May's Tall Nine Patches 3 & 4

Deja vu?  No, just the next (and final) two of May's Tall Nine Patch quilts from the May Covered in Love block drive.  The first two were quilted by Judy, I posted about them a couple weeks ago. These two were quilted by me.

The smaller one is 60" square, the other is 60"x72".  Both of them were quilted with a stipple and bound with pastel blue/grey fabrics.

This color scheme was my favorite that we've done on the block drives in a while. I love love love the soft, soothing blues and yellows with the grey.

Thank you to all the quilters who continue to support CiL, through the block drives.  I love making out the labels as I finish  off each quilt and writing all the names.  I think having the names is also a nice personal connection for the family that ultimately receives the quilt.

It's the end of the month again (how does that keep happening?!) so August's Covered in Love block drive is up.  Big difference from last month's block, these are kind of a wild take on disappearing nine patch.  If you're new around here, the monthly block drive benefit Covered in Love and anyone can participate any month you want making as many or as few blocks as you like. Visit the block drive page for more information.

I hope everyone's weekend is full of sewing and fun!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Friday.

May's Tall Nine Patches 1 & 2

I love our monthly block drives.  Selfishly I love getting to come up with block designs and colors schemes and see them come to fruition.  More than that, though, and more importantly, I love how it represents the online community and quilters in general. I love that strangers come together, month after month, to make quilts to bless people they won't ever meet. 

These are the first two of the "tall nine patch" quilts from May's block drive.  One quilt, the one that got the all-over flowers quilting came as a finished top from Amanda in Louisiana.  The other was a blend of blocks sent in by contributors.

I have two more of these tops ready to be basted and quilted. These first two were quilted by the wonderful Judy at Quilt Paradigm, who never ceases to amaze me with her creativity, skill, and generosity.

Thank you to everyone who contributed blocks to the May block drive: Summer, Teri, Linda, Rosemarie, Susan, Johanna, Valerie, Barbara, Nancy K., Janet, Nancy R., Elena, Ann, Louise, Amanda, Jannette, Molly and Tammy.  

These two quilts have been labeled and added to the staging area for Covered in Love. For anyone interested, this month's block drive is up now. We're making red, white, and blue star blocks in any pattern you like.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.  You think it's going to be a relaxing break, but somehow things always seem to get busy in the summer.  It's a good busy, though; vacations and visits with friends, trying to squeeze inbetween school and work.

Things are busy but good here.  Rey continues to charm us. Once her various parasites and malnutrition cleared up her personality really blossomed. She has the best purr and is completely nonchalant about Rory's disdain for her.

Wishing you sunshine, quilting time, and purring cats :)

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Friday.

Midweek Works in Progress

There has been a lot going ton lately around here.  All the H2H quilts have me so inspired! Last week I made backings for all the the tops I had built up, some from yardage and some from stash.  The 'to-quilt' list is bulked up again and soon I will have a quilting day.

Rory has also really enjoyed all the H2H quilt arrivals, primarily because she gets new boxes to lie in.  I've also started sewing together the May blocks drive quilts.

 

I decided to do several different layout for these blocks.

I love these simple blocks!  I have made 2 baby quilt variations of these blocks, too.  One is going to be my "Friday Finish" this week and the other is not yet done.

In this case I melded together the middle rows of small blocks into 4.5" squares.  This quilt is going to be the companion quilt to this one for a friend at work having twins.  That's what is happening around here, I hope you're having a good week!

May Covered in Love Block Drive

Another month, another block for Covered in Love!  For anyone new around here, every month I host a block drive to benefit my pet charity, Covered in Love, which gives quilts to the families of patients who pass away in the hospital.  Anyone can participate in the block drives and make as many or as few blocks as you like.

This month we're making a very simple twist on a traditional nine patch block in a muted pastel color scheme.  Please consult the color palette guide below when selecting your fabrics.  If in doubt, go with more muted, pastel colors (really, that teal block in the upper right of mine is borderline too bright.  Saturated is ok, but it shouldn't be bright.)

sky blue, sea blue, true grey, buttercup yellow, light ash grey, off white

For each block you'll need (6) 2.5"x4.5" pieces and (3) 4.5"x8.5" pieces.  Hopefully you'll be able to cut mostly from scraps and not have to get into yardage.

Arrange as above into a tall nine patch and sew together in columns, rows, or blocks. Any which way you like to put them together is fine.

(Edited to Add: View finished quilts here)

Press, and that's it!  Easy does it.  Block should finish at 12.5" sq unfinished.  You can see some of our past block drive finishes here.  Thank you to the dedicated volunteers who continue to send in blocks every month, you guys are rock stars.  If YOU would like to help out with Covered in Love, I'd love that!  Leave a comment (make sure I can see your email address) or email me for the address to send donations.