Friday, October 23, 2009

Sew & Tell Friday: Quilts for Kids

In one of my recent blog wanderings, I came across the blog of Amylouwho, hostess of Sew & Tell Fridays, where those like her, with "obsessive creative disorder" can share their finished sewing projects for the week. I'm happy to be joining in for the first time today!

A couple of weeks ago, a quilting friend issued a challenge to our online group to make a donation quilt for Quilts for Kids, a charity dedicated to providing quilts to children in need. I love making small quilts, especially for kids, so I was thrilled to learn about this charity, and couldn't wait to get started on a quilt. In the past week, I have finished two Quilts for Kids quilts, and look forward to making more in the future. What a great charity!

Now, I've been blessed to have others remember my quilting obsession when clearing out their fabric stashes in the past, so I've had boxes of fabric donated to my stash. It can sometimes be a challenge to work with various sized pieces, and to find prints that work together, but this first quilt came together like magic. It was definitely meant to be -- a Disappearing Nine-Patch, in Noah's Ark coordinates.


Here is the finished quilt:


And though I had to piece together the backing to make it work, I'm happy with how well it turned out. There was just enough to do the job! Best of all, every part of this quilt, even the batting, was donated to me. How great to be able to "pay it forward" in this way. :o)


For the next quilt, I wanted to do something in pink, but found that I didn't have much in the way of pink children's prints, so I went for a scrappy look instead, using lots of different rosy-pink prints. Some of these fabrics go way back. My mom made me a skirt from one of them, back in the eighties. LoL


This is a pattern by Bonnie Hunter (in my opinion, The Queen of Scrap Quilts), called Fun with Bricks. Such a great looking pattern, and it goes together super fast. Here's the finished quilt:


And a peek at the backing:


And I couldn't really call the project "finished" if I didn't get the quilts mailed off (easily the least fun part). The two quilts fit in a USPS flat rate box, though I'm thinking it may have been less expensive to go with First Class mail. I'll have to check that out next time...


And that's my Friday Sew & Tell! I've been on a bit of a quilting spree lately, and no, I do not normally finish two quilts in a week, but I definitely got on a roll with these. LoL If you're interested in quilting for charity, Quilts for Kids is a great way to go. They have patterns at the site, and you can even order a quilt kit, at no cost, if you don't have the fabric required. Check it out!

12 comments:

beth said...

Great job on those quilts! Yeah! AND you used some donated fabric. I love that challenge too!

Anonymous said...

Oh my! Those quilts are darling! I love love love the fabrics.

Thank you for visiting and leaving the kind comment. That way I was able to visit you back and browse your lovely blog. :)

QuiltyBee said...

These turned out great. I lOVE the disappearing 9 patch pattern. I have to stop myself from always choosing it. :) Thanks for your nice comment, too.

SueWis said...

Beautiful quilts! I have a Quilts for Kids that I'm working on. I agree, great charity.

I want to do the disappearing 9-patch just like you did with a nice contrast so you can really see the quilt pattern

Dee said...

Bless you and may the blessings you just mailed surround the kids with so much love!

Beautiful quilts from a beautiful soul!

Leslie said...

these are lovely...the little noah's ark quilt is too cute

Rene' said...

Great job completing the two quilts!!! They turned out beautifully. So great that friends donated fabric for your project. I agree...the mailing is the hardest,least fun part...I mailed mine today so I wouldn't be tempted to procrastinate. I've got friendly USPS workers who advise me on each package whether flat rate boxes or priority is cheaper. So glad you joined Sew and Tell Friday. Enjoy your weekend.

amylouwhosews said...

great quilts! I really want to try a disappearing nine patch!

Thanks for linking up!

sherri@lavenderfields said...

Too cute! I love kids quilts,so much fun : )

ktquilts said...

Awesome way to love others!!! Great quilts!!

Many blessings,
KT

crazy4mycrafts said...

Doesn't it feel great to finish two quilts in one week?? Its so hard to find the time to do that sometimes. Great job on the quilts! They are beautiful.

Day before Michelle said...

What a wonderful post! Love the quilts, love the charity..And the fact that you were able to pay it forward is just the icing on the cake!