thank you so very much Sacred Heart Hospital for thinking of us and supporting Many Hands and Many Hearts.  These supplies will be used not only for the donation quilts we send to them,
 but it will help us ship quilts to other organizations as well!



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Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Early March Finishes

It is interesting to see all the different quilts that get completed each week.  I never really know exactly what will cross the finish line.



This lovely quilt top sent in by Kristin and I quilted it up when I had some open time.  She also sent in the pieced backing.  I already have this one in the pile to go to the hospital in the next delivery.




When we receive panels, I tend to put them in a pile until I can find time to match them with a block drive or one of the elves decides to take it and design something around it.  I relieved this panel needed nothing but quilting and a trim. Easy Peasy!!




This is another quilt top and backing sent in by Kristin.  She is a huge donor, and we appreciate all the work she does for us.  Lucky for both of us, we have been able to find ways to get the product between us so freight has not been an issue.




I finally sewed up another Jewel Box quilt top.  I still have stacks of these blocks just waiting for my attention.  I did send a few stacks of these blocks out to be sewn too.  I would like to get these all completed!  This quilt is the 16th one completed from the 2024 summer block drive.  

I really love the purple and turquoise together.

That is it right now.  But I received a nice handful of quilts from some longarmers so I should be able to share those soon.  I just need to get them labeled and photographed!



The next block drive has been released.  It is an easy one using just low volume fabrics.  You can read more about it in this post.  So I hope you are able to dig out those scraps and make a few blocks.

Enjoy the rest of your week!




 

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