Happy Block Drive Round Up

 Even though I am not even close to sewing together all the Happy Blocks into quilts, I think I am ready to write up a summary.  I have organized all the blocks into stacks so I am going to guestimate how many quilts I will be making.

We will still keep track as I finish them to see how close I come.

The first Happy Quilt was shared on September 22nd.  Since then, I have shared 57 completed quilts.  I still have 8 in the pipeline that have been started but not finished.  That means there are 65 quilts essentially already made.

I received a total of 3765 blocks from 109 people - that is about twice what I normally see during a block drive.  Way to go!

I also received a total of 9 quilts or quilt tops like the on-point quilt above.  This is always really nice to receive because I can just put them directly in the "to be quilted" or the "completed" pile.

Getting that many blocks was a bit overwhelming at times, but I was determined to work through them.  I used my sewing room floor to organize many of the blocks and yardage.  The photo above is after making 65 quilts!  I have been sewing on my dining room table.

The above stacks of blocks are organized by theme and represent quilts to finish.  Right now I think I can finish another 60 themed quilts.  After that, I should be able to make another 10 as I-Spy quilts.  This means this block drive will have made about 110 quilts.

That is really amazing!

Some other wonderful things about this block drive was I received lots of fabric donations for backings, bindings and the likes.  I now have a nice stash and I don't have to worry about having fabric to finish quilts.

I also put a callout for your old thread.  Boy, did you guys deliver!  I received just about every make of thread - which is nice because I can share with my elves who are sewing up and quilting some of these quilts.  I can usually supply them with their preferred thread.

The biggest surprise was how many cones of thread I received.  The above photo is just a few cones that came with a story.  Sadly, one of you worked for a division that was closing but you made sure all the unused thread was sent my way - it has made a huge difference!  Previously, I was using my thread on my longarm.  It was a big expense!  Now I also have a stash of thread that (so far) have all worked on my machine!

I can't begin to express how much I appreciate all the support I have received.  

In 2023, 250 Compassion Quilts were started - with 211 of them getting delivered to one of our recipients.  I am looking forward to growing in many ways in 2024.  I will be sharing more about that later.

If you want to help out on the current block drive, it is a variation of a log cabin block.  I admit I "tapped the brakes" so to speak by choosing a more involved block.  I certainly don't expect to receive 4K blocks this time - but you guys do continue to surprise me.

If you want to make some blocks, the information is here.

I am hoping to share the first quilt of the new block this Friday so stay tuned!

(We are still experiencing Icemageddon here so I make no promises.)

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