Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Charity Quilt Drive

 Hi quilty friends! I long arm quilted this lap quilt on Monday and machine bound it too. It is Shangri-La Four Squared. My mother is organizing a charity quilt drive for one of our local nursing homes http://www.voa.org/senior_living_and_care_facilities/valley-manor-care-center 
She is trying to get 62 quilts--12 for the males and 50 for the females. These are long term and memory care patients, many of whom do not have family who visit them. The goal is to give them as Christmas gifts this year. 
This quilt was made using a free pattern designed by Polly Monica found here http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/02/
I used a bunch of Moda Shangri-La scraps. I quilted a five petal flower in each large square and loops all over. For those of you who have followed my blog for the past two years, you know I struggle with my long arm quilting skills!!! But, I have to say this is my best effort yet.
 I tried to quilt it pretty thoroughly as it will probably be washed often.
 After washing. this one shrank down to 58 inches square darn it! But, it will work fine and hopefully provide a quilty hug to a nursing home resident.
I had so many Shangri-La scraps left that I added a few more fabrics in and made this top. It is just 16 patch blocks with alternating pinwheel blocks. The taupe color I used was a buy at the local fabric store and makes it soothing. I have not quilted this one yet, but it is on my to do list. Practice make perfect!
 Monday after I finished quilting Shangri-La Four Squared, my mom was showing me some 2.5 strips of fabric that had been donated. I grabbed one of each and cut some more from my stash and her stash to make this top.
 It is this pattern--Wistful. It uses 40 2.5 inch strips and 1.5 yards of a background fabric. This pattern was very inexpensive $2 and is a quick and easy lap quilt design that finishes 57 x 72 inches. I even have a good backing that will work with it from my stash.
Believe it or not, I have never made a Bonnie Hunter quilt. After looking at her free patterns you can find here http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns.html, I settled on this design Boxy Stars. I am digging into my over flowing scrap bins and cutting some happy fabrics to make one for this charity quilt drive. I also need to get out in my garage and dig for some unfinished tops to contribute. This is a great way to purge some scraps and UFO projects.

If you are interested in donating a top or a completed lap quilt please leave me a comment with your email if you are a no reply blogger or email me directly at mcsdces19(at)gmail(dot)com Ideally, these lap quilts would be 60 inches square or larger. Please help us if you can! Thanks!

19 comments:

  1. Wow, those quilts are all beautiful! I like your 5-petal flowers, and your loops look good. Nice even stitches and good and loopy! Good luck to you on your quilt drive! It seems like with all the charity quilts that get made that everyone should have one by now, but I know we're all just making a small dent. It's better than no dent at all though!

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  2. All great quilts! I love what you're doing. I used to be a CNA in several nursing homes and the people will love these quilts :)

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  3. You have really been productive. You have a great eye for pulling scraps together to create nice quilt tops. Good luck with the quilt drive.

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  4. Tanya....you always amaze me at how much you get done sewing wise. I know I putter ALOT during my summer months. I would love to contibute a quilt top....quilty hugs always make me smile!!!

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  5. Tanya, do you have a deadline for when you want all of the quilts to be collected? I am working on one right now that I was thinking of donating and I would love to contribute it to you and your mom's quilt drive. It might take me about 2 weeks to finish it since I am a slowpoke. Let me know if that is okay!

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  6. Wow! You have been incredibly productive! Way to go!
    Keep remembering that you are your harshest critic when it comes to your quilting. Practice, practice, practice- you will improve! :)

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  7. Those are all great quilts! The nursing home residents who receive them are going to feel so loved!

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  8. Would love to help you out on this! All of my quilting is pretty much for charity these days so I always have a couple on hand. Let me know!

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  9. Hello Tanya! You are so quick with your quilts and they all look fabulous and for such a good cause too! :)

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  10. absolutely gorgeous, Tanya! You have been busy!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  11. You are amazing with the number of quilts you make!! So nice they are going to a fantastic cause!

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  12. It amazes me how quickly you get these done! They are all such lovely quilts, too and for such a great cause : )

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  13. Beautiful quilts, Tanya, for a very worthy cause. There are so many forgotten people in nursing homes.

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  14. LOVE your color scheme on the Four Squared quilt! I have done that pattern several times in kid-friendly brights for charity. Also love the Wistful Villa Rosa design - I have that pattern but have yet to make it. I have made several Villa Rosa designs out of batiks - one out of purple and green that I gave to charity thinking a teen girl would be over the moon for it :D. My latest thing is making "fidget quilts" for the Alzheimer's unit where my mom lives, that incorporate buttons, buckles, zippers, pockets, plush fabrics, satin, corduroy and other textures that give them something to occupy their time.

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  15. Wow you are amazingly productive! They're all lovely quilts and what a great cause to be quilting for!

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  16. Beautiful quilts, the recipients are very lucky.

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  17. You really have been busy with all these beautiful quilts. Everybody will be very happy with these quilts.

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  18. What great quilts. I'm sure you will reach your goal by Christmas. You are really going to make a lot of people happy.

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