Winter Blues Wrap Up

Almost twelve months later, the Winter Blues quilts from the Nov/Dec 2019 block drive are all done! (Hey, it's less than a year, right?)

All 5 of the quilts in this post were tops made by Gail C. and quilted by me.

I love Gail's beautiful, intricate piecing style and her eye for color. Bonus, she's a local to east Texas!

She usually sends several tops kitted up with backing and binding for each drive we do. 

In case you missed it, Covered in Love is rapidly approaching the 700 quilt landmark.  I'm amazed how many people who have been donating since the very beginning are still here and how many new people continue to hear about CiL and join in!

Today I'm really missing the weather I had to take these pictures! It's been cold and drizzly for 3 days now.  That's unpleasant enough on it's own, but I also have a stack of quilts I need to photograph!

In order to keep clean quilts cat-hair free they're stored in the dryer after laundering. Once I have a few I move them to a "closet" (box) in the back of my car. After photos they go to the extra bedroom in my parents house until there are enough for delivery.  A week or two of bad weather can result in quilts building up everywhere.

Speaking of quilt management in small spaces, Louise is doing a series on her blog about quilting on her boat, which included a wonderful video tour. You should go see it if you haven't!

Here are 18 of the 20 finished quilts from this drive all lined up for a family photo! Love this picture!! I used to do these with all the drives but it got harder to do as the drives got larger and took longer to wrap up.

Here's the "by the numbers" for this drive.  The Sept/Oct drive is almost over, but there's still time to send in blocks if you want to.  The Nov/Dec drive will be up over the weekend, so keep and eye out if you are anxious for a new block design :)

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 600 so far! The Sept/Oct 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

String Things

Welcome to round 2 of Jan/Feb's string quilts!  Long-time volunteer Holly assembled and quilted the first quilt, which has some really lovely colors in it.  She quilted intersecting lines that sort of looks like stars.

These next two quilts were assembled and quilted by Linda D. I'm excited to show you more of her quilting if the future!

Of course none of these quilts would be here without the many people who sent in blocks during the January/February drive...

...And those who have sent in binding and backings! Thank you!  A recent delivery to the hospital has put Covered in Love up to nearly 700 quilts.

I had several string quilt tops sent in by various people on my shelves so I decided to lump them in with this drive and get them finished!

This top was made by Pam C. and came with backing and binding.  Pam's quilts are always neatly pieced and pressed smooth, a pleasure to quilt (my pressing skills are, ahem, lacking.)

This top was made by Johanna, such bright happy colors!

This last top came from Elana and yes, some how we took the picture upside down! If you turn your head you'll see it's a heart!

Just wanted to assure you that absolutely everything you send to CiL gets used :) I recycle your ziploc bags, tissue paper, and especially the boxes!

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 600 so far! The Sept/Oct 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

 

Winter Blues Round 3

Remember this block drive? These are the Winter Blues blocks from last Nov/Dec's block drive. When I got my quilting energy back in September the first thing I did was to get these finally finished!

There are three quilts in this post, these were all assembled and quilted by my from blocks sent in by all of you during the drive.  I let the corners flip over so you can see the backings. Thank you for all the backings that have been sent in recently! They are being put to use finishing out block drive quilts.

Each of our drives for the past year has produced at least 20 quilts! There will be one more post of Winter Blues (I also called them puzzle block quilts) in a few weeks to show the last 5 and then this one will be all wrapped up.  Thanks to the help of many volunteers who are helping to get block drive quilts done :)

 Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 600 so far! The Sept/Oct 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

Cozy Sampler Quilts

Happy Fall, y'all! My windows are open and the cool, fresh breeze is blowing through.  As I finish quilts I have been throwing them over the couch and the kitties and I get some serious quality testing done while I drink my coffee in the mornings.

These quilts were not made by me, both were pieced by Jan at The Colorful Fabriciholic and quilted by Ray on his longarm in Florida.  Jan made this top from Pat Sloan's Solstice Challenge and Ray quilted it with a playful swooping dragonfly motif.

Jan said this blue and green sampler was called "Emerald Isle" by the LQS where it was a block of the month, which sounds perfect since the colors are so ocean-y.

This one got a butterfly motif. Perfect!  I'm so grateful to the many quilters who have helped with getting quilts quilted ever since I asked for more help back in the spring. I went through a period in July and August when stressful circumstances in real life meant that I didn't have the focus for spending the several hours at a time it takes to sit down an quilt, plus a constant low level headache kept me from being able to crawl around on the floor to baste - or else risk a migraine. 

The efforts of many volunteer quilters kept us from having a noticeable lag in output while I was away from the quilting machine. (Since mid September I've been back to normal and cranking out the finished quilts and quite a rate.) I know many of my usual volunteers have mentioned in emails and notes that's you've gone through similar episodes of depression or distress; I've been calling it The Covid Malaise.  Obviously this is an extremely weird time when all of our schedules have been interrupted and the touchstones we normally rely on are missing.  Remember to be kind and gracious to yourself and it's ok to take time to take a break from obligations.  

When in doubt, act like a cat: nap in the sunshine, get outside and sniff the wind, and spend time with friends.

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 600 so far! The Sept/Oct 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

Mina from Texas

This week's post is a celebration of one of Covered in Love's most dedicated volunteers, Mina from Texas! Since way way back Mina has been sending in block as well as some beautiful tops and this post features 4 finished quilts she recently sent in.

Of course Mina's signature quilts are these friendly scrappy villages.  I just did a rough count and I think CiL has received about  17 of them from her (plus the 3 un-quilted tops I have right now makes 20!)

The pattern for these village quilts is a free one from Quiltville. You can find it here along with a tutorial.

Always lots to spy, like this Mermaid waving from her door. I love the sentiment of these quilts, the idea of the support of a loving "village", as well as the busy eye-spy element.

Gold star for getting the first Red, White, and Blue Star Quilt done of the year! Mina sent in a whole bunch of blocks as well as this finished quilt.  Thank you Mina, you're a STAR!

Cooler weather has arrived here and we are all enjoying it.  The kitties don't mind at all snuggling up for a nap and some Quilt Inspection on the couch.

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 600 so far! The Sept/Oct 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