Friday, June 6, 2014

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? The Good Fortune Quilt!

Hi, all!

I cannot believe it is Friday already - this week has just flown by in a whirlwind of activity!  If you haven't been by already this week, I've been helping my daughter out by promoting her "150 in 5 - A Giveaway With A Cause" event to help fund the adoption of our 2 and 1/2 year old Chinese grandson, Nathanael.  Nathanael, like our youngest granddaughter, is profoundly deaf.



Along the way, we've seen the beautiful necklaces she is selling, learned about adopting from China, seen "invisible red thread" quilts and learned the story behind them, explored facts about childhood deafness, cochlear implants, and American Sign Language, and yesterday Michele from Quilts From My Crayon Box did a wonderful guest post about 100 Good Wishes Quilts!  These have been unusual days for this blog, but I think the posts have been very interesting - I hope you'll check them out if you haven't already!  And I really hope you'll check out her Etsy shop or Facebook page and see if you would like to purchase a necklace to help her reach her goal of selling 150 necklaces in 5 days.  Today (Friday) is the last day for this particular promotion.  But even if you don't purchase a necklace, you can get in on the giveaway (details above) by sharing about the promotion today on social media.

OK - enough about that!  Let's do some whoop-whooping!!

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In Chinese culture, red, corresponding with fire, 
symbolizes good fortune and joy.  
A red envelope is a monetary gift 
which is given in Chinese society 
during holiday or special occasions. 
The red color of the packet symbolizes good luck.


I am calling this quilt The Good Fortune Quilt.  It will be Nathanael's first "Christmas" quilt after he finally comes home.  (I make each of my grandchildren a new quilt each Christmas, usually something that symbolizes the things were special in their lives in the past year.)  We don't know if he will be home this year for Christmas, but this quilt was ready to be made, so it's finished!

I made this quilt using the "off-cuts" from the blocks 
made for this quilt, a slightly enlarged version 


Karrie's original was 40" square, but I sized it up to 60".  Because of that, the triangles I would have been cutting off the corners of the blocks were pretty large, and I couldn't see just throwing that fabric away.  So when I stitched from corner to corner on each block, I moved 3/8" out from that and stitched again.  When I cut between the stitched lines, I had two blocks - one for Karrie's design, and one for a future quilt, yet to be designed.


This quilt was a true family effort.  The polka dot fabric was originally given to me by my daughter, who had purchased it thinking she would make a quilt for the son they were trying to adopt from Ethiopia several years ago.  When the timeline extended so dramatically on Ethiopian adoptions, their plans changed and they had their second daughter, Emmy.  Nancy didn't foresee using the fabric, so she gave it to me.


While I was playing with the triangles left over from the first quilt, trying to come up with a design to use them, my sister and niece came for a visit.  They helped me come up with a design very similar to the finished quilt.  I was thinking the background would be the same bone color I used in the original blocks, but then my sister suggested using red to pick up the colors in the multicolored polka dot pieces.  Little did she know that I had an enormous piece of Chinese red solid that I had purchased for another project that fell through!

A little heart hand-stitched in the center of the quilt...

And so this joyful quilt was born!  Oh yes, there were some birth pains - using a bunch of different sized blocks really tested my math abilities, but I persevered and made it through!  
(Should I write up a pattern for it, do you think?)

I love the texture of the quilting!

I quilted it by stitching in the ditch (or at least near it!) around the outside of all the HST block sets, then did a small random meander in Glide Bone in those block sets and in Chinese red in the red parts.


The back is red with an aqua polka dot from Joann's, with a strip of the multicolored polka dot from the front.  The same multicolored polka dot is used for the binding.


 So.  can I get a whoop whoop?

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And one more thing - Sunday (hopefully) we will be announcing the winners of the giveaways associated with the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2014.  You can see all the beautiful quilts that are being linked up here - and participants, remember that you have until Saturday 6/7 at 6 pm to link up your quilts to be included in the giveaway drawings!

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And now it's your turn!

What's making you dance the happy dance this week?


Share - we want to dance right along with you!

The linky party will remain open until Sunday midnight - 

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - here's a small sampling of the necklaces available in Nancy's shop…





24 comments:

  1. Your Good Fortune quilt is stunning!!!

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  2. The quilt looks great and a pattern is a wonderful idea.

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  3. I think you've made enough changes from your inspiration that it would be okay to write up the pattern. It's such a beautiful quilt and could be another fundraising idea to bring your grandson home.

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  4. What a gorgeous quilt! I love the rich red, and the symbolism behind it. And you make each grandchild a quilt every year? Wow! I thought I was doing well to make a small ornament for each of my boys every year!

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  5. Goodness - I haven't stopped by for a while and now I see so much is happening. I have my fingers crossed that your daughter has her new wee man home for Christmas. Lovely quilt!

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  6. Love Nathanael's quilt, it is a very special quilt and even the story of where and how it was made is special. I think it should be one of a kind for that special little boy your family is waiting for. So I would say no pattern, but you know how I am about special quilts.

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  7. love your quilt that you show - the red adds such brightness to it and I'm sure he will love it

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  8. Absolutely love the quilt Sarah and it will be so gorgeous when you give it to your little Grandson. As always, thank you for hosting the linky party. Marie x (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

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  9. I got my necklace today, I bought the hand crank one of course! How many has she sold so far?

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  10. STUNNING quilt! thanks for hosting the party. ;)

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  11. Wonderful quilt Sarah, the great use of all those leftover fabrics!

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  12. Good Fortune is just gorgeous, and especially with the story behind it :-)

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  13. Lovely finish and a great story.

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  14. Yes, Good Fortune to Nathaniel! (Now I know why I like red so much - thanks for the education.) Now I have an extra excuse for using the color in my quilts.
    Whoop, Whoop on your finish. Mine is at the flimsy stage just last night, and I've gotta shop for a backing today - awwww.
    Hugs

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  15. I love love your Good Fortune quilt! Good Fortune to Nathanael and Nancy! I liked her FB page and I am off to visit her Etsy! {{{{hugs}}}}
    xo jan

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  16. Very attractive and graphic quilt. Congratulations. What a lovely idea to make annual quilts for the grandchildren.

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  17. You definitely get a WHOOP WHOOP for this special finish!!! Wonderful quilt, wonderful story. :-)

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  18. Nathaniel's Good Fortune Quilt is gorgeous! I would love to see a tutorial for it! Best wishes on the adoption!

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  19. This is a really beautiful quilt! All the best!

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  20. Thank you for sharing your lovely quilt and it's sweet story. I'm so happy for your daughter and your little Nathaniel. What an adventure you all will have.

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  21. I love the Good Fortune Quilt! Great colors and layout and fabrics. Lots of lovely quilty inspiration in the links. I am linking up today. Thanks for hosting ... :) Pat

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  22. Oh, Sarah, the Good Fortune quilt is just perfect! Great design job and explanation of how it came into being.

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  23. WOW ! I love the quilt ! It has so much meaning in it and was meant to be !! I missed the Linky for the H2H ; but will be sending a quilt or 2 out . ( Haven't been online much due to internet issues and I missed the LInky ! )

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  24. That turned out fabulous and of course it was meant to be. I'll be anxiously waiting right beside you for the 1st pictures of Nathanael finally in the arms of his forever family.

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Comments make me smile!! If you want a PDF of a pattern, PLEASE leave your email address in your comment, or email me directly at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com!