Thursday, December 6, 2018

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

11 comments:

  1. So much quilty love here! String blocks are just the best, aren't they? So bright and versatile, with plenty of glimpses of interesting and charming things. Do you have any trouble quilting them with the extra layer of fabric in the foundations? They are quite a bit heavier because of that, right?

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  2. Congrats on the milestones achieved to year and I'm SEW impressed with your photo magic!!!

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  3. A big fat CONGRATS to you and your dedicated team of quilters who put all these blocks together. WOW!!!! Thank you for letting us be a part of this mission. And I do love the insights you are able to share, even if limited. These blocks are so much fun to make. Looking forward to next year!!!!

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  4. What beauties! I can't even believe that many quilts were made just from the one drive! I love the variations you and your team have put together. I feel privileged even to be a small part of this endeavor. You have found your purpose and we are all riding on your wings as you surpass each previous year's goals!! I wish you some rest and wonderful holidays as you get ready to start the drive all over again in 2019!!! Merry Christmas to you, your kitties and family.

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  5. What an AWEsome end result!!! I even spotted one of the blocks I sent in. :-) Please know that I've been inspired to make and donate quilts to our local Hospice organization in an effort to replicate the wonderful work you and your quilters are doing. <3

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  6. Congrats on a great year. Love the cat pic on someone in the bathtub! Someday (hopefully soon) I'll get some blocks made for you. Your finished quilts look great.

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  7. I really loved making some of those string blocks for your drive and so glad to be a part of all of this. All the quilts turned out so pretty & such variety in the blocks and the layouts for the quilts. Thanks for the map picture so we can see where all the blocks have come from. A special thanks for the notes as to who receives these quilts & the impact that they have on the patients, family members & nurses who care for them during the critical times in their lives.
    The kitties look like they are enjoying "your" bath time & probably glad it's not "theirs". :)

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  8. Awesome number of quilts and they look amazing!! Next year we will work on getting that map completely filled in!! Are you interested in blocks from overseas as well? When I made quilts for 12 military guys and gals, I got some blocks from England and one of my helpers in putting the blocks into quilts was a young man from Australia! It was truly an international undertaking! http://farmquilter.blogspot.com/2011/10/soldier-quilts.html is where there are some pictures of my SewWhat!?! bee group presenting the quilts to the military guys who were deployed with my daughter (can you pick out the female in uniform in the last picture? Some people donated completed quilts and tops! It was amazing and the guys were all surprised.

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  9. Wow, these look great. I cant wait to see what can be accomplished in 2019!

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  10. I had some blocks made, and I thought I sent them, but months later I found them still in the mailing envelope, under a pile of fabric. I hate seeing MN not colored in on your map! I guess I'm the only donator from MN. When I mess up, it stays blank.

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  11. A wonderful post! Thank you. I love the cat picture, especially the cat in the foreground. This is so cat-like! LOL

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