Measuring Oversized Blocks Accurately

"You Can Never Have Too Much Purple"

You are either a purple lover or you're not. I can tell you I have one purple shirt in my closet so I fall in the "maybe not" category. I don't dislike it, but I'm not drawn to it. Never the less, I was given most of these blocks in a bag of charity fabrics, and I thought it would be a quick finish. It actually wasn't too bad, and I learned a few things along the way. Let me share one on how to accurately measure oversized blocks.

The Gnadenhutten Quilt Project Pulls to a Close

The Gnadenhutten Quilt Project Closes

Posing with the last quilt bound by the Gnadenhutten Quilt Project are a few of our unofficial team members. Our core group was made up of 7 talented women that worked at every aspect of quilt and comforter making over nearly 3 years. We estimate we made and shared over 200 quilts and comforters during that time! 

Charity Quilting: Gnadenhutten Quilt Project

Local Needs

Many of the comforters made by the Gnadenhutten Quilt Project lately have not stayed in our local area lately, but were sent where they were needed most. They were taken to MCC Connections in Kidron, Ohio, a thrift store, and collection site for Mennonite Christian Committee. Donated comforters follow the path to people in need through Mennonite Disaster Relief. Our little group has 8 at the moment ready to donate. That's wonderful!

Ideas for Working with Donated Quilt Blocks

Special Post from the North

Early last winter I received a mysterious package from north of our border. I recognized the addressee, a quilty blogger friend, Karen, from KaHolly. She had sent quilt tops in the past to be used in the Gnadenhutten Quilt Project, and those quilts were donated to a local shelter for families experiencing domestic violence.

Digital Quilting Design #2: Ogee Bulb

Oh, Gee, Ogees!

Take 2 on my digital quilting design work. I think this new pattern was a great way to elevate a one patch quilt design to a fun, new level. It gave it great texture while still keep it soft and cozy, and added a lot of visual interest, too.

First Steps to Digitizing Long Arm Designs

Vinegar Fizz

A little restaurant at the Las Vegas Wynn, Parasol Up Parasol Down, has an intriguing draw. As you watch from the balcony, decorated parasols creep both up and down in rhythm while suspended from the ceiling. It's mesmerizing and calming--a change from the typical Vegas scene of lights and noise. I had the same sensation both designing this geometric pattern, and watching it stitch out. 

Digital design is a seductive blending of creativity, software design, and physical mechanics, and my tools to battle the dreaded meander. There are moments and quilts that a meander satisfies, but it takes such little extra effort to use a decorative edge-to-edge pattern. 

Official Start of Fall Sewing

Two Friends and One Heavenly Afternoon

Yesterday was the first official weekly meet up of the season in my studio. (I cleaned for TWO days! It was a great summer surrounded with my boxes of sewing stuff, but I buckled down for a serious cleaning at last.) Scraps still haven't been sorted, but they are in boxes at last. Out of sight, out of mind for now. Instead, we hit the stash for a quick strip quilt, and some satisfying sewing.

Marching Along with Charity Quilts

The Awesome, Official End of the Polyester Batting

Isn't that great texture? I love how this quilt turned out in spite of the waviness. Polyester batting in a comforter thickness is not conducive to detailed quilting. Even with widely spaced stitching, the tension causes it to draw up in spots. Still it will be a wonderful quilt for someone to snuggle under, and the vintage fabrics give it a 60's retro vibe.

It's been a real task to use up the last of the monster roll of poly comforter batting, but this marks the end. Thank you, and Amen! The road ahead is smooth sailing with cotton.

Gnadenhutten Quilt Project:January Quilts

Simple Labels: Gnadenhutten

Quilt Project

Allow me to catch you up to speed on why I've been an infrequent blogger these past weeks. I've been buried in quilts, and isn't that the most glorious thing you could imagine? Ah...yes, it is!

The Gnadenhutten Quilt Project

Olive Branch Quilts

And so it begins. Ready for the cliffhanger ending? Let me only say the ending is really the beginning. Imagine me sitting amidst my pile of scraps only a week and a half ago to a growing stack of quilts and comforters. Quilts that will soon be delivered to a local shelter for women and children. Imagine a project that has formed to offer something handmade to someone local who may need a sign of hope. These are Olive Branch Quilts.

Yellow & Black Baby Quilt

A Baby Quilt to Donate

My scraps are like rabbits. They have had offspring, and are on at least a third litter by the looks of it. I decided to squeeze one baby quilt for charity out of the lot of them before sorting. 

A Quilting Focus on Giving Thanks: A Link Up

More Quilts Headed for MCC Relief

Like many quilters, I have a long list of projects I want to do. Some are more complicated blocks to try my piecing skills at, and others are just fun fabric I would love to use. I have my stacks of good stash, and my stacks of scraps, dated or donated fabrics. The frugal quilter says as soon as I use up the less desirable stack I am allowed to touch the good stuff. (I know so many of you think the same way.) But during a quiet quilter bloggers' retreat last weekend, I was roasted for not touching my gorgeous fabrics. My precious pre-cuts had not even been opened from a year ago!

One Patch Layouts & Improv Charity Quilts

"In your Easter bonnet,
with all the frills upon it..."

Over several days last week I had a marathon of sorts. I had some donated fabric I really wanted to use up, and get out of my studio. It might not have been my pick of fabrics, but that's a little bit of the fun involved. Working outside your comfort zone is always a good challenge!

3 More One Patch Designs & Luminescence

Last Week's Layouts
 A First for Me: All Solids

Something that brings me great pleasure is working in the quilt room laying out comforters and quilts for charity. I've been very interested in different color schemes lately, and how colors interact with another. One color laid next to another will appear to change either lighter or darker. Maybe a dot or figure in it will be drawn out more. A good way to illustrate this is with the top and bottom layouts here.

Vintage Inspired Nine Patch Charity Quilt

Vintage Inspired Nine Patch

Laying out a one patch design such as this with 5" squares is greatly aided by knowing where the middle of the wall is, and working outward. (I will learn!) Instead, I tend to start with the left side working across through the middle. Don't laugh, but stooping down a lot is hard as we enter middle age, but so is climbing up and down the ladder this required. By the end, it filled the whole wall, and the top row had to lop over to stay put. I was up and down dozens of times before it was done.

This is a copy of a quilt I wrote about in "More One Patch Designs for Charity Quilts." I laid it out for a MCC comforter to be sewn by the many volunteers that work at the Connections Thrift Shop.

Quilt Designs: Fabs, Failures & Why

The Best of Three
Navy Nine Patch

Most people will tell you there is no such thing as an ugly quilt. Let me bite my lip and rephrase it. (Let's be honest. We know this down deep.) There is something redeeming in every quilt made, but not all quilts 'work.' Most of the time we feel it when we're putting things together, but we know it when it's assembled. A color, a pattern, a border width, etc., just don't make the cut. We have a couple of choices. Rip it out and fix it if it's valuable, or live with it and learn. I chose the second option this week.