String Quilts 2018 Wrap Up

At long last, the quilts from the Jan/Feb string block drive for Covered in Love are done! This was our largest block drive to date by far, producing 33 finished quilts, and I'm quite proud to get them all done in 2018!  I delivered them to the hospital in batches, so I merged the photo above to get all of them together. The season goes from spring to winter as you move left to right.

Blocks by Johanna, quilted by Angie

I took a front shot of each quilt as they were finished. The last 12 are here, and you can see the previous posts here and here.

Blocks by Pam, quilted by Angie

Huge thanks, of course, go to volunteer quilters Nancy K., Tammy S., Angie C., and Kathy C. who helped me get these done in a timely fashion.

Quilted by Angie

Big thanks as well to the many quilters who sent in blocks, backings and binding and spread the word about Covered in Love and our block drives.

Quilted by Angie

Most of the quilts from this drive ended up a generous 60"x70", a great size for covering up on the couch. There were also a few 50"x70", 60" square, and 70" square.

Pieced and quilted by Kathy

I made use of many of Sandra's donated backings with bold novelty prints of birds, flowers, cars, sports themes, and more.  Families often identify immediately with a themed fabric, whether it's on the back or hidden in the front.

Pieced and quilted by Kathy

Covered in Love has achieved many milestones this year: our largest block drive to date, becoming a 501(c)(3) non-profit, distributing more quilts than ever before.

Pieced and quilted by Tammy

Thanks to all of you who have made that possible! I wish I could share more stories with you about the impact your contributions have made, but hospital and legal privacy regulations make it difficult.

Pieced and quilted by Tammy

Suffice it to say that your donations make a very real difference in the lives of patients, families, and nurses on a daily basis.

pieced and quilted by me

Some of our quilts go to individuals who died quite suddenly, without warning or any time to cope with the idea. Some go to people who wasted away slowly over months or years until they were only a shell. Some go to people whose mind died long before, leaving their body to go on and on. Some go to people whose body gave out while their mind and memories remained as sharp as ever.

pieced and quilted by me

All these people have people who they leave behind, who care about them. This is something somewhat unexpected I have learned: even the most unpleasant, the most bitter, the meanest, most selfish, most dis-likeable people have someone cares about them.  They all leave behind someone who mourns them, notices the gap they left in the world. 

pieced and quilted by me

Our quilts provide a very meaningful keepsake for family members to remember their loved one by, and this year we reached more families than ever. 

pieced and quilted by me

Thank you to everyone, from all over, who contributed to make this block drive and others a success this year!

Obligatory kitten photo:

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 400 so far! The Nov/Dec 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