The incredible response to the Spread the Love, Quilting for Kids event has been overwhelming and has definitely reaffirmed my feeling that quilters are an amazingly compassionate, generous and kind group of people. Truly!! When I thought about hosting this event I had this idea in the back of my mind where we would provide Amy, owner and creator of A Doll Like Me, with a stack of 25 quilts or so. Well, I can tell you with absolute certainty, we are far beyond that already. I would estimate at least 46 quilts have been shipped. Judging by the daily emails I am receiving, many more are in progress. I am starting to log the entries in the giveaway that will happen on March 1st. (Remember to be eligible for prizes, you must either link up with the linky party I will open from February 25 – 28. Or, you may email me a picture showing each quilt you finish and ship to Amy by February 28th. Each quilt counts as one entry.)
Busy as this event has made me, I am so happy to host it. Sewing for a such a great cause is completely satisfying. This week I made several quilts. I want to share two of them with you today. They are both just adorable and were so simple to construct. For the first one, I used Pandagarden Recess. You might remember I made a whole cloth quilt with this sweet panda bear fabric designed by Katarina Roccella last November. Originally I made a larger crib quilt and used it as a sample to show during quilt shows I was working. Well, this cute line is selling quickly and I don’t have very much left. (But if you are interested, there is still some in the shop!!) I decided to repurpose the quilt and create several doll size quilts. Manufactured by Art Gallery Fabric, this line is so whimsical. I love the palette used by Katarina – black, white, shades of green and the occasional pop of pink.
I was able to cut it into three pieces and retain much of the pandas playing on each quilt. If you remember, it is backed with the fabric called Hidden Panda. So much fun and I am so happy to be able to take that whole cloth quilt and share it with more children.
Next I used the LOVE Blooms fabric, from the Capsules line produced by Art Gallery Fabric. To begin, I fussy cut four rectangles that contained the word LOVE. I knew that was the word I wanted to build off of. I took a light blue Pure Element solid called Tranquil Waters (also by Art Gallery) and sashed the four rectangles. Once the center was sashed and assembled, I added a border using Window View in Spring. This piece is from the Happy Home line designed by Caroline Hulse , for Art Gallery. The abstract floral is so sweet and adds lovely color to this tiny quilt.
I took advantage of the size of this quilt and practiced my free motion quilting – I love having these smaller projects to practice on. I suspect the recipient of this little quilt will not be looking at my stitches with a critical eye! First I did a quick outline of the blocky letters spelling LOVE. Then I did a stipple over the outermost border. Because of the pattern on that fabric, the quilting doesn’t show up well. I decided to just do a basic stipple since it won’t be readily visible. For the solid blue sashing I had thought of quilting words over it to express love for this little child. When I told Julia, she thought it might not be effective because the child might not be able to read. Instead, I hopped over the my all-time favorite quilting site, The Inbox Jaunt, and searched for heart motifs. When I found this one, I doodled it on paper for a while. It was a breeze to quilt and looks so sweet on the rows of light blue between the LOVE rectangles. On the outer blue borders, I quilted loops and flowers.
For both quilts, I machine stitched the binding to the back side, folded it to the front and used a zig-zag stitch to attach it to the front. The stitch is decorative and I am hoping these quilts are played with and used constantly. This will require lots of laundering and the machine stitched binding might be a bit sturdier than a hand stitched.
Both of these quilts will be sitting on the sewing table for a couple of days while I finish up a couple of others that are nearly done. Then they will travel to Wisconsin to live at Amy’s until she sends them off to a child who needs them.
Before I close, I want to show you a picture or two to pique your interest in the prizes I will be giving at the end of February. I still cannot get over the generous support provided by Art Gallery Fabric. When this box arrived yesterday I just squealed. There is a whole lot of gorgeous fabric there. For now though, this is all I am showing you!! Come back Monday and I will give you a closer look. I am truly honored to have the support of this amazing company.
Linking to my favorite parties – click on the Link Up tab at the top of the page for more info.
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I posted about a quilt for A Doll Like Me. Check it out. https://needleandfoot.com/2018/02/09/doll-quilts-galore/
Elana…I’m heading over to read it now!
Art Gallery Fabrics is probably one of my tippie top favorite fabric companies.
The doll quilts are adorable and they are really such a pleasure to make!!
AGF is my favorite as well. The feel of their fabric is so silky. Love it!!
I am sitting here already matching outfits to these!!! hahaha.
That panda one, though…. <3
I love that fabric! I have more and will be able to make another quilt with that leftover piece.
Will she still accept quilts after March 1st? Work has been crazy lately!
Absolutely!! Not a problem.
oh I’m so glad to hear it! I’m so excited to be able to help!
These quits are incredibly adorable! And yes, Art Gallery fabric is wonderful, both in feel and design. They are high on my list of very favorites.
Squee! as the younger ones write or eeeep! as I tend to, ha but WOW! Art Gallery Fabrics ROCK! Which I knew, being the proud owner of many many of the beauties. I wrote about my first doll quilt finish and linked it up today; will be emailing you for mailing info for Amy after I write this. Love the panda quilt aww! Wonderful the momentum of this project Bernie! I’ve heard from a few readers of mine who intend to get on the wagon with us!
Loved the article. How large are these quilts, I would love to dfo something similar f oir the children’s hospital or shriners. Thank you.
We have been making them about 22-25” square. Anything close to that size seems to make a nice doll quilt. Great idea to support your local children’s hospital
Adorable quilts, Bernie! I’m so glad to hear that Amy has gotten so much support 🙂
It makes me very happy too. Such a wonderful response. 😊
Thank you so much for your caring heart and for organizing. The timing is just too much for me to be able to contribute right now, but I love seeing all the quilts being made for this!
I know what a busy time this is for you. Don’t even worry. The response has been amazing. If you decide to make one down the road, there is always going to be the need. You do many charitable projects. This one just didn’t happen at the right time for you. ☺️
Bernie those quilts are just adorable!! I am so happy for the response you’ve gotten on this.
I am also thrilled for you that AG is supporting you in such a wonderful way. All of these responses, from individuals as well as companies, should prove beyond all doubt how right it was for you to start your own business – congratulations! 🙂
I hope your health is good and the migraines are staying away.
Hi Linda, thank you for the sweet note. I am grateful to Art Gallery for their amazing generosity-they are such a great company to work with. As for migraines, January and this first part of February have been pretty darn good. Makes me happy to have a nice increase in good days!
Yay! I pray it stays that way. 🙂
So fun to see your panda quilt again, and to know that now three kids can enjoy it! I love the variety of quilting you did on the Love quilt–and the decorative stitching on the binding. I have no zig zag machines–the one regret I have, because I love how it looks on edges. (I suppose that could be a reason to look for one more antique machine?) The Love fabric is perfect for this little quilt, and some child is going to feel that love for sure. Thank you again for all you are doing to promote your fantastic idea for these quilts. You are giving a lot of quilters a reason to enjoy February sewing!
Aw, thank you Janine. Sometimes we come across just the perfect thing to support. To me that is A Doll Like Me. No zig zag? Seems reason enough to scout out another machine!
I am enjoying seeing so many of these little quilts around the web.