Thursday, February 28, 2019

Ready for Spring


Some bright colors this week to help lure in Spring. Can you believe it's March already? It has been raining in Texas since September and I am so ready for some sunshine!  The new March/April CiL block drive just went live and it's a Spring theme as well, so be sure to check that out.


How's this for bright? Jeanine sent in two stack of blue string blocks last Fall, the first of which became this top. 


Next, Dhia sent in this quilt she finished from blocks made by the Nurture circle of do. Good Stitches last September. Pretty peach and rose pinks mixed with green and blue.


And finally, the first of what will eventually be many vintage tops given to me by a thrift store owner.  I'm guessing this one was made in the 80s, do any of you have a better guess?  It came out about 65"x70" after trimming it mostly square.


The fabrics were in good shape and the seam allowances were plenty wide, but I quilted it pretty tight, anyway, to make it more stable.


.....and we all know why you really come to this blog every week. Here are Sundae and Fudge's latest glamour shots!


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

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Spring Block Drive

Hello everyone and welcome to the March/April 2019 block drive to support Covered in Love! Since 2015 Covered in Love has been providing quilts to grieving families in east Texas who lose someone in the hospital. Soon we'll cross the 500 quilt mark, and these block drives are one of the major ways we do that!

The royal purple is showing up really lavender.

Spring is coming, and the never-ending rain we've had promises a exceptional eruption of wildflowers this year. So in honor of spring I chose a bright flower block to bring in the sunshine on dark days.  Scroll ALLLL the way to the bottom of the post for details on contributing to the drive.

This design is based on a traditional blocks I believe is called Hope of Hartford.  We'll be using a spring/easter color scheme based on the image below.  Follow the block tutorial for all the details.


This tutorial makes (2) 12.5" blocks at a time. For each pair of blocks you'll need a light, spring-green background, a yellow for the center, and two shades (light and dark) of a "flower color" (purple, pink, blue, yellow).  Cut the following:
(2) yellow squares 2 7/8" sq
(8) green rectangles 5 3/8" x 2 7/8"
(2) green squares 6.75" sq
(2) light flower color squares 6.75" sq
(4) dark flower color squares 6" sq


On the back of all the flower color squares mark a pencil line diagonally from corner to corner.  Put the 6.75" green and light flower squares right sides together and sew on both sides of the pencil line with a quarter inch seam allowance.


Do this will both sets of 6.75" squares. Cut on the pencil line to make 4 HSTs. Press and trim to 6" square.


Match the HSTs you just created right sides together with the dark flower colored squares, so that the pencil line is perpendicular to the seam in the HST.



Like before, sew a quarter inch on both sides of the pencil line and cut to make 8 HSTs.  Press and trim these to 5 3/8"


You'll notice you have 2 kinds of blocks, mirrored from each other. Divide these, each set makes one block. Now you can layout and finish your blocks. For purposes of clarity I am going to show one at a time. They are the same, just mirrored, but I know it can get confusing so I'll show both.


Here's the layout. First take the rectangles and sew them to the compound HST squares.


Take one of the rectangle pieces and start sewing it onto the yellow square, starting at the matching edge and stopping 1/2" from the edge of the yellow square. 


Now add the next rectangular piece to the long matching edge of the yellow square and the first rectangle.


And add the 3rd rectangle to the new edge.


When you get to the 4th piece you can add it because you left the first seam unfinished.


Sew on the 4th piece, then finish the first seam.





Finally, press. Your block should measure 12.5" square. If it's within 1/4" don't sweat it.




The second block is the same steps, just mirrored.  I'll post the pictures below.
































(Edited to Add: View some finished quilts here)

And there you go, (2) 12.5" flower blocks.  You can make a whole rainbow of flowers! Everyone is welcome to contribute as many of as few blocks as they'd like toward the drive.  Get them in the mail by the end of April and I'll finish them into comfort quilts.  You can email CoveredinLoveTx@gmail.com to get the mailing address.  I announce a new drive every 2 months, contribute to the ones you like and skip the ones you don't, there's no obligation.  You can check out quilts made from previous block drives here.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

A Thrift Store Find


Happy weekend! Cool quilts this week brought to you by CiL's awesome contributors.  This first one has a cool story. My friend Libby found these UFO shirting blocks in an Idea Store (sort of like a Goodwill) in Illinois and put the top together for me. 


So, the original block maker is a mystery. Libby made the top and I bordered it with donated fabric and quilted it. Now it will go up to the hospital to find a family in need.


This top came from Sandy P., cool scraps with a tan border.  Sandy has sent in some cool tops before to support Covered in Love. I'm always happy to inherit UFOs and finish them up :)


And lastly, another quilt top by Michele with intricate pink and brown stars and a courthouse steps background.  My mom loves this one because it's so pretty!


A recent drop off put us up to 480 total quilts donated to grieving families.  Thank you all so much for your support and for covering Texan families in love.


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

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Bright and Scrappy Love-Quilts



Hello and Happy Weekend!  I finished a bunch of quilts in the past couple weeks to share with you.  This first one came as a top from Bonnie and I finished it with donated backing and binding.


I love how all the scrappy stars have different centers, some with itty-bitty squares and different designs.


Next, this scrappy and very floral top from Paula. (Paula previously sent in some pretty tops before.)  Again, I finished it with some generously donated backing and binding!  I didn't take a good picture of the backing, but it's a mix of very pretty florals.


Finally, this quilts was made by the Nurture circle of do. Good Stitches.  You guys know I love the Nurture circle, I've been a member for like 4 years now and and for the last about 3 they've been supporting Covered in Love.


These blocks were made in October by the Nurture circle based on a block I saw at the bottom of this post and I just finished putting them together and quilting it up.  Thank you to ALL of you who contribute to Covered in Love to make it such a success!


And lastly, I know you guys need your kitten pictures! Here they are with their current favorite toy, a finger puppet of Jack in the Beanstalk ;)
  

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