Sunday, March 17, 2024

Oh Scrap! : String Blocks

A few posts back, I was saying that I was going to be one Veteran quilt short for the next hospital delivery.  Well, Wilma to the rescue!

Wilma had emailed me to ask if I could use some string blocks, Last week I received 30 string blocks that she had made in RWB.  It didn't take me long to sew them up and get them made into a quilt.



I really do love a good string quilt.  There are just so many wonderful prints in each block.



My friend Janet came over and organized all the fabric.  Then she decided she was going to pick the backing fabric out for this one.  I don't think she wanted me to mess up her nice stacks. 😂

This quilt measures 50 x 60".

A few other folks have asked if they can make string blocks from their scraps.  ABSOLUTELY!
I would love them all trimmed to 10.5" please.


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

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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Happy National Quilting Month.  
Connecting Threads is having a sale with free shipping!



Friday, March 15, 2024

Some Friday Finishes

A few more finished quilts to share today.



This finish is another quilt top that was rescued from an estate sale by my neighbor.  It was all finished - just waiting to be quilted.  I am so happy it will now go on to make someone smile.



Dorothy had donated this pink leaf fabric.    It was perfect for the back!

This quilt measure about 62" square.



Another Happy Quilt crossed the finish line.  This one makes 64 completed quilts from this drive.
There are still many more to go!

This quilt is all about bicycles. One of my local friends sewed this one up for me.



Bikes and sunflowers (thanks Joan) on the back - such a fun combination!

This quilt measures 48 x 56".



Check out this cute quilt.  Kristi sent this to me to be quilted.  I handed it off to a local quilter Cindy and then passed it off to Chris who sewed on the binding for me.  I so appreciate all the help I am getting on all these quilts!

And a big thanks to my friend Janet who still came over to help me photograph quilts even though she was not feeling well.



I was able to find a couple pieces in my stash to make the backing.  On these smaller quilts, I try not to use my bigger cuts of fabric, so I try to make do with two cuts.

I currently have a huge stack of quilts waiting for the binding to be sewn.  So I bet I will have lots more to share next week!



I am starting to see some blocks arrive for the newest Veteran block drive.  I have one more (I think) log cabin top to sew up and then I will more onto these Churn Dash quilts.  If you are interested in making some blocks, you can read about them here.  This drive lasts until the end of May.  Last year we made 26 quilts - will we exceed that this year?

Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!



Happy National Quilting Month.  
Connecting Threads is having a sale with free shipping!



 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Many Hands and Many Hearts

A few posts back, I said I had some exciting news to share.  Well, I am finally ready to reveal it.

When I started making these compassion quilts, I never dreamed it would grow as quickly as it has.  I was expecting to make about a half dozen quilts every few months. But we are now averaging about 40 quilts a month!

So I have decided to go ahead and become official and turn this into a not-for profit organization.  It is going to take some time and will be so much work. But I am ready with the help of others to do this.  

The hardest first step was coming up with a name.

I am going with.....Many Hands and Many Hearts
(I already bought the domain, but it is not published yet.)



I didn't want a post with no photos, so I thought sharing this quilt with you was perfect. I raided a friend's scraps and found a whole bunch of batik squares already cut to 6".  
Very quickly, a quilt top was made.


So back to Many Hands and Many Hearts.  I finally realized that we had reached a point where it really made sense to become official.  Even though you have been so generous with your block making and fabric donations, there still are a lot of costs associated with making this many quilts a month.  So having a team (board) to help me fundraise is becoming really necessary.  Financially, I cannot sustain this all by myself much longer.  Plus, I fully expect things to continue to grow. 

Soon I hope to have the website up and some labels printed with the logo for the quilts.  I just need to find someone to help me with all that.  I know it is all fairly simple but my days are pretty busy doing lots of other stuff!




I wanted to share this quilt today because Laura quilted in these pretty hearts.
This quilt measures 48" x 63".


Achieving all this will probably take about 6 to 9 months.  So I am really hoping to have everything done by the end of the year.  But once we have 501(c)(3) status, I will be able to do things like apply for the Give Back Box (which will save many of you a lot of money in freight). I can also use that status to get discounts on supplies and other items.

I did start up a GoFundMe to start fundraising for the attorney and governmental fees for accomplishing all of this.  I expect there will also be fees for organizing the website and such.

I will continue to keep all of you up to date on the progress.  All of you really built this by donating your hands and your hearts to make it what is today.  I really do appreciate all of you!

If you want to read more about this, you can check out the Many Hands and Many Hearts page.  There you will find links to all of the past block drives along with the current one.  There are also other ways you can help out.

Oh, and I did set up a new Instagram account where I will be sharing more information and quilt photos.
You will find it at https://www.instagram.com/manyhandsandmanyhearts/.

Hope you are having a fantastic week!



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Sunday, March 10, 2024

Oh Scrap! : From Leftovers

 Sometimes quilts happen very quickly!



I was actually doing a bit of clean up in the stash and came across a number of autumn-colored big scraps.  Most of them were trimmings from backing.  It was easy to see the quilt hidden in them.

I quickly sketched out a block and got to cutting all those scraps up.  
In no time at all I had a finished quilt top.


I was gifted this great angel backing fabric.  The colors are perfect!

I have a new elf to help with quilting.  Laura just got a longarm and is using some of these quilts to practice on.  Her machine is computerized and getting used to the programing takes a lot of time. She did a wonderful job on this quilt - she put in some loops and lovely leaves to go with the fall theme.

I am so grateful for all the help I am getting on these quilts!

This quilt measures 54" x 63".

Do you sometimes see a quilt in a pile of 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

                                 Follow Me on Bloglovin'                 Follow Me on Feedly


Friday, March 8, 2024

It’s a Log (Cabin) Jam

 While I wait for some of the new block drive packages to arrive, I have been working on finishing up the quilts from the log cabin drive.

I have lots to share today!



There were a lot of purple blocks donated.  For this quilt I used the purple and white blocks only.  I always have lots of fun playing with different layouts.

This is the 10th log cabin quilt made from the block drive.



I don't have a lot of purple blocks left - which is a good thing because this purple backing might be the last one I have.

This quilt measures 55" x 66".



I decided to move on to some blue blocks for quilt #11.



I have had this water lily fabric for over a year and I was so happy to find it a home.  
This is a really lovely fabric and it was the perfect size!

This quilt is also 55" x 66".



Quilt number 12 is my favorite log cabin quilt so far!  I received a bunch of lovely teal/blue blocks, so I wanted to put them all together in one quilt.  There were four blocks that were pretty much identical, so I put them in the center.  I then added that lovely inner border.  I originally tried to layout the blocs in some half circles around the edge but decided I really liked them just all going one way.  I didn't want another square quilt so I added more of the border print on just the top and the bottom.



Kathie sent me the perfect backing for this one.  I loved this fabric the moment I laid eyes on it.  I really enjoyed hand sewing the binding on this quilt.  I gave it lots of pets!

Speaking of the bindings - Deana asked me if I could use 4 yards of a millennium fabric.  It is a sparkly blue with "2000" printed on it.  I didn't want to use it for a backing or on a quilt top so I cut it all up into 2.5" strips and I have been using it for binding.  Very few people have even notified what it is.  
Every once in a while, I have a clever idea!

I think we should end up with somewhere between 15 and 20 log cabin quilts.  I know some blocks are still on their way.  Then I will get to move onto our next block drive.


Here are the blocks we are making.  If you want to read more about them, you can read this post.  I appreciate all the blocks I can get!







Wednesday, March 6, 2024

A Whole Lot of Scrappy

My postal carrier sure got a workout this week.  Kat sent me a giant boxed filled with miscellaneous items that weren't appropriate for Covered in Love.  Plus, occasionally, blocks from my block drive accidently go her way.  Ooops! I am sure there will be items I will need to send to her in the future.  We work together a lot!

(BTW - if you haven't heard, Kat has started her block drives up again.)



I also received a box of finished quilts from Sandra in the mail.  Check out this scrappy goodness!

It measures about 48 x 60".



Here is the back of the quilt.  What a great way to make the back as fun as the front.



She also sent this scrappy triangle quilt.  This quilt also measures about 48" x 60".  I have always wanted to try making these scrappy blocks.  Hmmm...maybe it can be a future block drive.



On the back of the quilt is this stripe print.  It was hard to get a good photo.  Sandra also added a scrappy binding that really framed up this quilt beautifully.  I fell in love with her bindings - she does them all by machine and uses a fun decorative stitch when she is stitching down the front.  I have never been very successful with this, so I am a bit jealous of her skill.


I was out of Veteran quilts to send in my March hospital delivery, so I checked my shelf and found quite a few RWB string blocks.  I quickly made a few more blocks and made this quilt.  I used my "hashtag" inner border - you can make the border whatever width you want and there is no quilt math necessary.  I had a bunch of red that was already cut to 2.5" so that is what I went with.



Suzanne sent in this really fun swirly backing.  
And I just used more of the red from the front for the binding.

This quilt measures 54" x 64".



On the shelf, I also saw the leftover blocks from last year's block drive.  I played around with them and figured out how to make another quilt from them.  Some of these blocks came in after the block drive ended.  I sure appreciated them now!



I had purchased some Americana backings from Connecting Threads last year.  It has tiny beige stars on it.  I continued with the star motif and used a blue star print for the binding.

This quilt measures 54" x  66".

I usually send three Veteran quilts in each delivery to the hospital but I don't know if I will get a third quilt done in time.  I will just have to send in four next time.




If you haven't heard yet, we are repeating last year's veteran block drive.  So soon I will have lots of Veteran quilts in stock.  I really enjoyed making quilts from these blocks and I think many of you enjoyed making these blocks.  You can read more about the block drive here.

Thanks so much for all of your support!


Sunday, March 3, 2024

Oh Scrap! : Just Add Pansies

Wow!  I actually made a scrappy quilt top this week!

 

Remember these strips of color that I have been making each month?  I finally found an inspiration fabric to make a quilt top out of them.



I was gifted about a yard of some pansy fabric.  I really didn't know what I was going to do with it.  It was small for a backing and it wasn't a great candidate for a binding.  But then I remembered my color strips.  I immediately pulled some pink, purple, green and turquoise and started sewing 2.5" x 8.5" strips to them. (This is essentially my Scrap Mixology Chaser Block)

Now I should share I rarely think about exactly how much fabric I need for a project...
A yard was not enough!


First, I thought this soft gray might work for the last eight blocks I needed.  I made a test block and decided I didn't like it.



Then I remembered this weird green and purple fabric I have had for decades.
I liked it so I finished up all the blocks.




In no time at all, I had finished a quilt top.  I think it works as a scrap quilt.  The pansies are a little unexpected and a nice surprise for someone who likes flowers.

I am just happy to have found a home for some fabrics and some scraps!


I have a second donated pansy piece that is large enough for a backing.  So hopefully I will be able to finish this one up soon. 



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

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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