Tag Archives: the positivity quiltalong

Positivity Quiltalong 2022

This is a good day! I feel like life is getting back to normal. With time for a little sewing, a couple of chores, and time to write blog posts; it is evident that the work of the move is behind us. The timing could not be better as it is time for the second annual Positivity Quiltalong, hosted by Sew Preeti Quilts and Needle and Foot. This quiltalong happened for the first time, last spring. At that time, life was getting crazy and it was difficult for me to focus on it. This is made most evident by the fact that I have not yet finished my quilt from that QAL. My incomplete quilt aside, Preeti has once again created a fun, easy to make pattern for all of us to create together.

In case this is new to you, Preeti Harris is a staunch supporter of a project I organize called Mercyful Quilts. Mercyful Quilts collects lap size quilts for patients who are at end of life at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA. I have been coordinating this program for nearly four years now. You can read a lot of the details by clicking here. Countless quilts have been made for this project – each one given to a person who is saying goodbye to a loved one. The family uses the quilt to cover the person while in the hospital. When the person passes away, the quilt goes home with the family as a remembrance of this special family member. We have heard several very moving stories from families who received a Mercyful Quilt. These quilts serve to remind us how important it is to show kindness to everyone, even to people we don’t know. We are reminded that these acts of kindness and care might just provide a bit of extra support to a family going through a sorrowful time. This is why we make the quilts.

There are only a few requirements for Mercyful Quilts. The hospital serves adults only so no juvenile fabrics or themes. We always need male, female and gender neutral quilts so search your fabrics with that in mind. Lap size only please – no bigger or it becomes too difficult to store them.

Last year when Preeti asked if I would like to work with her on a quiltalong for Mercyful Quilts How could I say anything but yes?? Feeling we all needed a dose of positivity in our lives, Preeti designed a pattern, wrote very clear instructions and even gathered a few prizes. We all made a “plus” quilt together and if memory serves me, Mercy Hospital received over 20 quilts. There were a few others made internationally which were donated to causes closer to the quilter. After such a successful and fun time, she is at it again!

This is the pattern we will be sewing for the 2022 event. Preeti has put together a relaxed schedule (that I am hoping to actually adhere to!) There will be several Linky parties (hosted here at Needle & Foot) to share your progress along the way.

Here is the breakdown:

May 29, 2022 – QAL Launch – Block tutorial and fabric requirements will be shared.
June 5, 2022 – Finalize your fabric picks, block and layout etc.
June 12, 2022 – Complete cutting fabrics
June 19, 2022 – Complete blocks 1-20
June 26, 2022 – Complete blocks 21 – 40. Linky Party to share your progress
July 3, 2022 – Complete blocks 41 – 60
July 10, 2022 – Complete blocks 61 – 80
July 17, 2022 – Share finished flimsy. Linky party participation required for prizes
July 24, 2022 – Level 1 prizes announced. Complete making the binding.
July 31, 2022 – Complete piecing the backing. Complete basting your quilt tops.
August 7, 2022 – Quilting in progress.
August 14, 2022 – Complete quilting and attach binding
August 21, 2022 – Share finished quilts. Mail finished quilts to Patty (our Mercy Hospital contact). Linky party participation required for prizes.
September 4, 2022 – Level 2 prizes announced.

This will be a fantastic project to work on over the summer. I have an idea in my head for the fabrics I think I will use. How about you? Will you join in and make a quilt for Mercy Hospital with us? Preeti and I would love to have you join us! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. I am thrilled to, once again, be working with Preeti, gathering Mercyful Quilts and hanging out with all of you!

Positivity Quiltalong-Winners!

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Hello all – I was supposed to post this yesterday but it was totally forgotten. I am so sorry. We had a such a nice weekend with my son and his wife in town visiting. My parents and two of my sisters, plus one wonderful niece were able to come for dinner on Saturday night. It was a lovely weekend filled with visiting and family time. Unfortunately, writing this post up was completely overlooked. Before I announce the winners, let me thank Preeti and all of the amazing quilters who participated in this event benefitting Mercyful Quilts. Currently I have received 21 quilts and there are several more on the way or in process (including my own which has gotten a bit closer to the flimsy stage.) To see a parade of quilts, those received and those on the way, check out this post by Preeti. She also announced another quilt along for summer of 2022 which is so exciting!

Without further chit chat, here are the winners (in no particular order)!!

Judy Blauer – a wonderful scrap pack curated and donated by Preeti

Roseanne Nelson – the fat quarter bundle of Mystical Land, designed by Maureen Cracknell and donated by Art Gallery Fabric

Nikki Moshier – the fat quarter bundle of West Palm, designed by Katie Skoog and donated by Art Gallery Fabric

Bonnie Stapleton – a five piece bundle of Mayfair with a yard of coordinating yardage donated by yours truly!

Wendy Tuma – $25 certificate to Hancock’s of Paducah

Liz Arbaugh – the 1/2 yard bundle of Geometric Bliss, designed by Jeni Baker and donated by Art Gallery Fabric

Sylvia from Treadle Stitches – a wonderful scrap pack curated and donated by Preeti

This wraps up the 2021 Positivity Quiltalong. If you have quilts in process, I am very excited to see them. Send them when you are ready. Winners will be notified by email this morning!! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!!!

Because any post is a bore without a picture, here is my sweet girl after snitching a chocolate out of the box of See’s she was thrilled to find! Pretty much the same expression I have after a piece of good chocolate.

Long Overdue Mercyful Quilts Update

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Oh my gosh, I have been going a million miles an hour lately. Sometimes life is like that. We have had a trip to San Diego (family wedding), tons and tons of gardening because my farmer husband planted so much this year, and fire season has begun in fall force. So, I am behind on blogging and blog post reading.

This picture was taken at the recent wedding. My parents are standing on either side of the bride and groom. Just to explain; my parents had six kids, who then provided 21 grand children to the group. Following that, those grand children produced (so far) 16 great grands. This picture shows our family less about 15 people who weren’t able to get to the wedding. I love our huge, very noisy family.

When we got home from the wedding there were four quilts waiting for me! It was like Christmas morning!! Let me show them to you.

Just gorgeous and if these colors don’t make you ache for autumn, than nothing will! Cheree blogs over at the Lively Latte and she actually made two quilts during the Positivity QAL one of which we were fortunate to receive!

Here is Janine’s version of the Positivity Quilt. Adding the triangles gives it such a different feel. She blogged the details for this quilt here. She also pieced the backing which I love!

The color sequence she used is so pretty. This is a double sided quilt, if you ask me!

Janine included a second quilt in her box. I remember when she made this one and I just love it. Looking at the quilting design, I suspect it stayed hidden in my brain and was my inspiration when I quilted the Ninja baby quilt I just finished. 🙂 Janine based her design of this quilt on a pattern called Nines in the Middle by Doris Rice for Moda, The blog post with the back story is here. Also, she made sure to tell me that she received the fabric from Louise of My Quilt Odyssey . So actually, this pretty quilt comes from both Janine and Louise!

Looking at the back side, you will see that Janine made another pretty, pieced backing with her leftovers. This side also really shows the quilting pattern off.

Positivity Quilt, Pieced by Julie K and quilted by Rebecca Grace

This beauty was also made by a participant in the Positivity QAL. Julie K pieced this pretty quilt. The blues on a scrappy neutral background are so soothing. She sent it over to the talented Rebecca Grace to be quilted. Rebecca did a custom quilt motif on it using several different patterns. The effect is really fantastic. I offered to bind this quilt so that Rebecca could send it directly to me as opposed to sending it back to Julie for binding and then sending it to me. Might as well save on some postage!

Isn’t this a cool backing? I love the huge plus or cross, depending on what you want it to be, with the blue fabric. I have enough of the blue fabric to use as binding and hopefully this will be done soon.

Let’s move on to summer gardening! Like I said earlier, Ray put in a lot of plants this year. With just the three of us here, there is no way we can eat all of it. We share it with neighbors, friends and family but there is still too much! I have taken extra fruits and veggies over to our local food ministry twice now.

These peaches all went to the food ministry yesterday!

We have had grapes for at least five or six years now. Usually the raccoons and birds take most of them and the individual berries on the plant are quite small. Not so this year! We have beautiful clusters and, as you can imagine, more than we can possibly eat. So I have been taking those to the food ministry as well.

The peppers are very happy this year as well. I will be roasting these in the next day or too. We love roasted peppers on sandwiches, in omelets and in salsa.

As far as the shop goes, the sale continues and the number of bolts on hand has been steadily decreasing. I appreciate all of your support. Whether by shopping or sharing the word about the close out sale, you are such a help!

The regular price fabric is now 30% off! Patterns and notions are 20% off and ship free. The clearance and remnants are 10% off. Come by and browse the sale; see what might strike your fancy!

OK – this post is getting on the lengthy side. I will close now and hopefully get back into a better blogging schedule. I hope all of you are well and happy!

The Positivity QAL – Link Up Number Two

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Hello Everyone! I am happy to be hosting the second link up for The Positivity Quilt Along, hosted by Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts. As you probably know, many of the quilts made during the QAL are destined to be donated to Mercyful Quilts. We are so thankful to Preeti for hosting this event and to all of you who have made, or are making, quilts for Mercy. I realize some of you have chosen to donate your quilt to a different organization and that is also wonderful! Your creativity, time and effort are hugely appreciated!

If you haven’t yet started, don’t worry! The blocks are a breeze to make and quilts are ALWAYS needed at Mercy Hospital. You are welcome to join in and make one whenever the timing suits you. As for my quilt….. I have been making very little progress. Summer has been so busy with lots of family time. In all honesty, I have only made eighteen blocks at this point. But, like I said, the need for quilts is on-going and I will get mine done.

Obviously, I don’t have a finished flimsy (quilt top) to share with you today. However, I do have some finished quilts to show you!

This quilt was sent to me by Rachel who is from Orgeon. She was the first person to send me a finished Positivity Quilt. She was really quick!! I love the colors and the arrangement of her plus blocks!

Rachel made a pieced backing, using some extra blocks she had. I think she did a great job with balancing the pieced blocks with the large pieces of fabric.

OK – on to the second Positivity Quilt that has been received (also from Oregon)! This one was made and quilted by Cyndy of Quilting Is More Fun than Housework. We all know Cyndy is a master when it comes to scrappy quilts and this is certainly no exception. Her use of turquoise and orange with a scrappy gray background is wonderful.

The HST quilt shown above was also donated for Mercyful Quilts. This beauty was made by Jolie D. of Oregon and quilted by Cyndy. I really like the color selection Jolie chose here. These earthy tones are warm and comforting.

It has been wonderful to replenish the supply of quilts for Mercy Hospital. The staff and the recipients of the quilts are always very thankful for the donations we provide. Thank you so much to each of you who have sent, or are soon to send, quilts our way!

Let’s share the flimsies that are made. There are prizes for this link up too! On July 25th, names will be drawn to win one of five different gifts. Each of these prizes are PDF patterns donated by these very lovely quilt pattern designers.

1. One PDF pattern of your choice from Cynthia of Quilting is More Fun than Housework
2. One PDF pattern of your choice from Jayne of Twiggy and Opal
3. One PDF pattern of your choice from Denise of For the Love of Geese
4. One PDF pattern of your choice from Debby of Quilter by Design
5. One PDF pattern of your choice from Melanie of Mell Meyer

Please link up below. If you don’t have a blog, you are welcome to email me a picture of your flimsy so I can add it to this post. Your picture will count as an entry to win!! Linky will be open through Saturday, July 24, 2021.

Here is a flimsy made by Rochelle S. Love the blues and greens. Does it remind you of seaglass?

This quilt top was made by Nikki M. Notice that the pluses are basically the same tones as Rochelle’s up above. But change that background color and it is a whole new. sunshiny look!! Love them both and can’t wait to see them all quilted up. 🙂

The Positivity QAL Progress Link Up

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Hi Everyone! As I mentioned the other day, I am hosting the first link up for the Positivity QAL. The event is hosted by Sew Preeti Quilts and the quilts made will be donated to Mercyful Quilts or the charitable organization of your choice. At this point, most of us have selected our fabrics, cut pieces and made (hopefully) twelve or more blocks. If you have’t gotten very many blocks done yet, no problem, I haven’t either! Just share what you have done so far. We are excited to see where you are on this project! (For more info on Mercyful Quilts, please click here.)

Looking nice! Note, these have not been squared up yet.

Here are the eight blocks I have made so far. I am really pleased with the colors I am using and am anxious to add some yellow and gray blocks to the mix.

I haven’t yet decided on the layout I will use but until I have more blocks to play with, I won’t really think about that part.

Bloggers, please link your post at the bottom. For those participants who do not have a blog, you may send me a picture of what you have made so far (if you would like to) with your name and email. I will post it here as they come in. Use [email protected] to send me a picture. OK – all of you please check back to see new pictures this week as I update the post and to check out the link ups. I will leave the linky open until July 1st.

From Rochelle S. She has 24 blocks completed already! Hurray. Love these colors. 🙂

Sunshine in the form of a quilt! In process by Nikki M. Thanks so much Nikki!!!

Check this beauty out. Made by Rachel and headed to Mercyful quilts soon!!

Thank you so much for participating! Hope you are all had a nice weekend. Be happy, healthy and creative!

Shipping Orders, Sewing, and Cute Kid Pics

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Hello there! Life is still quite busy here. The fabric sale continues and customers are keeping me busy. I am happy to say the stack of empty bolts is still growing and the shelves of bolted fabric are shrinking. Thank you all for supporting me as I clear out the shop in anticipation of closing it.

In between shipping orders, we have had a lot going on. I haven’t been able to get a ton of quilting done but I do get to the machine now and then.

I am working on my blocks for the Positivity QAL. The other day I suppose I wasn’t paying attention because the block wasn’t assembled correctly. Ooops! Luckily it took little time to unpick the stitches and fix it (the upper left block). The blocks are super easy to make and I am enjoying it. People are starting to post their progress on Instagram under #thepositivityqal. Check them out to see! If you want to join in, there is time. The QAL is just getting started!! Sure some people (Preeti and Cheree, I am looking at you!) are finishing flimsies but others (ME) have all of five blocks sewn. Also, for those of you who are already into this, remember the first link up for showing progress shots is this Sunday. Preeti and I have decided I will hold the link up here though. So come back here to link up on Sunday, ok?? (Note to self: go figure out how to host a link up since you haven’t hosted one in several years. Haha)

I have also had some time to work on the gray and blue monster I am making for my bed. We have a king size bed so this is certainly the largest quilt I have made yet. (I have made four queen size quilts though and this isn’t too much bigger than those). I am very happy with this project though. My husband chose the fabrics and helped me select the pattern. Mainly I need to work on the sashing strips and then assemble the rows and add borders and baste it and quilt it and bind it and wash it. See – I think I am almost done!

The garden is going nuts now. Zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, bunching onions, boysenberries, and blueberries are coming in fast and furious. Tomatoes are just starting to turn color, the shallots look great and the pumpkins are happily growing.

Before I close (which I really need to do so I can get downstairs and ship orders), here are some smiles for you. The girls are growing like crazy and I am feeling the urge to see them again! It has been just over a month and they seem different already, especially the one year old. At that age, there is something new almost daily.

Hmmm, I am sure there is some way to make this thing go.

Daydreaming. Remember doing this as a kid in the summer?

OK – I will be back on Sunday with a link up for you! Come and check out the quilts people are making or link up your progress shots.

Is It Really the End of May???

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Somehow May is just flying by! I haven’t posted since April but with good reason. Now that our family is vaccinated we have had lots and lots and LOTS of family time. Like many of you, we are making up for all of the lost time over the past year or so. It has been heavenly.

With all of the visiting going on, there has been very little action in the sewing room. Before I left for Washington, I did get my diamond blocks made for May. The RSC color this month is red and I have plenty of red scraps! I am quite pleased with the blocks for the month. Plus, to start increasing the total number of blocks, I made four instead of three!!

Another fun project was a set of pillowcases for my sister. A while ago she was doing some cleaning and came across a piece of fabric with the Stanford University logo on it. She had bought it years ago and tucked it away. (Her husband is a Stanford graduate.) She asked me to make something simple with it and of course I said sure. Some weeks after I got the Stanford fabric, I was in a thrift shop and saw a big piece of fabric with the UC Berkeley logo on it. This was quite the amazing find, as my sister is a UCB graduate!! I grabbed the fabric and decided to make them a matching set of pillowcases, his and hers.

They certainly do not match – the colors are basically awful together. But it was so cool to find that Berkeley fabric!! My sister loved them and was quite surprised to see her school included in the package.

Moving on to more wonderful news! Preeti Harris (of Sew Preeti Quilts) is hosting her first Quilt Along! Even better, is she has designed the The Positivity QAL to be in support of Mercyful Quilts. I think most of you are familiar with the Mercyful Quilts program I coordinate for Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA. If you are not, please read a few prior blog posts about this truly valuable program. I have them available for you at the top of this page, under Mercyful Quilts.

Preeti generously asked me if she could coordinate this effort. Now, mind you, Preeti has already donated SIX gorgeous quilts to the program and here she is asking to do more. Amazing!!

Last week I received two quilts from her. Let’s take a look at them.

Mercyful Quilts was selected to receive both of these gorgeous quilts. If you would like to read Preeti’s blog posts about them, here you go: Serenity and then Positivity Plus. If you haven’t yet read Preeti’s blog, please check it out. Her writing is just as creative as her quilting.

I have a couple of things to share with regard to this quilt along. One is this – quilting is an expensive hobby. We all know that when it comes to donating quilts, sometimes the expense is more than our budget allows. I have a couple of generous donors who would like to make this a bit easier on those quilters who choose to donate to Mercyful Quilts and are feeling a budget pinch. (This year has been especially tough on many people financially.) If you are feeling the pinch and would like to be reimbursed for your postage expenses, please sent me a note so we can help. There are limited funds to do this but enough to help a number of you if needed. Remember this is anonymous – your name won’t be announced. If you would like to take advantage of this, use the ‘contact me’ button at the top of the page.

Another way to reduce the expense a bit is this. If you choose to have your quilt done by a long arm quilter, I have an idea that will slightly reduce your expense. You might choose to send your quilt to your long arm quilter and ask her to send it directly to me for Mercy Hospital. If you would include the binding, I am happy to bind the quilt for you. This would eliminate one shipping expense (because the long arm quilter wouldn’t route the quilt to you, and then you would have to send it to me). If you want to discuss doing this, let me know. I am all about figuring out how to be economical. Again, just use that handy ‘contact me’ button at the top of the page.

The schedule for Preeti’s QAL is very relaxed, for which I am grateful. I am not a speedy quilter! If you would like to join in, we would love to have you. Below is a copy of the schedule, taken from Preeti’s blog.

Here is a suggested schedule for the QAL so that you can pace yourself and stay on track. There will be three linky parties, shown in red below.
1. May 30, 2021 – QAL Launch – Block Tutorials, Layout Options and Fabric Requirements
2. June 6, 2021 – Finalize your fabric picks, block and layout etc.
3. June 13, 2021 – Cut fabrics
4. June 20, 2021 – Complete Blocks 1-25.
5. June 27, 2021 – Complete Blocks 13 – 24. Linky Party to share your progress
6. July 4, 2021 – Complete Blocks 25 – 36
7. July 11, 2021 – Complete Blocks 37 – 48
8. July 18, 2021 – Share Finished Flimsy. Linky Party Participation Required for Prizes
9. July 25, 2021 – Level 1 Prizes Announced. Make Binding
10. August 1, 2021 – Piece Backing. Baste your quilt tops.
11. August 8, 2021 – Quilting
12. August 15, 2021 – Complete Quilting and Attach Binding
13. August 22, 2021 – Share Finished Quilts. Mail Finished Quilts to Bernie. Linky Party Participation Required for Prizes
14. August 29, 2021 – We rest and wait for quilts to reach Bernie.
15. September 5, 2021 – Level 2 Prizes Announced.

OK – this has been a long post but it has been a while so there was lots to chat about! I will leave you with some sweet pictures of my adorable family!

Making bird feeders with toilet paper rolls, peanut butter and birdseed. So much fun!

This week I plan to quilt and bind my Coin Quilt. I want it to be my donation for this year’s Hands2Help. I have started it but my machine was giving my fits with the thread breaking. So irritating! I will clean and re-thread everything which should correct the issue. Wishing all of you a wonderfully creative week!!

Linking to some of my favorites. Please check out the list at the top of the page, under Link Ups.