As part of my goals for 2014, I have decided to put effort in reducing my increasing pile of UFOs (unfinished objects), and I am participating 2 groups where we compare notes as to our progress on our respective UFO lists. I made a spreadsheet, and stopped adding UFOs once the number was above 50! Gotta leave some quilting for 2015 to work on as well.
I set a goal to complete 30 strip quilts for Hospice in 2014. I started making some strip tops in 2013, and I have tons of strips and pieces of strips in my scrap containers. I'm hoping to make a dent in all this fabric and put it to good use.
So here are my first 6 completed strip quilts for hospice for 2014:
I started making strip quilts just using various width strips that I had cut for borders, but which never got used for borders.
this is a width of fabric by 55" lap quilt, envelope style, so as to not have to add binding, just a top stitch around the outside. The yellow and orange fabrics really brighten up the rainbox and solid fabrics.
This second quilt has more of the lime green component, with dots, playing off the pinks and florals, and the great wine grape black fabric.
This third quilt has many of the same fabrics, but I got daring and snuck some 2 1/2" strips in with the 4 1/2" and 6 1/2" strips.
But having so many boxes of 2", 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2", 4" and 4 1/2" strips, I just needed to mixed them up in giant jelly roll race combinations and piece them back together.
Managed to work some blocks in with the strips to break things up a bit.
And another quilt with a lot of the skinny strips.
The quilt tops from my last strip posting have gone on to the quilter, and I have another stack of strips that are slowly working their way into quilt tops for March.
I set a goal to complete 30 strip quilts for Hospice in 2014. I started making some strip tops in 2013, and I have tons of strips and pieces of strips in my scrap containers. I'm hoping to make a dent in all this fabric and put it to good use.
So here are my first 6 completed strip quilts for hospice for 2014:
I started making strip quilts just using various width strips that I had cut for borders, but which never got used for borders.
This third quilt has many of the same fabrics, but I got daring and snuck some 2 1/2" strips in with the 4 1/2" and 6 1/2" strips.
The quilt tops from my last strip posting have gone on to the quilter, and I have another stack of strips that are slowly working their way into quilt tops for March.
love the idea of strip quilts, my younger daughter has just started nursing at our local hospice, she has been a nurse for 8 years but always planned to do hospice care. Is finding it very emotional at the moment, used to nursing the elderly but now has patients younger than herself. I want to do some quilts etc both for the hospice to use and to raise money for them, strips look the answer to start with, glad I found this link, may thanks
ReplyDeleteYou are on a roll!!!! What pretty scrappy strippy quilts with interesting fabric! Oh what fun for the recipients when they receive their lap quilt! Kudos to you! I will have to remember to envelope a quilt. I have not yet done this. It sure would cut down on the time making a charity quilt.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on all your hard work putting those strips into finished tops, Paul! Your hospice quilts will be greatly appreciated. How many quilts do you figure you will have finished before you run out of strips?
ReplyDeleteLorna, I have still a big box from copy paper full of strip scraps, plus 2 giant rubber maids full of strips. And my friend is going through her stash and giving me all her excess strips. My goal is 30 quilts completed this year. I shouldn't have a problem making at least 100 lap quilts with the strips I have now - it's just finding the time to put them together. And I have bags of scraps that haven't been cut down into strips yet. I got just over 100 quilts to hospice last fall for the holiday season so they could give each of their 102 patients something for the holidays.
DeleteVery fun and bright quilts, they will definitely brighten up someone's day.
ReplyDeleteThese are looking great, Paul, especially as you add different widths. What a wonderful cause you're supporting. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ann. It's addictive, you make some quilts for an organization, they appreciate it, you make more ... then they ask if there is anyway you can make more quilts because they have a hard time deciding who gets one .... and they tell me it really brightens people's lives. These hospice patients all have less than 6 months to live, and many are in critical care facilities, so they don't have many belongings, and many have no visitors, so to get a gift of a quilt, which is colorful, when they are in a white, sterile environment, means so much to them. Some of the patient's families keep the quilt as a momento of their loved one, while others place it in the casket, and in some cases the patient has a room mate, and the quilt goes to the room mate to brighten their life. It's so very touching. And it gives them something to run their fingers through - texture and warmth when they feel cold all the time from the terminal illness.
DeleteBoth on my parents passed from cancer, I was working on the quilting for my storm at sea, it was finished about 4 or 5 months before my dad passed. When i brought it out of his basement, where I had set up my Quilt machine, I wanted him to see it first, it was about 11:00 pm I think. His eyes were dull and tired, they lite up. It gave me goose bumps, or angel hugs, if you believe like I do.
ReplyDeleteHe asked if my hubby Clif would mind if he slept under it. I'm choking down painful emotion, as I tell him of course not. He hugged and slept under it everyday, he would run his hands over it and it surprised him so much, how it ment more than he could express to me, but that bright smile still makes me tear up. there's so much more to the story. When he was a small child he had to be under a quilt frame and push the needle back up to his Mom, His story's of her were she was pretty mean, I remember her she really was very mean, Back to Dad and how much he hated to help quilt, he got kicked a lot under there :(.
He hung on to that quilt, and gave me the honor of knowing I had done something he needed very much. I told him once that when you make a quilt for someone it means that you love them very much, and it will still be there after you are gone, to be passed down to the family, so they always know you loved them.
He passed away under that quilt. I kept it with me almost every min of the day, for a very long time after he passed. Its still in use here at home and every time I see it I think of my dad.
God Bless you Paul, your work that you give freely is all inspiring, and worth its weight in gold to those you give them to.
Wow you've gotten a lot done, love the ones with the mixed sizes best, but all of them are great
ReplyDeleteLove your use of strings for a great cause! What a great goal for 2014. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete