My quilty guilt - quilt blocks for charity quilts

 OK, I have to get something off of my chest.  Back in November 2012, I was inspired to make quilts for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  I asked if folks who read my blog wanted to help, and boy oh boy, what a response! Hundreds and hundreds of quilt blocks poured in from around the globe for months and we ended up donating more than 50 quilts.  And then I ran out of steam.  I eventually forgave myself for giving up - we all have our limits - but the problem was that I still had donated quilt blocks left.  What to do with those?  People donated them with the understanding that they would be made into quilts to give to those in need.  I tucked them away while I pondered what to do with them...

And then I came across them again while looking for the Block Lotto blocks that I gave away in the Quilty Orphan Adoption event last week.  I feel so guilty that they never became quilts to comfort those who were going through rough times.

But then I thought of all of you who threw your name in the hat for the Block Lotto blocks and all the charity sewing you do, and thought, hey, maybe I should offer the blocks to some of you doing charity work so that YOU can sew them into quilts to give to those in need.  That way, they'll be used in the spirit in which they were given.  Are you game?  

If you want a set or two (or three, or more) of blocks to make quilts for charity in the US, let me know below.  I'm trying to do some clearing out this week before school starts back again on Monday, so let me know in a comment 1) which set(s) of blocks you are interested in - don't be shy, if you are interested in all of them, just say so, I want them to go to someone! and 2) which charity you would be sewing for.  (if you are a no-reply blogger, please include an email address so I can contact you).  If more than one person is interested in a set, I'll let Random Number Generator decide who gets each set on Friday morning with the goal of all sets hopefully being mailed out by Saturday at the latest.  I am happy to mail multiple sets to each interested person.  Maybe then I can absolve myself of the lingering guilt over these unused blocks!

(Please know that with very few exceptions, I did not make these blocks so I cannot attest to their workmanship or fiber content.  I can tell you that they have been in a smoke-free, dog-friendly home these past nine years.  Please also know that I am not going to press the blocks before mailing - that is A LOT of pressing!  And I'm only willing to mail to the US as this will add up to quite a bit of postage as it is.)

Set A: Eighteen 12.5" solid sampler blocks

Set B: Thirteen 12.5" Black and White Sampler Blocks

Set C: Ten 12.5" Autumn Sampler Blocks

Set D: Thirteen 10" x 11.5" Pastel Stack & Whack Style Star Blocks

Set E: Six 13" Scrappy Orange, Blue and White Blocks (actually found these in a box of scraps I received this year)

Set F: Six 12.5" Green & White (& Pink) Star Sampler Blocks (not donated, but made by me as I was playing with ideas for a class I taught at my shop years ago)

Set G: Eight 12.5" Sampler Blocks that all include the same multicolor leafy print (not donated, but blocks I won as part of a challenge my guild had many years ago)

Set H: Nineteen 6.5" x 8" Green, Yellow & Beige Delectable Mountains Blocks

Set I: Sixteen Identical 8" Two-Fabric 16-Patch Blocks

Set J: Ten 9.5" Scrappy Nine-Patches

Set K: Forty 4.5" Scrappy Blocks (22 of the Green & Cream, 18 of the ones with black corners)

Set L: Fourteen 12.5" Scrappy Nine-Patches

Set M: The Motherlode!!  One Hundred & Two 12.5" Disappearing Nine-Patches (NOT all the same size or cut the same - this was the block I chose for the Hurricane Sandy Quilts I made and these are the leftover blocks after making dozens of quilts from these blocks)

Let's cover some folks with some quilty love, shall we?

It's been five years...quilt blocks up for adoption

 Edited 3/23: The Random Number Generator chose #1, so I have emailed the first commenter for a mailing address.

I used to participate in the now-defunct Block Lotto, and loved making new blocks every month.  I even won once or twice!  Five years ago I won some blue and purple Birds In The Air blocks, but never got around to putting them together.  Probably because blues and purples just don't inspire me (I'm an autumn).  Anyway, it is time to let them go.  

These are just up on my design wall, not sewn together

These are the nine blocks I made - the rest came from other quilters

Leave a comment if you are interested in adopting these 50 6-inch blocks.  If more than one person expresses an interest by noon EST on Monday, March 22, then I will choose a winner by Random Number Generator.  I will ship to US and Canada.  Please include your email address if you are a no-reply blogger.  

I am linking up with Cynthia's Quilty Orphan Adoption Event.

Yours for the taking - Quilty Adoption Event

I've been participating in this event for years now.  What a great feeling to free up some of my creative space while giving someone else a head start on a new project!  Thanks, Cynthia, for hosting!

My offerings this time around are pretty small - plentiful, but small.  As in, if you don't like tiny piecing, these probably won't appeal to you.  And while they won't free up a whole lot of physical space for me, I will feel so much better if they get put to use somewhere.  The only restriction on who can win is that I will only ship to the US and Canada (sorry, friends across the pond and elsewhere!).  Leave a comment letting me know which entry(ies) you want and I will pull the names of winners on Sunday, March 22 with a random number generator if more than one person is interested in any given offering.

A. First off, we have the 52 extra 2.5" scrappy yellow and neutral 4 patches left over from my Good Fortune (2018 Bonnie Hunter Mystery) Quilt.  Eight of them have been sewn into 16-patches, but they can be disassembled...

B.  And then there are the 115 1.5" gray and scrappy bonus triangles that I cut off (and sewed) from a baby quilt I made in 2013.

C. You're going to see a theme here...more bonus triangles!  I really hate throwing anything away, and I love tiny piecing!  I just never seem to get around to using my bonus triangles!  Here are 42 1.5" patriotic HST in a blue with white stars and a flag fabric left over from a quilt that I had my students make in a summer camp quilting class sometime between 2013 and 2016 (hmmm...can't find a photo).

D. Surprise!  More bonus triangles!  These 118 scrappy red, white and blue HST trim down to 1.5", and come from a RWB star quilt that I never finished.  (which reminds me, I should pull that out and work on it!  I started it in 2015.)

E. In 2016 I had customers who came into my shop sew blocks for a community quilt, Arkansas Crossroads, which then was raffled off to raise money for a local charity.  These 146 white (Kona) and scrappy 1.5" HST are left over from that project.

F. And finally, some more bonus triangles, but these trim to a whopping 2"!  These 52 white and solids HST are left over from some Block Lotto blocks I made in 2012.  Time to let them go, right?

Won't you please give these little fellas a home?  Maybe there is a mini quilt or a doll quilt in your future.  Or maybe these can make a pieced border for something.  Or perhaps they can make pinwheels to form the center of other blocks.  Lots of possibilities here!

Check out other adoptees at Cynthia's blog.

Quilty Adoption Offerings

My husband and I will be celebrating 19 years of marriage this May.  One of the triumphs of our marriage is the level of compromise we have reached when it comes to STUFF.  I am a packrat; he is a minimalist.  We've had a couple battles around this difference in approach, but I've gotta say, mostly it has been me drifting over to his way of doing things.  It turns out, letting go of things lightens me somehow.

My sewing room, however, is the place where I feel no guilt about keeping any and everything I want.  But looking at some of my UFOs lingering in limbo, knowing that I'll never get around to finishing them, saddens me a bit.  What makes me HAPPY is participating in Cynthia's Quilty Adoption Event twice a year!  I am able to give away my UFOs to people who actually finish them! (Really, I've seen pictures!)

This time around, I have three projects I am ready to release into the quilt-iverse.  If you are interested in adopting a project (or two or three!), leave a comment, making sure there is an email address so I can contact you if you are a winner.  I will draw winners using a Random Number Generator on Monday, March 25 with hopes of having everything mailed out by Tuesday, March 26.  I am happy to cover postage in the US and Canada (so sorry to all my other international friends).  There are no restrictions on what you do with your winnings - make something for yourself, for a friend/family or for charity.  I'd love to see a photo of the finished project if you think of it (closure, you know).  OK, here goes!  Ready for some scrappiness?

A.  PLUS Blocks

Back in the fall of 2016, I joined in the Charming Plus Quiltalong.  I enjoyed making these scrappy 6.5' blocks as a leader/ender project for a while, but I've lost interest.  There are 27 of them.

B. VIOLETS Blocks

Back in the spring of 2016, I won a bunch of Violets blocks in Block Lotto.  I love participating in Block Lotto, but I'm terrible about putting the blocks together if I win.  I should just participate without throwing my name in the ring to win.  There are 43 of these 6.5" blocks: blue, purple and pink flowers with yellow centers on black/white/gray backgrounds.  Note that they are made by a bunch of different people, so actual size may vary a bit.

C.  FLANNEL BUZZSAW Blocks

I'm not exactly sure when I started this flannel quilt based on Aunt Betty's Attic in the February 2003 issue of McCall's Quilting, but definitely by 2009.  It is now 2019.  Time to "fish or cut bait", don't you think?  Actually, I wanted every block to be a different pattern, but when you make a block, you actually get pieces for two blocks.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to make a quilt that was twice the size, or if I'd have pieces for two quilts.  I've decided I want to keep one set of blocks, and give one away.  If I am making the smaller size, I am more likely to finish.  Please note that only 31 of the 36 six-inch blocks are pieced, but there is material prepped for six more (an extra for some reason). 

 I'll include the magazine article with the instructions.

Please know that 1) this will only include the blocks, not additional fabric for the borders, 2) I just cut up whatever flannel I had at the time so there is no color scheme or theme and 3) this was early on in my quilting career and I think it was my first time using flannel.  The quality of the materials and my piecing are both questionable...

Be sure to visit Cynthia's blog for more items up for grabs!

Adopt me, please!!

EDITED 3/20/18: My adoption event is now closed.

I am a starter.  I get ideas, and I can't wait to start playing around with fabric to see where the idea will go.  Unfortunately, rarely do I finish.  I run out of steam, or the idea doesn't pan out the way I had hoped, or my attention is diverted to my next great idea.  My pile of UFOs is embarrassing.  Shameful, even.

Which is where YOU come in.  By adopting my unfinished projects, you can help me alleviate my guilt over my Quilter's ADD.  This time around, I have 5 projects up for grabs.  If you are interested in adopting a project, leave a comment with that project's letter (A, B, C, etc), and if more than one person is interested, I'll throw names in a hat and have my kids pull winners.  If you are interested in more than one, let me know any and all that interest you in your comment.  Be sure to include your email address if you are a no-reply blogger so I can contact you for your mailing address.  I have no restrictions on how you use these - make a quilt for yourself, for a loved one or for charity; as long as it is being used, I am happy.  I am also happy to pay shipping so there is no cost to you.  Truly, I have no space and any little bit that I can move out, the better.  I will select the new "parents" on the morning of Tuesday, March 20, and ship out as soon as I receive mailing addresses.  I am located in Massachusetts, and am happy to ship to the US and Canada (so sorry if you are visiting from elsewhere).  My home is smoke-free, but I do have a dog (although he doesn't quilt).

OK, here we go!

A.  DOTTY
Back in September 2013, I came into possession of a white-on-white fabric with dots and circles on it.  That's all it took to get me to pull any and all 5" squares with dots or circles from my pre-cut scraps bins and start throwing something together.  I love the idea and the fabrics, but I just couldn't get excited about a layout.  Here are some of the things I tried:

I give up.  Here's what you would receive:

•  Eighteen pieced blocks that measure 5" (unfinished)
• Twenty-eight 5" squares of assorted dot/circle fabric
• Thirty-two 2" x 5" WoW background strips
• Four 2" squares of WoW background squares
• Fifty-nine 2" squares of assorted dot/circle fabric
• 24" x 14" piece of WoW background fabric plus a couple smaller scraps of same fabric
• Plus the random blocks below

Not sure what I was doing here, making kites, maybe?  These block quadrants are 4.5" unfinished.

B. BUGGY
Seeing as my boys are now teenagers, this project is AT LEAST ten years old.  I remember thinking I'd make a "Love Bug" quilt, making heart blocks out of fabrics with bugs on them.  I made one heart and moved on to something else.  Story of my quilting life.  Here's what you would receive:

• One 6.5" pieced heart block
• Seven assorted bug fabrics, ranging in size from 6.5" squares to a quarter yard
• Thirty-seven 4" squares of WoW fabric

C. TRACTORS
Way back when my boys still thought I was smart and pretty and cool, they wanted to quilt with me.  My youngest started a farmer/tractor quilt, and lost interest after just one sewing session. (OMG!  Is Quilter's ADD hereditary???)  Anyway, he was fine with me letting go of the material he had picked out for his quilt.  Some of it has been repurposed, but we are left with three adorable tractor panels and some other random tractor/farm fabric.  Here's what you'd receive:

• Three tractor panels that measure about 9.5" 
• Four approx. 11" square tractor/farm squares of fabric

D. FLOWERS
I gravitate towards small panels, thinking that I'll use them for the center of blocks.  Earlier this year, I tried this with some small seed packet panels that I'd been hoarding for years, and it turns out I didn't like the result at all.  Probably just the setting I chose, but now I'm reluctant to use these little panels.  They are lovely, but I just don't know what to do with them.  If you have an idea, throw your hat into the ring for a chance to own them.  Here's what you'll receive:

• Two WOF pieces of Botanica by Judith Baker Montana for Robert Kaufman; one piece measures 22", the other measures 18".  There are 81 little approx 4" flower blocks total on the two pieces together.

E. HEXIES
I have been working on a scrappy Grandmother's Flower Garden hexagon quilt for well over a decade.  My quilter friends back in Virginia were great about giving me their leftovers and cast-offs, and one baggie that I received contained pre-cut hexies.  BONUS!  I've put those hexies to use, but then there were these elongated hexagons as well.  They don't work for my current project (believe me, I tried!), and I am NOT starting another hexagon quilt, so these are just sitting around collecting dust.  Anyone want to make a hexie quilt with these?  They are primarily reproduction fabrics.  Here's what you'd receive:

• 325 pre-cut elongated hexies that measure approx 2.25" x 3.25".  The one basted hexie in the bunch measures 1.5" x 2.5".

Be sure to check out the other items up for adoption from others at Cynthia's blog.

And if you are new to my blog, I recently sold my yarn and fabric shop and moved to a new state, so I am in a rather constant state of de-stashing as I try to fit into my new home.  My ETSY shop has destash fabric from my personal stash as well as "direct from my recently closed yarn shop" yarn at very reasonable prices.  New items are added nearly every week.