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!

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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! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

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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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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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Linking Up:

  

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)

Alycia Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

 

Oh Scrap! : Inspiration

You cannot handle as many quilts as I do and not be continually inspired!

I have been rolling around an idea in my brain - I want to do a sew day where quilters show up with their machines and we make a bunch of blocks and maybe quilt tops for Many Hands and Many Hearts.  I have been thinking about this for about a year.  Tons of block ideas have been pondered but nothing really got me excited or was easily adaptable for the fabric bits and pieces we have around here.  

Until last week...I received the above quilt top from Karen.  In fact, she sent two tops but I only quilted this one.  While I was quilting it, inspiration hit.  I have thought about Happy Blocks previously but now I want to add scrappy four patches like Karen did but I also want to make some very scrappy blocks using 2" wide strips and chunks.   

All of these blocks will use up a lot of the bits we have around here. I will be able to use my AccuQuilt fabric cutter for almost all of it and I now have a board that can help me cut and organize the fabric. 

 I am so excited!

Thanks Karen for the inspiration!

(BTW - Karen also sent the lovely green backing fabric and the fun striped binding!)

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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! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

   Follow Me on Bloglovin'                 Follow Me on Feedly

A Good Week for Finishes

This was a good week for finishes.  We shelf finishes quilts by size/type so weeks like this keep our inventory pretty level.  That makes filling orders a lot easier!

We have been working on increasing our stock level of Veteran quilts.  We will be doubling our monthly requirement up to six.  Janet used some of the 4-patches from a block drive we did almost a year ago.  Thanks to Karen, we had these two lovely prints for the backing.

Here is a fun quilt top made by local quilter Chris.  The front is so colorful, we knew we had to add some sushi flannel sent in by Mari.  It wasn't quite4 big enough but thanks to Kristin, we had the perfect teal to add in.

We had had this pink quilt top that Becky sent in for a really long time.  Sadly, I think t kept getting moved around and got overlooked.  As soon as I came across it, I sent it off to local quilter Laura to finish up.  A fun pink and white stripe was perfect for the backing.  It came from an estate sale, along with that solid pink.

Kristin (and friends) sent in the blocks for this quilt.  Local quilter Karen did a great job sewing them into a quilt top.  We had the perfect polka dots for the back thanks to Jenn.

So that is it for this week.  I am hoping to get some more Jewel Box quilts completed soon and we are starting to work on the Split 4-patch quilts for kids.  I so appreciate all the help and donations we are seeing.  It really is Many Hands and Many Hearts coming together to get all these quilts finished.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Linking Up:

  

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

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A Split 4-Patch Finish

We have been pushing through quite a few kid quilts lately.  We have received just about all of the blocks from the drive so we are separating them and working on layouts.

This fun quilt top was sent in by Cheryl.  I love how she used the Split 4_patch block.  It al all about cute little hedgehogs.  And thanks to Jeanine, we had some hedgehog fabric for the backing.

I have been busy cleaning up some stacks of Happy Blocks that were made over a year ago.  This little I-Spy quilt is backed with some Cars fabric that Kaelly and her sister sent in.  They sent in some very large cuts, so we have been able to back a LOT of quilts with it.

Karen also sent in some Cars fabric.  We used hers on the back of this car themed Happy Block quilt.  Non-quilter Janet has been sewing up a few of these backings. 

We are slowly making a quilter out of her.

Love seeing all these bright and happy kid quilts getting completed.  It is nice to have them on hand in case we get a special request and need to send off a stack right away.  Organizations are starting to hear about us, and we want to be able to help out when we can!

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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Linking Up:

  

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)

Alycia Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Oh Scrap! : Block Drive Low Volume Nine

I don't usually release the Many Hands and Many Hearts block drives on Oh Scrap!, but there is a first time for everything....and the sample block was the only scrappy thing I sewed this week.

Last February, one of my heart quilts was published in American Patchwork and Quilting.  I had made a couple of these to donate and I thought they might be fun for a block drive.  The blocks are going to be super simple.

The blocks are simply a 9-patch made with 3.5" cut squares.  They should measure 9.5" once sewn.  The challenge is that they are made from all low volume fabrics.  If you can, try to not repeat any print within a block.  It is okay to use a solid white but please don't put a bunch in a single block.  Use the photo of the quilt in the magazine and the photo of the quilt below to give you a sense of what low volume are.

You can make your blocks white based.  Or you can make your blocks cream based.  Just please don't mix the two background colors in one block.

Here is a photo of the pink and cream based quilt I made.  I will be asking a few of my regular block makers who I know have a deep scrap stash to make some of the heart blocks.  You need 30 different prints for each block. We are going to be making red, pink, purple or a combination of those colors for the hearts.

It is going to be fun to see how these quilts turn out.  I am always a bit nervous when I release a block drive, thinking they are not going to look how I see them in my mind.  But you guys have not disappointed me yet!

If you are still making some of the last block drive blocks, if you can get those to me soon, I will really appreciate it. This block drive will run until the end of May 2025.  If you have any questions or need my address for shipping, send me an email at cynthiabdesigns at gmail dot com.

These quilts made from all these blocks will be distributed as donation quilts.  If you want to know more about Many Hands and Many Hearts, you can read more here.  We will appreciate all the blocks we receive!

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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! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

   Follow Me on Bloglovin'                 Follow Me on Feedly

Friday Finishes

There were a few more finishes to share today.  But now we have run out of prepared quilt labels, so a stack is forming awaiting labels.  (We paint the back of the labels with fabric mod podge to give them a more professional look.)  I hope to get to those this weekend.

We finished up another Jewl Box quilt - this time in the pinkish purples.    We wanted to use up this blue backing with pink and yellow flowers.  This is the 15th quilt from that block drive.  I still have quite a few stacks of these blocks to work through.

I thought this was a fun scrapy quilt design.  Both the top and the backing was sent in from Kristin.  She snagged a ton of kits and fabric for us when a fellow guild member sold her stash.  We are so appreciative!

Remember these Color Stix blocks?  I think this block idea came from our third block drive.  Cathy sent in this quilt top - it was a rainbow scrap challenge quilt. Holly sent in the lovely brown fabric we used for the backing. I still really like how this block looks made with scraps.  I might just have to get some local elves working on making some with all the scraps we have around here.  I am realizing I am unable to keep up!

Sorry I didn't get this post sent out earlier, but I decided to sleep in a bit today.  I have definitely earned a few more hours of sleep!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend

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Linking Up:

  

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)

Alycia Quilts (Finished or not Friday)