Lutheran Quilts

 

Hello, friends! Louise here to share some lovely quilts donated to Covered in Love by Penn-Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Brush Creek Evangelical Lutheran Church cooperative ministry. They are located in the Harrison City-Irwin, PA area. Aren't the quilts beautiful? All are clearly carefully planned and lovingly sewn. 

As you enjoy the quilty eye candy, I'd like to share some thoughts about orphan blocks and how they end up in my hands. Kat receives donations of blocks from many quilters, and most don't have any explanation of why they have been sent. She forwards them on to me in a big box of exciting, mystery blocks.

Here are my theories on why blocks become orphans. 

1. The sewist's skills have improved, or the 1/4" seam that wasn't. We all know the importance of that scant quarter-inch seam. It takes time to get it right, and if you're just starting to make a particular block, sometimes the first few will come out the wrong size. I receive quite a few 8.25" blocks, 12.95" blocks, even 8.25" x 12.95" blocks. 

2. Tastes change. It's easy to fall in love with the latest, greatest fabric line only to cool your jets about it a couple of years later. Maybe she bought a fat quarter bundle of the cutest unicorn design and started a quilt for a child, only to find that child now is going through a goth stage. Time flies!

3. She bit off more than she can chew and the blocks are too hard. The Double Wedding Ring king size quilt is such a classic and many a quilter has met her match trying to finish even making all the blocks.

4. The sampler turned out to have too many challenging new skills and she hates making some of them.  Applique, paper piecing, AND curved blocks? Argh!! It's okay to learn that you never want to embroider another stitch. However, it does make it tricky to finish that 20 block sampler.

5. She made a major mistake on a complicated block. 87 tiny pieces and three right in the middle are turned wrong. Why does my circle of flying geese look like one is heading north for the winter??

6. She made a major mistake on ALL the blocks. I've seen beautiful sampler blocks in gorgeous fabrics all carefully trimmed to 8" instead of 8.5". So many points trimmed off accidentally. Ouch.

7. She made extra blocks that just didn't make the final cut. Maybe one fabric in the line wasn't as pretty as the others, or the contrast of the values wasn't quite as bold as the other blocks. It's smart to make 26 blocks when you need 24, just in case, but two must be banished. Because let's face it, most people don't need two matching potholders to go with their bed quilt.

8. She finished the beautiful pieced center but hates making borders. I get it; borders can be boring and tedious. It's absolutely fine to donate that center because I *love* making borders. And binding, too. Something about long, uniform strips of fabric floats my boat.

9. And finally, she thinks her batch of one-off orphans can't play well with others. These are her mistakes, her extras, her frustrations. The weird colors that don't match her stash. Seven blocks in a ziplock bag in a drawer. 

Here the good news: Louise's Home for Wayward Blocks has a place for ALL of them. I have seven storage boxes of orphans, in every color, design, size, and quality of construction. Big, small, not-square, points cut off, colors from the 1985 Sears catalog, half-appliqued...all have a place and all will eventually find their tribe and make it into a quilt. I love working with your orphan blocks and appreciate that it takes a village to make my Covered in Love quilts. Thanks for sending them in.

And thanks again to the Lutherans who stitched up these gorgeous quilts!

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Summer 2026 block drive is live now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

Beth T

Pattern "Splitting Squares" by Canuck Quilter Designs

Happy Friday, quilters! This week I have quilts to show sent in by Beth T. starting with this Fibonacci pattern one. Thanks to Beth! One of our most consistent supporters. 

In better cat-news than I shared last week, my foster cat Stuart has been adopted! Happy tails to the best orange boy!

GE Designs, Strippy Stairways.

With the foster room freed up I've been given a new foster kitty family of a Mom and 5 kittens who were two weeks old (now four weeks). I've named them all after characters from The Pitt.

The are extremely cute and very orange. I think they're going to be long haired kitties. They mostly bumble around their play pen looking for milk at this point.

Mama is very friendly and also very LOUD. She has a lot to say! Fortunately she's quiet all night, but if she can see me she has the siren going.  She's very small and probably not very old, herself. She's doing a great job growing fat babies. 

After a hard day at work there's nothing better than getting in the kitten play pen!

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Summer 2026 block drive is live now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

  Linking to Finished or Not Friday

Linda & Becky

Happy Friday, Quilters! This week's quilts are tops by Becky, quilted my Linda. Thanks ladies! Things have been a bit dramatic around here. 

I got a nasty cat bite and infection that had me limping for a week. It's been long enough now that I can start to find some humor in it. 

Fudge had a psychotic episode on the catio due to the presence of a stray cat. In the past I've thrown a blanket over him and bundled him up (he snaps out of it as soon as he's in the house) but this time I wasn't careful enough and he latched onto my leg.

I'll spare you the pictures, but suffice it to say I had a bad bite/scratch that got a pretty good infection despite oral antibiotics. I ended up in the ER with a fever to get a bag of IV antibiotics. 

And then because I went to the ER animal control got involved. Fortunately Fudge has his rabies vaccine so he could quarantine at home. Mom has been getting a big kick out of telling all her church friends that a man with a bullet proof vest and a gun came to arrest Fudge. 

Also at the same time I lost my wallet and had to replace everything. And the antibiotics gave me thrush and I couldn't eat because my mouth hurt so bad. And I had to work the entire time, limping around the hospital. It was not a fun couple weeks. 

Fudge, with no thoughts in his entire head

The furry little criminal has no knowledge or memory of the entire incident. The animal control officer took his mug shot and he sniffed the camera. 

In my next life I want to come back as a cat. 

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Summer 2026 block drive is live now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

  Linking to Finished or Not Friday

Bright and bold

 

Hello, friends! Louise here to share some vibrant quilts made using YOUR orphan blocks. Let's jump right in with this fiery piece. I pulled blocks with reds and yellows in them and sized them up or down to make them all 12.5" square. Simple thin white sashing and borders lets them glow.

This quilt started as a big batch of crumb blocks in every color. I decided to alternate them with navy and golden chunks of fabric and it visually enhanced out all the blues and yellows in the crumbs. I'm always amazed at how that works!

How about a little pinky-peachy fun? Once again I sized up a few blocks to make them all a uniform size, this time 9.5" square.  A hot pink scrappy binding serves as a nice frame.

When all the blocks are very different sizes, I like to do row or column designs. Each column in this quilt starts with smaller blocks at the top and they grow bigger at the bottom. The theme is "black, white, and bright." Even though some of the blocks are classic old designs, the overall feel is crisp and modern.

This quilt started as a very large batch of donated nine patches in two different sizes. I combined two big and two small blocks in a single color with L-shaped center sashing. Can you see it in the lower left corner with the brown block? Then I laid these monochrome blocks out with lights at the top and darks at the bottom, giving a little structure to the scrappy madness. 

Finally, this little baby quilt is just simple rectangles in yellows, blues, and greens. Most of them are donated scraps with a few from my own stash. Lots of fun animal fabrics peeking out. Many thanks to everyone who donates to Covered in Love!

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Summer 2026 block drive is live now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

Quilters' Quilts

Made by Doris

Where has the time gone?? I certainly didn't mean to let nearly the whole month of July pass without a post. I went on my family's annual beach vacation at the beginning of the month, so I knew I'd miss a week there. After that I'm not sure what happened! 

This week I am showing off quilts made by the ladies who volunteer their time and their machines to quilt tops for Covered in Love.  These first two are from Doris in Alabama. 

...and the last three came from Linda in Indiana.  Two very generous and industrious ladies who help keep CiL running! 

The beach trip was good and I managed only a slight sunburn on the back of my neck, which might be the best I have done in several years. The water was darker that usual, but the surf was calmer and nice for swimming. It was hot, of course, but the main point of the trip is to visit with family, anyway.

This last quilts is my favorite. I think the pattern is just entrancing. I really like the fabrics, too. 

I'll try to be more on the ball with my posts going forward! I've taken photos of some more of Louise's quilts, so she will be making posts soon, anyway. She's more on the ball than me ;)

Red-head on the beach means long sleeves.

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Summer 2026 block drive is live now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

  Linking to Finished or Not Friday

Kelly's Quilts

Happy Friday, quilters! I've got a great batch of quilts to show you today sent in by Kelly. I'm starting it off with my favorite one of the batch. 

Bright colors, narrow geometric piecing, and straight line quilting! This one's right up my alley.

All these quilts are great, though, as you will see. Huge thanks for Kelly for her generous support.

I can't believe we're into July already, can you? Our garden has been pretty puny this year, a bad combination of rain and heat. We are at least getting nice watermelons that came up volunteer in the mulch pile.

The first blocks from the new block drive have started to arrive and I'm looking forward to more. They're looking really good together.

This strip quilt with the very subdued colors is actually my second favorite of the batch. It seems to be made from reclaimed fabrics like shirts or pants. I love all the different textures.

The bright red backing was a perfect choice to compliment it.

Lastly, this quilt with the delicate pinwheels and the zig zag edging. It's beautifully done and looks like so much work, piecing each triangle from 3 smaller pieces!

Thank you, Kelly! And thank you quilters for all your support. 

Stuart is considering a career as a hair dresser.

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Summer 2026 block drive is live now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

  Linking to Finished or Not Friday