for a good cause

***The raffle is now closed. You can still donate to a good cause, though!***

I'm sure by now you've heard about the floods in Colorado. Our family is fine and we personally didn't experience flooding, but many near us have. The devastation left in the wake of the floodwaters is staggering. Clean up and recovery are going to take a lot of time and money.

A member of my quilt guild, Karen, is raffling off a quilt to encourage donations to the local United Way Relief Fund. Please visit her blog for all the info and to enter... the quilt she's giving away is awesome!!

finish it up friday: a comforting quilt

This is the first time I've made a quilt specifically to comfort someone sick. Without getting into lots of family details, I'll say that my little brother's dad (who is not my dad) is in the hospital, and is supposed to be there for upwards of a month.

The difficult thing is that they both live in Florida while I live in Colorado. That much distance left me feeling helpless to comfort my brother or visit his dad. I spent a few days mulling it over and finally realized I could do something, and I felt silly for not thinking of it sooner.

When I decided to make this quilt it came together pretty quickly. I wanted to keep the piecing simple, so I cut 9" squares from a mix of prints and solids from my stash. (I picked 9" to efficiently cut on the 18" side of the many fat quarter and half yard cuts I used, which is primarily what I buy for my stash.) I wanted the layout to be random, so of course I laid it all out on the guest bed to plan where each square would go. :)

I loosely quilted on each side of every seam, specifically to keep the quilt soft and cozy. It's a nice lap size and I hope it gives my brother's dad comfort.

Quilty Stats
Name: Squares
Pattern: 9" square patchwork
Fabrics: A scrappy mix of prints and Kona solids
Binding: Dulcette Bluestar from Color Me Retro by Jeni Baker
Backing: DS Circle Dot on Grey and JH Posy on Navy
Quilted: on a friend's Juki by me
Dimensions: Approx. 51 x 69

Linking up with Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

the tinkertote

I am so, so proud of my dear friend Tara! She released a great class on Craftsy called Quilt As You Go Patchwork Bags!

In this class, Tara guides you through making her fabulous pattern, the Tinkertote. She begins by teaching the Quilt As You Go (QAYG) technique and you practice with a potholder and an optional clutch.

I tried out lots of different layouts before settling on the fabrics I liked best. I used a lot of my favorite fabrics in this bag, and I really love the scrappy result!

 

The class comes with the PDF pattern, materials list, and a list of general instructions. The lessons are easy to follow and Tara explains things so well. I'm really pleased with how my Tinkertote looks!

I used one of the new Juliana Horner prints from JoAnn for the lining. I followed Tara's lessons for the divided pocket and the zippered pocket on the inside. The zippered pocket was a first for me and it was SO EASY!! I also added a key fob in the seam of the lining so I don't have to rummage around for my car keys while simultaneously holding a squirmy toddler.

Here's a tip if you choose to do the hidden binding... turn the bag inside out while you're hand stitching at the end! It's so much easier to access the binding at a comfortable angle.

 

Go to Tara's blog for a link to get 25% off the price of the class!