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!