Category Archives: The Linus Connection

Today you are You, that is truer than true.

Where in the world would I be without friends?

Floating in a sea of empty Internet, no Bee, no Linus. That’s where I’d be.

Fortunately, none of those things are true. Whew.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve received oodles of packages in the mail from friends sending donations for my favorite cause, The Linus Connection.

I mention Linus often, because it’s a big part of my life. I’ve been volunteering as a blanket maker since late 2002. I’ve been the webmistress of linusconnection.org since 2003. I’m currently in my second term on the Board of Directors. I write all of the Linus Connection blog posts. I’m in charge of blanket sorting and distribution. Most of my local friends were met either through or because of my participation in The Linus Connection.

Like I said, it’s kind of a big deal to me.

When the Central Texas fires occurred, and I mentioned Linus and that we, the volunteers, would do everything we can to fill the requests of facilities that are helping the children affected, my friends, both near and far, stepped up.

They stepped up in a big way.

Stars For The Linus Connection

a free 12″ pattern

for best results when printing, set scaling to “none”

We have already donated two Stars For Linus quilts and a third is in the making. I continue to accept not only Stars For Linus blocks, but Wonky Star blocks.

In addition to Stars For Linus blocks, I’ve received quilt tops, completed quilts, and a stack of afghans.

Like I said, my friends stepped up. See the full list of those that have donated.

In addition to the stack of quilts I showed in this post, the following wonderful offerings were donated to Linus yesterday, thanks to a few of my friends:

Donated by Mary

Donated by Amber

Donated by Kristel

Quilting Close-Up…triangles!

Donated by Kristel

Have you mailed Stars for Linus blocks or made a blanket donation? There’s a flickr group for that!

Would you like to help The Linus Connection raise funds for blanket-making supplies? Buy a raffle ticket! They are super inexpensive ($1 each or 6 tickets for $5). Click on the banner above for details. I am also personally happy to accept paypal payment or U.S. checks or Money Orders made out to The Linus Connection for your tickets. Please include your name, mailing address and preferred email so I can fill out your ticket information and mail the stubs to you. If you’d like to send a check or money order, please email me for more information.

Yesterday was The Linus Connection’s twelfth Birthday and our Annual Blanket Challenge. If you have not already seen all the amazing blankets that were entered in the Challenge, go see! We had an absolutely stunning turn out, breaking our previous record for number of blankets turned in for the Challenge.

Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!

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Livin’ La Vida Linus

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Marie was my helper for the day!

Have you ever had one of those days where you just really, really needed to get things done? Not a “I have to get this done” day, but a “oh, no, I’m running out of time, I HAVE to get this done!” day?

I had one of those yesterday.

You see, The Linus Connection meets on Saturday, and until yesterday, I did not have one quilt completely finished.

Enter the next five quilts.

I free-motion quilted the two Stars For Linus quilts as well as the blendy floral quilt that I’ve dubbed “Oh no, not *that* quilt.”

I bound those three quilts as well as the other two shown below.

Today? I can barely raise my arms after all that free-motion quilting. Who says quilting isn’t exercise?

Stars For Linus Quilt #1

Stars For Linus Quilt #2

A close-up of my free-motion. I fought with my machine all day yesterday, changing needles, thread and changing my bobbin to get this done. I’m still not great at free-motion, but if I can find the right mix to make my sewing machine (and by default, me!) enjoy it, I think I could get better.

The label I put on each of the Stars For Linus quilts. After all, it was a group effort!

Stars For The Linus Connection

a free 12″ pattern

for best results when printing, set scaling to “none”

Remember, I’m also accepting Wonky Stars…if you’d rather! Please makes sure they are also 12″.

Oh no, not that quilt! I still can’t decide if I like this one or not… Experimentation with fabric samples and the 10 Minute Block.

Zeppelin Threads orphan block quilt. The two house blocks were donated by Cat and Pren. I pieced the rest and did the straight line quilting a couple of weeks ago.

I love how the quilting worked out on this, though you can’t quite see all of it. There’s a lot of stitching in the ditch. I tend to do a lot more straight line quilting because my sewing machine behaves better when I do.

Quilt top donated by JoAnn M. Quilted by my friend Marge, bound by me…yesterday. This was the last quilt I worked on last night before giving up for the day.

Close up of Marge’s quilting, done on a Handi-Quilter.

Today, I am giving myself the morning off to spend with my bee. I’ve worked extra hard every day this week and am in need of a respite!

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Seeing Stars

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Well, well, would you look at that fun quilt top! Above is the very first Stars For Linus top, made from your donations, to be quilted this week and donated to The Linus Connection, which in turn will distribute it to a child in crisis in Central Texas.

And boy, has Central Texas been in crisis recently. Drought. The hottest summer on record for any state in the U.S. Ever. Fires that have left thousands of people scrambling to find a new home.

Isn’t that a good reason to make happy quilts?

This second Stars for Linus top went together absolutely beautifully, and I still have another stack of blocks that’s just a few shy of having enough for another top!

Stars For The Linus Connection

a free 12″ pattern

for best results when printing, set scaling to “none”

Because The Linus Connection is such an important part of my life, I will continue to collect Stars for Linus indefinitely. Use them for my organization, or your own favorite blanket charity! Get your friends together for a sewing day and bring the pattern along to share! It only takes 12 stars to make a comfort quilt for a child. 20 blocks will make a wonderful teen-sized quilt.

Wonky Star, by mkissa

donated to the Bushfire Quilt Project

So, you’re not a paper piecer, but you’d still like to contribute? Inspired by WIP Girl, Kristel, known as Clumsy Chord on Talk To Me Tuesday, I will also accept 12″ (12 1/2″ unfinished) Maverick Stars or Wonky Stars (the same technique, different tutorials). To make a 12 1/2″ Maverick or Wonky star, your nine patch units need to be 4 1/2″.

See the video with Kristel’s Wonky Star quilt for Linus.

Check out the updated list of Stars for Linus contributors in this post!

Sew Something in Leander is hosting their first ever Linus Work Day tomorrow, October 8, from 10-1. I will be there, taking photos and helping in any way I can. I hope to see you there!

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Stars for Linus, An Update

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It’s been almost a month since the original Stars for Linus post. In that time, I’ve received 30 blocks in the mail!

All completed quilts will be donated to The Linus Connection of Austin, Texas. Our organization is comprised completely of volunteers who make and deliver hand-made quilts, afghans and fleece blankets to children in crisis in Central Texas, including those affected by the wildfires in September of this year.

In September, I asked you to share the love and help the kids affected by those fires by making a Stars For Linus block and mailing it to me to turn into a quilt top.

The very first block arrived just days later.

Each Stars For Linus quilt will be pieced by me and I will turn each one into Linus for delivery to a child that needs it. I will continue to collect Stars indefinitely, so any time you’d like to share a block, feel free to do so!

One Stars For Linus quilt top is pieced and ready to quilt. Another set of blocks is sorted and ready to piece. A third pile is growing and will soon be a quilt top, too.

I wanted take a minute and share a special thank you to everyone that has sent Stars for Linus blocks so far, in no particular order:

Paige J., Nebraska
Amber L., Illinois
Judee K, California
Soma A., California
Carol M., Wyoming
Lynda M., Illinois
Barbara C., New Hampshire
Kathy P., Washington
Linda F., New Jersey
Terri J., California
Dawn F., Massachusetts
Michele F., Ontario
Midge W., Michigan

I will continue to add to this list as the Stars arrive! If you do not see your name here and you know I have received your Stars, please let me know so I can update the list. I don’t want anyone to be left out!

I’ve also received completed quilt tops that are now in the process of being quilted and bound, as well as completed quilts:

Jenn F., Oregon
JoAnn M, Louisiana
Kristel C., Calgary

My yarny friends are not to be forgotten! Afghans received from:

Amber L., Illinois
Mary C., Oklahoma

Stars For The Linus Connection

a free 12″ pattern

for best results, set scaling to “none”

See more of my posts about The Linus Connection.

I cannot say thank you enough for all of your support for a cause that means so very much to me!

Quilt on!

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When Dorothy Met Linus

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We had some really great Show & Tell at The Linus Connection meeting today, which you can see in this post on the Linus blog. It’s entirely possible you might recognize the writing style. 😉

Since I take the pictures at Show & Tell, I rarely actually Show. Today, I donated the Wizard of Oz quilt I’ve been working on and really wanted to share it with the group before it headed off to it’s final destination; one of the facilities getting blankets in the hands of children affected by the Central Texas fires.

The fabrics were donated to Linus as sales samples, then the tumbler blocks were cut out at the last meeting on an AccuQuilt.

I stitched the top, added an emerald city sparkly border, quilted it on the Linus long-arm (I’m still a novice, but it sure is fun!) and bound it.

You can see the colors better in this one.

Using up some leftovers. Linus Sideways Shell baby blanket.

Also a Linus Sideways Shell. I’m sort of embarrassed to admit that I started this in June. When I ran out of yarn, it sat until I bought two skeins yesterday morning and finished it last night.

Stars For Linus continue to come in! Keep them coming and we’ll have a quilt to show here soon!

You still have time to comment and be entered to win a free copy of Polaroid My Memories Suite! Can’t wait for the drawing? Copy and paste STMMMS23344 to get $10 off the My Memories Software Suite!

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I hope you’re all having a lovely, craft-filled weekend!

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The Stars at Night Are Big and Bright

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Stars for Linus blocks have stared arriving in the mail! It’s only been a few days and I just need a few more for a quilt top. Keep them coming folks, keep them coming!

A note about printer scaling: if your pattern prints 8″ instead of 8.5″, you can either add a wider sashing or simply make your block finish at 12″. Either way, your blocks will get used. I personally promise you that each and every block will find it’s way into a Linus quilt. Every block counts!

Stars For The Linus Connection

a free 12″ pattern

for best results when printing, set scaling to “none”

Click the image above for more details about the Stars For Linus block drive!

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Stars For The Linus Connection

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Stars For The Linus Connection a free 12″ pattern

If you’ve been around Sewhooked any length of time, or have watched Talk To Me Tuesday, well, ever, then you know that The Linus Connection is a big part of my life. I started donating blankets to Linus way back in November of 2002. The Linus Connection, in turn, distributes those blankets to children in crisis throughout Central Texas.

Right now, more children than ever before are in crisis in Central Texas because Texas has been burning all week. Hundreds and hundreds of families are now homeless. People have died. I have a friend that lost everything. It’s bad, bad business.

So now, I’m going to do what I do best and give you a free pattern.

But this time, I want a little something in return.

Stars For The Linus Connection

a free 12″ pattern

for best results when printing, set scaling to “none”

Take this free pattern and make a block, or two, or twelve. Make a quilt top, or a quilt, or an afghan (because yarn is fabulous, too!) and mail it to the address on the pattern. Yes, that’s my address there. Please don’t stalk me, but do send me loads of blocks and blankets for The Linus Connection so we can then take those blankets and get them to the children in our area who need them!

Wonky Star, by mkissa

donated to the Bushfire Quilt Project

See the video with Kristel’s Wonky Star quilt for Linus.

Want to do your own thing? Be sure to check our the Linus Blanket Specifications first. Here’s a summary: 100% cotton quilting fabric for quilts, washable acrylic yarn for blankets, sizes can range from 30” x 30” up to 54” x 70”. Cotton or low-loft acrylic batting and french fold binding. Here’s the rest!

All blocks sent to me will be pieced into quilt tops, quilted and bound by myself or another Linus volunteer. I will make every effort to share finished quilts here on Sewhooked.

Linus has already started getting calls, and the number of blankets needed is going to be huge. My favorite charity and the children of my home state need your help. Whether you make just one block or many, every little bit counts.

If you make a block (or a lot!) add them to the Block and Blanket Drive for Linus flickr group and The Linus Connection flickr Group (the second group show up on the Linus blog in the flickr widget!). As always, you are more than welcome to add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group. I love featuring your photos!

And please, please, please share, tweet, Facebook, tumble and +1 this post. Get it out there, share the pattern with your friends and help us cover Central Texas children in blankets of made with love!

See more of my posts about The Linus Connection.

Donate to The Red Cross of Central Texas

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Follow The Yellow Brick Road

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On my machine this week: a tumbling block quilt made from Wizard of Oz fabric for The Linus Connection.

The tumblers were cut on a fellow volunteer’s AccuQuilt Go.

Now, to decide…borders or no borders?

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Linus, June 2011

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10 Minute Block Top, in progress

Saturday was the monthly meeting of The Linus Connection. I had the honor of doing a little demonstration of a fun technique developed by Suzanne McNeill.

It’s fun and super easy to do and uses simple squares to create a striking design. My version, in green and purple, was created using 6″ squares from a green swap I did with online friends and 5″ squares of purple from my stash. It’s a great technique to use with charm packs or layer cakes, too! This particular quilt is not a Linus donation but was used for my demonstration.

Suzanne McNeill’s demo

I’ve also been working on my free-motion quilting. I took a class a couple of years ago, and then never touched it again. I tend to fall back on my favorite echo quilting, but am working to get better at free-motion so I can quilt some of my smaller pieces. On the recommendation of a friend, I was quilting with my feed dogs up instead of down (down is usually recommended for free-motion) and I found I had much more control. This month, I worked on quilting some simple tops that were created from larger panels and then bordered.

Quilting close up. I still need lots of practice!

A quilted panel. Panel given to me by Mary C.

I had the great honor of hosting two of my online crafty friends, Amber and Courtney just last week. Amber regularly donates to The Linus Connection and she brought three fantastic afghans with her to share with Linus. These all went out at the Saturday meeting. The colorful offering above was made using the Sunny Spread pattern.

Visit Amber’s website, Amber’s Originals.

Afghan by Amber

Afghan by Amber

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A Little Help From My friends

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It’s Linus Saturday today and I’m one of the willing and happy distributor of blankets. We sort them by size, fold them and pack them off to send out to children in crisis in Central Texas.

This month, I’m taking four blankets to the monthly meeting, three courtesy of wonderful friends.

Pretend Plaid by Amber