Other people's scrappy blocks

Once again I've been busy sewing and not so busy blogging, and it's time to play catch up! Today I want to share with you two quilts that were made with blocks that other people made. My task was to put them together and finish the quilt.

Aren't these colors pretty? Melinda stitched up the scrappy string blocks from her stash. She has some gorgeous fabrics!

Each block has the same white center strip. I set the blocks into diamond shapes.

The quilting is a simple petal shape in each diamond, using pale green thread, plus ditch stitching around the white sections.

These blocks were all donated to Covered in Love, and Kat sent them to me. She also gets donations of yardage. I thought this zigzag fabric looked good for the back.

The binding is a lime green with tiny white hearts from my own stash.

I also used that green to piece between the zigzag yardage. This allowed me to piece in the CiL label and more importantly, avoid matching all those tiny jaggedy lines!

This quilt was super fun to puzzle together. All the blocks are left over from CiL's annual red, white and blue star block donation drive.

This star is made of appliqued hearts. So pretty and clever!

Some of the blocks were odd sizes, so creative use of sashing, borders, and cornerstones was necessary.

This one reminds me of a buzz saw blade. I really like the bandana-esque fabric, too.

Kat included some larger chunks of red, white and blue that I pieced into the backing with the label. My goal is to use as many of the donated pieces as possible in Covered in Love quilts, with only the tiniest final scraps ending up in my own stash.

I put these three blocks on the back, along with a large chunk of donated yardage. If you zoom in, you can see faint blue and red stars and swirls printed on the white. This is actually the reverse side of the fabric. The front is printed in really pretty, sparkly metallic ink. However, the ink was quite rough feeling, and I decided that the smooth backside would feel better against the skin of the recipient. 

A thin red inner border, a scrappy squares outer border, and a scrappy dark blue binding complete the piece. Most of those fabrics were donated, too, with a few additions of my own.

I had so much fun putting together these quilts and the ones I wrote about last month! I told Kat she could send me her Covered in Love orphan blocks any time. She has since sent me more blocks, over 10 pounds' worth. We think there could be a dozen quilts lurking in there! More on those in another post.

Colorful collection

Happy Independence Day to my US readers, and happy belated Canada Day to our northerly neighbors! Here along the border in the Thousand Islands region, fireworks and festivities abound.

Today I have four finishes to share. My UFO pile is slowly getting smaller and I'm hoping to be able to see the surface of the guest bed sometime soon. 

These three little quilts are all destined for Quilts Beyond Borders (QBB). They are made with a simple block that the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild calls the Mendota.

My yellow and orange Mendota...

Every two or three years, this group of quilters from all over the US holds a retreat in a different city. A year before the retreat, the organizers pick an easy block for members to make in advance. The goal is to make as many quilt tops from the blocks as possible during the retreat. Tops are then distributed around the country to members, who baste, quilt and bind them. The quilts are then donated to Sunshine's two official charities: QBB and Wrap-a-Smile.

...with cats and fairies on the back

This year's retreat was held in Mendota Heights, MN, and I was really hoping I could attend. We knew we'd be traveling the Great Loop route this summer and would end up near Minnesota at some point. Alas, it will probably be August or September by the time we get there, and the retreat was in mid June. 

Greens, yellows and reds...

...with apples and bluebirds on the back

I had a stack of 100 Mendota blocks ready to go, so I pieced five tops up at home during the retreat weekend. Other "at home retreaters" and I shared our progress with the "at retreat retreaters" via social media. A good time was had by all, although the "at retreaters" had lots of extra fun: ice cream, candy- and quilt-shop visits, BBQ, and face to face getting to know each other!

Pinks and purples and rainbows...

...with jungle animals and an odd brown/purple/turquoise striped floral that I never thought would find its forever home!

I have two more Mendota tops from my own blocks ready to be quilted, and committed to finishing five more from tops made at the retreat. The gals in Mendota Heights stitched up over 140 tops. Amazing!

This quilt is made from orphan "T" blocks that were sent to me by Kat of Covered in Love. They were made by a woman who did a beautiful job with the piecing. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos of the backs of these blocks with their perfectly pressed, uniform seam allowances. And I just loved peering at all her scraps! She used hundreds of different fabrics and only one overlapped with something in my stash. I have already shipped this quilt back to Kat, so I can't double check the block maker's name, but I wrote it on the label on the back of the quilt. Update: Kat left a comment below reminding me that the blocks came from Priscilla.

I finished stitching the blocks into a simple square top with no sashing, and put several extra "T's" on the back. I used a dark purple binding and big stipple quilting to hold it all together. These pretty blocks are no longer orphans, and are ready to comfort a grieving family.

One final note: We spent a few days anchored in the harbor of Clayton, NY. During this boaty photo shoot, two little girls were taking sailing lessons. You can see their tiny sailboat just above the railing in this photo. It was really nice to hear their sweet, happy voices while I was taking the photos.

Sweet Sampler

Today I'm excited to share with you my favorite quilt of the last several months. It's completely and utterly not my normal style or colors, but I love it! Sweet Sampler is made completely out of other people's blocks, and measures about 60" square.

Isn't it pretty? Such soft, soothing colors and traditional block designs. As you know, my friend Kat, who blogs at Kat and Cat Quilts, runs the small Covered in Love charity. CiL provides comfort quilts to patients who pass away in the hospital. 

Full disclosure: Covered in Love recently became an official 501(c)(3) charity and I am on the Board of Trustees. I know that sounds rather impressive, but it really is mostly just Kat, the chaplain at the hospital and a small group of volunteers making quilts. But even though they are few, they are mighty! Kat runs a semi-monthly block drive and collects hundreds, maybe thousands, of blocks each year to make quilts. Folks also send along other lovely blocks, and Kat holds those until there are enough for another quilt. 

I offered to take some of these special, extra blocks and see if they would play nicely together. She sent me a big box stuffed with blocks and yardage and I dove right in! 

There were about a dozen of these pretty "applique" blocks, like the one on the right. They are actually printed panels, but very well designed. I added slim borders to bring them up to 12.5". That was the size of another nice group of blocks like this green star on the left.

Another half dozen blocks, like this sawtooth star, ranged in size from 8" to 9". There were some extra chunks of coordinating fabrics in the box, but few were long enough to make 12.5" sashing. Cornerstones to the rescue! With all the blocks standardized to 12.5" it was a simple matter to stitch them together.

This log cabin is my favorite block. I don't think it was part of any other batch of blocks, so I'm happy this loner found a good home. The quilting is a simple stipple and the binding is a muted red from my own stash that works with the softer, reproduction fabric colors.

Most of the rest of the leftover repro chunks went into making the back. I've committed to using everything Kat sent me exclusively in pieces for Covered in Love. That honors the intentions of the original block and fabric donors. No willy-nilly mixing with my own stash and accidentally ending up in a baby quilt for one of my cousins.

Not every block was labeled with the donor's name, but I'm pretty sure that both Priscilla and Teresa D. have their hands in this quilt, so their names are on the label with mine. If you happen to recognize your own handiwork, let me know and I'll add your name, too!

I was able to make three other quilts from Kat's big Box O' Fun, so I'll be sharing those as I get them finished. They are wildly different from Sweet Sampler, so stay tuned!