UFOs Finished for CiL

Kathy broke out of quarantine this week to return these quilts to me! She took the tops that various quilters sent in and finished them into beautiful, cuddly quilts for CiL.

These hand-pieced lonestars were sent in by Holly and I added the slim flower borders. It made such a sweet little quilt!

This quilt with the pretty, bright yellow and red flower fabrics came from Johanna.  I made a pieced backing from yellow and flower-themed fabrics to match.

This cute, almost vintage-looking nine patch top came from Julie W.  She donated a group of tops I posted about before here.

Karen made this quilt and I found flannel to back it with.  I thought it looked modern, but my mom thinks it looks vintage, so I guess it depends on your opinion ;)

Finally, this scrappy pineapple beaut was pieced by Pam.

It has so much movement and life!

Thank you ladies who contributed the tops, as well as the backing and binding that went into these quilts. And thanks to the several of you who have contacted me about volunteering to help assemble and quilt for CiL-- It really helps to keep us moving forward!

A mother vulture is raising chicks in a courtyard at the hospital. They are getting their big feathers now.

Covered in Love's usual every-two-month block drive is on hiatus for the months of May-June. You can see a post here with talking about it and some suggested ways to fill the CiL sized hole in your month!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday.

Everything in its place

No finishes unfortunately this week. I did make a couple of blocks for my do. Good Stitches circle and a few masks.

Meanwhile, I thought you might like to see the CiL master storage center.  This is where blocks go in and quilts, eventually, come out.

I've been putting together tops from the Nov/Dec blocks, nearly done with those.  The kitties have been my faithful assistants.

Sundae doesn't like her new box very much yet. I haven't packed it full enough for her to see over the top comfortably.

Linking to Finished or Not Friday.

A little reminder...

Jan/Feb string blocks quilt sent in by Tammy S

I got a nice reminder of why we do what we do a last week in the form of an email from a recipient's family member. She graciously gave me permission to share part of her letter with you.

A.'s mom received a very sudden and unexpected cancer diagnosis and died just 11 days after getting the news, 9 of those days spent in the hospital under lockdown with only one family member able to visit.

Village quilt sent in by Mina

A. sent me a kind email to ask for information so donations could be made to Covered in Love in lieu of flowers. She said,
"Your quilt was a very special gift, as my mom’s mother and grandmother were both quilters, however my mom had eye trouble and was unable to quilt much herself. She was so happy to receive your quilt, as it felt like a reminder of her mom. It was the highlight of a very difficult day."

She said that because only one family member was able to be with her, the quilt which reminded her of family was especially helpful.

They received this quilt from made by Karen & Karen, as usual it's a team effort. When COVID began we had to think through how we deliver and distribute quilts, but knew it would be more important than ever to continue. Thanks to everyone who helps out with CiL to support and shower love on these families, now more than ever.

Covered in Love's usual every-two-month block drive is on hiatus for the months of May-June. You can see a post here with talking about it and some suggested ways to fill the CiL sized hole in your month!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday.

May-June CiL {Split 9 Patch Round 2}

Hello quilters! Sorry I mixed up my days last week and left you all high and dry on the plan for May-June.  I'll talk about it in this post while you enjoy the pictures from the Split 9 Patch Drive wrap up.  The top 5 quilts on this page were assembled and quilted by me. In total this drive made 14 quilts!

Traditionally (for the past 3 years I think) Covered in Love has taken a break from block drives this time of year. This isn't so much to give you a break as to give me a chance to catch up on the blocks and tops here. (Not that I ever catch up, but I do try to keep from falling any further behind.)

I know that due to COVID this year many people, including me, have had more time at home than usual and you're eager to continue sewing. However, I'm going to need these 2 months off to try to balance the tables a little between the blocks you send in and the blocks currently on my shelves.

To fill the Covered in Love shaped hole in your sewing schedule these next 2 months here's what I would recommend:

• Contribute to Jack's Basket (a baby quilt only take (9) 12.5" blocks from one of our block drives), or one of the organizations in this year's Hands2Help drive, or a local cause
• Make masks or surgical hats for folks in your area
• Start making red, white, and blue star blocks for the July-August drive
• Or....

If any particularly intrepid folks would like to volunteer to assemble and/or quilt blocks from previous CiL drives I can ship you the blocks, backing and binding, pay for batting if necessary, and pay return shipping. Kathy, Tammy, Mel, and Nancy have helped for years and I'm looking for a few more good (women).

Now, this is a big commitment. Time, up to several months, isn't really an issue but I must have your assurance that the blocks will kept safe and if anything stops you from finishing you'll return them (no questions asked).  I feel that you all place a great deal of trust in me when you send in your blocks, that I will make sure they are used well, and I have to pass that trust along to other volunteers.

That being said, if you want to use your May-June down time quilting for the cause (or want to ask me more questions about it) please drop an email to CoveredinLoveTx@gmail.com!

Speaking of volunteers, this quilt was assembled by Nancy from the central Texas area. She added the border and sashing and her friend Jenn then long-arm quilted it.

If there are any long-armers who would like to help but can't offer free services, send me an email.  Thanks to generous donations we are able to pay some to help offset the costs of professionals who donate their services. 

This would be the last post for these split nine quilts, with a total of 14.  (You can see the post with the first 8 quilts here.)  But, I happen to know that one of the unopened boxes on my floor contains 5 more tops from Gail. So you can expect a bonus post, probably in a few months!

Fudge helping me model one of my new masks for the hospital

Y'all stay safe out there!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday.

What day is it?

Sorry about no finish post today. I lost track of the days of the week. (I know I'm not the only one to have that happen to them lately.) I'll be back next week, hopefully on schedule :-)

In the meantime go check out the post Louise just made with some Covered in Love orphan block quilts she has finished.

Take care!

During quarantine Fudge has trained me to follow him around with the leash so he can explore the wider world.

Star Struck: Round 4

Assembled and quilted by Tammy

Just in time (nearly) to start making more star blocks last year's July/August block drive red white and blue quilts are done. All 20 of them!

quilting close up

Tammy helped finish off some of the last of these. She always picks thematically matched quilting.

Blocks by Gail, assembled and quilted by Tammy

One of the big contributors to last summer's drive was a local quilter named Gail who sent in enough blocks for 6 quilts.

I'm including lots of closeups of this quilt because it's one of my favorites, I love all the blocks with the small, precise piecing!

(Photo bombing courtesy of black dog and fluffy cat).

Isn't that precision piecing to die for?  It's harder to see the quilting on this one but it's a sort of spiky flower or flame pattern.

These final five quilts were all assembled and quilted by me from Gail's blocks.

I think I mentioned before how many people sent in patriotic or R/W/B backings and bindings as well as blocks.  Thank you all!

We put together a beautiful and cohesive set of quilts this year, perfect for veterans and their families.

This one is made from 2" square units (and smaller)!

I don't know where she finds the patience.

Of course I saved my favorite for last, I get the impression these blocks were made from all the itsy bitsy leftovers of all the others.

Even the white parts are pieced from little scraps.  Accordingly, I quilted it with a pretty tight stipple.

Hopefully you can see the white background below it pieced from scraps, some not much bigger than a quarter inch.

There are HSTs and flying geese hidden in here that measure less than half an inch.

Thank you Gail C, Tammy, Kathy, Nicki, Gail H, Cyndy, Linda, Karen, and many others who contributed in various ways to the Stars block drive. You can see the past three rounds of finishes here, here, and here.

Stars Drive By The Numbers:

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 500 so far! The March/April drive is going on now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

Linking to  Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday

New Directions

Tops by Priscilla

Before all the Covid stuff started CiL was working on a small new project that I'm excited to tell you about! As some of you may know, when CiL started years ago I was working at one hospital. Then, after getting my NP license I moved to the other large area hospital (literally next door).  Together, these medical systems serve a large rural area covering much of North East Texas.

CiL has continued, all this time, to distribute quilts only at the first hospital. The program is very well establish and flourishing there and we have just about the right amount of quilts to meet demand. In my new setting at the other hospital a copy cat of the original CiL program wouldn't work, but there are needs that could be filled. Fortunately, a former co-worker and friend now leads the patient and experience program and was very open to me dropping by her office and offering unsolicited ideas!

Top by Deb

 They are now working on something based on the "Comfort Cart" program used in some hospitals. (For those of you familiar with healthcare, the idea of a comfort cart is to be complementary to a Crash Cart, for when a death is expected.)  To be clear, this isn't a CiL program, it's the hospital's program, but CiL is going to try contributing some quilts to be on the carts as it rolls out.

The hospital team has decided to trial their new program (which hasn't rolled out yet, as you can imagine amid the chaos) on the NICU first. The hospital NICU is prepared to care for babies born as premature as 24 weeks and unfortunately not all of them make it home.

Vintage top by Theresa, sent in by her daughter

Athough CiL doesn't officially accept child quilts we did have 4 small UFO tops on hand and then Erin sent in a smallish finished quilt. So, sometime soon these first five quilts will go up to the hospital for the trial of this new program.

PLEASE don't inundate me with baby quilts! I know everyone loves to make baby quilts, but hospital beurocracy is slowing down the roll out of this program and our quilts will only be one of many things on the carts so I do not anticipate demand will be very high at all, at least for a while. I will let you know if and when there's a need for more! 
 In the meantime I don't have any place to store them and I don't want to have to figure out what to do with them if my supply significantly exceeds demand. If you want to scratch that baby quilt itch I always recommend Jack's basket. You can see one of the quilts Christine and I made with its new precious little owner here.

Quilt by Erin

 So, that is the new news here. No idea if the new outreach will fly or flop, but it's exciting to grow! Stay tuned for updates, but probably don't expect one soon. Hospital committees move at the speed of molasses. ( This is why the CiL was originally launched under the "better to ask forgiveness than permission" philosophy.)

Adventure cat explores a tree downed by storms

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 500 so far! The March/April drive is going on now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

Linking to  Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday