Quilts for Donation

 I put together a year's worth of 3.5" leaders and enders to create six quilts for donation. Each is 62" x 74".

Closer to the 2025 holiday season, I will take them to a local agency that helps children and adults with developmental disabilities. 🎄🎄🎄

Donation Quilts

 I finished a new crop of quilts for donation.

Four Donation Quilts (3@ 60' x '72" and 1 @ 60" x 78")

 

I make these using 3.5" squares as Leaders and Enders. When I get a bunch (usually a couple of times each year), I put them together, and voila!--I have quilts that I sewed between the pieces of other projects.

Here are four I put together recently. As I assembled them, it was fun to see squares from scraps of fabric I used in other quilts in the past year. The squares are arranged randomly, and I used leftover binding pieces to make scrappy bindings. I apologize for the picture quality--I took them in dappled sunshine because that's what I had! 😎

This time, I had some fabrics given to me by friends or that I had in scrap boxes to put together for the backings. It was fun to combine these things into pieces large enough to back the quilts.

Donation Quilt (backing detail)

Donation Quilt (backing detail)

Donation Quilt (backing detail)

Donation Quilt (backing detail)

I had panels, pillow panels, borders, scrap fabric, cheater cloth, even a draught excluder panel from the UK (this was actually printed on the selvage--in the US, we sometimes call them door snakes). I love jigsaw puzzles, so I had fun deciding how to fit them together, and I think the unusual backings will be a nice surprise for the recipients.

 

I donate my quilts to Abilities First--an agency that assists individuals with developmental disabilities. You can find their website HERE.

A big thanks to the friends who gave me fabrics for backing these quilts. I tried to put them to good use.

Happy Quilting! 😸

More Donation Quilts

I use 3.5" squares as Leaders and Enders which I sew together to create donation quilts.

Donation Quilt (74" x 80")

Donation Quilt (backing and binding detail)

This one will likely be used as a donation for my department's adopted Holiday Family in December.

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These five will be given to Abilities First, an agency that helps individuals with developmental disabilities.

Donation Quilts (62" x 74")

I use scraps and scrappy bindings for these quilts. It is fun to look back over the projects I've done that year by revisiting the leftover scraps.

I enjoy making these--it helps me feel like I'm giving every time I sit down to sew.

Happy Quilting! 😸

Leaders and Enders for Donation Quilts

 I'm chain piecing miles and miles of  Leader and Ender (L & E) blocks for donation quilts.

For the past few years, I've been using 3.5" squares for L & E. Each year, I piece them together to make simple patchwork quilts for donation.

Because these are amenable to straight-line quilting, I am able to use the white-on-white (or natural) fabrics that have the thicker paint on them. These tend to shred my thread with FMQ, but quilting with my walking foot works well. Each year, I gather the blocks and assemble the quilts--it's fun to see the different fabrics that I have worked with during the past year.

I have found that working with consistent squares as L & Es is less confusing for me than trying to use parts for a more complicated quilt. The first couple of years that I did this, I used two-rail fence blocks (even or uneven rails), but the stairstep quilting I usually did with those was quite tedious (stitch, turn 90 degrees, stitch, turn 90 degrees, etc.).

I love using L & E--in fact, I feel guilty now when I use my machine's thread cutter because I feel like I should have another block to go under the needle! I also like the idea that I am creating donations for those in need every time I sit down to sew.

Happy Quilting! 😸

Frolic (Clue #2) and Quilt Delivery

Clue #2 of Frolic, Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, was an easy one. As usual, when I'm cutting strips from scraps, I made too many, but they will find a home somewhere. :)

Just a few of the MANY I made!

I delivered this year's crop of donation quilts yesterday.

Sixteen Quilts!

I hope they will keep their recipients warm and let each of them know that she/he is loved.

Happy Quilting and share the love--the more you give, the more you have.

Donations and Mysteries

Very full post--I've been procrastinating about photos!

I made a mystery quilt with Kevin the Quilter this summer.

Cherry Mash--75" x 92"

Cherry Mash (detail)

I call it Cherry Mash because the colors reminded me of the old-fashioned candy made here in Missouri.

He called it Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt. Thanks, Kevin, for the fun!

I completed another three donation quilts. The agency to which I donate will be setting up their Christmas room later this week, so I'll be taking several quilts I made this year to them.

Donation Quilts (62" x 74")

All are made with 3.5" squares and these three have pieced backing and binding.


I'm also doing Bonnie Hunter's mystery, Frolic, this year. So far, we have made four-patches. As usual, I made WAY too many. I'm going to save the extras with my extras from past years. At some point, I'll combine them all and call the resulting quilt Mysterious Leftovers!

Just a few of my four-patches.

I think that is enough for now--it is the semester's end and a very busy time around here. Happy Quilting!

Disappearing Nine-Patch Quilts

A lovely lady sent me the fabrics for these donation quilts. I am thankful to her for that! I added a little from my stash, and voila!

Morning Glories 66" x 66"

Morning Glories (back and binding detail)

Floral with Green 66" x 66"

Floral with Green (back and binding detail)

I'm stacking up donation quilts to take to the agency where I donate them around Thanksgiving time. I know these two will be loved!

Time to Catch Up!

I finally got some photos of the work I've been doing.

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Donation Quilts

I cut flannel scraps to make donation quilts. You can see the first batch HERE. They were kid size and made with kids' prints. The next ones were for adults.

Two with many florals

Three with plaids, stripes, and more

I layered them on the fence to take photos. They aren't identical, but they are made with the same mix of fabrics. All five are 60" x 72" and are backed with flannel.

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I've been using my 3.5" squares as Leaders/Enders this year. Here are three more I've put together for a total of eight. I don't have pictures of all of them, but they are all made the same way with a wide mix of scraps. They are 62" x 74" and are backed with solid colors.

Leader/Ender Project

I'll be continuing with the same leader/ender project this year. Though I've reduced my 3.5" square bin, it still has plenty of fabric left!

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I mentioned that I've been making Bonnie Hunter's quilt Sand Castles. You can see my previous posts here: 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Here she is--

Sand Castles (a Bonnie Hunter design) 84" x 84"

Sand Castles (backing and binding detail)

Sand Castles (detail)

Sand Castles (detail)

Though the design is titled Sand Castles, for some reason, the string squares remind me of birds' nests; thus, I used a backing fabric covered with birds on branches. This was a fun quilts to make--Bonnie Hunter writes great instructions, and it went together without a hitch!

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As I mentioned HERE, I have  been intimidated by Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay pattern. I loved the quilt, but I was afraid to start it. I have overcome the fear and now I have my own version of the beautiful quilt. 

Meet my Orca Bay: The Christmas Edition.

 Orca Bay 80" x 90"

Orca Bay (detail)

Orca Bay (detail) The fabric with the beaver is from Christmas outfits I made for my kids over thirty years ago!

Orca Bay (detail) Look closely and you will find Waldo.

Orca Bay (detail) Santas, Cardinals, Snow People,...

Orca Bay (detail) Nutcracker, Peppermints, Christmas Goose,...

Orca Bay (detail) Musical Cat, Stripes, Dots,...

Orca Bay (detail) Santa Flamingo

Orca Bay (detail) And a partridge in a pear tree

I have made many Christmas quilts, but I never had one of my own--now, I do! 

Lesson Learned: Take one step at a time, and you can create something amazing, even if you are afraid.
 

 

A VERY Full Post

I've been sewing, but I fell behind on my photography, so hold on to your hats--lots of stuff in this post! 😲

First up are two flannel scrap quilts for donation. I wrote about this process HERE and showed my first results HERE.

48" x 62"

Lots of kids' prints

Back and binding (detail)

I have two more nearly done--they are a bit larger at 62" x 74", and they are not made with kids' prints. (I hesitate to say they are made with adult prints--that sounds a bit risque! 😮) I'll post when I finish them.


Next is a mystery quilt. I've posted quilts before made from mysteries engineered by a friend on a forum I visit. (You can see some HERE.) The instructions for this one were designed to make it scrappy, but I've been wanting to use a blue fabric I had in stash, so I went with a more limited color palette.

78" x 78"

Three fabrics (detail)

Back and binding (detail)

I had it pieced for quite a while, but I couldn't decide when I wanted a border on it or not, so the quilt sat in time-out for a bit! I finally pulled it out and finished it. I quilted with straight-line quilting.


Finally, I have finished Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt--Good Fortune. I have done several post about the steps in making this. (If you look in the "Labels" section on the right-hand side of the blog page, click on "Good Fortune," and they will appear on one page for you.)

Good Fortune 74" x 74"

Good Fortune (binding and backing detail)

Wide variety of fabrics (detail)

Even more fabrics! (detail)

A bunny, a goose, kids, peppermints, etc. (detail)

This was a fun project to piece. I substituted yellow/gold for the orange in the original instructions, but all the other colors were the same as the original. The quilting was difficult. For some reason, I kept shredding thread (I think it was the abundance of seams!), and it took a long time to complete. I'm not really happy with the quilting, but as the saying goes, "Finished is better than perfect."


I'm trying to get things finished up before Spring Break because I have a new pattern I want to try... 😏