Quilts for Kids

I recently learned of a wonderful program called Quilts for Kids. They donate quilts to children who are in the hospital. You can send in your own quilt or request a kit from them. I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. I requested a kit and it arrived very quickly. It contained pre cut pieces, the binding, and the backing. All I had to supply was the batting. It took me four days to make the quilt. It was an easy pattern and went together quickly. I had to follow some specific instructions such as making sure there were no lifted edges that could get caught on IV poles. I also had to make sure to quilt the whole thing including the binding.

I had a bit of trouble with the stippling. I am not sure why. I was really worried that it wouldn't hold up in the wash. One of the requirements is that the quilt can withstand being washed repeatedly. But it washed well and actually looks better now.

I always try to teach my boys about charity and giving to others. We donated shoes for the earthquake victims in Haiti. I also explained to them what this quilt was and who it was for. They began to call it the hospital quilt. As I was making it I tried to talk to them about who would get the quilt and why I was making it. I am taking the quilt to the post office tomorrow to send it off. There is a place to register the quilt to let people know who you are and why you made the quilt. Then there is a place for the recipient of the quilt to enter their thoughts. I really hope I get a response. I would love to know about the child that this quilt benefits.

Quilt Diary Entry

On a recent visit to my mom's house she took me on a tour of her bathroom where several of my earlier works are displayed. I had fogotton about these little treasures so I took some photos. This first piece is a hand made applique of two ladies at a quilt shop. All the bolts of fabric came from projects that my mom and I had completed. The caption reads "Fabric Sale ...This Must Be Heaven."

This project is a California Poppy. My parents had recently gone to see the California Poppy's in bloom so when I saw this pattern at a quilt fair I had to get it. The petals were actually rolled so that they would lift off the backing making the flower look three dimensional.

I also stippled this little wall hanging. But that was before I even knew it was called stippling. I remember taking a ruler and marking out all of those lines with an erasable pen. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Scrap Quilts

I am making a scarp quilt. My boys have been watching me. The other night while I was working on my scrap quilt my boys starting making their own. I got such a kick out of it I let them keep going and add to each night. I love how one of the boys scrap quilts is very neat and organized. And the other ones is a bit of a hodge podge. They asked why I was taking a photo of it and I said because it was their first quilt.

Memory Quilt

This is my boys Memory Quilt. Well really it is my Memory Quilt. It is made up of tiny squares cut from my boys preemie clothes. I designed the pattern myself. There are squares from their hospital blankets and their bris outfits. This is the first quilt I started making when I starting quilting again. I messed up the binding and put the quilt away for a long time. After getting some suggestions from the Quilting Board I was finally able to finish the binding.

This was my first attempt at free motion quilting using a pattern that I chalked on. I hated it and did not do any more. I ended up stitching in the ditch on all the squares.

The corners are made from one of the receiving blankets the boys came home in.

This is how I finally finished the binding. I used invisible thread and a design stitch. I messed up on the binding in some places but I really needed to finish this quilt. And as it is just for me I wasn't too worried about making it perfect. I am glad it is finally finished.

Happy New Year

Courtesy of Moda Bake Shop.

Stacked Coins Baby Quilt

I finished the Stacked Coins Baby Quilt using the fabrics from Moda Collections for a Cause. I saw this quilt pattern over at Moda. It is from one of my favorite quilt blogs, Crazy Mom Quilts.

I did a couple of new techniques on this quilt. For one I did this loopy loo thing on the seams instead of stippling. I also strip pieced the binding using left over rectangles. Lastly, I added a stripe to the back.

QuiltFab App

My DH has an iPhone. And he found this wonderful quilt app for me. The QuiltFab App helps you calculate how much fabric you need for a project. I have used it twice to calculate how much fabric I should buy for the boarders, binding, and backing of a quilt. It works great. You can change the settings to calculate exactly how much fabric you need without any waste. If you don't have an iPhone (such as myself) you can email the calculations to yourself. Then you can take them to the sewing store with you.