Hands 2 Help

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict hosts a quilt drive called Hands 2 Help.  Each year she offers the opportunity to make and donate quilts to specific, well chosen charities. For 2018 the chosen recipients are Little Lambs Foundation for Kids, Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo through Em's Scrapbag, and Victoria's Quilts Canada.

In March I completed two quilts which I made from Tom & Jerry fabric I had cut out to make pajamas for my grandsons -- about TEN years ago!  

The blue one .....

..... the orange one. 

Both quilts are going to The Little Lambs Foundation for Kids. They provide a little comfort in a backpack for children aged newborn to 17 who are transitioning into foster care or emergency shelters, or who have been hospitalized.

It makes my heart happy to think about the little lambs who will be receiving these truly special gifts. 


I'm Linking with Hands 2 Help.

Blue Tom and Jerry Quilt

My Scrap Attack goal for March is to make something from the Tom and Jerry fabric I have had stashed away for almost 10 years.  It wasn't just fabric that was stashed away, though.  I had actually cut out two pairs of pajamas from it for my grands.  Then I stashed it away!  This week I pulled out the blue fabric to decide what to make.  The cut pieces plus the leftovers added up to plenty, so there's enough for a toddler quilt.

I decided on a simple "Over and Under" pattern with white for the sashing. 

Strip piecing made for simple sewing, and the blocks went together fast.

It didn't take long to get the rows put together.

Getting all the rows into a top didn't take long either.




















It needs a plain white border, right?  That's the easy part, right?  Hah!  I think I spent more time on the border than I did on making all the blocks and putting the whole thing together.

I didn't want any seams in the borders, but a width-of-fabric strip wasn't long enough.  (Or I messed up.)  I decided to just put squares in the corners.  It didn't work.  (Or I messed up again.)  Then I decided to put a filler piece on each side.  I cut them wrong.  (Yes, that means I messed up yet again.)

Every quilter knows to walk away when things are going this way, right?   The time to take a break is actually when things first start going this way.  I kept working and finally finished, but I am definitely not happy with the results. Maybe if I put enough quilting in the borders it will look better.  Right?

Finding the perfect backing fabric in my stash saved the day, so tomorrow will be basting day.  Then quilting.  Then done.  

After all the fussing I really do like this quilt.  It will end up going to the 2018 Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  If you're a quilter you should definitely think about joining the challenge.  This year they've chosen three charities to support with quilts - Little Lambs Foundation for Kids, Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo, and Victoria's Quilts Canada.  Little Lambs is the perfect place for Tom and Jerry for sure.  I'll have it ready to mail before you know it!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

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