Some Community Outreach

Where has the year gone!  Again it's been twelve months since my last post.  So to catch up.  It was a VERY productive quilting year.  Since I started keeping track, 2023 was my personal record - 50 quilts!  And approximately half of those were donation quilt, made primarily with donated fabric.  I definitely need to break up the year into multiple posts.  So this one is all about non-novelty, donated quilts.

One of the guilds I belong to makes small quilts for a local hospital NICU.  They are a great size to practice quilting.  And they go together so fast.  Early in the year we had a work day where a group of us went through boxes of donated fabric and put together bundles of coordinating fabric.  I grabbed several that I liked.  In order to help give people ideas, I also put together a collection of quick patterns in EQ.  And of course I had to test them out. Not technically I spy quilts, but they are fun and bright. I enjoyed the challenge of using up donated fabric, only adding a few bits from my stash (typically something that had been there a while).  There were a dozen of these made early in the year, many of them at the VOS quilt retreat.  I had made several kits before hand so they went together fast.

One of the speakers at TVQG was Ledine Watson with Sugar Stitches Quilt Co.  I made these two using her pattern Cinnamon Spice.  I learned a lot about accuracy in making flying geese.  They are more "modern" in feel than my usual and it was fun to try something new.

Later in the year a friend gave me a series of embroidered squares and fabrics the maker had intended to make into a quilt.  There wasn't enough fabric for a full quilt, so I added some contrasting fabric to finish them off as kid sized.  The embroidery was wonderfully done by my friend's sister, how has since died. Both these quilts were auctioned at the guild fall fund raiser, purchased by people who seemed to appreciate the old fashioned embroidery.  

During the year, the community outreach coordinator in Parker County mentioned they needed some "big boy" quilts.  She also was giving away a large amount of fabric that had been donated.  I took several multi-yard cuts of boy themed novelty fabric (mostly airplanes).  Here is what is what I did with this donated fabric (again supplementing with some scraps from my stash plus other donations).  This first one I was trying to do some interesting sashing.  Unfortunately I didn't step back to look at my fabric choices for the sashing. The result is that the green stars are completely invisible unless you get very close.  Oh well, lesson learned.

These two used patterns I had previously done and a good ay to use large prints.

This next pattern uses a "faux log cabin block" that I constructed using strip sets, alternated with large solid blocks.  It was a very fun and easy pattern, but looks difficult.  Definitely want to do this one again someday. It turned out so well, I decided to donate it to the guild auction fund raiser.  The lady who won the bidding told me her husband was a retired pilot and she was so excited.  I did save a bit of the airplane fabric, it is very cool, with pictures of national monuments in the background (the Alamo, Mount Rushmore, Golden Gate Bridge, St. Louis Arch, etc).

I wanted to try a pattern a friend had shown me.  This was also made using strip sets to make the framed 9 patch block alternating with snowball blocks.  I put the triangles in the border, using up the waste triangles from the snowballs.  Another fun pattern that I want to try again.  This also was auctioned at the guild fund raiser.

These next several were made using the pattern Entwined by Fabric Cafe.  I enjoyed making it so much, I made three, all donated to the local children's advocacy group. The fabrics were either donated, or pulled from my stash (fabrics that had been there a LONG time).  The last one on the right finally used the last of the airplane fabric.

Some Roll Call quilts - a local veteran's program similar to Quilts of Valor.  The first two shown were made using the pattern Mirror Mirror by Donna Jordan.  Constructed using strip sets, it made so many blocks  I did two quilts.  These used either donated or "old" fabrics and turned out Very dramatic.

This one was a free pattern from McCalls called Homeland, though I don't believe it is available any longer.  Again, very easy but very dramatic, made using all half square triangles.

Later in the year I joined a charity quilting group through Christ Chapel Bible Church.  The quilts are donated to a local crisis pregnancy center. I have given some of my I Spy quilts, but the two pictured below included fabrics donated to the church.  It was fun figuring out how to use the fabrics and pulling old fabrics from my stash to coordinate.  I joked that I was enjoying finishing other peoples' projects.

Phew.  Lots of donations this year!  I really enjoyed figuring out how to utilize donated fabric in different ways, a personal challenge.  And lots and lots of practice quilting.