And So it Begins… The Weekender

Hey friends! I’ve shared a guest post over on the Boston Modern Quilt Guild Blog today about how I’m making patchwork panels for my Weekender Bag. Check it out if you’re interested!

This weekend I was also busy finishing up this large quilt top.

I was lucky and had some help in the sewing room– my sister cut out some Weekender pattern pieces for me (thanks Liv!) and I was able to get going on my patchwork panels. I am excited to see this bag come together!

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Finished Quilts: Catching up

I’ve fallen a bit behind in blogging about my finished quilts this summer, but I wanted to keep a record of these finishes here. I’d guess I have at least 10 quilts I’ve finished that I haven’t blogged about– yikes! I’ll try to do some catching up.

First up, I finished this quilt along with the help of the Love circle of the Do. Good Stitches charity bee. We usually send these quilts off to be distributed by the group Wrap them in Love, but this time I had a special request. My neighbor had been battling cancer, and I knew he was going into hospice care. I thought the quilt might lift his spirits, and the members of my bee agreed that this would be a good home for our quilt. Sadly he passed away just after I finished the quilt, but I know his family was very moved by the gift and continues to use the quilt.

Next, I finished what I think of as my 4th of July quilt. I’m not usually into Americana, but there is something about the red and blue stars that I love. I also used one of my favorite ruler prints as a neutral in this quilt. It was good to get this one finished!

My office mate at work was getting married this summer, and from the day that I hung a mini-quilt on our office wall she’s shown an interest in and appreciation for my quilting hobby. I made this simple stacked coins quilt for her and her new husband to enjoy. I used the colors from the Chicopee fabric line as my guide, and made each stack of coins centered around one color. I love simple quilts like this one, they are so enjoyable to put together.

I have a few more finishes to share soon, including some quilts I recently wrapped up for the Lowell Quilt Festival. If you’re in the New England area you should consider checking it out– the Boston Modern Quilt Guild has an exhibit, and all the details can be found here. I’ll share some photos of those quilts once I go visit them in the show!

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Quilts for Boston: Quilting on the Common

I’ve been meaning to post these photos from our sew-in for the last week, but life is just flying by this summer!

I met up with some of the dedicated members of the BMQG in downtown Boston so that we could work on binding and
labeling quilts together.

It was a hot and sunny day on the common, and we we so lucky to have Taz come to take some photos for us! She does such lovely work, and you can check out more of here photos here.

Our pile of finished quilts is growing, and we’re gearing up to make a few big deliveries soon. We still have many quilts in progress, too. This has become such a larger project than I could have imagined, and I’m so grateful for all of the help and support that our guild has received!

There are more quilt photos being added to our flickr group all the time, so keep checking back to see the finished quilts!

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A Quilts for Boston Update!

Well, it only feels like about a million years since my last post! Things around here have been busy, but so good too!

I know it sounds super nerdy, but I’ve been really energized about the research I’ve been working on lately, and it makes me want to work more more more!  (an aside– I keep quoting this commercial. “We want more! we want more!).

And of course, Quilts for Boston has been full steam ahead! We have had many meetings and sew-ins and these quilts are really coming together! Eventually we’ll have photos of all of the finished quilts added to our flickr group, but so many are in various stages of progress at the moment that we’re just snapping photos when we can.

Leading up to our deadline for mailing blocks in, I was at the post office every single day, with a bin (or two!) of mail waiting for me! I really love the women working at the post office, who continually got excited about our mail (“Today you have packages from Australia!” I’d hear when I walked into the post office) and helped me haul it all to my car– definitely above and beyond the call of duty.

As I opened each envelope or package, I’d keep track of where it was sent from, how many blocks were included, and if a note or letter was in the package. We have quite a file of letters, and we plan to archive these when we’re done with the project. Opening the mail and tracking the blocks took the majority of my free time for a few weeks. I then took my box full of blocks and sorted them into bundles to give to members of the Boston Modern Quilt Guild and volunteers who were willing to assemble them into quilt tops.

We have SO many quilts in progress at the moment that it’s staggering! Initially we were hoping to maybe make 20 or 30 quilts… and then we raised that estimate to 50, for which I figured we’d need about 1000 blocks. At last count we’ve surpassed 2000 blocks, so we’re on track to make closer to 100 quilts!

Although this project has taken over my free time (and most of my sewing space) for the last couple of months, I have managed to get some personal sewing in– I’ve finished a few quilts I’m planning to share here soon!

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Quilts for Boston: Help Spread the Word!

Hi Friends! I’ve been working with my fellow Boston Modern Quilt Guild members to pull together a plan to make quilts for those affected by the bombing in Boston this past week. We’ve published our plan on the BMQG blog, and have a tab there where we will keep all info up to date!

I also thought I’d share the details here– this is cross posted over on the BMQG blog.

One week ago today, the usual flurry of activity in our city came to a halt and we watched with sadness and disbelief as people who came to celebrate the 117th running of the Boston marathon were injured and killed by bombs set off near the race finish line. In response to the events of the past week, the Boston Modern Quilt Guild wants to find a way to help those in our community that have been directly affected by the bombing and subsequent events.

As a guild we plan to make and distribute quilts to those who would benefit from a show of support, and we need your help.

We are asking the modern quilt community to support our efforts by sending us blocks for these quilts. Additionally, we will accept donations of fabric to be used for binding, sashing, and quilt backs. We would like to have the quilts ready to deliver to those in need as soon as possible, so we ask that you send your blocks to us within a month, by May 24th, 2013.

Blocks sent to the Boston Modern Quilt Guild should be blue, yellow, gray, and white. All blocks should be 12½” tall x the width of your choice. That could mean 12½” x 7”, 12½” x 12½”, or anything wider, more narrow, or in between. Please machine piece your blocks in any style you would like. Please use only “quilt shop quality” 100% cotton or cotton/linen fabrics. Both print and solid fabrics are welcome. Our preference is white or light gray 100% cotton thread, but any coordinating thread of good quality will do.

Please consider adding photos of the blocks to our flickr group. This is not required, but it will be wonderful to share the blocks as we are making them and to see what people are working on.

Our goal is to make bright and modern quilts that will bring cheer to those who need it most! We chose this color scheme as these are the colors of the Boston Marathon, and have become the colors representing the One Fund, an organization formed to accept monetary donations for the victims, as well as the tribute tees sold to benefit the One Fund. Be creative with your blocks, and make any pattern or design that inspires you!

Please mail all blocks and fabric to:
Quilts for Boston
P. O. Box 79225
Belmont, MA 02479

If you have any questions, please contact: bostonmqg@gmail.com or leave me a comment here on Greenleaf Goods!

A big thanks to the very talented Dorie, who created our logo and button! You can grab the button for your own blog or website over on the BMQG website.

Thank you all so much for your support!

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Sewing Therapy

This past Friday was one of the craziest I’ve ever experienced. Friday morning we woke up to the news that the suspects in the bombing had engaged in a shoot out with the police about a mile away from our house, and one suspect was on the loose in our neighborhood. Our town was in lockdown, and we were instructed to stay indoors and not to open the door except for a uniformed officer.

So–if you’re trapped indoors all day with a bunch of nervous energy, what can you do? I decided that THIS was why I buy so much fabric! I had plenty to work on, and managed to finish 3 quilt tops in one day.

When we were finally allowed outdoors, we took Simon to the park to stretch our legs, and while we were there we heard a round of gunfire and rushed home. We learned that the suspect had been cornered and was quickly captured. What relief! People lined the streets of Watertown and cheered for the police as they slowly filed out of town. We are all so happy to have a bit of normalcy restored.

The next day I attended the Boston Modern Quilt Guild meeting. I was so happy to be amongst friends, and we needed to brainstorm about what we can do as a guild to respond to the crazy events of the past week.

We’re cooking up an idea and will reveal the details soon, so stay tuned!

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