Hands2Help Quilts

Copied from Sarah's post over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict...

What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others.

It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like."

                                               St. Augustine  

I am honored to be a part of the Hands2Help project once again and I've made three quilts, one for each of the charities.

As you can see, it was a rainy day when I took these pictures, but look how green everything is in the background! I decided to go ahead and take them, despite the rain, because I always wash my donation quilts before sending them and I figured a little rain wouldn't hurt them. I'll post individual pictures later. (I'll probably just edit this post to include them.)

Because people always want to see the backing fabric used, here's a quick picture with the corners flipped over.

Here are a few close up pictures. I love the backing fabric and flange binding on this quilt! This quilt is making it's way to Happy Chemo

I don't know why I had this rick rack fabric (or so much of it, but I think it adds a nice whimsical touch to this quilt. This quilt is making it's way to International Institute St. Louis

I fell in love with the dark purple I used in this quilt but didn't have any to use for the backing. Instead, I went with my second favorite color, the dark blue. 😊  This quilt is making it's way to Camp Hobe via Stash Builder Box

Amidst all the ugliness in the world today, it certainly feels good to be a part of something so wonderful.

Thank you Sarah for organizing this! Thank you to the organizers of each of the charities. And, thank you to everyone who has participated - quilters and sponsors alike.

Check out other donation quilts over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Be sure to go back there frequently, as people will be linking their pictures all week.

Quilts = Love and Comfort - H2H

Even if you don't know me, the title of my blog should tell you how I feel about quilts. 

I truly do believe that 

Everyone Deserves a Quilt!

I love to make quilts and I love to give them away. My goal is that the recipient of the quilts I make can feel the love and comfort that I try to sew into each and every quilt. 

I often quilt "secret" messages into my quilts when I'm free motion quilting. Actually, there's really nothing secret about it. Sometimes I just "write" the words LOVE, COMFORT, HUGS, or whatever is appropriate for that particular quilt. Even when I quilt following a pattern or panto, I often FMQ a message close to the edge, near the binding. If the quilt is to commemorate a special event, I quilt names, dates, etc. 

Sure, sometimes it's challenging and I know I'll never win any awards for my "quiltmanship" (that's quilt speak for penmanship), but I like doing it. It's especially fun for me when the recipients finds the message - sometimes a year or more later.  :-)     

No matter when the message is found (if ever), I love doing it. It's just my way to saying, "You matter!" and I hope it brings a smile or laugh. 

I participated in this year's Hands2Help Challenge 

that Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict organized and was even honored to be a guest blogger. I made four quilts this year and they are on their way to the charities. And yes, they all include a special message! 

Here are pictures of three of the quilts. It was raining when I was packing the quilts and packed the fourth one without taking a picture. Darn it! It's green, pink and white and I used the Stretched Star pattern. It was a pretty old UFO and I'm very happy that it's finally done and going to a new home where I hope it will be used and loved. 

The message on that one says "Reach for the Stars!"

Here's a Yellow Brick Road quilt that I made while teaching a class. These blocks were my "work in progress" so students could see each step more easily. When they put their quilt together, I put mine together - with a different border and I used a flange binding. :-) 

The message included here is "Live, Laugh and Love!   

This is the pattern I posted a tutorial for when I was the guest blogger back in April. I call it All Boxed In and it's a simple and quick pattern to use. 

The message here is "Sparkle Like a Firecracker!" 

And finally, this is a Disappearing Nine Patch quilt, set on point. (I love this layout for a D9P because it is a great way to showcase special fabrics, especially from charm pack.) 

The message here is "You Bring Color to Life!"

Thanks for sharing your day with me and remember,

Everyone Deserves a Quilt!

Hands 2 Help Quilt Donations

I am a few days late with this post, but I want to share the donations I've completed for the three 2014 Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge. 

Here's the quilt for Quilts of Compassion. Although there are two pictures, this is just one quilt that is reversible. I pieced and quilted this a long time ago and finally decided that it needed bound and donated. I don't remember any specifics about the fabric used, but I do know that it was all from the same line, just in different colorways. The pattern is Crazy Eights.  

The next quilt was made for Charity #2 - Hurricane Sandy Survivors. This is just a simple alternating four patch/plain block using fun fabrics. 

Here's a close up of the fabrics and the meander quilting that I did using a variegated thread.

And the backing is fun too! It's a denim-looking blue with all these cool fish. I sure hope a youngster enjoys using this quilt as much as I enjoyed making it.

And finally, for the third charity - Happy Chemo - I made a Charm Pack Cherry Quilt using a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Thank you Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, for issuing and facilitating this challenge again. You ROCK!

Check out all the other donations by clicking HERE.