Quarter Cabins Finished

Just in time for the next block drive to start, I've got all the January-February quilts finished :)  The Jan/Feb block drive made quarter log cabin blocks in cool colors and those became 6 lovely quilts to comfort families who lose loved ones in the hospital!

Today I took pictures of the final 3 quilts to be finished.  These all finished at 60"x72" and were quilted with a quick stipple.

I went to work this week for the first time since the news article came out and a lot of the doctors, nurses, case managers, etc. said nice things to me about the project, so kudos to all you guys who help out!

Amanda from Louisiana has been a big supporter of CiL for a while now. Recently she sent me a bunch of yardage for backings from a store that was going out of business. There were some great fabrics in there, including this cool bee/leaf design that went perfectly with these quilts.

The current Covered in Love block drive is wrapping up soon, but there's still time to make blocks if you want to.  More info here! 

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Oh Scrap!

Listening to...Alexi Murdoch. Some nice mellow music.

Got the Blues

Happy Friday! I hope you haven't got the blues this week.

During the Jan/Feb Covered in Love block drive, for whatever reason, I ended up with an excess of blue blocks. Putting many of them together into a cool blue top seemed to be the best solution.

This quilt is blue with brown backing, so it will be perfect for some manly-man. No purple in sight!

Like all the block drive quilts, this one will be donated to dying patient in the hospital.  Thanks so much to every one who supports Covered in Love!

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families we'd love to have you. More info here! 

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Oh Scrap!

Listening to... Blue men.  Sticking with the theme.

New Block Drive Finishes

Another Friday and some new finishes to show! This time it's the first 2 quilts from the Jan/Feb Covered in Love block drive.  If you're interested in the block drives you can find the current one here.

During the Jan/Feb drive we made quarter log cabin blocks with a color fade and over 30 quilters sent in blocks.  I'm really thrilled with how these quilts came together. The colors are like jewel-tones.

Both these quilts finished at a nice size, 60"x72", and used fluffy wool batting.  These are the first two of what will be six quilts from the Jan/Feb block drive.

Spring is definitely here in Texas and the heat won't be far behind.  The end of my semester is sneaking up on me so fast now; it feels like this year has flown by! I hope things are going well and the weather is mild where ever you are.

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families we'd love to have you. More info here! 

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Oh Scrap!

Listening to...an old favorite. I was fortunate enough to see flamenco dancing in Spain years ago and was amazed by how powerful and striking it is. Far from the delicate, feminine skirt-fluffing you see in TV and movies.

Sew Some Love

Welcome to the Sew Some Love linkup!  Please link-up any post about a project you're sewing for charity.

This week I've still been assembling tops.  You might have seen the post over the weekend about the UFO tops I get sewn.  Now I'm working on finishing the Faded Quarter Cabin tops from the Jan/Feb block drive.  Three of them are sewn into tops and 3 more have been laid out and stacked in order to run through the machine soon ;)

What have you been sewing for charity lately? Covered in Love has been so blessed by donations from quilters, I want you all to see what each other have going on!  For purposes of the linky, I'm going to define "charity" really generally.  If you're sewing a quilt for you co-worker's mom with cancer or your friend's uncle who lost his home, that totally counts!  Anything you're sewing out of the goodness of your heart for someone outside you immediate circle of family and friends. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Some Quilt Charities:
Books and a Blanket - quilts for needy children in central Texas, promoting literacy
Covered in Love - quilts for mourning families
Kennel Quilts - small quilts for animals in need
Margaret's Hope Chest - several programs for children and adults
My Very Own Blanket - quilts for children in foster care
Ovarian Cancer Quilt Project - quilts auctioned to raise money for cancer research
Project Linus - quilts for children in the hospital
Quilts Beyond Borders -  quilts for poor children around the world
Quilts for Kids - quilts for abused and ill children
Quilts of Valor - quilts for veterans
Threading Hope - children and families in poverty and war torn countries
Victoria's Quilts - quilts for cancer patients
Wrap-a-Smile - quilts for children treated for cleft palate on medical missions
Wrap Them in Love - quilts for children

If you know of any that need added to the list let me know!

Lots to Do

Lots going on around here.  The faded quarter cabin block to Jan/Feb's Covered in Love block drive have been coming in and they look great! I've been experimenting with layouts and really like the one above.  There's still nearly a whole month left on the drive if anyone wants to jump in and contribute!

Nearly all of the blocks from my Nurture circle pals for January's do. Good Stitches bee are here. I have been experimenting with layouts. What do you think of the one above vs below?  They look kinda the same to me, even though they aren't...

Nancy R. gifted me some leftover black/white/bright paper pieced blocks that I've started peeling the papers off.  Going to see what I can do with these.

The actual goal for the week is to get the last of the corner blocks sewn into 2 tops.

Meanwhile, what I should be doing is studying this, but I don't wanna!

There were some great projects linked up to Sew Some Love last week. Remember to come back every Wednesday to check out what folks are sewing and link up any charity sewing you've got going on!

 Linking to Oh Scrap! and Design Wall Monday.

Faded Quarter Cabins

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you've had a good holiday.  In the spirit of winter, hot chocolate by the fire and snow piling up outside the window, I thought we would make some cozy log cabin blocks for the next Covered in Love block drive.   The two month block drive cycle seems to be working well, so this one is going to run through January and February. 

Hopefully you'll be able to get most of these fabrics from your scraps.  Choose a cool color (blue/green/purple) that you have some variety of fabrics in.  Pull seven fabrics that fade from light to dark. The lighter pieces you can use smaller scraps, darker ones needs to be a bit bigger.  You may not have the fabrics to make a perfect fade, just work with what you have and try to stay within the same color family (ie, don't mix aqua and true blue, pick one). 

Moving from light to dark cut 1 piece from each fabric as listed below:

3.5" square

another 3.5" square

3.5"x6.5" rectangle

another 3.5"x6.5" rectangle

3.5"x9.5" rectangle

another 3.5"x9.5" rectangle

3.5"x12.5" rectangle 

Begin to sew the fabrics together starting with the lightest in a quarter log cabin sequence (follow the picture below).

...and there you go! The block should finish at 12.5" square.  

(Edited to Add: View some finished quilts here)

I know many of your are old hats at these block drives, but for anyone who's new to Covered in Love, we give quilts to patients who pass away at a hospital in east Texas.  Family members can take the quilts home with them to wrap up in afterward.  Anyone can participate in the block drives and make as few or as many blocks as you like.  Email CoveredinLoveTx@gmail.com or leave a comment (make sure I can reach you) for a mailing address or if you have any questions!

You can check out finished quilts from previous block drives here.