I have a quick, cute, feel-good finish to share today. I know I am a bit late to the party but I (finally) made a little dress to donate to the Dress a Girl Around the World program. I have read lots of posts over the years about others making these sweet dresses. I am happy to finally have joined in and made one too!
Dress a Girl Around the World is a campaign under the non-profit called Hope 4 Women International. They hope to bring dignity to girls and women throughout the world. It is such a simple thing – wanting a girl to have a dress to wear. They are sent to many different third world countries. While this organization has many goals they are trying to fulfill with the program, it is their basic mission to make girls and women of all ages feel worthy that moves me the most. In so many of these countries, females are undervalued or even not valued at all. While one dress isn’t going to correct the problem, it will bring a smile to the sweet face of a girl who has never had her own dress. Also, many of the people working in these countries and delivering the dresses have said that dressing a girl in a clean dress with the Dress a Girl label attached on the outside, shows this child is being cared for. Sometimes this is enough to ward of predators (criminals involved in human trafficking.) If these little dresses can have this sort of impact even a couple of times over, that is enough reason for me to make one.
Finished seams are a requirement for making these dresses.
There are lots of guidelines for making these dresses. While they originally began by making the dressed with pillow cases, this is no longer the method. Quality cotton fabric is longer lasting and this is what they ask be used in the dresses. If you are interested, you can read about this requirement and others here. The biggest thing is coordinating with an ambassador in your area. There are many available and their contact info can be found here.
This label is sewn to the outside of each dress.
As for me, our local Soroptomist club held a drive to have dresses made by locals who enjoy sewing. I was referred to them and happily made a dress. It was a very simple project and took maybe a couple of hours at most. The little dress looks to be about a size three so for a little one. I hope she loves the fun pink and purple colors and the little heart on the pocket. As you likely already know, I love these sorts of projects – they just have satisfaction and purpose written all over them.
Linking up for the last time with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. Sniff, sniff. I will surely miss reading Amanda Jean’s blog posts and wish her well in her next adventure. Other links ups are found at the top of the page under Link Ups.
Did you happen to read about the series of Quilting Cozy mystery novels in yesterday’s post? If not, go and take a peek. You can enter to win the books in a giveaway too!
Newsletter!
Have you signed up for my newsletter? It is published every month or so and contains information about my shop, new arrivals, sales, and events. Click here to sign up!
The quilts are arriving and I am overjoyed!!! I want to share the stack that have accumulated thus far. They will be picked up by my friend Patty in a few days to bring to Mercy Hospital and I want to journal this event on the blog before the quilts are gone. So far I have received thirteen quilts!! Amazing, right? Patty has been sharing the progress of this quilt drive with her co-workers at the hospital and they are stunned by the generosity of our community. It is very satisfying to call myself a part of this on-line quilting tribe. I couldn’t ask for a sweeter group of people to inspire me to be a kinder person and better quilter!
Axel’s Quilt, Pieced & Quilted by Preeti Harris
The quilt above was the very first quilt to arrive. This is Axel’s Quilt from Preeti who blogs at Sew Preeti Quilts and lives in Washington DC. Thank you Preeti!! Fantastic color, I love the combination of gray and yellow. This is a gorgeous quilt.
Three beauties, pieced and quilted by Shirley Bruner.
Above you see three gorgeous quilts. Each one was sent to me by my friend Shirley Bruner from Missouri. Her blog is called The World According to Me and she pieced and quilted each of these. The blue and green quilt in the middle is flannel backed making it extra cozy.
A few things of note – I love the outlined hummingbirds, they appear to be in flight and did you notice she constructed the flower baskets with selvages? Very creative!! Thank you so much Shirley!
Two colorful quilts, pieced and quilted by Adele, @bayougirlquilts
These two quilts came all the way from Metairie, Louisiana! Adele D. sent them to me. I don’t know Adele very well (yet!) but I did peek at her Flickr account, @bayougirlquilts and she is very talented!! There is so much color and lots of fun patterns to be seen on her page!! Both of these color combinations are wonderful. I love red with aqua and the green with cheddar yellow is so pretty!
Black, White & Brights, Pieced & Quilted by Sophia Day.
This bright, cheerful quilt was made by my friend Sophia. She used a black, white and brights combination to make this wonky triangle quilt. I love that she echo quilted some straight lines within each of the triangles. Sophia and I have been friends for over twenty years and belong to the same guild, of which she is president this year. Thank you Sophia!!
Jelly Roll Quilt Top, Pieced by Jill M.
Here is a quilt top that arrived from Jill M, a blog reader who splits her year between Canada and Arizona each year. She was about to leave on a month long trip and wanted to contribute so I told her I would finish the quilt for her. I will keep you posted on this one. It is a lovely jelly roll race quilt using stunning fabrics in jewel tones. I look forward to working on it! She even made a scrappy binding for it which is wonderful.
Blue Rain, Fletched, and You & Me; designed, pieced and quilted by Yvonne Fuch.
Finally, there are six quilts donated by Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl This clean, modern style is uniquely her own. I posted a video yesterday on Facebook taken of me while I unboxed these beauties. If you missed it, click here! I was thrilled to see these in person after having read about many of them on her blog.
Pulsing Plus, Layered Diamonds; designed, pieced and quilted by Yvonne Fuch.
One of the quilts above was made by another quilter. Yvonne won it at a silent auction in support of a fundraiser that happened on Instagram last summer. This is the quilt is on the far right. (If one of Yvonne’s quilts intrigues you, I just want to let you know that the patterns for several of them are available in her shop.)
All of these quilts are spectacular and I know the nurses and patients at Mercy Hospital will be comforted by these gifts. These quilts will be taken to the hospital on Monday. Thank you so much for all who donated or are in the process of making a Mercyful Quilt. You are bringing comfort to a family when they need it most. When I talked with my friend Patty she estimated that they use 8 – 10 quilts each month. At this time, I have about 35 quilts promised for this drive so that means we are fulfilling the need for three to four months. Amazing!!! There are a few quilters who have said they would like to contribute more over time which is awesome.
I will share more of the Mercyful Quilts as they arrive. There is quite a bit of sharing going on over on Instagram. If you share your donations or your work in process for Mercy, please tag it #mercyfulquilts and tag me @needleandfoot so I can find it! Thanks everyone! Have a wonderful day and be sure to find time to enjoy a bit of stitching.
Last but not least, have you entered the giveaway that is happening for the November Blogger Bundle? If you are in the US, please click here to enter. For international readers, head on over to Sandra’s blog to enter!
Newsletter!
Have you signed up for my newsletter? It is published every month or so and is full of information about my shop, new arrivals, sales, and events. Click here to sign up!
About a week ago, I received a note from my friend Patty. She is a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA. She is also the mother of a sweet girl that Julia has been friends with since middle school. Patty told me about the quilts they use at Mercy to comfort dying patients. They ask the family of the patient if they would like to wrap their loved one in a quilt to bring comfort and security as the person goes through the dying process. After the person passes away, the family keeps the quilt along with memories of comforting their loved one until the end. Unfortunately the community service group that was providing quilts for Mercy has become unable to do so. She wondered if I might know of quilters who would want to make quilts for the hospital. There are several organizations who do this sort of project; Covered in Love being a very popular one. I have contributed blocks once or twice for CIL and think their work is amazing. Becoming aware of a similar need right in my backyard was eye-opening.
In less than a blink of an eye, I replied to Patty telling her I am happy to help as much as I can. Hoping to finish a few quilts quickly, I decided to pull two WIPs and focus on finishing them. I had a box of large 10″ HST’s that I created about two years ago. I had intended to make a twin size quilt with them for the spare bed up in our little house in Downieville. Like so many projects, it was put aside and left unfinished. But I am glad this happened because there were enough blocks to make a comfortable lap-size quilt. I love the shades of purple, green and tan I used and feel it would be great for both male or female recipients.
I played around with the layout several times before deciding on this pattern. Once I made that decision, I spent a quick session squaring up the blocks. They went together in no time and I had a quilt top. It is very motivating to me to make a quilt for a cause that is so near and dear to my heart.
Mercy Hospital is renowned for their cardiac care. In 2015 my mother received incredible care at Mercy as she underwent a completely unexpected triple bypass and mitral valve replacement. She was in CCICU for two weeks and my family was (and still is) so very grateful for the care and support she received. Actually we all received care and support as they go the extra mile at Mercy to assure the patient’s family fully understands what is going on with their loved one. We always felt we could ask questions and get help at any time. It is no surprise to me that they have this quilt gifting program.
The Merriam-Webster definition of Mercy includes ‘compassionate care of those in distress’. So many of us have provided quilts for compassionate reasons, to help those in need or distress. I want to support this program at Mercy Hospital. Currently I have two quilts in process for them. The other quilt is my Twisted quilt top which is a cheerful floral quilt that looks much like lattice work in a garden. This project was already pin-basted and ready for quilting. Since I was further along with that project, I decided to begin quilting it several days ago. I am making swift progress with that one. I would love to have it finished and bound asap because they are out of quilts at this point in time. Once that is completed, I will baste and quilt this HST quilt.
If you feel called to support Mercy Hospital, I would love to hear from you. Do you have a quilt top that is not yet intended for anyone? Might you finish it up and mail it off? I would be happy to bring it to Mercy. California readers, local readers? Would you be able to help out? I plan to mention this at my guild meeting next week to see if there are others who might be able to contribute. If anyone has any ideas with regard to programs like this, please leave a comment. I would really like to gather support for Mercy Hospital and provide them with quilts.
I hope you all have a beautiful weekend! Be sure to grab a few minutes with your sewing machine. 🙂
Linking with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict! There links are at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
Today is the beginning of a Quilt Blogger Meet & Greet event hosted by Benita Skinner of Benita Skinner’s Creative Place. After designing quilt patterns for a number of years, Benita decided to begin a blog. She has been posting for a couple of months now and wanted to host an event for quilt bloggers to meet each other and for readers to find new blogs to enjoy.
For those of you who are new to Needle & Foot, welcome! It is always fun to meet new readers as well as new bloggers. I definitely plan to grab a cup of coffee and head over to Benita’s and check out the other blogger’s posts! But first here is a little bit about me and my blog.
I started this blog in June of 2014 and it is crazy to think I have enjoyed over four years of blogging, writing and interacting with our on-line quilting community. This post is number 458 which is a whole lot of writing! The first post I wrote explains why I chose to call my blog Needle and Foot. If you have a minute, you can read it by clicking here.
Five of us, circa 1965 (one more sister came along the following year.)
I grew up in the Bay Area, Northern California, with my five sisters. My father owned a fabric store and as a teenager, I spent many Saturdays working there with him. Growing up with five sisters and one sewing machine in the house meant someone was always sewing. With a lot of guidance from my mother, I made my first project in seventh grade, a baby doll nightgown and matching panties.
My first quilt was a queen size log cabin.
The first quilt I made was started in 1978, during my senior year of high school. It was a log cabin and I really had no idea what I was doing. Read the details on that project here.
My first quilt needs some careful restoration. It has been well loved over the years!
We used that quilt for many years and it is in desperate need of repairs. I look at it all the time, thinking I should work on it, but other projects always seem more fun!
The first bed size quilt I quilted on my domestic machine. So much pebbling!
Jumping ahead by about 40 years, I am still sewing and quilting. There was a long period of time where sewing happened infrequently as I raised four children and worked outside the home for a number of years. When I retired from my work as a manager of a Human Resources department, I started quilting again. Above is a quilt I made for my daughter’s bed. She chose the pattern. It was the first large quilt I ever free motion quilted. It took FOREVER to do all the pebbling. But it turned out nicely and I love looking back at this, my first attempt, to see how far I have come.
For me, sewing is very cyclical. Sometimes I am more focused on quilts and other times on smaller projects such as clothing. But one way or another, I spend a lot of time in the sewing room. I tend to like basic patterns that don’t require tons of piecing. I am not a patient quilter and fussy patterns are not my thing. I love lots of color, would not define myself as either strictly traditional or modern in style, and my projects seem to develop based on what sounds interesting at the time.
As with most of you, I have such a love of fabric. So much so that I started an on-line fabric shop in January 2017. This adventure has been nothing but rewarding. I love every facet of my job from researching new fabric lines, figuring out what my customers enjoy creating and what fabrics they want to use as well as planning events, promotions and sales to keep everyone entertained!
In addition to selling fabric on-line, I also have a booth at several of quilt shows for guilds in my area. I hope you will take a minute and browse the shop just a bit. If you would like to receive an occasional newsletter about new fabrics, sales or events at the shop, sign up here.
I am really looking forward to meeting more readers as well as new bloggers! Please leave a comment to tell me a bit about yourself so I can get to know you too. If you’d like to follow me, there are links at the top of the page on the right for Instagram, Facebook, and Bloglovin. Or, you can provide your email address and sign up to receive posts via email. It’s all up to you.
Lastly, I want to be sure and let you know there is a wonderful giveaway happening over at Benita’s site. Be sure to click over and take a look. Good luck with the giveaway!!
Have a great day and be sure to take a few minutes to sew.
Hands 2 Help is a very popular on-line quilting event hosted by Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict. This event was first held in 2011 and seems to grow in popularity each year. The “rules of the game” are simple. Make a quilt and donate it. Sarah always rounds up several worthy organizations who love receiving handmade quilts. The quilter is also free to choose to donate to an organization close to her heart. I participated in 2016 but not 2017. This year I signed up again. My plan was to donate the Postage Plus quilt I made for the Modern Plus Quilt blog hop a few months back. One thing after another has gotten in the way of any attempt I made to get the quilt top finished up. At this point, it is clearly apparent it won’t be done by the end of the week (when the event concludes.). This doesn’t mean I can’t finish it and donate it still, it just means I need another way to fulfill this particular commitment.
I thought about it and decided to donate two baby quilts I made last year. Both of these were made as samples for fabric I carried in my shop. I think they are adorable and will be loved by a child somewhere. Rather than send them both out of the area, I want to donate one to Little Lambs in Utah and the other to my local chapter of Project Linus.
This is the quilt I will send to Little Lambs Foundation. It was made with a panel from a fabric line called Shine.
If you want to read more about this project, click here. I think this one is really sweet. I had a lot of fun quilting it and used it as a display in my booth at several quilt shows. The fabric is so sweet with the cats and owls, sunshine and clouds.
The second quilt will be donated to Project Linus, Featuring bold colors in black, white and rainbow, the quilt was made with a panel from Sweet Tweets.
For more details on this quilt, click here. This line was really fun and sold out incredibly fast. While I had it, I used the quilt as a sample in my booth. I think the birds and critters are so much fun for children of any age. It is a bright, cheerful quilt. This fabric is, unfortunately, not printed any longer or I would still stock it. I just love it.
It is such a challenge to get everything done that one wants to. I can’t kick myself for not finishing things as I had planned. It is a constant battle fto figure out the best way to stay organized and do as much as I can. The Postage Plus quilt will get finished and it will also go off to a good cause, just not this week! Thank you Sarah for your wonderful work organizing this huge event. I know it takes so much of your time and you reach many people as a result. You are such a generous soul. There are so many gorgeous quilts being donated this year. If you want to see some, click here and be inspired!
It has been a while since the culmination of my Spread the Love event that happened in February this year. (If this is the first you heard of it, you can read more here and here.) I wanted to share an update with you.
First of all, Amy, owner and creator of A Doll Like Me, continues to receive quilts regularly. She is grateful beyond words for all of the quilts, doll clothes and financial contributions she has received because of all of you quilters! The unique creativity and incredible energies put into the quilts is really wonderful. The notes sent by some of you with the quilts and other donations have been really special. Many of you relate to Amy’s work in a special way due to situations in your family. Others have expressed deep joy and gratitude to have such a special cause to sew for. It has added meaning to the process of quilting for for many of you which makes quilting even more special!
So far Amy has distributed over 50 quilts. This amazes me since it is only April so she hasn’t had the quilts for very long yet. She gave many to children for whom she didn’t have a quilt available when she sent their dolls. It was such a happy surprise for the kids to receive something new for their Doll Like Me.
She sent some quilts to a family in Europe who had adopted a child with limb differences from an orphanage in Romania. This little one is seven years old, yet had no experience with dolls and playing with, or taking care of, them. They taught her to wrap up her baby in her quilt. Isn’t it wonderful to think she is playing with and caring for her baby in a quilt one of you made? I love it!
We never know exactly how a quilt sent to a child will be used. But in this family, their sweet girl sleeps under hers with her dolly next to her. She looks so cozy!
This is the doll that was sent with the patchwork quilt you see covering the child in her crib.
Another child who received a quilt was a boy of about ten years. He suffered a terrible burn and has had many, many surgeries and still has many to endure. He loves sports so Amy made his Doll Like Me to have similar scarring, plus a basketball jersey and shoes. Of course she sent a quilt that was sport themed.
When in the hospital, naturally he brings his doll but for this the doll wears a hospital gown, just like his owner! This provides some comfort, a fun distraction and a great reflection of himself in the doll.
I love that the doll has the necessary wardrobe for being home and feeling good as well as being in the hospital. Isn’t it wonderful?
I was curious about how Amy managed to mimic the scarring on the doll so he could be just like the boy.
She said she uses a mix of paints, both latex and fabric paint., as well as alcohol markers and makeup! Pretty creative.
I am so happy that Amy stays in touch with me. A number of you have volunteered to make a specially themed quilt for a child who might need it. She really appreciates it. I am going to try to make some doll outfits for her soon. She gave me some measurements for the dolls she creates. I think it will be fun to sew a few things for them. Thanks to all of you who made quilts or gowns and who continue to do so. You are a special bunch of people!! Thank you for all of your generosity.
Earlier this week, I shared this picture on Instagram. I haven’t been feeling well thus very little has occurred in the sewing room. Soon after returning from Vermont, I began to feel that sense of doom when you know you are coming down with a bug. Yesterday I had a chest x-ray to confirm I have pneumonia. Yuk. Not a whole lot of fun and way more than a lot of coughing is happening.
Not all is lost though. I have been wanting to make a contribution to the annual event that is happening now at From My Carolina Home. Carole is very supportive of her local domestic violence organization, Safelight. Called Omiyage for Safelight, Carole is asking us to make a set of matching cosmetic bag and sunglass case. She fills the cosmetic bags with some basic necessities and adds sunglasses to the case before donating them to Safelight. I really like the idea of providing a small, pretty gift to women going through a rough time, hopefully letting them know people do care about them.
Carole’s version of the pouch and sunglasses case is a fun and easy make. Even while not feeling well, this came together nicely. I used two coordinating fat quarters from Riley Blake to make this set. I think the pale pink plaid on the exterior is lovely and feminine.
For the interior, I chose the gold raindrops on a creamy off-white background.
She has a document here for you to download with all of the information. Using Velcro instead of a zipper is a great idea. So simple! If you have a free hour or so, I encourage you to make a set. I love sewing for others because it is such an easy way to share the love, right? The only thing I had to purchase was the Velcro because I only had black strips and that wouldn’t look nice now would it?
Carole is really hoping for a few more sets to arrive before the last of April. She wants to fill them and then gift them at the first of May. Please consider supporting her event. She even has a few nice giveaways planned for those who contribute!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Finally, we are going to have a very rainy weekend which is perfect. I will be recuperating and plan to take advantage of this sale over at Craftsy! How about you?
Linking to my favorites – see the tab, Link Ups at the top of the page.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning if a purchase is made while clicking through from my site, I will earn a small stipend.
This week was a blur. Each day was busy and the time flew by. Big news at our house is that Julia has a driver’s license. This is always a huge milestone for any child and parent. The contrasting experience is substantial; the freedom and independence of being able to drive vs the increased worry and anxiousness! Quite the extremes for both the kid and mom and dad. She is a good driver and a responsible person; it is all the weirdos out there that make me worry. I am sure it will be fine though. She was so excited to pass her driving test. We celebrated with frozen yogurt afterward.☺
I was making really good progress on a quilt that I will share next week when I take part in a blog hop celebrating the release of Modern Plus Sign Quilts, a fabulous new book by Cheryl Brickey and Paige Alexander. I loaded the quilt top on a long arm belonging to a woman in our local quilt guild. This is a different machine than the one I have rented a few times in the past. Oh my gosh! It did not go well, not at all. I fought my way around for a while, continually thinking, ‘it will get better, this will smooth out.’ But it became clear that I wasn’t going to be successful. So we took it off of the frame and I have been unpicking the quilting. Ugh. Not so fun. But a learning experience, which is always valuable. For the hop next week, I will share the quilt top only. I have an appointment to quilt it at the shop (where I am more familiar with the machines) on Friday next week.
Moving on… between sessions of unpicking all of the ugly quilting, which is still not finished, I did make a cute little sleeping bag for A Doll Like Me. Remember I cut up my whole cloth panda quilt and made a smaller doll quilt with it? There were two rectangles that were too small for a doll quilt. But they worked together for a sleeping bag. I think it is really cute.
Basically I trimmed the two rectangles such that they were the same width but one was longer than the other by about six inches. I curved the top two corners (I probably wouldn’t do this again because it was hard to bind along that curve without a bias cut binding.) The top of the shorter rectangle needed binding to finish the edge. Then I stitched the top to the bottom, wrong sides together. I think I stitched them with about 1/4″ seam allowance.
Once they were stitched together, I bound the edges just like you would a quilt. As I mentioned, going around the curve was a trick because the binding wasn’t cut on the bias. So, next time I will leave a regular corner or will cut the binding on the bias so it curves appropriately.
When a doll is tucked into a sleeping bag, she needs a pillow, right? I took two rectangular scraps and cut them to the same size. Putting them wrong sides together I stitched around the perimeter, maybe 1.5 inches from the edge (I wanted to make a flange). For stuffing purposes, I left a two inch opening on one end. After stuffing it with poly-fil, I closed up that opening. Again, I finished the edge with binding (a single fold, narrow binding this time though.)
Thank you to Elena of That Fabric Feeling for the inspiration for the doll’s sleeping bag. She made an adorable set for Amy last month and when I saw it, I knew I could use these scraps and make one too!
I love the whole set and hope it will bring a smile to a child someday. Amy is cataloging quilts and sending them out to her special kiddos. I think I will hold on to this one for a bit. I am waiting for a few more doll quilts from members of our local guild. Once I have enough to fill another box, I will send them on.
See you next week for the blog hop. I absolutely love this book and I am excited to share it with you. Linking to lots of places today so be sure to take a peek at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
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.
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.
Loading InLinkz ...
