Stringing Along for Charity with Humble Quilts!

Lori of the Humble Quilts blog has opened up another Stringalong link up this week.  Along with a project I've been working on for a while, I also made some new blocks this weekend.  Recently, I was checking out Myra's "Finished or Not Fridays" linkup and saw a post by Kat over at Kat and Cat Quilts about her "Covered In Love" charity quilt drive.  

Kat puts out calls for block donations or collects UFO tops to be sent to her to be made into finished quilts to give comfort to terminally ill patients in hospices in east Texas.  Turns out for January and February she was calling for string blocks!  So once again, someone is making strings the thing this year!  I donated string blocks to a different cause a while back (a good while as it turns out -- it was in 2012), so it was nice to participate in something like this again.

Kat decided to do a string variation block this round:  she is asking for 12-1/2" blocks to be made with a red corner (between 1-1/2 inches and 3 inches) and the strings added around it half log cabin style.  Easy enough!  After checking with her to make sure there was still time to make a submission,  I pulled a square from my Scrap Users box and cut up a charm square to get a few more.  However, then I found some really short red pieces among the string stash and decided to cut them down to squares and added those to the scrap square and one of the charm square subcuts so I had a variety of centers.  Up to now, I've only had the chance to work with neutral strings for my "Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll" project so this was an opportunity to pull out some of the colored strings.

Mind you, this is only a small sampling taken from the larger bag I have!  I've managed to make up four blocks although I realize that going forward I need to stash more of the wider strings.

After I started making the donation blocks, I figured I might as well also make a few more blocks for "Cotton Boll" right along with them:

I'm going to send the four variation blocks and make a cash donation to the cause as well.  That is because the decision to make the blocks jogged my memory of something: back in 2016, my DH's aunt (one of my MIL's sisters) went to the hospital and was diagnosed as terminally ill.  When we went to visit her, the first thing DH said to me when we got back home was, "do you have a nice bright quilt we can take to her to use in her room?   It looks so cold and sterile there".  We ultimately took my "Fabric Gal" quilt for her to use while in the hospital and when she was later transferred to a hospice.

I can honestly say it made everyone happy: his aunt, the hospice staff, visiting family and her daughter right up until the day her mother passed.  After that I added to the label already on the quilt and inscribed it to both the late aunt and her daughter and gifted it to her.  So I know from personal experience this kind of gift can bring comfort and joy at a difficult time.

I hadn't known when I made that quilt that this would be its ultimate purpose but we quilters always like when we know a quilt will be enjoyed by whoever receives it.  So I look forward to seeing the quilts my blocks go into and knowing that they will brighten someone's hospice stay and continue to comfort their family afterward.  I also look forward to seeing what blocks Kat calls for the rest of the year and hope to be able to donate again!

7/12/19 Edited To Add:
Here's some updates on all the wonderful String blocks Kat recieved and the quilts that resulted from them for donation:

Round 1:  http://katandcatquilts.blogspot.com/2019/06/string-drive-2019-round-1.html

Round 2:  http://katandcatquilts.blogspot.com/2019/07/string-drive-2019-round-2.html

Quilters are a caring bunch!

Humble Quilts String Along

This is the year for string quilt stitch alongs and both Lori DeJarnatt of Humble Quilts and the staff at MODA are hosting them this year.  While I have an old string project I hope to dredge back out later this year,  I had decided at the end of last year to start something more immediate: string blocks for a mystery quilt.

When Bonnie Hunter's fall mystery "Good Fortune" got under way back in November, I embarked on my own set of  Quiltville projects.  Primarily I've worked on her "Double Delight" mystery and am now putting together the rows of blocks to finish up the center for that one:

I used the the piecing of those blocks as an opportunity to start on the blocks for another mystery:  Bonnie's "Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll" from her "String Fling" book (you can see hers in this post)

I had always liked the touches of pink in that quilt and figured I could pass along the leftovers from Double Delight to this new project.  For the purposes of participating in all the string alongs, "Cotton Boll" also offered a chance to plow through my neutral strings.  As seen in the picture at the top of the post, I've managed to get 13 blocks pieced up so far while serving as leader/enders for the "Double D" project.

Later in the mystery, all of the blocks made will get split.....

.....and pieced back together into new blocks that will be alternated with the other blocks to be made for the quilt.

I've got another project set to be cut out in February that will be donating more leftovers (this time green fabrics) to add to the "Cotton Boll" project stash.  Isn't it great when one project sets up your next one?

It's always fun to check out what string projects quilters have under way and you can see many more of those back at Lori's Humble Quilts.  Also, don't forget that even more string project inspiration can also be found at the String Thing Along blog too!

Catching up With Quiltville: The "Good Fortune" For the New Year Has Been Revealed!

This is my first chance to check in with Bonnie this week and it looks like I missed a lot!  

On New Year's Day she released Part 7 of the latest "Good Fortune" mystery.  There were half square triangles to work on and piecing work with the four patches from Part 1.  However, the big  news is that today is the day for the BIG REVEAL a.k.a. Part 8 a.k.a. the final part of the mystery!  I won't spoil the surprise here -- go on over to Bonnie's blog and see the finished quilt proudly displayed in her blog header!

So another Quiltville mystery quilt season is in the can and I look forward to seeing all the participant reveals over the next two Mondays.  I love the outer border Bonnie created with the units made up in Part 5 as well as her use of multiple pieced borders (a technique that Judy over at Patchwork Times is also fond of).   I will be particulary excited to see how all the alternate colorways that folks have used worked up into the design.  If I did make this one in the future, I definitely would like to try that route.

I have a little reveal of my own:  my plan to work on putting the "Double Delight" blocks (Parts 4 and 5) together as I complete the block units for Part 2 and 3 has progressed nicely:

I love it already and it motivates me to keep up with making the blocks.  Because I already have all of the Part 1 units made, I only need to make four and six of each of the Part 2 and 3 units (respectively) to add another block onto the design wall.  I can't wait to see how far I can get by the time the second week of "Good Fortune" reveals are posted!

While working on those I also got a few string blocks started for "Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll" as leader/enders and for the String Alongs:

I just had to remember to change to a shorter stitch length when I switched from making "Double Delight" blocks to piecing the paper foundation backed "RRCB" blocks so the paper will be easy to tear off in the future.

"Scrappy Trips" is now all layered up and the Mystery of the Missing Presser Foot" has been advanced if not completely resolved:  I contacted the Singer Featherweight Shop and asked if they could follow up on the package since the tracking information on the Postal Service website had not changed since 12/18/18!  They immediately agreed to send me another foot while they checked from their end on the whereabouts of the first package.  They also suggested I make an inquiry on my end (through my local Post Office) since that might further jumpstart the process of locating it.

Well that has been an interesting ride into what I call the "Vortex of Shipping Dysfunction"!  Calling my PO yielded no help:  according to the person I spoke to, the only information they had was what was posted in the system.  I then tried calling the USPS 800 number listed on their website:  the automated voice gave me the same outdated tracking information I had already seen online.  Yet when it offered to find "an available agent" to speak to me, it hung up on me --- twice!!

At this point I sent an email inquiry and requested a response by phone.  This morning I got an *email* confirmation of my request.  And guess what:  the telephone number listed for the "Supervisor" this message was supposedly from was the one to my local Post Office!  Another repsonse came in the afternoon (again by email) from this same "Supevisor" giving me the last scan point (in Spokane, WA, information I already saw on their website), said they apologized for the problem, that I should contact the shipper (d'uh, already done!) and if I wanted to pay an additional fee, they could put a tracer on the package to insure it gets directed to the "correct address"!

You just can't make this stuff up!  I'm guessing these two are working on this case for me!

Hope your day is "revealing" a lot of "good fortune" with progress on your 2019 projects!

Quiltville Strings Everywhere and String Along Week 1

On Friday, Part 6 of Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery "Good Fortune" dropped and today is the day everyone is linking up with their progress.

Guess what?  Bonnie has the particpants doing string piecing with their neutral fabrics for this part!  So now I really feel right in the swing of things since I had planned to start working on Bonnie's "Roll, Roll, Cottn Boll" quilt as one of the String projects I wanted to tackle for the string alongs being hosted by the MODA staff (who started Friday!) and Lori at Humble Quilts (who started the week before last).  So once again on the mystery day, I was in "Quilting With Bonnie" mode since "Cotton Boll" starts off with piecing neutral string units too.

In other Quiltville news, I've  finally finished the "Double Delight"  Part 1 units and can now move on to the other parts.  Since the units for Part 1 were such a slog and I will be making similar units for Part 2,  I thought I'd mix it up a bit to keep it interesting.  For Part 3 I have to piece nine-patches which are also another good leader/ender unit.

The blocks made from those first three parts are used to make the larger blocks for Part 4.  So I'm going to piece the Part 2 and 3 units at the same time and start laying them out on the design wall with the Part 1 blocks or maybe even sewing the blocks together.  Also good news is that when I had cut the neutral fabrics for this project into triangles for Part 1, I also cut them in strips for part 3 and in squares for Part 5.  The nine patches from Part 3 are also teamed with those squares to make the larger blocks for Part 5.  So I'm hoping to catch up to "Good Fortune" as I do the various sewing for this project over the next weeks.

The "Scrappy Trips" backing has been pieced together.  When I checked my stash, I thought I was out of twin batting but fortunately I found the package that I had won back in November (whew!).

However, as of today there's still no sign of the new free-motion foot for the Featherweight and there's no mail delivery tomorrow.  Despite what I had hoped, it looks like the quilting for  both this and "Cobblestones" will have to be pushed forward into the New Year.
 
From Friday to today its been a free-from-errands weekend so perfect for sewing (and watching Game of Thrones reruns!!).  The window for the year-end project countdown is closing and it looks like I won't get as much done as hoped.  No matter, what has been either done or moved forward is still good and I'm already primed for what's on board for the New Year.  How about you, are you ready for 2019 to start?

Where in the Quiltville Am I?!?

So today is the link-up over at Bonnie's blog for Part 5 of her latest mystery "Good Fortune".

Looks like a lot of people have aready got the units for that part done and in the can!  Bonnie had said at the outset that this mystery wasn't going to be as piecing intensive as some of the prior ones were.  Maybe I shouldn't have sat this one out?!?!

No, no, I've got enough on my plate as we close out 2018 and it's getting harder to keep them all juggled and in the air as the days count down.  I'm still trying to get through Part 1 of Double Delight:

I've now got three-quarters of the total blocks I need to complete this part.  Not much more to go!  When they're done, the pieces for Part 2 (the brown and cheddar bits in the black tray above) wait patiently in the wings to get under way.  What kept me from getting more done on those was that I moved over to a non-Quiltville project (horrors!).  I layered up my "Christmas Cobblestones"  quilt and was trying to get it quilted.

I'm trying the "quilting in sections" technique on my Featherweight and got as far as ditch stitching a section with the Walking Foot in prep for then doing some free-motion on it.  Unfortunately, the test I ran with the free-motion feet I have for the machine didn't work out at all well in terms of bottom tension.  Lots of heavy "eyelashing" on the back.

I've got another foot on order but don't know when it will arrive.  At this point, I'm not sure if I'll continue with that experiment at this time since I want to get this one finished for display and for the year.  Fortunately, I have a fall back:

On the plus side, since the cutting table is still clear after layering that quilt, I can move forward on another Quiltville project and in the meantime layer up "Scrappy Trips" since it too is one that I want to quilt up before the year ends.

Regarding yet another Quiltville mystery project:  Later on this week I actually hope to start working on the neutral string units for Bonnie's Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll that was a 2010 mystery but now can be found in her book String Fling.  (BTW, her latest book String Frenzy is literally flying out of Bonnie's doors as soon as she releases a new wave of books -- the next ordering wave will open up on New Year's Day.)

There are String Alongs going on with Lori DeJarnatt of Humble Quilts and another to start in January (only a week away!) with the staff of MODA fabrics.  So a little post-Christmas, pre New Year's sewing for me will be to start leader/endering units for this new one.

Good 'ole Lao Tzu had it right, "If you do not change direction, you will end up where you are heading."  Got to keep it moving!  Are you working on anything with Bonnie this week?  Let's hope all the Merry and gifts to come don't keep you away from your sewing machine for too long!

What's going on in Quiltville land?

It is another busy week for Quiltvillers new and old!  The new ones are working on the latest mystery "Good Fortune".  Part 4 dropped on Friday.  They are making orange string pieced units this week.  You can see what everyone is up to on today's Monday Morning Link-up over at Bonnie's blog.

Bonnie has a friend and neighbor named Mona who has helped her the last few months with searching for and setting up furniture for the new Quiltville Inn (you say you don't know about that?!?!  Oh, then you'd better read this!).  She also helped get the mailings of Bonnie's new book Sting Frenzy out and used Bonnie's longarm to finish up her quilts.  However, Mona is also a first time Quiltville mystery quilter!  Bonnie talked about her progress on her post here.

Bonnie also mentioned that MODA is doing a String Along in 2019 and that projects from her new book might be just the thing for that.  Well, that's good for me too because I have an old string UFO project that I had already slotted into my 2019 "To Do" list and I also have paper and strings already set up to do Bonnie's "Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll" mystery so I'll definitely be joining in on that fun!

As for an old Quiltviller like me,  I've downloaded Part 4 and was supposed to spend last week getting started on the piecing for Part 1 of "Double Delight", one of Bonnie's 2008 mysteries.  I had cut everything for it the week before and had hoped to get all the piecing done by the end of last week.  Unfortunately, I only managed to get as far as this:

I got twenty-four blocks pieced.  Since this is a Bonnie mystery, you know I have a lot more to do!  The reason I didn't get more done is I had some Christmas sewing to do:

I made mug rugs for my MIL and her sister to go with mugs and cookies I was sending them.  Those went out in the mail Friday (expected to arrive today and tomorrow) and I'll detail more on that in another post.  I had a shopping day with a friend on Saturday so no sewing then --- I have no excuse for yesterday though!  The good news is that I have today and tomorrow free so hope to make up for some lost time.  For instance, I have to make the same square-in-a-square blocks for Part 2 but using different fabrics.  I had cut the cheddar center squares for those the other week while doing the cutting for Part 1 so started cutting the brown HSTs that will go around them today:

I have a lot more to cut for those too!  As for my other Bonnie project, I made a final decision on my "Scrappy Trips" top:

I'm not going to add more borders because I'd really like to have a shot at quilting this one up before the end of the year.  I have another scrappy project planned and I wouldn't mind using the leftovers from it to make another one of these so I can plan, from the beginning, to make exciting borders for that one.  Oh, and my backing and binding arrived today!

I know, it's a hoot!  "Scrappy Trips" is what I'd call a "fun" quilt and it will be a couch quilt so I wanted a backing in the same vein.  I saw a couple of things that went with the top color-wise but kept going back to these faces -- they crack me up!  It's actually a fabric for children's sleepwear so it's a good thing I'm a big kid at heart!  Even better it's flannel fabric (one of my favorites) so I bought enough to make the back and a bonus project:

I've had these solid flannels for eons planning to make the tops in this pattern to go with some flannel lounge pants I already own.  So I've portioned out the backing for the quilt and I'll use the rest to make a pair of pants from this pattern as well!  Looks like I'll finally get back into sewing clothing which I've wanted to do for awhile. 

The black Kansas Troubles petal print was actually my back-up choice for the binding.  The binding fabric I really wanted was a solid black flannel but the stock was already very low on the website when I placed my order.  When the shipping confirmation notice came, it showed that I didn't get any by the time they got to my order.  However, I'm actually happy with "Plan B" --- I think it will work fine after all.

So this gives me a second quilt that I hope to layer up over the next two weeks.  I also just confirmed this morning that a baby quilt I thought I was going to need by Christmas can be pushed back -- the parents decided to skip doing a "Baby's First Christmas" shindig in favor of focusing on having an even bigger "Baby's First Birthday" party in January.  Whew!  That definitely takes some of the pressure off the production department!

So hope you're looking forward to a fun and quilty week!  I know I am!