Giving Back

One of the many things I enjoy about making quilts is the opportunity to give them away and hopefully make life a little better for someone else.  That's why, for the fourth straight year, I am once again participating in the Hands2Help charity quilt challenge hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

This year there are three charities to choose from where you can donate a quilt:  Quilts of Compassion, Hurricane Sandy Survivors, and Happy Chemo.  You can read about the details and sign up HERE.

Sarah always makes it fun for participants, with linky parties, guest bloggers, and great prizes!  And there is plenty of time to make a quilt; you just need to mail it your charity of choice by June 13.

I hope you check it out!

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I heard about another charity quilt effort last week.  "Soy Amado," headed up by Alison of Little Island Quilting, is making quilts for street children in Mexico City.  You don't have to make a whole quilt (unless you want to), just a 12.5-inch quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) block.

Orphan blocks are great for this.  I got started on my first batch by raiding my cache of orphan blocks and pieces.  I had quite a few kaleidoscope triangles left over, which conveniently made the right sized block, so I started with those.

Then I pulled out some sample blocks I made last year with "made fabric."

It's a great way to practice free-motion quilting.  Somehow, working with a 12.5-inch quilt sandwich and "doodling" with a quilting foot is a lot less intimidating to me than the idea of quilting a whole quilt.

With the pressure off, it's just 100% fun!  No marking, no advance planning, just lower the presser foot, step on the foot control, and see what happens.

Helping with the Soy Amado block drive is Leila, who is accepting QAYG blocks here in the U.S., plus $1 or $2 to help with postage, and will send them in batches to Alison, to be made into quilts for Mexico City street children.

They expect to be collecting blocks and making quilts for quite a while, so there is no immediate deadline. That means there's still time to join in, if you're so inclined.

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Also, a reminder that Kevin is in the midst of his Quilt of Valor block drive.  I have about a dozen blocks ready to send to him so far.  It's already looking like it's going to be a big success!