More Than Black and White

Happy weekend everybody!  I've got 2 finishes to show this weekend made from UFO projects that were donated to Covered in Love to finish up.

This one was made from a bunch of pre-cut black, white, and red fabrics.  I'm sorry to say I can't remember where these came from and my notes aren't detailed enough to tell me. If you donated these fabrics to me please comment and let me know! 

These black and white and bright blocks were paper pieced in some kind of bee or swap and came to me by way of Nancy R. from Tyler. 

Both of these used fluffy (donated) Quilter's Dream wool batting and were quilted up with a loose stipple.  Thanks to those that give to keep CiL going!

The weather is changing here. The A/C has been running and spring hail storms are popping up.  I saw this guy hanging out on the fence while I was taking quilt pictures.  He must have avoided our porch-cat so far, as he still has his tail!

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families we'd love to have you. More info here! 

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Oh Scrap!

Listening to... an old classic.  I work as a Dresser from time to time when touring shows come through Tyler and I got to work the stage show of Dirty Dancing the other day. I dressed "Baby" and had a great time. After that I had to watch the movie (yes, I confess I'd never seen it!).

Sew Some Love

Welcome to the Sew Some Love linkup!  Please link-up any post about a project you're sewing for charity.

Happy Wednesday! I've been working this week quilting some tops.  In between I put some of the block drive blocks that have come in up on the wall to play with.

I really like this color scheme and the texture in these blocks. If you want to join in and make a few blocks it's not too late! Details on the drive page.

Covered in Love has been so blessed by donations from quilters, I want you all to see what each other have going on!  For purposes of the linky, I'm going to define "charity" really generally.  If you're sewing a quilt for you co-worker's mom with cancer or your friend's uncle who lost his home, that totally counts!  Anything you're sewing out of the goodness of your heart for someone outside you immediate circle of family and friends. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Some Quilt Charities:
Books and a Blanket - quilts for needy children in central Texas, promoting literacy
Covered in Love - quilts for mourning families
Kennel Quilts - small quilts for animals in need
Margaret's Hope Chest - several programs for children and adults
My Very Own Blanket - quilts for children in foster care
Ovarian Cancer Quilt Project - quilts auctioned to raise money for cancer research
Project Linus - quilts for children in the hospital
Quilts Beyond Borders -  quilts for poor children around the world
Quilts for Kids - quilts for abused and ill children
Quilts of Valor - quilts for veterans
Threading Hope - children and families in poverty and war torn countries
Victoria's Quilts - quilts for cancer patients
Wrap-a-Smile - quilts for children treated for cleft palate on medical missions
Wrap Them in Love - quilts for children

If you know of any that need added to the list let me know!

Sampler UFO-No Longer!

These sampler blocks have been waiting for a while to become a quilt, and at last their day has come!  This quilt will now be given to a grieving family through Covered in Love.

The sampler blocks are from 2 different people and I rounded them out with some coordinating fabric cuts and one stray faded quarter cabin.

The quilt finished 51"x64" and quilted up soft and cuddly!  Speaking of soft and cuddly...

 

Don't you just want to snuggle and smoosh your face on her? If only it weren't for those claws...

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families we'd love to have you. More info here! 

Also, don't forget the Hands2Help drive is gearing up over at Sarah's blog. CiL was so blessed by this last year; please consider making a quilt for one of this year's charities. There are always fabulous prizes involved!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Listening to... Shakespeare, as you've never seen him before! I've got tickets to see this in Dallas this summer :)

Sew Some Love

Welcome to the Sew Some Love linkup!  Please link-up any post about a project you're sewing for charity.

All my school classes this semester are divided into 4 modules with all the assignments being due at the end of each module.  Because I have all the self-discipline of a toddler, this effectively means I spend the time between deadlines ignoring my classes and then work like a dog the week before everything comes due at once... so that's what I did last week ;)

Rory conducts an important undercover investigation.

I did make some time for sewing, though.  I have been working on quilting some of the UFO tops.  I'm motivated to get something done for a finish on Friday!

Im-purrrr-tant working going on here.

Covered in Love has been so blessed by donations from quilters, I want you all to see what each other have going on!  For purposes of the linky, I'm going to define "charity" really generally.  If you're sewing a quilt for you co-worker's mom with cancer or your friend's uncle who lost his home, that totally counts!  Anything you're sewing out of the goodness of your heart for someone outside you immediate circle of family and friends. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Some Quilt Charities:
Books and a Blanket - quilts for needy children in central Texas, promoting literacy
Covered in Love - quilts for mourning families
Kennel Quilts - small quilts for animals in need
Margaret's Hope Chest - several programs for children and adults
My Very Own Blanket - quilts for children in foster care
Ovarian Cancer Quilt Project - quilts auctioned to raise money for cancer research
Project Linus - quilts for children in the hospital
Quilts Beyond Borders -  quilts for poor children around the world
Quilts for Kids - quilts for abused and ill children
Quilts of Valor - quilts for veterans
Threading Hope - children and families in poverty and war torn countries
Victoria's Quilts - quilts for cancer patients
Wrap-a-Smile - quilts for children treated for cleft palate on medical missions
Wrap Them in Love - quilts for children

If you know of any that need added to the list let me know!

Hot and Cold Corners

I recently finished making the quilts from the Nov/Dec Covered in Love block drive, Hot and Cold Corners.  Three beautiful quilts to add to our stash, courtesy of quilters around the country!

All three measure 60"x72".   I quilted them with my signature quick stipple :)

The second and third quilt have a border, as that was the best way to use the blocks. In fact, I used every single one!

I had a little bit of that IKEA fabric with the birds left for the border of one quilt.These two used the wool batting I was gifted and they are so soft and fluffy!

Recently CiL has been working more and more with Southwest Transplant Alliance, the organ donation folks in our area.  Organ donation is so incredibly important, literally saving the lives of thousands of people.  It is a selfless, generous gift to make at such a personally painful time.  Organ donation families are giving to others, at the same time as they are losing something precious themselves.

The organ donation process, from declaration of brain death to decision for donation to removal of organs for transplant, can generally take a couple of days, during which time the deceased patient remains in the ICU and family can stay with them.  Chaplain Robert told me how well the quilts fit in with the whole process -- something small to give back to a family who are giving so much -- and something place over the patient, to honor and humanize them, while everyone waits for the recipients and transplant teams around the country to get in position.

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families we'd love to have you. More info here!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Oh Scrap!

Listening to... I know the internet quilting community lost its collective mind the last couple years and all tried to make this insane paper-pieced quilt called Passacagalia.  But did you know Passacaglia is actually a type of music? Ever heard one?

Sew Some Love

Welcome to the Sew Some Love linkup!  Please link-up any post about a project you're sewing for charity.

This week I've still been assembling tops.  You might have seen the post over the weekend about the UFO tops I get sewn.  Now I'm working on finishing the Faded Quarter Cabin tops from the Jan/Feb block drive.  Three of them are sewn into tops and 3 more have been laid out and stacked in order to run through the machine soon ;)

What have you been sewing for charity lately? Covered in Love has been so blessed by donations from quilters, I want you all to see what each other have going on!  For purposes of the linky, I'm going to define "charity" really generally.  If you're sewing a quilt for you co-worker's mom with cancer or your friend's uncle who lost his home, that totally counts!  Anything you're sewing out of the goodness of your heart for someone outside you immediate circle of family and friends. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Some Quilt Charities:
Books and a Blanket - quilts for needy children in central Texas, promoting literacy
Covered in Love - quilts for mourning families
Kennel Quilts - small quilts for animals in need
Margaret's Hope Chest - several programs for children and adults
My Very Own Blanket - quilts for children in foster care
Ovarian Cancer Quilt Project - quilts auctioned to raise money for cancer research
Project Linus - quilts for children in the hospital
Quilts Beyond Borders -  quilts for poor children around the world
Quilts for Kids - quilts for abused and ill children
Quilts of Valor - quilts for veterans
Threading Hope - children and families in poverty and war torn countries
Victoria's Quilts - quilts for cancer patients
Wrap-a-Smile - quilts for children treated for cleft palate on medical missions
Wrap Them in Love - quilts for children

If you know of any that need added to the list let me know!

UFOs Out of the Closet!

Recently I got on a UFO kick.  I keep UFO projects that have been donated to me in big ziplocs in the closet. I got most of them out last week, laid them out on the design wall, and ran them through the sewing machine assembly-line style.  Now several are one step closer to being a finish!

I just noticed a block with backward pieces in it, anyone else see it?

This is made mostly from sampler blocks donated by a couple of local quilters.  I decided to do a narrow sashing to space them out a little bit.  I believe this was a block-of-the-month at a quilt shop in Tyler a couple years ago.  I really love these colors.

I have absolutely no idea where these red, white, and black scraps came from.  I have all these fabrics in my stash, so it's possible I actually cut them for something, but if it was me I have no idea when!  If you sent these to me please comment and claim them!

These large disappearing nines with the pretty colors came from Tricia.  Note Rey playing Vanna White at the bottom :)

I think I mentioned I've starting listening to audio books while I sew.  It really makes the time (and the stitches) fly by.  The one I'm reading right now is Censoring an Iranian Love Story, and I definitely recommend it!

Linking to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

do. Good Stitches Finish

January was my turn again to choose a block for the do. Good Stitches Nurture circle and I chose a mini strip-and-flip. The girls did awesome as always!

9 blocks went on the front of the quilt and one on the back.  I decided to line up the colored striped vertically.  The quilt finished 55"x67".

For the first time in years I didn't use free-motion quilting. Instead I used a triple zig-zag stitch with a walking foot to quilt in the stripes with colored thread.  Suffice it to say, the experience didn't inspire me to convert back from free motioning :)

Since the thread colors are matched to the main part of each stripe, where it crosses over the "flip" section it contrasts.

Since about a year ago my do. Good Stitches circle has been supporting Covered in Love, which is such an honor!  I love seeing both our labels side-by-side.  The backing fabric looks a little washed out in the picture, but it's actually a pretty punchy orange with sprinkles of green.

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive just started recently and will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families jump on board here!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Listening to...RENT.

Sew Some Love

Welcome to the Sew Some Love linkup!  Please link-up any post about a project you're sewing for charity.

This week I made my March do. Good Stitches block for the Nurture circle.  I know I just made the February block last week; I didn't want to let this one go to so until so late in the month!  This time we're making scrappy geese blocks from this tutorial.  I really liked this block a lot.

Covered in Love has been so blessed by donations from quilters, I want you all to see what each other have going on!  For purposes of the linky, I'm going to define "charity" really generally.  If you're sewing a quilt for you co-worker's mom with cancer or your friend's uncle who lost his home, that totally counts!  Anything you're sewing out of the goodness of your heart for someone outside you immediate circle of family and friends. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Some Quilt Charities:
Books and a Blanket - quilts for needy children in central Texas, promoting literacy
Covered in Love - quilts for mourning families
Kennel Quilts - small quilts for animals in need
Margaret's Hope Chest - several programs for children and adults
My Very Own Blanket - quilts for children in foster care
Ovarian Cancer Quilt Project - quilts auctioned to raise money for cancer research
Project Linus - quilts for children in the hospital
Quilts Beyond Borders -  quilts for poor children around the world
Quilts for Kids - quilts for abused and ill children
Quilts of Valor - quilts for veterans
Threading Hope - children and families in poverty and war torn countries
Victoria's Quilts - quilts for cancer patients
Wrap-a-Smile - quilts for children treated for cleft palate on medical missions
Wrap Them in Love - quilts for children

If you know of any that need added to the list let me know!

Wrapping up the String Quilts

Finally I am finished with the quilts from October's block drive!  If you remember, we made string blocks.  I showed the first 3 quilts back in January and now the final 5 are done.  A total of 8 string quilts from the blocks sent in October!

The majority of these are 50"x70", there is one 60" square.  I thought the blooming clover made a pretty place to take pictures, even though I did have to re-wash the quilts after.

These quilts will be added to the Covered in Love stash at the hospital. Thank you to soo many quilters who made this possible.

Thanks to Christy, Mina, Louise, Jan, Jeanine, Susan, Nancy K., Joy, Elana, Patricia, Amanda, Irene, Summer, Brenda, Molly, Diann, Barbara W., Margo, Linda, Nancy G., Ann, Audrey, Johanna, Valerie, Nancy R., Marilyn and more.

Those 3 lighter blocks are a trick of the sun!

Last one. I'm trying to post a clear shot of the front of all of them so everyone can look for their block(s) :)

Sometimes people apologize for sending in blocks with unusual novelty fabrics.  To be honest I've gotten a few raised eyebrows from the Chaplains, too. But I have to tell you, don't apologize! Because it never fails that we bring that quilt into a family and they say, "How did you know? Grandma was obsessed with ____!" French fries or birds or Paris or whatever it is.   I don't know how it works out that way, but it does.  People are looking for something to connect to and something to make them laugh at times like these.  In that vein, here's a too-cute cat fabric Amanda sent in for backing.

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive just started and will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families jump on board here!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Oh Scrap!

Listening to... uplifting music.