January 2024 CiL Block Drive

 At long last I am pleased to announce another Covered in Love block drive! This drive will run from January - March (3 months). 

In case you haven't ever participated before, the idea in a nutshell is that you can make as many or as few blocks as you like. Contact coveredinlovetx@gmail.com for the mailing address and try to have them in the mail by the end of March. All the blocks received will be combined into quilts for families who lose loved ones in east Texas hospitals. 

photo by Elizabeth Hartman

This time around we are going to be making Mod Mosaic blocks from the pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.  Follow this link and scroll to be bottom to download her pdf tutorial. For you blocks please use any bright, saturated fabric scraps and white sashing. Trim your blocks to 12.5" x 15.5".  Email or comment if you have any questions and have fun!

String Block Quilts, 2 Years On

At long last, I think all the quilts from the Jan/Fab 2022 string blocks are done! This isn't the wrap up post, but it should be the second to last batch. 

I noticed this little embroidered dragonfly hiding on one of the blocks. Little surprises like that are the best part of scrappy blocks!  

All of the quilts in this post were finished by Linda on her long arm. These string blocks would never have gotten done without Linda's help!

windmills and the Eifel Tower

I have news which I know many of you have been eagerly anticipating! CiL will have a block drive starting in January!

I'll have the post up this weekend with instructions for the block drive, so check back to see. I don't know if we will be back to having block drives consistently every 2 months or will continue to skip around, but it's a start. 

If you squint you can see the flower FMQ design

Don't forget that Cynthia is also running block drives every 3 months for Compassion Quilts. She has a very cool log cabin block drive going right now.

CiL has had a great few years. We're now in four hospitals in North-East Texas and have distributed almost 1,400 quilts since starting in 2015. 

piggies! and a woven sort of FMQ design

The past year or so without block drives have given me time to breathe and rediscover the importance of personal quilting for me. Thank you for all being patient! I hope you'll enjoy the block drive I've chosen.

These photos may have been the last ones taken on the side of my porch. As I type the handy man is at work putting on a porch roof and screening it in. The kitties are getting the biggest Christmas present of all this year!

They are scared to death of all the banging, but I know they'll love being able to go outside once it's finished. (The real reason for the roof is to finally stop the leak around my front door, the Catio is just a bonus.) 

 Linking to Finished or Not Friday

Happy holidays

 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love this time of the year! I love the lights and the music and the cooler weather, the only problem is it goes by so fast!

All of the quilts in this post were made my one of CiL's faithful long-armers, Linda. 

Linda's been working hard the past few years helping to assemble and quilt our block drives, but she also makes her own quilts and sometimes donates them.

Linda has a great eye for color and pattern and she is a busy bee! She's one of the folks who keeps CiL afloat.

Our community has really gone all out for Christmas this year.  The nearby town had a Celtic Christmas festival weekend and I enjoyed a show at the local theatre with bagpipers, drummers, dancers and folk singers. 

(There's no particular Scotch or Irish heritage in our area, I assume they just thought it would be a fun theme?)

The school had a Christmas festival on Saturday and the music and general hubbub was clearly audible from our house. 

Hope you're enjoying this Christmas season, wherever you are!

Linking to Finished or Not Friday

Just some life photos...

I don't have a quilt post ready this week, so here address some snap shots instead. 

I made some Christmas ornaments with that baking soda dough that's been everywhere on the internet recently. Most of them are still drying but I've been experimenting with paint techniques on some of the broken ones.

Fudge-roo, aka Roo-cifer, aka Roo-cephus was having some serious separation anxiety last Sunday and spent a couple hours in his baby carrier while I did chores, because he's just a little baby :)

After my parents' last dog passed away they continued their habit of throwing food scraps into the dog bowls on the porch. This is one of at least two very bold and very fat possums who comes for dinner on their porch every night.

It's been wonderfully cool at night and the kitties are enjoying their heating pad very much. Fudge usually spends the entire night on it, but Sundae gets too warm after a while and moves so she only has a leg on. 

By the way, Cynthia recently launched her latest Comfort Quilt block-drive. It's a really cool modified log cabin block, can't wait to see how they come together! 

Tina's Tiny Piecing

Happy Friday, folks! Sorry I missed posting last week, but I hope your all had a great Thanksgiving! We just had a small family holiday at home with good food.

The quilts in this post came from Tina C. She's sent in several quilts to CiL with really small piecing, and this pineapple is maybe the most impressive. She tells me it was started 10-12 years ago!

This pretty sunflower log cabin is also an old project, started in 2009. She chose the perfect quilting motif for it.

Lastly, this beautiful batik quilt with the gorgeous colors.

It's a star sampler with a really creative use of drunkards path blocks in the sashing.

I love how the simple ripple quilting pattern accents the piecing. 

Are you pushing yourself to try to get quilts done for Christmas? I've got a few projects and one free week to complete them, but I don't know if I will!

Linking to Finished or Not Friday

Sibling block quilts, featuring Priscilla

Hello! Louise here to share some quilts made from blocks donated by Covered in Love supporters. Today I'm focusing on what I call "sibling" blocks, which are groups of blocks in the same design. They are often donated by the same person in coordinating fabrics. 

This first quilt is made with lovely autumnal log cabin blocks sewn by Priscilla. She sent enough to make several quilts and this is the first.

How about this fun zig-zaggy chevron quilt? These are also Priscilla's blocks.

I backed them with this bird fabric that I've been holding onto for at least 8 years. The binding was donated all ironed up and ready to go, too.

Priscialla also donated these pretty stars, in some of the same autumnal fabrics as the log cabins.

I put these cat faces on the back. Their stare is a little less intense in person!

This is the fourth quilt from Priscilla's blocks. I'm not sure what this block is called, but I like it. Something about the scrappy cream backgrounds is just so comforting.

Do you recognize these hexagons in this pretty fabric? These are the leftovers from the kaleidoscope quilt that Christine sent in. Her generous donation of all the coordinating fabrics made two complete quilts. Thanks, Christine!

Sometimes I don't have quite enough sibling blocks on hand to make a complete quilt, so I look for a "good friend" block to make up the difference. These eight diamond shaped blocks are a neat design! I'm not sure, but they might also be Priscilla's work.

This on-point patchwork block was just the friend the blocks needed. Such tiny pieces! A border of chicken fabric rounds this one out.

Sometimes the sibling blocks that Kat sends to me are left over from block drives. Did you take part in this one? I love the green and gray together. 

Someone donated this shamrock fabric and it's the perfect backing.

Here's another one with "special friends" to help. I knew I wanted to put the two John Deere fabric blocks into the same quilt, and when this batch of seven siblings showed up, a match was made!

And last but not least, here is a lovely batch of sibling blocks in purple, reds and blue solids. The floral panels can shine with this symmetrical column layout and I was happy to give them a quilt of their own.

Many thanks to Priscilla, Christine, and everyone else who donated blocks to Covered in Love!

Rays of Sunshine

Louise here, eager to share this lovely batch of quilts. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, because there are TONS of photos today! All these quilts were pieced by the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild and finished by Charlotte K. While you zoom in and have your mind boggled by Charlotte's amazing quilting, I'll tell you more about Sunshine. 

Sunshine is a completely "remote" guild, meeting online using the MeWe.com social media site. MeWe is a bit like Facebook, but smaller and more intimate. Members, or "Sunnies" sew up quilts for charity and share their finishes online. Recently, the guild selected Covered in Love as one of the three charities they support.

About once a year, Sunshine also has an in-person retreat, moving around the country to make it accessible to as many members as possible. East coast, west coast, midwest, south...they've had some diverse retreat locations. The 2023 retreat was in Flat Rock, NC, and all these quilt tops were assembled there.

The guild selects a block or two for members to stitch up in advance of the retreat and mail in to the retreat coordinator. Then the blocks are put together on retreat weekend in a flurry of sewing and camaraderie. Lots of good food, good fun, and local activities are thrown in for good measure. Retreat attendance isn't required, of course, but those who attend report having a most excellent time!

This year's retreat blocks were snowballs and the big blocks in the quilt photo above. Isn't that a neat block? A different local guild donated a huge batch of nine patches. And a handful of Ohio Star blocks were made to honor the memory of a beloved Sunnie, Carol.

After the retreat, the tops were distributed among the members to baste, quilt and bind. The finishes were done by both folks who attended the retreat and other, more remote members. What an amazing group effort! Charlotte, a very active and talented member, finished this big group and her quilting is fantastic!

I joined the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild a number of years ago, and I just love being part of this group. They are the most upbeat, positive, supportive group of quilters you'll ever meet on the internet. 

Membership is open to any quilter, beginner or advanced. I invite you to join, especially if you enjoy charity sewing! The group shares photos, tips and tricks, free patterns...anything quilt related. If you decide to click this link to join, you'll be prompted to set up a MeWe account. I've never had any problems with MeWe, no spam, etc. It's easy to use either on your phone or home computer.

Many thanks to Charlotte and the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild for these wonderful quilts! They are sure to bring comfort to the families that are supported by Covered in Love.