Friday, March 31, 2023

A Few More Finishes

 As I await a few more of the Churn Dash blocks to arrive, I have been focusing on some low hanging fruit to fill the demand for Compassion Quilts.  Some easy finishes are grabbing one of the tops that have been donated, finding a backing fabric and quilting it up.



Becky sent in this lovely top made with a jelly roll.  I have not seen this design and I have to admit, I really like it!  I did get this quilt finished in time to make the delivery to the hospital.  It is a nice large lap size and I bet it will find a home quickly!

(You will be seeing many more quilts made by Becky in the future.  I just haven't had a chance to match backings to her tops yet.)



I found a soft yellow print with some faint black stars.  As soon as I put the navy blue binding on, the stars now appear navy blue.  I love it when pieces come together to make a fabulous quilt :)



Mary sent in the top for this fun 9-patch variation quilt.  It is filled with so much scrappy goodness!



It needed a backing and I knew right away what I would use.  I have had this gingham star print for a long time and I had just enough for this quilt.  I was even able to find a blue solid for the binding that almost matched the blue sashing.

This quilt measures 46 x 52". With all those fun novelty prints, I think I will mark this one for the pediatric center.  Sadly, this one didn't make the last shipment - I couldn't get the binding done in time.  But I plan on making another delivery in about a month so it will be the first quilt in the stack!

A big thanks to Becky and Mary.  
Soon your quilts will be bringing comfort to someone who needs a hug.





Linking Up:

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

A Few Finishes

 I dropped off 17 more Compassion Quilts at the hospital today.  They were so well received!

The Blue/Brown rail fence quilts have been a big hit because they are gender neutral and can be given to anyone.  The quilts that have a hard time finding a home are quilts that have a theme to them. Thanks to that feedback, I will definitely be mindful of the quilts I design for this project.  I was told the first batch of 20 quilts were all distributed within weeks.  They are so appreciative of all the generous quilters taking part in this project.



Included in the stack today were a few quilts that I received that were all completed.  I didn't have to do any work except measure them, pin on a tag and photograph them.

I really like this blue one.  It is very similar to my Chaser block pattern.



Check out this beautiful blue backing fabric.  A huge thanks to Sue for donating this lovely quilt!




Sue also sent in this lovely scrappy Plus quilt.  I think the diagonal quilting really works well with the block settings.



The backing fabric is perfect too!  After seeing this quilt, making another scrappy Plus quilt has moved up my to-do list!

Shortly after dropping off the quilts, the Volunteer Coordinator texted me to say she distributed two of the quilts to teary-eyed recipients who were visiting very sick family members before she even made it up to her office.  Quilts can be so comforting!

I have been busy this week making quilt tops from all the beautiful red, white and blue blocks you are sending.  I hope to start sharing some photos of some finishes soon.  Right now quilting and binding are the bottleneck - I am hoping to give this project all my attention over the next week and hopefully get caught up a bit.

Thanks so much for all your help and generosity!








You can have lovely fabric delivered right to you!



Sunday, March 26, 2023

Oh Scrap! : Green

 I really put the pedal to the metal this week and almost got caught up on all my RSC blocks.




I cut and sewed two green hearts.  This brings my total blocks up to five.




While I was sorting and gutting green scraps, I also cut enough squares to make two of these blocks.
I think I have a total of five of these blocks completed too.





I didn't forget about my switch plate blocks - I found eight more green prints I haven't used yet and sewed them up.  I think I have a few more cut and ready to sew.  I like to use these as leader/enders - they are pretty hard to lose your place on them!




I fund some darker green strips I decided to make some 16 patch blocks with to go with the blocks I made in browns.



I even found a few more brown strips to ad to the pile.  I still think I need about 20 blocks for a quilt top.  But I need to go track down some more neutral strips.

So I feel like I was really productive last week!



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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



You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Friday, March 24, 2023

Rail Fence Quilts #14 and #15

 Whew!

I made it to the end of the rail fence block drive!  I still have about 30 blocks that I will use at a later date with some leftover fabrics that coordinate beautifully.



Here is quilt #14 - it measures 55 x 65".



At this point, I am running on empty in my brown stash so luckily a friend donated two very alike pieces that I was able to finish off this one.  The binding was made from the trimmings from a previous back - nothing goes to waste!



And finally, quilt #15 -  measuring 50" x 60".



This quilt used up 5 different brown pieces to make its backing.

So there you have it.  We will all enjoy seeing something new here on this blog.  We are already working on the next block drive.  I have started piecing tops and even have one quilted already.

If you would like to read more about these Compassion Quilts, you can look up and select the Compassion Quilt tab for the page with all the details.

A huge thanks to everyone who helped make these quilts!





Linking Up:

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Rail Fence Quilts #12 and #13

Getting so close to the end of the Rail Fence quilts.  

These two quilts are the ones I enjoyed the most!  Gail was gracious enough to make all the blocks AND sew them into tops.  Then she put together kits with the backings and the prepared bindings.  All I had to do was load them on my machine and go!




This one is quilt #12.  It measures 60 x 70.



I knew the quilting was going to show nicely on the ack so I alternated round spirals and square spirals.  I really loved how it turned out.




Here is quilt #13 - also 60 x 70" in size.




I quilted this one with the same design because I loved it that much!

Thanks so much Gail.  Yor workmanship was beautiful and your kits went together perfectly!





Linking Up:

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Oh Scrap! : Some Progress

 I actually feel like I made some progress on the scrap front this week.




I finished up my big 18" heart block in pink so that I could finish my second heart quilt.




I also dug through my pink scraps to see if I could make any more stitchplate blocks for my RSC quilt.



I am trying not to repeat any prints.  Here are all the pink ones I have finished to date.  My pink scrap bin is looking pretty sad.  I might need to replenish it with some fresh fabric from my stash.


Having made all those rail fence blue and brown quilts, I ended up with a lot of brown scraps and leftover binding pieces.  So I made these twelve 16-patch blocks.  I still have a few more browns to add and then maybe I will add in some greens and maybe a few blues.

I thought these would make a nice scrappy quilt for a man.

I still haven't gotten out my green bin to complete my RSC blocks for March.  I think I will try and do that this week.  I know I have a LOT of green scraps!


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

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Friday, March 17, 2023

Some Quilty Love

 Today I am sharing a quilt that I worked on start to finish - no help from anyone!


This quilt all started with an overflowing low volume scrap bin.  It was full of rather loud low volume prints.  So I decided to come up with a quilt plan that would use a lot of them up.

So I made a bunch of 9 patches out of 3.5" squares.



Then I made a big 18" heart block from some red scraps and floated it in all those nine patches.




I found a red and white backing fabric that I picked up at Connecting Threads and I bound it with a red and white rickrack print.



I really love how this quilt turned out.  It measures 54 x 63" and looks so much better than it does in these photos.  In fact, I am already working on a second one made with cream based low volumes with a pink heart.  I thought these would make great Compassion quilts so it has already been added to the growing pile.  I am going to have to make another delivery to the hospital later this month!


Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Rail Fence Block Drive Round up

 As promised, I have added up the rail fence blocks, counted the quilts and identified all the different layouts made in the first Compassion Quilt Block Drive.

Thanks so much to all of you that donated.  Your generosity far exceeded my expectations.



The blocks were a 5.5" simple rail fence made with 1.5" strips.  I wanted the color scheme to be gender neutral so I went with browns and blues.



A whopping 43 quilters from two countries (thank you Canada) made a total of 1823 blocks.

I took those blocks and made 15 quilts.  I still have a pile of 30 blocks which I plan on using with some stash fabric to make a final quilt to bring the total up to 16.  I am just not sure when that quilt will happen - the next block drive has already started!.

I still have 4 quilts I need to share on the blog - they are quilted but I need to finish sewing on the binding.  My little elves are working away on them.



In an effort to make each quilt look somewhat unique (and keep me from going crazy working on the same quilt design day after day), I came up with 5 different block layouts.

This "boston commons" layout was probably my favorite.


This vertical layout was a very close second.  I wish I would have had more background fabrics in my stash so that I could have made more of this design.



I also played around with a couple horizontal layouts.  I was able to do this because with some blocks, I received some donated yardage.  I was not expecting to make as many quilts as I did so my brown stash was absolutely depleted!



I grouped the blocks and added sashing to a few quilts too.




By far, the layout that I made the most of was a simple layout of alternating block directions.  These quilts were made in three different sizes - 50 x 60", 55 x 65" and 60 x 70".

Two of these quilt tops were actually pieced and sent as a kit with backings and bindings - which I greatly appreciated.  To make all the backings for these compassion quilts, I had to use everything I had and hit up all my friends for any unwanted brown fabric.

My dream was to get enough blocks to make 6-8 quilts - so that was what I prepared for.  Ooops!

I am much more prepared for the second block drive!

I am already starting to receive packages in the mail....Thanks so much!




Shop Fabric at Fat Quarter Shop




Another way you can help out, if you make a purchase at any of these companies, use my affiliate links on my blog.  The money I make in commissions goes right back into buying backings and batting for the Compassion Quilts.  Thanks so much!


Sunday, March 12, 2023

Oh Scrap! : More Low Volume Blocks

 This week just really flew by!  

Most of the things I worked on, you will have to wait a few days to see. 



You might remember I have been working on finishing up the 9-patches for my white based low volume heart quilt.  The quilt is now finished and I just need to sew the binding on it.



I really like how it turned out, so this week I cut and sewed 40 more blocks with cream based low volume prints.  My plan is to put a pink heart on this second quilt.



I didn't sew all the blocks myself; I had the help of a couple friends who came over to my house for a gab session - yes, even some sewing occurred!  But I did have all the squares cut before they arrived!

Now I just need to cut and sew the pieces for the big 18" heart.  Hopefully I can get that completed this week.  I am hoping on Friday to share the red heart quilt.  

I am just happy my low volume bin is no longer overflowing!



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

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter




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