Category Archives: Donation Quilts

Bushfire Tree Blocks for Australia

Currently many quilters are making tree theme quilt blocks to donate to the Woolongong Modern Quilt Guild in Australia. This chapter of the MQG is making quilts for the families who lost their homes in the currently raging bushfires. As a native of California, I am too familiar with the devastation of wildfires and am happy to contribute a few blocks to the cause.

Here is some of the information as posted by the Woolongong MQG on their Facebook page. If you hop over to their Facebook page, there are some blocks shown for inspiration. You will likely see many on the other quilt blogs right about now. Side note – if you are following RSC2020, this is the perfect month to make the tree blocks since the scrap color for January is green.

How you can help:
We have decided to make tree blocks. The tree is a symbol of growth and nourishment. A tree symbolizes the generations of a family; a tree sprouts from a seed, the roots provide strength and stability, and whilst the new sapling is young and vulnerable they are protected by the other trees until they grow and flourish. In time the branches spread and then create new fruit that gives life to the next generation.

There is no restriction to one type of tree block. We would love our quilts to be beautiful and diverse just like our wonderful communities ….. If you would like to help, please make a tree block of a generous 12.5 inch square using a low volume / white or pale grey background. Once completed please send to:

Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild
PO Box 54
Jamberoo New South Wales
AUSTRALIA 2533

We are going to distribute the quilts made to the families who have lost everything. We would like to ask that blocks be mailed for arrival by the end of February. We thank you in advance for your support. #bushfireblocks

For my blocks, I chose to use the tutorial written by Kirsty Cleverly over at Bonjour Quilts. It is a bit different than some of the other blocks and I like the look of it. Plus, they come together quickly. Aren’t they cute? I like the three tones of green in each one.

There are certainly other tree blocks you might choose to make. This pine tree block is really cute and simple. The tree portion (it was drafted for a pillow) creates a 12 1/2″ block which is great for this. The Tree of Life block is traditional and lovely but oh my, so many HST’s. If you are interested though, here is a tutorial over at Fat Quarter Shop.

Post Update: I just learned of an incredible tutorial for another tree block! Designed by Linda at Flourishing Palms, she created the tree to emulate the shape of Australia. I love it! Click here for a well written tutorial for this cool block.

I know there are plans to set up a station at QuiltCon in February to collect blocks. If you know someone going to the show, or if you are going, it might be nice to gather blocks from quilters local to you and contribute them there. This will certainly will save on mailing expenses. Our local guild is making blocks and I am hopeful there will be quite a few to mail in. (If you happen to be a local member, please bring your blocks to the Tuesday night meeting in February!). Hoping you’ll be moved to make a block or two for this worthy cause – Happy Weekend everyone!!

Linking to my usual places including Brag About Your Beauties over at From Bolt to Beauty and Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is Better Than Housework.

Odds & Ends

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I am supposed to be at a class today. I have been really looking forward to it – Mel Beach came up from the South Bay to teach a workshop for our guild. But, as you can probably guess, the past two days were migraine days and I am wiped out today. It seemed ‘too difficult’ to cart the sewing machine and supplies and be in class, listening and comprehending a technique today. The day or two after a migraine are just weary for me. So, I am home.

I thought I would catch up with you. It has been a while since I have shared the Mercyful Quilts I’ve received. They are just gorgeous, I am sure you will agree!

Six new beautiful quilts for Mercy Hospital!

As always, the quilts are stunning. Each one is so unique and more beautiful than the last. Mercy Hospital’s Palliative Care team is so grateful for these. I hope you know how much your work and generosity are appreciated by staff and the families who are given these comforting, loving quilts. If this program is new to you, read this post and this one to see what it is all about!

I could drool over these Art Gallery bolts all day long.

I have been running out of space in the shop so I ordered a wire shelving rack. It is now filled with Art Gallery Fabric, my favorite of all fabric. Isn’t it a pleasure to look at this and just think of the projects one could make??? I have a box of AGF arriving today and I can’t wait. There will be a couple of new colors from the Pure Elements solid line as well as a few more from Maureen Cracknell’s Sun Kissed line. It’s like Christmas morning every time a box shows up!!

Did you have any idea of all the choices??

I am out of Mary Ellen’s Best Press and went to order a bottle on-line. Did you have any idea of the number of scents it is made with? I thought there was just the regular Mary Ellen’s – this caught me by surprise. Just what do you suppose “Caribbean Beach” smells like?? Of course I ordered unscented. I am not a fan of fragrance – not in lotion, creams – none of it. This was news to me. (I lead such an exciting life.)

OK – Better get busy. My project for today is to make a couple of simple curtains for the Downieville house. There is a stairwell off the kitchen, leading to the basement and it has a couple of windows. Those windows are single pane and can be quite warm in summer and chilly in winter. I am going to use this vintage sheet and line them with a heavy muslin. I think that will help and they will look cute. The old fashioned floral is perfect for the house. I have an old curtain from the window to use for measurements so this should be a quick project. (if my post-migraine brain cooperates.) Wish me luck!

If you haven’t yet read the fantastic comments and discussion on this post, please do! So many quilters are sharing their mistakes and quilting blunders. So funny to read these and very validating!! There is time to enter a comment sharing your experience as well. ( I am definitely reading all of them and trying to comment on most – it has been a challenge because of my head.) Prizes are offered!! Winners drawn Saturday morning. Go check it out.

Guest Posting at Confessions Of a Fabric Addict Today

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Good morning! Just popping in to let you know I am guest posting over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict today. I am thrilled to tell you that Mercyful Quilts is one of the recipients of the quilts made for the 2019 Hands2Help event hosted each year by Sarah!!

Each day this week on Sarah’s blog, a representative for the charitable organizations receiving quilts this year is posting about their group or charity. I have a post about Mercyful Quilts on her blog today. I hope you will hop over to read more about the event and if you choose to, it would be great to sign up and participate! Check back each day this week and learn more about the other wonderful groups you might want to make a quilt for.

Thanks to Sarah for hosting this amazing annual event. This is the ninth year of Hands2Help!! Amazing, right? Thus far, over 1,450 quilts have been made and donated to a variety of groups. I have participated a couple of times and it is very rewarding!

Have a great day everyone!

VIntage Panel Finish

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Happy Friday everyone! It has been really busy here between the shop, the usual migraine nonsense and… wait for it…. getting ready to leave for Vermont! I am going to be watching my grand daughter for three weeks. Her mama has to go to Washington DC for a month long training session and asked if I would come and help out while my son is with H. He commutes a fair bit to work and back which makes H’s daycare time much longer if he is on his own with her. Between that and snow days and the usual illnesses she is always coming down with, it will be good to have another person there. I am looking forward to it as much as my DIL is NOT looking forward to it. You know? I feel terrible for her to have to leave for so long. She is a medical resident in Radiology at the University of Burlington and has known this was coming for the last several years but now that it is actually time to go, ugh! She is such a trooper and is trying to make the best of a lousy situation.

I have been cooking meals and freezing them so Ray and Julia don’t have to cook quite as much while I am gone. They both have long days and it will be nice to have a few things they can just pull out of the freezer and heat up. Also, my friend Sophia has been coming over and learning to run my shop for me. She is such a good friend and I am incredibly grateful she is able to do this for me. She will cut orders and ship them for the next few weeks. I have known her for a long while and we are both into quilting and sewing. She will have everything under control while I am away!

I did play a bit in the sewing room this week, though not as much as I would have liked (is there ever enough hours in the day?). I had four custom orders, two are finished and the other two are prepped to be completed today.

Inspired by watching Marie Kondo on Netflix the other day, I thought I would clear out some old fabric that just wasn’t ‘sparking joy’ for me any longer and give it away. But as soon as I sat down and started going through things, I found this panel I had picked up at a garage sale last fall. That was the end of the Konmari cleaning effort!

I just love this panel. I did several reverse image searches to try and find it on-line and see what line it was from. One person on Facebook or Instagram (?) commented that she made pillow cases with it in the 1980’s for her children. So it is an older fabric. I wasn’t sure what to do with it but finally decided to make a doll quilt with it for A Doll Like Me. It is so pretty and, at 22″ x 26″, just the right size for this.

I found a batting scrap and some backing fabric and quickly put it all together.

I love the pig and unicorn both!

The quilting is basic since it really doesn’t show up and the animals are the star of the show here.

Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!

I free motioned around most of the animals and some of the vines to hold everything together. Around the outer border I FMQ’d flowers. That was good practice as I am really rusty these days.

The backing and binding were also a thrift store find – I believe it was an older RJR print. Great colors thought, right??

Don’t you love making something start to finish with bits of fabric you already have. The stack of fabric in my closet holds so much potential. I will keep this little quilt and mail it to Amy when I have a few more things to add to it.

Time to go finish up those two orders. Also need to make meatballs for the freezer. Yesterday I had a roast in the crockpot for shredded BBQ Beef sandwiches. I am filling our freezer!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Ours will be gray and rainy out, as it has been all week. The wet weather inspired me to cut a few gray and white fat quarter bundles for the shop. Aren’t these pieces wonderful? Included are flowers, stripes and text prints by Carrie Bloomston, Alison Glass and Sarah Fielke! Click the link if you want to add them to your stash. 🙂

Linking to my usual sites. Check them out at the top of the page under link ups!

Twisted Quilt is Finished!

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I haven’t finished a quilt for such a long time. This one feels great! Partly because I started it in June, 2017 so it has been around for a while. But also in part because I am donating it to the Mercyful Quilt drive that I have been hosting over these past weeks.

Surely I am not alone in the feeling of intention that comes along when making a quilt for a specific purpose. When I began making this quilt, I chose it because I love the Twisted pattern, the lattice look of it. I was happy because I mainly used scrappy bits that I had in my stash. It was just a nice project. However as I began quilting it, I knew it would be a nice piece to donate to the Palliative Care unit at Mercy Hospital. Once I decided to donate it, my mind constantly wandered, thinking about the purpose of this particular quilt.

I chose to use a grid pattern for the open sections within the lattice. This was a bit time consuming. I did mark the lines with a Frixion pen – though they still have some wobble to them. But I wanted them to be as straight and uniform as I could get them. I marked and quilted a one inch grid on each spot. This gave me plenty of time to think while I quilted.

As my mind wandered, I found myself thinking about the family who might choose my quilt for their special family member who was actively in the dying process. I do not hold any grand illusion that because they have this quilt in hand, the process becomes easy. I have been there. I know that whether given one, or twenty five, handmade quilts, the process doesn’t become easier. But it is something. It might reduce the sterility of the hospital room a tiny bit. Maybe taking the quilt home will bring comfort to the family as they grieve. It gave me great satisfaction to think that maybe by donating this quilt, I am bringing a little bit of solace to the family as well as comfort to the person who died.

Modern, bright florals on the front and soft roses on the back. So sweet.

Since starting this quilt drive, I have received so many comments that compliment the staff who support patients as they die. Many of us feel the same – that this is such a special calling and certainly a very difficult job much of the time. Collectively we are grateful for these angels who are able to provide care for patient and family at this time of life. Personally, when I think of someone dying, I almost always find myself remembering when my first husband died. It is only natural I suppose; this was a huge, life altering event in my, and my childrens’, life. He died in 1994 after experiencing an aneurysm in his brain stem. He was flown to a trauma care hospital and they took care of him (and me) for the next two days.

This was such a stressful, terrifying time in my life. I was only 33 and he was 36. We had three young children. I spent that weekend in a shocked, fearful state of mind. The staff there were amazing. Mark had a nurse that spent about 36 hours with him, without going home. She just stayed with both of us. I remember asking her how she could do this job. I asked her why she stayed so long, and how many of her patients actually survived. She sat with me and explained she felt honored to care for him and me both as we faced this change. She told me that less than 20% of her patients survived. But she felt called to do this work. She told me that most of the nursing staff don’t last a very long time in this type of work, but for the time she was able to, she wanted to do this type of nursing. She was an angel and while I can hardly remember her face, I do remember her words.

There was also a chaplain who came in and out quite a number of times to check on me. Memories of him are a bit of a blur but I know he was there and supportive. At a time like this, there are many decisions to make and having someone who wasn’t emotionally involved is so important. I am not sharing all of this as a call for pity. I am fine and my boys are fine. We will always miss Mark but memories of him have become a sweet part of our life. I am sharing it to describe how needed and comforting it was to have this team of people who deal with death on a daily basis and thus were able help me to deal with it. They helped me to make decisions when I was reeling with shock and grief. Mark wanted to be an organ donor and that process was somewhat involved. They told me what to expect next, why they were doing each process, what Mark might be experiencing as time went on. They were such a comfort at such a scary, sad time.

My Mercyful Quilt is backed with a soft vintage sheet.

So, making this quilt caused me to reflect. It gave me time to think about providing what we can to help people we will never meet. I thought about how being kind to a faceless person feels good. Quilting this piece made me realize how important it is to pay it forward. I received comfort from a team such as the one at Mercy Hospital. It is my turn to help the next person going through a difficult time.

Now this one is done so I can look forward to quilting the next one. I have two quilt tops in line to work on. I have a few holiday projects in process but I think it is ok to work on those first and then tackle the next Mercyful quilt.

Mercyful Quilts – destined to bring comfort to others.

Look at the stack that is waiting to be picked up! I believe we are at twenty quilts so far and more are on the way. My gratitude intention for Thanksgiving this year is easy. I am over the top grateful for each of you and the amazing, gorgeous quilts you are sending to me for Mercy Hospital. Quilts have arrived from Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Massachusetts and all over California. AMAZING!! I hope you will continue to feel a desire to work on this drive. Share it with your quilting groups, post about it on your blog or Instagram feed and tag it #Mercyfulquilts. The need is ongoing. If you cannot contribute a quilt, you may want to make a couple of blocks for Covered in Love. This program serves the same need at a hospital in Texas.

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Linking this finish up at a few fun places. Check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

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Spread the Love, Quilting for Kids – Wrap Up

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I don’t think I can really articulate all that this Spread the Love, Quilting for Kids event has meant to me, but I am going to try. This is likely to be a long post…. Bear with me.

When I first read about Amy and her shop, A Doll Like Me, I knew she was special. I knew the work she does is really important and so valuable. But I didn’t know what all would happen when I put out the call to the quilting community to make doll quilts for A Doll Like Me. I didn’t realize how much I would come to enjoy working with Amy. I didn’t know I was going to have the opportunity to become friends with her and get to know about her family and what is important to her about this work she does. Also, I had no idea I would make so many new friends within the quilting community. I hadn’t a clue how much support my family would pour into this project. My sisters that sew, made blankets, quilts and gowns, my family donated financial support to the Go Fund Me campaign for A Doll Like Me. My nephew works for Go Fund Me and he took Amy’s campaign to his management team – they loved it and donated $1,000 to it.

Kindness begets kindness. It has this incredibly powerful, trickle down effect. Let’s take a look at the flow of kindness within this event. I think it is so important.

Amy made a doll for a friend’s child. Kind act #1
Her friend showed it to another friend. Kind act #2
That friend asked for a special doll with a limb difference for her child and Amy made it for her. Hugely Kind Act #3
The friend shared the doll and Amy’s world changed. A Doll Like Me began. Hugely Kind Act #4
Sometime later, Elana of That Fabric Feeling somehow connected with Amy and offered to make doll quilts for her. Amazingly Kind Act #5
Elana posted about the doll quilts on her blog, thereby sharing the need with the online quilting community. Kind Act #6
I randomly stumbled on to the posts about Elana’s doll quilts. Random and happy occurence!
I decide this needs to be shared as a community event so more people can participate, thus creating Spread the Love, Quilting for Kids. Kind Act #7
Art Gallery Fabric offers me an amazingly generous number of prizes to offer and hopefully encourage participation so Amy would have a large stash of quilts to use in her work. Kind and Generous Act #8
My family reads about my work (they are such faithful blog readers!) and decide to contribute financially via the Go Fund Me campaign for A Doll Like Me. Kind Act #9
My nephew finds out about these donations from his mom (my sister) and takes it to the management at Go Fund Me. They donate $1,000 to the campaign. Hugely generous and Surprising Kind Act #10
Quilters take this event and announce it at their guilds, their sewing groups, their on-line community and I start receiving emails, lots of emails, asking if they can continue to contribute after the February event concludes. I can’t remember how many groups contacted me but it was at least ten. Kind Acts #11 through 20 or so?
My sister, who lives in the UK, offers to be a collection point so that quilters in the UK can participate without having to mail their quilts to the states. They are mailing their donation to Juanita and she will collect them, package them up and send them to Amy. Kind Act #21
A quilter in Canada offers to do the same thing so the participants in Canada won’t be paying such high postage expenses. Debbie is collecting the Canadian doll quilts and will package them up and send them to Amy. Kind Act #22
Doll quilts start arriving – I have received pictures of well over 200 doll quilts so far. Promises of more are in the works. I have heard tales of how meaningful this has been to so many quilters, how much they have enjoyed taking part in this and thinking of these kids who will have their Doll Like Me and also a quilt to wrap up their baby. So, let’s try to quantify this and say these are Kind Acts #23 – 228. I know there are more quilts in process but this gets the idea across, right?
Quilters ask what else they can do. Amy says ‘well, I would like to have some doll size hospital gowns for kids facing a hospital stay.’ So far I know of fifteen hospital gowns that are finished and sent. Also two more doll outfits. More are in the works, but for now this will be Kind Acts #229 – 246.

See how this works? Kindness begets kindness. Small acts grow, more people get involved, more compassion is extended, and people feel intrinsically rewarded; it feels good to be kind. That warm feeling of satisfaction causes kind acts to happen more and more. One mom is using this project as a teaching tool. She has five children and has committed to making five quilts, one with each child helping her. Those kids will likely benefit and become more compassionate for others, more sympathetic to the needs of others. How will they use that lesson in compassion as they grow? Who knows, but you know it will affect them in a positive manner.

I cannot thank everyone enough. You are all so amazing. Want to see some of the quilts that were made?

I didn’t think it was feasible to upload over 200 pictures so I just made a few collages. So many fun quilts though. I am sorry I couldn’t share every single quilt. They are all outstanding. Included in these special quilts are applique, strip quilts, animals, patchwork, Dr. Suess, Sesame Street, Raggedy Ann, flowers, tractors, and even race cars. Whether modern or traditional, each one is unique and so special.

This community grabbed on to the idea of helping children. It spoke to so many of us. It felt good to do something positive. To have something meaningful to work on as we deal with one senseless tragedy after another in this world we live in.

So many amazing, adorable, hand made quilts in all shapes, colors and styles. These tiny quilts aren’t going to change the world but we are giving something special to a child who needs our love, maybe just a bit more than the other kids.

Look at these sweet hospital gowns, pajamas and clothes that have been made so far.

When I was talking to my friend Mari about this doll quilt event I was dreaming up, I asked what she thought – she said there would be an overwhelming response. She nailed it, didn’t she? Do you know what? One quilter made seventeen doll quilts! She was on a tear (no pun intended!), making one after another; an example of the kindness spreading throughout the community.

Let’s talk about those gorgeous fat quarter bundles offered up by Art Gallery Fabrics! Each person who emailed me pictures of their quilts has been entered once for each quilt they shared with me. Also an extra entry was made if the person made hospital gowns or outfits. You may continue to email me pictures of completed items through February 28th.

Quilt bloggers who have gotten involved can share their posts by linking up below. The link up will remain open through February 28th. When I read through the link ups, I will enter the blogger once for each quilt shared on the post. I hope you will take a few minutes and check out the other posts. I am sure you will come away inspired and gratified.

On March 1st I will have the fun task of picking ten winners via Random Number Generator. I will email the winners and ask for their mailing information. If you are a winner, please email me your information within two days. Otherwise, I will pick another winner. Does this all make sense? If you have questions, leave them in the comments and I will get back to you.

I am so energized by the response from all of you. You are amazing, generous people and there are no words to accurately describe how gratifying this has been. Thank you for all of the time and effort you have poured into these sweet quilts over the last several weeks. Thanks in advance for the quilts promised to A Doll Like Me in the future. I know Amy is overwhelmed by the response and also very grateful.

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More Sweet Things for A Doll Like Me

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Hi everyone! I have a few more finishes to share with you for the Spread the Love event. Remember this doll quilt drive is in support of A Doll Like Me, and will run through the end of the month. I have a box filled with donations for Amy and plan to send it off tomorrow.

In the box are a number of doll quilts (made by me as well as a couple of local guild members) and three hospital gowns. Amy has asked for the gowns because she wants to include one with the doll when she knows the child has a hospital stay in their near future. What a cute idea and how therapeutic it is for the child to dress his or her doll in a gown when she will also be wearing one. You can see the gowns up above from the front. I used this free pattern to cut the gowns out and used a simple narrow, double fold bias tape for the neck and ties in the back. They can be made out of a fat quarter or similarly sized scrap and take no time at all.

Doll size hospital gown, back side

Next on the list of projects to mail is this I Spy Quilt. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and finally got it quilted and bound. I used a black and whit polka dot fabric for the binding but it is pretty wonky. I do love the variety of fun fabrics used and think it will be a cute on for a child to play with.

The backing is a piece of fabric I have had in my stash for years. It has lots of animals scattered about and will be another fun one for a game of I Spy.

This Fire Truck Quilt is one of my favorites – you know I am a sucker for anything with a vintage look to it! The red and yellow combination is so sweet.

Determined to use only fabrics from my stash, I used red and yellow scraps for the quilt, sashing, backing and binding. It came together nicely and will surely be loved by its new owner when Amy decides to send it off to a child.

Just an update on the progress of this doll quilt drive. I have recorded more than 135 quilts finished and shipping at this point. Promises of many more are made. How amazing is that???

Here is a photo of some projects made by my sisters. Flannel blankets, a hospital gown, ruffles and flowers, trucks and cement mixers — perfect for A Doll Like Me!! I am so happy they wanted to make and contribute these.

Finally, I have had a few readers ask if there is a way to contribute to A Doll Like Me financially. Because of the costs of shipping, the fabric and accessories to make the doll, stuffing for the dolls, and most especially the need to fund dolls for families who cannot afford one, there is a Go Fund Me account. If you feel you would like to contribute, that is wonderful. Donations can be in any amount, don’t feel it has to be a large amount of money; five or ten dollar donations add up and are very helpful. The quilting community has given so much to Amy’s cause so please don’t feel pressured to make a monetary gift.

Remember if you are making quilts, you can email me for the shipping information. Any questions? Leave a comment and I will get right back to you. Thanks everyone!

Come back on Wednesday the 21st because I will be sharing the blogger bundle for February. Curated by Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter, it does not disappoint!!

Linking to many fun places – check them out at the top of the page under Link Ups.

Doll Quilts Galore

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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.

Doll Quilt Inspiration

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This morning I want to share my progress on the doll quilts I am making for the February Spread the Love event. If you haven’t yet read about this creative and inspiring event, please hop over here and read this post. Then come back for more!

So far I have two quilts finished, one ready to quilt, and another still in pieces on the design wall. The first one I made was a simple patchwork. I had a charm pack of solid colors from Connecting Threads. I cut the charms into four pieces and arranged them on the diagonal. I had some cute polka dot scraps that are from the Henry Glass line, Modern Tykes which made a cute border. Quilting was simple lines following the seams and a few loops in the border.

I had a cute striped sheet and used a piece of it as the backing. My only regret with this quilt is the size. At 16″ x 18″, it is a bit on the small size.

For this quilt I had some Joel Dewberry fabric that has been sitting on the shelf. A long while back, I started making City Sampler blocks from the Tula Pink book. But I don’t like the blocks. I have learned so much about color since starting that project and I know I will never finish these as a quilt. So I picked one, placed it in the center and built around it. It looks so cute that I will likely make more with these leftover blocks.

The backing is an older Moda print from my stash. This quilt is a bit bigger, 17 x 21 inches, but I still think it is a bit small. I quilted a rectangular spiral with my walking foot. I think these doll quilts are the perfect projects to practice my quilting. Whether it be free motion or walking foot, the small size is just right.

I decided to make this I-Spy quilt next. Last year I won a a set of I-Spy charms from a giveaway over at Val’s Quilting Studio. It was fun to pick through and use some for this little quilt. I arranged several rows of blocks and added a narrow rows of black and red polka dot fabrics. Hopefully the child receiving this will enjoy playing I-Spy and looking for the fun objects contained in the quilt! It needed width so I put a larger border of black on the sides. It still needs a narrow black border at the top and bottom to finish it off. It should finish at 21 x 24 inches and for whatever reason, this seems like a nice, generous size.

I want to thank everyone for your excitement about this project. The gift of your time and creativity will be much appreciated by the families that receive your quilt with their doll. A couple of readers showed interest in also making some doll clothes for Amy. I checked with her and she would happily welcome doll clothes made to fit an 18″ doll. I have seen patterns available both at Jo-Ann’s and occasionally at thrift stores. One thing Amy mentioned is she would especially like pajamas and hospital gowns for the dolls. Remember, she is providing ‘a doll like me’ and some of these children have more than their fair share of hospital stays and periods of recuperation. Having their doll wear a hospital gown would be another way the doll is like the child.

Also, I have set up a process for quilters in the UK. My sister lives outside of London and she is happy to be a central point for any quilts. So, this means if you are a quilter in the UK and want to participate, you would mail your quilt to my sister. She will gather them and then send them to Amy in Wisconsin. I am very happy about this because otherwise, the shipping expense might prevent a quilter from being able to participate. If you know of quilters in the UK who might want to participate, please share this event with them! If you are in the UK and want more info, email me or leave a comment.

Keep the questions coming, either by commenting on this post or emailing me at needleandfoot at gmail dot com. Thanks so much for participating! I can’t wait to see some doll quilts. Have a great weekend!

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Pillowcases for Kids

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I found myself with a bit of time to sew over the weekend. One of the people I follow on Instagram, Caroline or @stitchesbrew, is involved with foster children who are aging out of the system. She has been collecting handmade items (mainly quilts and pillowcases) to give to these 18 year olds who are trying to make a go of it on their own. I think this is a very worthwhile effort and I am happy to support it. Eighteen years old is so young to be completely on your own and while pillowcases and quilts won’t make it easy, it will let the kids know that someone cares about them.

In an afternoon, I was able to put together three pillowcases for the kids. I used some sweet fabric that my sister gave me a few months ago. (You might remember reading about this but if not, here is the post.) Making these three cases hardly made a dent in the yardage she gave to me. I know she is happy that some of the fabric was used for such a good cause.

The large scale of the fabrics lends well to something like these pillowcases. I added a tiny stripe of Daysail by Bonnie and Camille to add a pop of color.

These pillowcases go together so quickly. I used the ‘burrito tutorial’ that was posted by Leslie of The Seasoned Homemaker. If you haven’t tried this method before, give it a try. It is foolproof and the results are very polished.

These are packaged up and ready to be mailed to Michigan. Hopefully they will bring a smile to the recipients.

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