Some Fun Quilt Finishes for Quilts for Kids

It seems that all I’ve done this week is layer up finished quilt tops, quilt them and bind/label them. Seriously, we had a lot of wet weather (no complaints about the snow or rain or slush - we need the moisture), so it was the ideal week for me to stay indoors and finish working on my green scraps.

Last weekend, Cousin Kim and I basted three quilts - (1) her Christmas quilt, which I have yet to do the quilting on, (2) my Stay At Home Round Robin quilt, which took For.Ev.Er. to quilt, and will be shown on Monday when I do a special blog post to link up to the finishing post at Quilting Gail’s blog, and (3) the Ballerina quilt (later in this post). And then on Thursday I basted up two more green quilts and got them quilted.  Without further ado, let’s get started.

The Ballerina quilt, made with fabric sent to me by Angie (almost every last inch of which was used on the quilt top) measures 40x45.5”. I knew that if I cut up the pieces, I’d have to supplement them with something and nothing in my stash worked. So, simple it is!

It was backed with a perfect chunk I had in my stash - a piece I won in a giveaway a few years ago. I quilted it with a basic stipple. 

Next were the two quilts that I called Outer Limits (-Vertical and -Horizontal) last week. First up is Outer Limits - Horizontal.

This one finished at 40.5x46.5” and was quilted with a small loopy design. The back was pieced from the width-of-fabric remains of three green chunks I’ve been using throughout the month.

Finally, we come to Outer Limits - Vertical. This one actually turned out better than I’d hoped. It measures 42” across and 49” down.  By this time, I could see the real progress I made in clearing out my green scrap bin!

To “reward” myself for finishing, I actually used a piece of green yardage that’s been in my stash for a couple years - no piecing! Another quick stipple, and this one was done, too. 

So that brings the total of March’s green quilts finished (all small quilts for the local Quilts for Kids chapter) to six. I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge’s final March progress posting.

And here is a quick roundup of the green RSC blocks I did this month.  If my count is correct (and it is because I have to keep track on a spreadsheet), there were 94 green blocks made this month. Yeah, I have no life outside of sewing in these Covid times. I admit it, LOL!!

But wait, there’s more!  This may be the last link-up of the month for the RSC, but I have another top sewn for QFK that I may finish before month-end. We’ll see. Here it is in all its stringy glory. I decided to combine green and yellow string blocks with the multi-colored blocks to spice up the colors a bit. I have so many string blocks (Linda - I promise to do a count and let you know how many, LOL) that I figured I’d better get busy and make a string quilt. I even prepped a backing for this, so it’s ready to be basted/quilted/bound - a process that takes me about 2 hours or so.

My multi-colored string bin has filled up again. It’s not overstuffed, but it is near the top. Time to make more multi-colored string blocks. But first I’ll wait to see what color Angela calls for April for the RSC. If it’s a color that I don’t have a lot of scraps and QFK projects for, I can add in a few of my own projects, like the string blocks or assembling another RSC quilt top or my Wishing Rings. So many projects and never enough time.

This week I won some plaid scraps from Linda at Cynthia’s Spring 2021 Quilty Orphan Adoption Event.  And then Erin at My Patchwork Life had lots of blocks she was giving away, and I won lots of 9-patch blocks there too. Thank you, ladies! All the scraps and blocks will go towards jump-starting future kids quilts for Quilts for Kids. 

I have to show you this t-shirt I ordered for Bruce that arrived this week. We love it!  (If the Bruce on the t-shirt had one less arm, it would match my Bruce perfectly. It really is an eerie likeness!)

Bruce said to tell you that Alfie doesn’t really drink coffee - unless it’s when we’re not looking.

This weekend I’ll be working on quilting Kim’s Christmas quilt and sewing together this wall hanging for Harambe Humanitarian. The purple fabric (African) was given to me by Sally a couple years ago. I’ve used lots of it to make International Sister dresses and there was enough to do setting triangles for this wall hanging and two more.

Eventually, whenever I can focus a week of time, there will be a total of 8 of these wall hangings. This is just #3.  Each wall hanging is slightly different, using various African (or African-esque) fabrics for dresses. The complexions and setting triangles will vary and the backings are/will be one of two styles of large African mandala panels. I’ll show more detail on this one as I complete it in the next week or two.

And don’t forget to come back on Monday for the final post of the Stay at Home Round Robin, where we will all share our finished quilts! See you then.