Category Archives: Donation Quilts

Personal labels 3 ways

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quilt back and binding

The first quilt to have my new label on the back!

I’ve been thinking for some time that I’d like a “standard” Zippy Quilts label to sew into the binding of my quilts in addition to the usual label I put on with the name of the quilt and the date.  I’ve seen several such labels and think they look cool.  They make me think the creator takes herself and her work seriously enough to have a professional label.

I collected a bunch of ideas for making labels on my Pinterest page, here, if you want to look.  Pinterest is great for gathering idea from around the web and organizing them all in one place.  I also got some of those ideas by doing a search within Pinterest for “fabric labels”, which lead me to things other people had discovered.

It boiled down to just a few good options in 3 categories:

1.  Print your own labels, sort of like I do my labels with the quilt name/date/etc.  This would be fairly economical despite the cost of printable fabric, because the labels are small.  However, the washability of some of the printable fabrics was in question, and there would be the need to finish the edges in some way to avoid fraying.  Nevertheless, there’s a very nice tutorial on how to do it here, on the Emmaline blog.

2.  Get commercially-made labels, either woven or printed, from specialty companies that make them.  There are lots of companies that offer lots of different labels, from laundry tags like you sew into your kids’ clothes before they go to camp to really professional woven labels.  The cost varies a lot, too.  The main drawback was that, for the better looking ones, you have to order an awful lot.  What if I had 1000 labels I didn’t much care for?

3.  Design your own at Spoonflower and have them printed up on fabric for you to cut apart into labels.  There’s a tutorial on how to do it here, on a nice blog called “While They Snooze”.  This is what I ultimately decided to do.  They’ll print either a sample or a fat quarter (FQ) for you, so I ordered FQs of 2 different layouts to see if I liked them.

Spoonflower labels

Spoonflower labels–first layout

I cut them apart with pinking shears to avoid a hard edge and sewed a little hem around each one to prevent fraying.  I think another time I’d make them a little smaller, but this is a good start.  The Spoonflower site is easy enough to use that I never even had to contact them for help.

Spoonflower label

The second layout

My second layout left space below my name on each label so that I could cut out the label, hem the sides only, and then fold it in half, inserting the remaining raw edges in the binding.  This avoids the need to sew it down separately on 4 sides.  I may like this better, but I haven’t had time to try them much yet.  The first one is going on my Quilt Alliance donation quilt, which I’m still binding.  I think I’ll go back and put them on all this year’s projects.

If you get some labels made for your projects, write and let me know what you did and how it worked out.

Spoonflower label

Label on Quilt Alliance quilt back

Quilt Alliance Challenge

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After thinking I would use Sunbonnet Sue as my inspiration,

Fabric scraps

Scraps!

I did a total about-face and chose a scrap quilt instead.  I LOVE scrap quilts, and since I certainly HAVE a lot of scraps, it all works out 🙂

Here’s the process for this year’s Quilt Alliance donation quilt.  I wanted to use tiny scraps and have one tiny star.  I used Electric Quilt (EQ7) to print a foundation pattern for a star that finishes about 3″ square.  The first one I made, using the brand of fabric we’ve all

Paper foundation for star
Foundation pieced star, finishing 3″

depended on for solids, was just a little off.  Turns out the “beefy” thick texture of that fabric doesn’t lend itself well to tiny, tiny points (the center square here is 1/2″ x 1/2″).  So I re-generated the foundation pattern and, as often happens, decided on a little design change at the same time.  Then I made the star using Moda Bella black, which is a lighter weight cloth that folded more crisply in such a small space.

Joining scraps
Scraps
Improvisational piecing

For the rest of the quilt I pulled out my zippy-colored Michael Miller cotton couture scraps and just sewed them together as I took them out of the box.  Eventually I had to cut a few more “scraps” to finish the top.  There were so very MANY seams that I was glad of the lighter weight of this cloth, almost like voile.  It took many days to do this, quite a bit longer than I had expected for a 16″ x 16″ quilt!  The smallest pieces finish about 1/4″ squares or triangles!

scrap quilt

Quilt Alliance Challenge 2014

So here it is!  I would love to count the pieces, but I don’t think I have the energy left to do it!  Besides, who wants to know a thing like that? 😉

Stash smash: 8 inch squares

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I’m slowly working my way through my stash, and currently my focus is on “unfinished projects”.  There seem to be a lot of them 😉

8" squares

8″ Squares

I found this stack of 8″ squares that was made as the start of a quilt a while back.  I didn’t like the pattern once I got started on it, so here’s this stack with no purpose.  Not my favorite fabrics is part of the problem, I think.

Of course, SOMEBODY sure would like these fabrics, so I had options:

1.  Try to give them to friends.  But those friends probably would try to give me some of their stash in return!

2.  Put them in the donation pile.  Several problems with that idea; never mind!

3.  Make them into something.  Since I make a fair number of donation quilts for Ronald McDonald House, that seemed like the best bet.

So I paired lights with darks and cut each pair into 3 unequal strips.  I did the cuts at random intervals, but parallel to the sides to keep the blocks from getting too wonky.  Then I traded the center strips and sewed the strips back together to make a set of 2 blocks.

Cut at random intervals
swap the center strip
First assembly

I stacked the sets again and cut them at irregular intervals, switched the middle strip again, and re-assembled them into irregular 9-patch blocks:

Cut the new blocks the other way
swap the center strips again
Two blocks finished!

Now they are a donation quilt top for Ronald McDonald House, and this one will be suitable for an older child, since the fabrics aren’t juvenile novelty prints.  Success!  Another stack gone!  And another donation quilt done!

I’m taking part in “Aunt Marti’s” UFO challenge so to finish 12 UFOs in 2014.  It might help you get your UFOs done, too.  Click HERE for the link to the original post where she tells you how to do it.

nine patch quilt

Nine Patch Quilt

Hope you have a good week.  Maybe some of your leftovers would make good donation quilts, too!

 

 

 

 

Stick your neck out with me!

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New-Sue-2OK, folks, you may recall that I made a donation quilt for the Quilt Alliance last year BEFORE I realized that most of the other quilters were WAY better known than I am!  It turned out pretty well, because the ladies who won first place were local and not all that famous (at least until they won)!  And my quilt did sell in the auction, so it’s all good.

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN!  The Quilt Alliance has just announced the 2014 contest, and I hope you’ll consider making a quilt for them.  You can see the contest announcement and a link to the rules on the Quilt Alliance website. (You can see last year’s donation quilts here–mine is #29 if you’re interested.)  The theme this year is “Inspired by” and your entry must be inspired by one of the quilts in the Alliance’s Quilt Index or their Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories (Q.S.O.S.) project.

I already have my project in mind and here’s a hint:  it’s based on Sunbonnet Sue.  I searched the QSOS project files for Asheville, since that’s the nearest town of any size, and one of the first quilts I saw was a Sunbonnet Sue–you can see it if you click the link but I think it would be a copyright violation for me to reproduce it here.  I was immediately drawn to it because I have a Sunbonnet Sue quilt made by my Grandmother (Mary Lee Ownbey Kimsey, who lived in Asheville) and it hangs in my studio much of the time.

I also made Eleanor Burns’ Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam a few years ago; that is the quilt at the top of this post.  The contest quilt is going to be “inspired by” Sunbonnet Sue, but you’d have to know Sue to “get it”.  You’ll see later!

Sunbonnet Sue

Sunbonnet Sue by my Grandmother

Meanwhile, come on:  STICK OUT YOUR NECK WITH ME!  Even if you’ve never entered a contest, I’m pretty sure you regularly make donation quilts.  Design a donation quilt and send it in to the Quilt Alliance Contest. Here are the TOP 3 REASONS to make a quilt for this contest:

1.  DO SOMETHING NEW!  TAKE A RISK!  If I can do it, you can do it.

2.  You’ll have to spend time browsing the Quilt Index or the Q.S.O.S.–either could be hours of fun!

3.  It’s just a LITTLE quilt–16 x 16 this year!  Just do it!  Here’s the link again: Quilt Alliance

Auction!

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Remember that quilt I made to donate to the Alliance for American Quilts “TWENTY” contest?  If not, you can see a section of it as the header for my blog, and you can read about it here.Rising Star for Web

In any case, the time has come!  The TWENTY entries have travelled to shows around the country and are now up for auction on eBay.  The group that includes my quilt will be auctioned starting at 9:00 EST (U.S.) tomorrow night.

I’ve been happy to learn about the Quilt Alliance over the past few months.  I originally donated a quilt because I liked the idea of the TWENTY challenge and I’m always donating quilts to various causes—who isn’t?  However, I’ve since learned that the Alliance has several missions I’m especially happy to support:

  • They promote awareness of quilting as a grassroots American art form
  • They document quilts so their stories aren’t lost, and encourage all quilters to document their work
  • They make their information available to the public through various forums, including an association with The University of Texas at Austin (where I went to school)

The Quilt Alliance has numerous projects to further their goals, and their staff are some of the nicest people I’ve encountered.  They have a fun blog that presents quilts from various periods in history, and you can subscribe by e-mail so you get to see different quilts from their records.

Check out the Quilt Alliance website and then check out the Ebay auction.  You may become a Quilt Alliance fan, too!

Oh, yes, and bid on the quilts.  Most of them are by people a lot more famous than I am  😉  You might enjoy going to the Ebay site just to look at the quilts!

Modern Donation Quilt

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Donation quilts are a great use for scraps, but they aren’t usually very exciting to make.  I make them more interesting by trying something new with each quilt.  

Most donation quilts are smaller than bed size, which makes them a good place to try new things.  Here’s an example where I “tweaked” the usual quilt design in several ways to make it more modern while still using older fabric from my stash.

First, this is a typical donation quilt. usual donation labelled It’s made 40″ x 40″ as requested by the charity, and it used up a fair number of those 5” charm squares that seem to reproduce themselves while the fabric closet door is closed. I used it to practice some of the quilting designs I’m learning in Leah Day’s Craftsy class, so I did learn something in making it.

And here’s what I decided to do on the next donation quilt for a children’s charity to make it more modern.  Ronald Labelled

I made these changes to made this design more modern:

  1. The blocks are rectangles rather than squares.  It didn’t use up any charm squares, but it did use come cute fabric I’ve had for a while.
  2. I found a nice coordinating almost-solid in my stash.  (Solids are commonly used in modern quilts.)
  3. The rows run vertically and are offset by a half block starting alternate rows.  This breaks up the usual march of blocks across the quilt, making a diagonal zigzag pattern.  It doesn’t hurt that the quilt also is easier to construct because there are no corners to match 😉
  4. The quilt was designed without a border.

If you’d like to make a quilt like this, I’ve made a separate page with instructions; click on this link.  If you make a quilt from this, send me a picture!