After an April that was all about ME, I wanted to share some fun charity projects in May!
First up is a child-sized quilt pattern I designed inspired by the heart logo of my favorite blanket making charity, The Linus Connection.
Made of 5 1/2″ squares and half square triangles, this is an easy peasy quilt to chain piece. Make it for a wee one you love or for your favorite blanket charity.
This is a quick to watch tutorial on chain piecing from Shiny Happy World.
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Are you quilting along with Paper Piecing Vintage? Share a Signature Block for the PPV Signature Quilt! This special project is a for a commemorative signature quilt that I will keep after Paper Piecing Vintage has concluded. Find this block on page 21 of Paper Piecing Vintage. If you’re only making a few blocks, you can also find the Signature Block Pattern right here.
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Stop by Sewhooked on the second and fourth Mondays of every month through June for the Paper Piecing Vintage Quilt Along (PPV2017)!
Stop by the Sewhooked flickr group and share photos of your quilt blocks & projects made fromSewhooked patterns, including Paper Piecing Vintage or any other pattern (free or for sale) designed by me. You will each project you share, you will be entered to win your choice of THREE individual block patterns ($2.95 or less each) from my Craftsy Shop! Click on the banner to go Sewhooked flickr group. Winner to be announced November 3, 2014!
The following quilts and blanket were seen in today’s video and have all now been donated to The Linus Connection. I share pattern links wherever possible.
Fleece remnant with crochet edge. Sadly, I photographed the back side, so the edge isn’t as pretty!
Tumbler quilt made from a kit at the last work day for The Linus Connection. Quilted by Osie.
Made from donated orphan blocks and Stars for Linus. Pieced, quilted and bound by me.
Made from donated orphan blocks with a few nine patches made by me to coordinate. Pieced, quilted and bound by me. Thanks to my friend Marge for the idea to use the black sashing!
Made from donated orphan blocks and donated sales samples. Pieced, quilted & bound by me.
A kit started by someone else, finished by me using fabrics I had on hand. Quilted and bound by me.
I totally forgot to mention that I have a pattern coming out in the next Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks! Be sure to stop by Sewhooked on April 30 for a sneak peek and a chance to win fun prizes!
You, my quilting friends, have an open invitation to create 12″ (12 1/2″ unfinished) stars of bright colors on a light background and mail them to me. I turn them into quilts that are donated to The Linus Connection and from there go to children in crisis in Central Texas.
Not up for making stars? I also accept orphan blocks in any size!
It doesn’t get easier to help brighten the life of a child than that!
Use one of the patterns linked from the Stars for Linus page or any other 12″ star block of your choosing!
Looking for a chance to win a fun prize? Just share your Paper Piecing Vintage photos with the Sewhooked flickr group in February and you’ve got a chance to win the fabulous prize above! Winner to be announced Monday, March 3, 2014.Be sure to stop back by on Saturday, March 1 for Paper Piecing Vintage!
This meeting was a little extra special for me because it was my 11th anniversary as a Linus volunteer.
I didn’t make a thing of it while I was there, but I thought about it all day.
Eleven years ago, I remember walking into my first meeting with my heart pounding. Another mom, who was to become my good friend, invited me after she found out that I crocheted.
The first blanket I donated, November 2002.
We’d lived in Austin almost four years at the time and I still didn’t feel really connected. Believe it or not, I was shy and more than a bit introverted and I was so nervous to walk in that first day because I had no idea what to expect. I was welcomed with open arms, despite obviously being the youngest volunteer there.
By March the next year, I’d taken over the website. Six months after that, I was nominated to be a board member and had started learning to quilt. Linus became a very important part of my life, one that I could not now imagine living without. My longest local friendships all started at Linus meetings. Sucking up that courage to walk into that first meeting literally changed my life and I am a better person for it.
In December 2010, I participated in The Project for Awesome and talked about The Linus Connection
I’ve chronicled my years at Linus through photography. The following are Flickr albums for each year I’ve volunteered. Most of the years before 2010 are pictures of my blankets. Eventually, I invited the online community to contribute to my favorite charity and began sharing photos of the blankets and quilt blocks you all shared, too. I’ve lost count of how many blankets I’ve personally donated since those first few!
This is not by any stretch of imagination all the photos I’ve taken for Linus. With a few exceptions, every photo taken and posted on the Linus website since 2002 was taken by me!
At each month’s meeting, I help sort blankets for distribution. We use a lot of IKEA bags for this!
The Linus Heart, a free paper pieced pattern by yours truly.
Thank you for indulging me as I think back over my years with Linus. There aren’t enough words to explain how important this organization is to me. Being part of this extraordinary group of volunteers has given me more by far than I could have ever anticipated.
Do you volunteer? I’d love to hear about it in comments!
I have two IKEA bags stuffed with donations for The Linus Connection thanks to many wonderful online friends and participants in Stars for Linus.
Because I can’t keep the quilty goodness to myself, how about some fabulous Friday fiber before I turn all these gorgeous blankets in for distribution tomorrow?
A Stars for Linus quilt, made from blocks donated by Sewhooked readers as well as two blocks from my orphan block bag.
This is a gentle reminder that this month, November 2013, I will donate $1 from EVERY sale of the Mustachio! pattern set to Movember!
What this heck is Movember, you ask? This is from the official website:
As an official global charity, Movember’s vision is to have an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health. During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of millions of moustaches on men’s faces around the world. Through the power of the Mo, vital funds and awareness are raised to combat prostate and testicular cancer and mental health challenges.
It’s easy…just click on the image above or the link at the end of this sentence and go straight to the Mustachio pattern on Craftsy!
December 1, I’ll donate to Movember. You’ll have your mustaches and will have helped a good cause, too!
Don’t forget about the free classes I told you about last time on Craftsy. They are STILL free today!
The February meeting of The Linus Connection was this past Saturday, and as usual, I have some fun things to show! I’m way ahead of goal of 2 per month this year, which makes me very happy.
This was Saturday’s demo, pattern by Osie. I pieced this one and she quilted it. I actually swapped the block strips around a bit (on accident!) but I still like the outcome, especially with the addition of the sashing. The block pattern pattern will be on the Linus website as soon as we clear up our technical difficulties.
Lost and found Granny Squares, from my 2011 UFO list. I’m not sure how I misplaced these, but I did. They are found again and off to a good home!
I also received quite a few donations in the mail, always a bonus!
The box on the left is full of quilt tops, backing and bindings sent by Rachel, as well as some lovely fabric panels donated by Cat.
Lovely afghan donated by Adrith. You can see Chained Compass, one of my crochet patterns, on the top row.
Gabriel sent a lovely Stars for Linus quilt top, which was quilted by Osie and bound by Linda. I’ve received quite a few blocks in the mail recently, and will hopefully have enough for another Stars For Linus quilt next month!
Reminder: Use coupon code QUILTMYPHONE in the Sewhooked Shop to receive the Floating Mariner instant download PDF pattern for half price as an instant PDF download with PayPal payment – completely secure shopping through E-junkie. This price is only good right here on Sewhooked during the month of February.
We’ve had two sewing days in the last month where Linus volunteers get together to stitch quilt tops. Usually, these tops are pre-cut and ready to sew together. Sometimes it’s a pre-printed panel that just needs borders or a donation of pre-made blocks. These sewing days are always a lot of fun and we get tons accomplished.
After piecing the quilt tops, they go off to our fabulous long-arm quilters who do a beautiful job quilting them for us.
This was my first new crochet project for 2012. These were all yarns that were donated to Linus in December. I brought home a tangled snarl of yarns and turned them into this. It’s all double stranded, DC, and super simple, but I really like how squishy and soft it is!
Box Stitch baby blanket, crocheted by me, end of December, beginning of January.
Pieced during the December work day, blocks donated by Kristel. Kristel, I hope you’ll forgive me for the willy-nilly layout!
Pieced at the January sewing day. This top and the following were pieced out of a huge assorted stack of funky 5 1/2″ pre-cuts fabrics. I just grabbed and stitched! The string pieced blocks were in the stack, too.
A panel that needed borders. Almost instant gratification!
This was a panel that was cleverly puzzle-pieced together by Osie. She did the cutting, I did the stitching.
Wonky Stars quilt, top donated by Kristel. Quilted by Marge.
Afghan donated by ladyoflosttimes
Afghan donated by Terry M.
Afghan donated by Terry M.
The Linus Connection meets tomorrow to collect and distribut blankets to children in need throughout Central Texas, I hope to see you there!
Paper Pieced Pattern-A-Day Blog Hop Call for designers – We’ve had some great people sign up so far, but there is still space available! If you think you might like to design a block for April, please check out the post and fill out the form. We’re going to have a blast sharing Garden Party patterns for the entire month of April!
