Sew Some Love Sunday - Angels in Gumboots

Welcome to another edition of Sew Some Love Sunday!!  I'm not quite sure what this world is coming to.  It seems that the phrase Another day, another tragedy! is beginning to fit into our lives.  Today's edition of Sew Some Love Sunday is dedicated to...

Angels in Gumboots.  I'm passing along the information for anyone who hasn't seen this yet.  It's another instance of me sharing an opportunity for YOU to do good.  Families are hurting.  Quilts can help!!

Picotine, shared the following info from FB on the Quilters Knitting Group on Ravelry:

Have you heard of Healing Hearts quilts? KiwiQuilters (a Facebook group) have been making them for those affected by traumatic events for years now, and we here at Angels have offered to help organise and coordinate Healing Hearts quilts for Christchurch. We have a lofty goal of making 50 quilts - one for each of those killed in the Christchurch massacre on Friday.

What we need are blocks… and lots of them! Plus those willing and able to put the quilt tops together, quilt, and finish them.

So, can you help us out? Can you make some green heart blocks? Can you help piece them together? Can you help quilt and/or bind them? Can you help by donating batting or backing?

Make it a group affair with your quilting friends, groups, or guilds. Attached is a pattern for a basic pieced heart block. You can make your own versions too as long as they are 6.5 inches unfinished (to be 6 inches finished).

Please help us reach our goal 

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’ve been asked to pass on that our hearts need to avoid the colour red, prints with animals on (my bad with my applique heart!) and prints with people/faces/figures.

EDIT: address to send blocks - Helen Thomas, Angels in Gumboots, 101 Cambridge Avenue, Ashhurst 4810. Keep up the amazing green-hearted work!

You may recognize the pattern is from Cluck Cluck Sew.  It was linked on my blog back when the Orlando Modern Guild was collecting blocks for the Pulse Nightclub shooting.  My Quilt Bee(s) sent not one, but two quilts for that effort.  If interested, you can see them by following this LINK.

PLEASE NOTICE!!!  The cutting instructions for the Healing Hearts for Christchurch blocks are slightly different from the pattern that Allison designed.  Hers finished without a border around each of the blocks.  The Angels in Gumboots blocks include a border around each of the hearts.

SEW...

Unless you plan to make enough blocks for a quilt top (or a completed quilt top) please follow the instructions shown above.

 When making my block, I "double sewed" to make Bonus HSTs:

Here is my GREEN heart:

Top and bottom borders added:

And the completed block with accompanying Bonus HSTs:

I have a question:

Has anyone heard of someone in the US who is collecting blocks to be sent off to New Zealand?  If so, please let me know.

Never mind...

I (accidentally) volunteered to collect blocks for the Quilting Knitters group on Ravelry in a post that read:

Thanks! Ack! I read that post and didn’t see the mailing thing. It looks like her turnaround time is too tight for us to make the deadline.

How about this??

Same deal with sending a dollar or two to contribute to the postage and I will mail our collected blocks to NZ. Get them to me by April 20th and I’ll mail them on April 24th. (That gives ample time to make and mail, as well as a couple days of wiggle room.)

Drop me a PM for my mailing address.

Let’s quilt for GOOD!!!

LUCKY YOU...

If YOU need somewhere to mail your GREEN Heart blocks for Christchurch, drop me an email and I will give you my mailing address.  Same deal applies.  Include a buck or two with your block(s) to help defray the cost of international postage.  Thanks!

Until next time...
Make. Mail. LOVE!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC19 - Week 13

Welcome to Week 13 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It's been a rather slow week here in Joyful QuilterLand.  You may recall from the end of LAST week that I wasn't feeling well.  Things only got worse!  :o((

SUNDAY - I released a new edition of Sew Some Love Sunday.  It features Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting, who made 53 quilts for Jack's Basket last year.  Go have a look to see the quilt that made it happen!

The excitement for the day was my trip to Urgent Care (Type A influenza with a touch of bronchitis) and the subsequent trip to the local pharmacy.  :o((

MONDAY - I did a whole lot of nothing.  On Doctor's orders, mind you!  It made for a lazy day in bed and a good time to check out Day One of the All About Strings Blog Hop.

During the waking hours, I was huddled up with the various shades of GREEN included in my Calico Rick Rack quilt:

TUESDAY - More of doing nothing.  I have to say that this is getting a bit tiresome!  FIVE DAYS in bed?  Blech!!!

I did manage to releasd a NEW Tidy Up Tuesday post.  If you like mini quilts, you will NOT want to miss this one!  This is a preview of what you will see.  A Sea GREEN mess on the design floor:

Although, my fever broke in the wee hours of the morning.  Sew... I guess that's an improvement.  Please!  Isn't that an improvement?!

Bonus points for visiting all of the Day TWO participants in the All About Strings Blog Hop.  :o))

WEDNESDAY - Nope!  STILL sick.  Another fever today.

I even had trouble focusing on the posts for Day THREE of the All About Strings Blog Hop!  :o(( 

Linked Up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday.   Yes, I am aware that it's NOT yet Thursday, but she always releases her post early and I didn't want to forget!


Being comforted by this Spring GREEN block in Joyous Wonky Stars made by the lovely Nicole Hannah of Handwrought Quilts:

THURSDAY - It's Day FOUR and my STOP on the All About Strings Blog Hop today.  Go check it out, if you didn't get a chance to keep up with the Hop.  SEW many wonderful ideas of projects to make!

FRIDAY - Sarah at Confessions for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?  I know that I already linked up with Kelly, but I don't finish a project appropriate for her party very often and there is NO WAY that I would miss linking my TINY Supernova with Sarah!!  After all, she designed the inspiration quilt.

I also linked up with my friend Alycia @ Alycia Quilts - Quilty Girl for her TGIFFriday project celebration.  Same string-y project that I posted for the Blog Hop:

For those of you participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, there's a nice chunky GREEN scrap in that picture just for you!  :o))

SATURDAY - That brings us to the end of another week.  You KNOW what that means, don't you???  It's time to join the RSC Quilters for Angela's LINK PARTY over on her So Scrappy blog!  Head over to see what GREEN goodness was going on while I lay in bed for the better part of  EIGHT days!

The good news is that I believe I "turned a corner" yesterday (at least as far as the flu is concerned.)  Although, the bronchitis seems to be holding on, I am feeling SEW much better.  I may even be able to do some quilting today!

Until then, my Out on an Limb quilt is comforting me:

Thank you to everyone who offered their well wishes in comments to various posts!!  I really appreciated the support you all sent my way.

Until next time...
Get SCRAPPY!!!

All About Strings Blog Hop - Day FOUR - My STOP on the Hop

Welcome to my STOP on the All About Strings Blog Hop with Carla at Creatin in the Sticks!!  I had SEW much fun with her Black and White Blog Hop that I thought I'd try again with this one.  Don't get too excited!  I didn't go overboard like last time.  (I had planned to do more, but the flu had other ideas.  It also didn't allow me to register the fact that I needed to wait until 12:01 AM for a same-day post date.  Oops!)

If you haven't been following along, there is still time to catch up on all of the wonderful posts.  LINKS provided below.

This week was all about Strings.

String Quilts that is.

Here is the list of participating bloggers

who are ready to inspire YOU and share some new ways to sew

STRINGS:

All About Strings Blog Hop Schedule

Monday, March 25th

Just Let Me Quilt

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Bumbleberry Stitches

QuiltFabrication

Seams to be Sew

DesertSky Quilting

Happy Cottage Quilter

quiltsbyjoanne

selina quilts

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Karrin's Crazy World


Tuesday, March 26th

MooseStash Quilting

keepsake moments

Just Sew Quilter

Vroomans Quilts

That Fabric Feeling

Quilted Delights

Life in Scrapatch

Patchouli Moon Studio

ShirleyC


Wednesday, March 27th

Stitchin at Home

Alycia Quilts

Websterquilt

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Melva Loves Scraps

Words & Stitches

Den syende himmel

Patchwork Breeze

Domestic Felicity

The Quilted Snail


Thursday, March 28th

Cynthia's Creating Ark

The Joyful Quilter (That's me!)

Color Creating and Quilting

PamelaQuilts

Beaquilter

Two Maker Chicks

Days Filled With Joy

Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!

Creatin' in the Sticks

FYI... Make sure you read to the end of this post.  :o))

I thought I'd start by showing you the following Rainbow String Quilt made with the help of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

For my NEW project...

String blocks
half blue-GREEN,
half low volume
for a friend.

Didn't happen, but THIS did...


I received a large scrap of fabric on a recent Thursday at my Weekly Quilt Group meeting (that I managed to attend for the first time in FOREVER.)

That night, the wheels started to turn and I couldn't resist the project that was in my mind's eye!

SEW...

I pulled out my Sea GREEN scrap basket:

Digging through to find some strips in the range that seemed most appropriate for my intended recipient:

I began with two like-sized batting scraps, shown below in the (terrible) evening light:

Adding various width strips to create the pattern in my head:

Panel One is nearly done:

This small scrap was perfect for one of the corners:

Sorry!!!  I forgot to take a picture of the two panels once they were completed.  :o(( 

The next evening was Friday Night Sew-In and I put the panels together to make the base of a Quilted Thread Catcher then added the backing for additional quilting:

Here it is, all trimmed up and waiting for the next step:

It's basket shaped:

Bonus points!!  There was still time remaining to add the binding:

View One:

View Two shows the fact that I remembered to add a label:

View Three is a beauty shot from the other side of the basket:

This is the fabric scrap that sparked the idea for my string-y project:

Here is my surprised, yet thrilled, recipient at Quilt Guild the following Monday.  (Please excuse the strange lighting, compliments of a slide show presented by Nicole Neblett of MamaLoveQuilts.)  Gayle can't wait to find a resting place for this NEW Quilted Thread Catcher in the studio of her new home:

Thanks for reading to the end of my post.  As a result, I want to offer you a PRIZE.  Would YOU like to win your own String-y Quilted Thread Catcher?  Leave a comment SPECIFICALLY STATING that you would like to be included in the drawing!!!

The winner will get to choose the colors that I use for the prize.  Qualifying comments MUST BE RECEIVED by Thursday, April 4th @ 9 PM (EDT) to be entered in the drawing.  Winner will be notified by email, so make sure to add that to your comment, if you are a NO REPLY BLOGGER.

Wishing everyone SEW much luck!

PLEASE NOTE:  The drawing is now CLOSED!!!

Edited to add:

If it doesn't work out for YOU to win, I base my baskets on Christina Camelli's FREE Quilted Bucket pattern.  (Sorry, Christina, for forgetting to add this originally.  I've been making them "my way" for so long that it slipped my mind!)

Anyway, it was a case of what would happen if I shrunk it to only ONE panel?? I also like a binding on my baskets, so changed that part of the pattern, as well.

Until next time...

Sew Those Strings!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - Tall Ship WINNER Edition

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  We're here to draw the winner of my Quilty Orphan Adoption.

First, I'd like to send a BIG thank you to Cynthia for organizing the Quilty Orphan Adoption event!  You are a constant source of inspiration.

You may remember I posted this Tall Ship quilt block:

There were TWO takers:

1. Alycia Quiltygirl.comMarch 23, 2019 at 2:25 PM

it'd go great in a Navy QOV - I'd love to add it to our Quilts!

2. Carol E.March 23, 2019 at 10:06 PM

I could put this into a happy spot in a donation quilt for a kid or teen!

Tonight, we draw!!  Well, I draw.  You get to read the reveal.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!

AND...

The winner is...

Alycia of QuiltyGirl!!!  From what I can recall, Alycia is also the leader of Quilts of Valor Colorado.

You can find her latest QOV inspirations HERE.

I feel very good about sailing this block her way.  I think that Barry will be pleased that his abandoned block will have a home in a quilt for a veteran.  Thanks (in advance) for making that happen, Alycia!

Until next time...
Re-home your ignored projects!!!

Tidy Up Tuesday - Tales of a TINY Supernova

Welcome to another edition of Tidy Up Tuesday!!  I fell in love with Sarah's Supernova quilt back in February 2017 during her Stunning Stars Quilt Along for that year's Hands2Help tutorial series.  (The current H2H Charity Quilt Challenge is in full swing.  It's not too late for YOU to participate!!!)

When she recently posted her Jewel-Toned Supernova...

... I knew what I wanted to do for the swap that I had promised to do with my friend Belinda in Maine.  A mini version of Sarah's quilt!  I ran the idea by her and she LOVED the idea.  I quickly sorted my scraps and production ground to a halt.

Then, Sarah posted that she, too, was thinking of making her own mini with Bonus HSTs left from making her grandson's annual quilt. It would be a Shrunken Supernova (just like I had in the works!)  She thought that was a great idea and shared this 13.5" quilt a couple weeks later, posted HERE:

I got a good start on squaring up my blocks at the mid-February Friday Night Sew-In:

Prior to that, I spent time at my evening Quilt Bee preparing squares for sewing into HSTs:

 And spent a happy afternoon at the machine building HSTs from the turquoise and pink scrap baskets:

Until the February Friday Night Sew-In, when I squared them up:

After pressing them, of course:

Now, was the time to layout the little quilt!!

You can't IMAGINE how much time I spent getting the HSTs aligned in the "proper" orientation on my design floor:

And then THIS happened:

The funny thing is that it was a blessing in disguise, as it really made me evaluate the prior layout... and make some changes:

After this, the layout sat undisturbed on the table of my longarm:

I'm slow, but finally said...

"Let the stitching begin!" That was my project at the early-March meeting of Sew/Craft Friends-zy and it took almost ALL DAY:

I started with a chain of tiny HSTs:

Moved on to cut into columns of pairs:

Then the first step was pressed:

Next up was pairs of pairs:

Followed by rows... or is that columns:

Pairs of columns:

It's a TINY top:

And my friend Tiffany thought SHE was sewing small:

It still needed a bit more pressing:

This photo is to give you a sense of scale, along with the reason that I DO NOT use steam in quilt making:

The top and bottom rows flared a bit, but I wasn't about to remake (now that I had finally gotten the thing FLAT!!)

I took batting and backing to my Quilt Bee's mid-month SECU Sew Day to layer:

And... it's time for quilting!!!

 I started with the pink:

Then, moved on to the turquoise quilting:

Oops!  Went a LITTLE crazy with the turquoise:

The binding was meant to be done by machine, my preferred method for small quilted items.  Special thanks to Helena, who sewed down the binding by hand, as I had (accidentally!) sewn it on to the front of the quilt... instead of the back:

Here I am with the complete quilt:

Soon, it was on its way to a new home:

This is a reminder of the scale of the piecing:

Getting a good photograph proved to be challenging:

You MIGHT have seen this sneak peek in an earlier post:

One final shot, the back of the quilt:

It rode around in the car with me for several weeks.  I just HAD to show every.  Living. SOUL!!  It was too adorable not to (perhaps said with a Mother's love.)

SEW...

I quilted it.  You know what THAT means, don't you?  Show and Tell, of course?  I attended every quilt meeting possible before sending this baby out in the mail.  I'm pleased to say that it is FINALLY on its way to a new home.  I made it with the recipient in mind.  Once it arrives, we'll see how she like it.  (If she doesn't, she can just mail it back and I'll make her something different.  After all, there are no less than FIVE other people who were chomping at the bit for me to give it to them!)

This little mini started with 1.5" squares and I sewed on each side of the diagonal to make HSTs, which were trimmed down to 1" squares.  At the last minute, I decided that I could sew a quarter-inch seam.  That brought the sewn squares down to a half-inch each!!

My completed Tiny Supernova quilt measures five and three-quarter inches square.  It's made of 100 HSTs!!!  Can you wrap your mind around that?!?  It was SEW much fun.

Sharing with:

Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday

and

 Sarah at Confessions for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Special thanks to the following contributors:

To random quilting friends for sharing their scraps with me.  I feel SEW lucky to have each of you in my life!

To Bowie on Ravelry for destashing her leftover black fabric which turned out to be PERFECT for use as the background,

To Jellybean for sharing the PERFECT backing fabric,

and

Especially to Sarah for designing a pattern that was SEW inspiring!

Until next time...

Sew something TINY!!!