Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge: 2022

 i love to piece quilts; i love to gift quilts for donation! (after all, there are only so many quilts that one family, one person, one sofa, one rocking chair can use, right?) 

about 7+ (?) years ago, i was the quilting teacher for our local Ben Franklin store, teaching 8-12 quilting classes a year. after awhile, that petered out, but i still have the quilt samples i made to advertise and teach the classes. 

i never came up with a home for many of the quilts; i just wasn't sure what to do with them... they're all pretty small (no bigger than 36"- 42" square) and it's an eclectic bunch. 

although every one of them is brand new, never used, some have been lonely and forlorn for quite a long time. (yikes! i didn't realize it was SOOOO long until i looked back through my blog!) 

so, it's certainly past time that they found a home where they will be loved and used! 

after looking through the suggested donation list that Mari provided, i figured Little Lambs Foundation was the best choice for these smaller quilts. 

i know these are not your typical baby quilt, but I'm hoping that they'll bring some family and the baby some comfort, knowing that someone cares... 

just plugging along quietly in the background...

i'm thrilled to have a flimsy finish to share today! I've been working on these wonky star blocks in the COM all RSC21, and finally finished the blocks last month. (was it really that long ago?!) 

             

Daisy {the miniature donkey} is *always glad* to see me head out to the pasture with a quilt. she knows that for just a little co-operation, and minimal lip quivering, she'll be rewarded with some special treats! 

we also have our big, galloping, goofy and friendly steer, Wellington Xaviar Basset. (Welly for short) but he's not nearly as cute and he's much more muddy (and other brown stuff, too...) so, he dones't usually get to be in on the photo shoots and treats.

it was quite the puzzle to get the blocks together and blending (colorwise) on the design wall. (some sneak peeks of that over on Instagram) the quilt (unfinished) is 68" X 87", and it took 3 evenings to carefully take it off the design wall and bring it to the sewing machine and sew it together, with lots of partial seams. thankfully, i got it right the first time, and no major seam ripping was involved. phew!

it took several iterations of block and color arranging to get the color flow to go the way i wanted... then, there was more digging in my 3" square stash, and finding other bigger pieces and colors in my stash to get enough blocks in the right colors to fill in the blanks. 

here is a "detail" shot of the 4 corners of the quilt- the pics should supersize if you click on them...

just in case you're interested in seeing some of the different fabrics!

i will admit, there are just a few duplicates in this quilt (not counting the wonky stars, of course) ...at least 2 that i know of... 

 but other than that, i'd say it's a safe estimate to say that there are over 700 different, unique fabrics in this Rainbow wonky stars quilt. 

i plan on quilting this one myself (soon?) and entering it in our local County Fair in July. then, i have a special recipient in mind, so I'll keep that a secret for now. make sure to go see all the other colorful, rainbow finishes this week- it's a colorful time of year!

dark and dreary sewing, dark and dreary Saturday

the weather has been a bit rainy and dreary around here this week, but no complaints from me! i'm pleased with the sewing i was able to do this week (mostly squeezed into a marathon late night last night, but that's ok!) 

7 wonky, twinkly stars added to the pile (grey, brown, tan and black)  

*i forgot to take a picture of the brights/black twinkly star... 

i did some more of the donuts and shoo fly blocks as well, in the darker colors. 

my darker blue efforts can be seen here  and here, JICYMI. when i planned on my shoo fly blocks and donuts as my RSC21 project, i pulled a *rather large* piece of yardage from my stash. (3++ yards, i think!) and thought that would be plenty to finish out the year...

 turns out, not quite! so these blocks are on a slight hold, until more fabric comes. i'm thankful for my KONA color card board, and a match was easily, quickly and confidently found, with no agonizing wondering if i was actually picking the correct color. the matching grey is KONA Lighthouse- a new color for me. 

make sure to go see what everyone else is working on- you're sure to be inspired!

finishing ALL the purples:

from the lightest (and darkest) pinks to nearly brown...

life is busy- but i do find some time to have some quiet time up in the sewing room, and keep up with my RSC projects. it's something i really enjoy! 

i added a few more twinkly stars to the growing, colorful pile. instead of keeping the blocks all 3x3, 4x4 or even 5x5 i decided to make them all random, according to the shades of the COM that i had. 

then, at the end of the year, i'll piece the blocks all together randomly, higgelty-piggelty style. i think it will be more interesting that way anyway... 

i made a whole slew of purple donuts and shoo-fly blocks, too. very happy with them as well!

 4 more waffle blocks join the wings, waiting for breakfast time in December. haha. 

i also finished a lingering RSC UFO- from 2019! i made a large pile of 9 patches- both light and dark, planning on making them into a tablecloth. we're having a *modestly sized church/family picnic* tomorrow {what was i thinking?!} and its debut is planned. stay tuned for a post about that. (the quilt, not the picnic, necessarily. i haven't' taken a picture of the quilt yet.. ) 

click on over the our favorite spot for Saturday mornings and see what everyone else is working on! 

land of the free; home of the brave...

did not intend to make such a patriotic looking post with these blocks, but here we are...

all my red blocks are now done for May RSC21, and i'm "circling back" to catch up on the blue donuts that i forgot to show from last month...

when i first started my RSC21 projects, i was definitely liking the shoo fly blocks better than the donuts. but looking at the picture above, the donuts are beginning to grow on me! 

 we're almost halfway through the RSC year, and i'm getting a nice little stack of blocks for future quilts. go see what everyone else is working on- and be inspired! 

blue skies and yellow daffodils...

 my blues are SOOOOOOOOOOOO plentiful! i've had some sewing time, and have begun to make my RSC21 blue blocks. i have the shoo fly and wonky twinkle stars to show today. 

i know our gracious hostess has called the light blue for this month, with darker blues to be saved for another month, but honestly, it's just easier for me to sew all my blue blocks, instead of spending time to sort the color twice. 

                                             

18 shoo fly blocks were added to my blue RSC21 collection. i did 7 wonky, scrappy twinkle stars, too. 

                   

                    

with only 1 duplicate in my wonky stars, there are 137 different 3" squares in these blocks! YIKES! 

but: remember, i did say i have ALOT of blues. totally not kidding here...

many, many different dresses, bags, quilts, projects, gifts, skirts, pillowcases, shirts, crib sheets, bibs and aprons are represented in these squares. 

and here's some more happy news: my DIL, P, commented on instagram that she REALLY likes the scrappy twinkle stars. so, i'm planning on gifting the quilt to her when it's done! it makes me happy to know that i'm sewing the quilt for her, and it will have a happy home when it's done, and not just sit as a pile of finished blocks.

*ahem* not that that ever happens around here...

the GREEN, she was overflowing!

so. much. green. yikes! but i worked through the whole pile of my 3" squares, and sewed all my planned blocks for RSC21. (and i'm also very happy that i've managed to "get rid" of all the darker/muted greens, leaving the bright and clear greens for my RSC projects.)

my preferences, and my stash has changed in the last 7 years or so... 

5 wonky stars blocks and 86 individual greens. (see above: YIKES!) 

donuts and shoo fly blocks were done, too. 

and last, but not least, the "waffle blocks". the lighting was overcast this morning; the brown is a nice, rich chocolat-y Swiss dot. 

 

a bit of yellow to go with the winter-y weather (but watch out for the yellow snow!)

i've finished out my yellow RSCing for February. i'm happy with my (larger than expected) selection of yellow squares. 

14 shoo fly and donut blocks were added to the pink ones from last month. (i still prefer the shoo fly over the donuts, tho...)

i decided to make several of the wonky star blocks, in order to use 1 of each of my different yellows. super happy with how these blocks are coming along!

 i added 7 more waffle blocks- in 2 different "colorways". i have some more quilts that i finished this week (pictures coming soon!) and some other exciting news, too! 

click on over to Angela at soscrappy to see all the other cheery yellows from this wacky weather week!

also: defintely not QUILTY, but we're ready to rent out the little farmhouse in New Albany. the kitchen is done, newly "renovated" and with a fresh coat of sunshiney yellow, it's so charming! 

thought i'd share since it's a happy yellow to go with all our other yellows for February. 

i have a few things to say about PINK:

#1: i think i say this about many of the colors (like red, blue, green and brown) but HOW DID I GET SO MUCH PINK?

#2: i have 12 shoo fly and donut blocks done. looking at them  now, i much rather prefer the shoo fly blocks, but the donut blocks use more of my 3" squares... 

#3- i made 2 wonky star blocks (1 more than i intended) a 5x5 and a 4x4. after i had made the first (bigger) block, i got to looking and thinking about the pile of pink squares i put back in my drawer, and decided that i should make another pink wonky stars block to use at least one of each, different pink square. 

also, i really like the random, offset quilt layouts, so at the end of the year i should have a variety of wonky stars to make into an interesting top. 

 #4: all waffle blocks are done. 4 in the dark (with brown sashing) and 4 in the pink, with the LV squares. interestingly, with all my pink squares, i was short on pink yardage and had to scrounge a bit, and be a little creative in both my choosing and cutting. 

and of course, after cutting pink rectangles for these waffle blocks,  i was left with some scraps. which get cut into 3" squares, and HERE WE GO AGAIN! 

#5: fully planning on sewing along with Full Stop; just haven't had the time yet. i have an idea {plan} how i'm going to do it, and it will be just a bit different then all the other ones out there, too, as well as use some yardage along the way. can't wait to get started on this one! (which will be my last new RSC21 project for this year) 

also: huge shout out and THANK YOU to Suzanne of MA. she told me about the facebook group UFO BINGO, and i've already made my list and jumped in. i'm looking forward to becoming familiar with more quilty friends, AND getting some of those UFOs knocked off. 

click on over to soscrappy and see all the other RSC projects starting to take off!