It' finally really hot here - in the upper 90s. We have had a relatively cool and wet spring and those with swimming pools are finally happy to have the hot temps. I am glad to stay indoors and sew. I have made many baby quilts for donation to the various charitable organizations that our guild supports. We will have a Sew Day on Friday of this week to make quilts to support tornado victims. If you didn't know, a very destructive (aren't they all?) tornado ripped through St. Louis a couple of weeks back and there was a lot of destruction, especially in the north end of the city. I don't know that a quilt is going to alleviate much of that misery, but we are quilters and that's what we do.
I also have a rolling cart full of baby quilts that I have been making There are a few that are a bit larger. The guild supports several local charitable organizations that seem to really like our quilts. Sweet Babies was started by nurses in the NICU at a local hospital and that is where the majority of baby quilts land.
The larger quilts are donated to Home Sweet Home, a local group that provides gently used furniture and household items to people moving into a home or apartment after being homeless. The warehouse is staged like Ikea where furniture is arranged in room type settings. Clients can choose what they want in the morning and volunteers deliver it to them in the afternoon, moving everything in for them and getting it all arranged. Our quilts are much in demand and are displayed on beds and couches. The guild member that delivers them is mobbed whenever she walks in with our quilts. We make really nice quilts - none of this "it's just for charity so it doesn't matter." If that is your attitude, I really don't want you making anything for donation. If I wouldn't give it proudly to a friend or family member, then it's not good enough in my opinion to donate to someone else. After all these folks have been through, they deserve our very best efforts. The quilts don't have to be fancy or complicated or of the newest fabrics, but they do have to be made well of quality materials. Off my soapbox now.
I am taking a break from making baby quilts for a few days. I picked up a pad of foundation papers from my sewing table. It's been there for several months and I don't remember where or how I got it. Its a Sew Emma pad that makes 4" Woven Star blocks. I am an experienced paper piecer, but the 4" size is kind of small to make it really useful. I have a lot of charm packs (I didn't think I was a pre-cut girl, but I have quite a few 5" charm packs after all) .I will make them into a table runner. The small size makes paper removal even more tedious than usual. I have seen the technique wherein there is no need to remove paper at the end. You sew alongside the paper instead of through it. Rebecca Bryan has a good tutorial if you are interested. The small size of these blocks makes that method impractical so there will be an evening of TV watching while I depaper the blocks. It reminds me why I don't do more paper piecing!
I signed up for Fat Quarter Shop's monthly Sew Sampler subscription boxes. I have to say I am really enjoying them and feel they are good value for the cost of $30 per month plus $5.00 shipping. There is a bundle of fabric in each box, one included pattern plus an additional freebie that you can download, coupons for fabric discounts, and one or two notions. There is a monthly pattern for a mystery quilt as well. Those blocks finish at 18" which I think are kind of large. I only made two from last season's offerings but I ordered some extra fabric so I can keep them uniform. I will eventually make them all. May be I should set a goal of one a month so that they get done! I ork best when I have a definite goal or deadline.
. I have liked everything so far but haven't really delved into the boxes much up to now. They make a satisfying stack on the sewing room floor.. I finally started working through the boxes (my first one was June 2024) and am up to November. The fabric lines are not ones I would have chosen, but I like them all well enough and they have gotten me outside my box. I enjoy the process and end up donating the finished quilts. You can also get finishing kits for all the monthly projects and the cost is usually under $50. I assume that the fabric choices are liked by most quilters or they wouldn't have been chosen. The things I make from the boxes should have wide appeal. My favorite of the fabrics so far has been Denim & Daisies. I finished that project. I am not big on florals but this line wasn't too fussy in that regard.
Gonna quit now and go sew something. My sewing machine had to be serviced twice in two weeks. The first time was the annual "spa "day. The needle threader and needle cutter were not working among other things. The thread would snarl in the bobbin area after 20 or 30 minutes of sewing. I was totally frustrated. The technician finally fixed it the second time. He had to replace a stop spring (no sure what it's function was) and made some other adjustments and now it's sewing like a top Happy Sewing!!.
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