New Summer Block Drive

Hello Quilters! Time to wrap up the Winter block drive here at CiL and move onto Summer. This time we are doing a disappearing nine patch block inspired from the blog Chris Knits Sews, she is doing them for a Rainbow Scrap challenge this year.

For each block you will need (9) 5" squares from:

• blue (true blue, not teal or aqua)
• white/cream 
• black/grey
• (if you want inspiration, I realized it's the same color scheme as this block drive we did years ago)

This is a good way to use up leftover charm pack squares if you have them. You will also need 1.25" strips from the closest thing you have to a cheddar yellow (can be a textured solid or read-as-solid.) You'll need (6) 1.25" x 5" long strips and (2) 1.25" x 15.5" per block.

Sew your squares into a 9 patch with the yellow as sashing between the blocks. Press seams toward the sashing.

Now comes the disappearing part. Slice your block through the middle in both directions. You can find the middle by measuring 2.25" from the sashing seam line into the center blocks.

Rearrange the blocks as you like, turning them so that 2 of the littlest squares are diagonal from each other in the middle and the other two are pointing out at opposite corners

Sew the blocks back together and press. You're done! My math says your block should be 15", but mine was 14.75", so don't stress if you aren't perfect.

This block drive is open to anyone who wants to participate. The blocks will be assembled into quilts for families who lose a loved one in East Texas hospitals. You can make as few or as many blocks as you want. I don't know exactly how long this drive will run, but probably through October or so. If you need the mailing address please email me at CoveredinLoveTx@gmail.com.

Little quilts from big hearts

 

Hello, friends! Louise here with more quilts made with your orphan blocks and donations. Last week Kat shared some beautiful finishes from the potato chip block drive. Those were larger Covered in Love quilts for adults. There were just a few drive blocks left that she sent to me, and I made this much smaller piece for the neonatal unit. 

This little quilt used some orphan four- and nine-patch blocks in bright colors with white backgrounds. I surrounded a nice panel of fish and water fowl for a quick finish.

Here's a close up of the quilting. This curved hook shape is my go-to free motion motif. I find it very quick and simple to do, and it gives great texture.

Here's a "jelly roll race" style piece, but instead of 2.5" strips, the maker used 1.5" strips. It arrived as one big chunk, but it was just a bit wonky and hard to make rectangular. I sliced it into five columns, flipped every other one, and sashed it with bright blue. This allowed me to ease the irregularities out and I think it turned out pretty nice in that scrap-happy way.

This super cool circle came to me raw edged, so I carefully turned a hem along the outer radius and machine appliqued it to a neutral background. 

The fabrics are gorgeous, especially the purple floral with golden accents. The final piece reminds me of the Big Blue Marble photo of Earth from space!

This orphan project showed up as about 8 finished blocks with birdhouse fabric as the large focal squares. There were also bits and bobs of the blender fabrics and background white. I remembered I had a VERY similar birdhouse fabric in my stash, so I sewed up enough more blocks to make a baby sized quilt. Can you tell there are two different focal fabrics? 

Finally, how about a little zing? High contrast magenta, teal and goldenrod were donated already sewn into strip sets, so I cut them into rail fence blocks. I laid them out in this stairstep design and found some psychedelic trees for a border. A very similar yellow binding ties it all together, easy peasy!

Many thanks to everyone who sends in orphan blocks and spare parts. I love using them as the raw materials for Covered in Love quilts.

Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Winter 2026 block drive is live now.  Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved. 

  Linking to Finished or Not Friday