Hands2Help - Guest Blogger Jamie & Her "Have Faith" Quilt

Hi, all!

Can I tell you how excited I am to see all the H2H quilts showing up in blogs and on Instagram?  You all are doing amazing work, and are going to touch so many lives while doing it.  Keep it up!

Today I'm so very pleased to introduce our first guest blogger of this year's Challenge.  Jamie Elfert, who blogs at L'Fair Quilts, also designs quilt patterns for Black Cat Creations.  She's been a great supporter of the Hands2Help Challenge in the past, and I'm really excited that she is sharing a very special design with us today.  I think you'll love this quit as much as I do - so let's take a look!

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Thank you so much, Sarah, for letting me share this special pattern.  I have been a big fan of your Hands 2 Help challenge from the beginning.

Looking back, it is hard to believe so much happened in 2017 to our guild.  We had sickness (including my own husband's cancer), the passing of loved ones and family members impacted by the Texas Floods.  Needless to say it was rough.  

Our Block of the Month program was the perfect time to introduce my "Have Faith" block.  We needed something to work on, that would remind us of a higher power; give us strength; and continue to HAVE FAITH.  So far, I have made a quilt to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness, the Texas Floods, a previous employee embarking on retirement and Sarah's Hands 2 Help (my 8th year participating).

In addition, our guild came together and made an additional five "Have Faith" quilts for the Texas Floods.  This was so important to us, as before the floods, we had received several quilts from Katy, Texas to meet our 2017 goal for St. Jude Children's Hospital / Ronald McDonald House.

My 2018 Hands to Help Finish ...

So let's get started .... below is the 12" finished block (12 1/2" unfinished).

Fabric Requirements:

Bright colorful medium to dark focus fabrics and a light background:

Large cross (Color 1):

(2) 2 ½” X 4 ½” rectangle

(1) 4 ½” X 8 ½” rectangle

Small Cross (Color 2): 

(2) 2 ½” squares

(1) 2 ½” X 6 ½” rectangle

Background:

(7) 2 ½” squares

(2) 4 ½” X 6 ½” rectangle

Making the Units for Blocks:

Unit A, Make 2:  Join (1) 2 ½” background square to each end of (1) 2 ½” X 4 ½” rectangle (color 1), repeat.  Press toward the background fabric.

Unit B, Make 1:  Join (1) 2 ½” background square to (1) 2 ½” square (color 2), press toward background.

Unit C, Make 1:  Join (1) 2 ½” background square to each end of (1) 2 ½” square (color 2), press toward background.

Join one Unit A to the left of 4 ½” X 8 ½” rectangle (color 1), press toward color 1.  Then join this unit to the 4 ½” X 6 ½” background rectangle, press toward the background.

 Join the second Unit A to the top of Unit B as shown below, press toward background.

Join Unit C to  the right of 2 ½” X 6 ½” (color 2) rectangle pressing toward color 2, then join to 4 ½” X 6 ½” background rectangle, pressing toward the background rectangle.

Join to the completed units to make the 12 ½” Block (12” finished).  Wait to press after these units are sewn together.

The picture below is the pressing directions of all of the seams -- notice the area circled, this is where I spin the seams.  All of the seams will fit nicely if you use this as a guide.

Assemble the top - Below is the layout of the quilt in two different colorways.  The first, with a light background is broken apart to easily see the layout of the blocks.  The second quilt is a little more daring, using scrappy colorful backgrounds.

Finished size - 60" X 72"

Happy Quilting, Jamie

L' Fair Quilts

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Thank you, Jamie!  What a great quilt, and a wonderful story behind the block!  You can see another version of this quilt if you visit Jamie's blog today, so be sure to click here and check it out.

And if my calculations are correct, you can get the pieces for each of the two crosses of this block from one 10" square for each, and I've been cutting those out of my scraps for the past three months.  And I've got a lot of leftover fat quarters for backgrounds.  I may have just found my vacation quilt project!

Next week, come back for another great guest blogger, and a chance to check in and show off what you've been working on for H2H.  This isn't required, and you certainly don't have to be finished yet, but it is a chance to inspire others and cheer each other on - so I hope you'll join in!

Thanks for inspiring me, too!  

Hugs!

Sarah

Hands2Help - Meet Our Canadian Guest Blogger, Joanne!

Hi, all!

Sunday is here, and once again, it's time for another great guest blogger for Hands2Help!  This week we are welcoming Joanne, who has the coolest goal on her blog - 50 scrap quilts per year!  Now that would make a dent in your scrap pile, wouldn't it?  She also blogs from the Frozen North, better known as Canada.  I'm so happy that we not only have a Canadian charity this year, we have a Canadian guest blogger too, so without further ado, I'll turn the blog over to her!

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Hi!  My name is Joanne, and I can be found hanging out at Quilts By Joanne!  Thank you Sarah, first of all for taking the challenge of creating Hands2Help and running with it and secondly for offering some guest blogger opportunities.  I'm excited to be one of those guest bloggers this year!

This year I am particularly happy to see a quilt charity from north of the border. Putting a quilt or a quilt top in the mail is a bit of a leap of faith. Sending it across an international border makes it that much more of a leap.  I hope some of you will take that leap!!

I have been sewing for over 50 years and took my first official quilt class in the winter of 1976, the year my daughter was born. Right from the start I loved the piecing aspects of quilting but felt that my applique skills fell short of the mark. So I consider myself after all these years to be a piecer.

For the last four years I have set myself the goal of making and donating 50 quilts a year. Some years I fall short for a variety of reasons but I continue to find that is a worthwhile and often achievable goal. I make scrap quilts and I love them. Every once in a while I get to make a quilt starting with yardage and that is a bit of a treat!

As most of us do, I have a few go-to patterns that I use over and over.  One is what I call simple bricks. The block is made of rectangles that are all the same size. So 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" or 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" or 3 1/2" by 6 1/2". When you are preparing to make one of these quilts the preliminary cutting is very straight forward and if you have the never ending supply of scraps that I seem to have then it is relatively simple to have enough ready to make a quilt.  I keep the scraps I would plan to use together in a used salad container. I have found when the container is full then I have enough rectangles for a quilt top.

This photo shows the sewing sequence for one block. Sew two bricks together on the long side. Sew one brick to the top and to the bottom. You will already be able to tell if your 1/4" seam is accurate because these should come out evenly. Then sew two pairs of bricks together on their short end. these get added to the sides of your block. When you set the blocks together alternate the direction the centres are facing. So one block is vertical the next one is horizontal. The small bricks make a 4 1/2" block, the next size up makes an 8 1/2" block and the larger size makes a 12 1/2" block. This makes a great project for group quilts because the kits are easy to assemble. Each block requires 8 identically sized pieces and novice stitchers only have to do straight stitching, no triangle points to lose, no curves to negotiate. The quilt shown is made of 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" scrappy pink bricks. 

Thanks for letting me share this quilt with you.  I hope you'll find it to be a useful scrap pattern!  I'd love to see some of these quilt popping up in the Hands2Help link-ups!  Piecefully, Joanne

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Thanks so much, Joanne, for a great post and a wonderful tutorial!  I know that this will be a great quilt design to use up a bunch of my (overwhelming) scraps!!  Maybe I'll tackle that blue bin of scraps that is currently running over.....

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And now, a public service announcement.  Kate Conklin, one of our Hands2Help sponsors, has written a lovely and moving blogpost about her experiences teaching in Nepal, which was recently hit with a devastating earthquake.  In an effort to raise funds, she is donating all the proceeds from her PDF pattern sales this week to the Himanchal Education Foundation for the rebuilding of schools in Nepal.  I hope you will go read her post and then check out her patterns - she has some wonderful designs, and if you are still looking for inspiration for your H2H quilt, maybe you will find it there!  I've made several quilts by her patterns, and they are wonderfully written and creative!!

Be sure to check back next week for another guest blogger and a chance to link up and show off your progress!  I can't wait to see what you all are working on!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!  

Make-A-List Monday - Back to the Real World!

Hi, all!

Well, Monday has rolled around again, and unfortunately, I'm not at the beach any more - although I will say that coming home to our yard looking like this...

....was pretty amazing!  All the trees leafed out while we were gone, and the grass popped up - it looks like Ireland out there!  So maybe spring has final arrived - here's hoping!

Since I was on vacation last week, I didn't have a to-do list.  And this week I'm feeling at loose ends because I don't have anything pressing, so my list is very important to keep me on track.  Here's what's on it so far...

1.  Make a quilt back for the Have Faith quilt.

2.  Quilt the Have Faith quilt.

3.  Quilt the first (of many) teacher quilts. (More about this below.)

4.  Start the prototype for the 12 Days of Christmas in July (12DCIJ) quilt-along quilt.

Pretty fabrics!  Now to get them cut out...

5.  Keep working on the reclamation and reconstruction of my friend's turtle quilt.

There's 20 of these adorable blocks, but unfortunately this is one of the better ones - many are frayed, and the blocks are quite a variety of not-square shapes.  But I have a plan and my friend trusts me, so this quilt will get a new lease on life soon!

6.  Keep working on setting up this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!  (If you are interested in participating, send me an email at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com.)

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

About the teacher quilts - we are hoping to make enough quilts for all the teachers at our local elementary school, to be gifted to them at the teacher appreciation dinner our church holds during the Christmas season.  We have about six months to make 41 quilts, in addition to all our regular ministry quilts.  It's do-able, but I'll probably try to quilt one or two of these every week or so.  

So I definitely think I'll be staying out of trouble this week!  And now the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Taking a Short (slightly warmer) Break...

Hi, all!

I'm interrupting our regularly scheduled program, because I am really enjoying my vacation and don't really want to think about what I should be doing!  I'm having a lot of fun playing with fabric, and today I even went and petted a lot of it...

...and even brought some of it home!  Pensacola has a great fabric store called A & E Fabrics.  It used to be part of a pharmacy, but now it's just a fabric store.  Lots of wonderful fabrics, great customer service and friendly people, and they give a discount to any and all guild members!   (You do have to show them your guild membership card...)  I spent a wonderful morning browsing through their fabrics, then adding to my Essex linen collection (the white and that beautiful orange), picking up that great brown cross hatch for backgrounds, the black and white diagonal print for bindings, and that awesome seam ripper print for a special project!  

And speaking of seam rippers, I spent some quality time on the drive down here with my friend Jack (the Ripper) as I rescued these adorable turtle blocks from their not so wonderful settings.  I'll be putting them back together into a quilt for a friend.  Her grandmother made it many years ago, and the old settings were showing their age, with lots of fading, fraying, and just general unhappiness.  Hopefully I can bring it back to where it can be used and loved by many more generations!

This is the view I've been enjoying for the past couple of days!  It really is beautiful, but unfortunately it's been pretty cool - low 40's to low 60's, and really windy - so we've spent most of our time indoors.  We did go out for walks on the beach yesterday and today, and saw this guy...

Isn't he gorgeous? He knew it, too!  He walked along with us for quite a ways, and it was pretty fascinating to observe him close up.  

I did have quite a bit of time for sewing the past two days, and had a lot of fun using Jamie's tutorial for the Have Faith block!  I'm hoping to get better pictures on the beach tomorrow, but here's a teaser of the finished top...

This should finish out at about 60" square (I didn't bring anything with me to measure, unfortunately) and is made up of 25 Have Faith blocks.  I used 50 10" squares and 25 fat quarters (a few were fat eighths) to make this, so it made a great big dent in my scrap stash!  I had all the pieces cut and matched up for each block when I got here, and once I got the rhythm down, I was making a block in about 10 minutes.  I love the happy mix of colors in this!  

It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow, and I've learned that the Blue Angels will be practicing tomorrow at lunchtime right in front of our beach, so I'm planning to have a beachside seat for that!  I'm looking forward to baking in the sun a bit - I'm tired of cold weather, as I'm sure all of you are too.  But at least it's warmer here than at home - they had snow in Mt. Juliet today!!  There's something really wrong about that...

Next week we'll get back to lists and accountability, but for now I'm just going to enjoy working on fun stuff when I want to!

But I'd really love to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'....

Hi, all!

Do you remember the original Blues Brothers' movie, where they had to perform in a country and western bar?  That's kind of what I feel like - rollin', rollin', rollin... keep those doggies rollin'... It's been a week of keeping things rolling - and it feels good! So let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Make a quilt back for the Have Faith quilt.

2.  Quilt the Have Faith quilt.
Done!  And I love love love this quilt!  Such a simple pattern, but it turns out looking much more difficult.  This one will be going to Emily for Happy Chemo.

3.  Quilt the first (of many) teacher quilts.
Done - unfortunately, the only pic I have is while it was on the frame - but it's a pretty little quilt!

4.  Start the prototype for the 12 Days of Christmas in July (12DCIJ) quilt-along quilt.
Done!  Not only is it cut out, but the top is finished!  Here's a peek at all the pieces, just to tease you...

5.  Keep working on the reclamation and reconstruction of my friend's turtle quilt.

In progress!  I've turned all the sets of four turtles into four separate turtles, because all of the 4-patch blocks were different sizes and also seldom actually rectangular.  Next I'll work on determining a size for each turtle block, and repairing the ones that are damaged.

6.  Keep working on setting up this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!  (If you are interested in participating, send me an email at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com.)

Done!  Info has been sent out to the bloggers who have indicated they want to participate this year, and we'll be working schedules soon!  It's gonna be AWESOME!!  (Note: if you told me you want to be part and DIDN'T get an email from me this week, let me know - I may have lost track of you and don't want to leave you out!)

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Done.  This quilt went to a couple who lost their newborn son...

...and this quilt, unfortunately, went to a couple who lost their grown son.  It's been tough week.

This quilt went to a gentleman who lost a kidney to cancer.

So that was last week.  It felt good to work on some different things, and I'm excited about new projects!  Here's what's on the horizon for this week...

1.  Start rebuilding the turtle quilt.

2.  Write the pattern for the 12DCIJ quilt.

3.  Using that pattern, cut out another in a  different color way.

4.   Finish up the pillowcase dresses for the Haiti mission trip.

5.  Quilt two high school quilts for the ministry.

6.  Quilt a top for a friend.

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Definitely enough to keep me out of trouble - especially since I am going with my grandkids to the zoo tomorrow (they are out of school for Election Day) and then to visitation in the afternoon.  Plenty of time for sewing later in the week, but the grandkids are only little once!  It's hard to believe the youngest is already six - where does the time go?

So now, the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Hands2Help - The Story of a Charity, and Time To Check-In!

Hi, all!

How are your Hands2Help quilts coming along?  Have you, like some, finished yours already, or are they still in the planning stages?  At this point, it's all good - there's still plenty of time.  There's a linky party at the end of this post where you can link up and share your progress - be sure to take a look at what your fellow participants are working on!

This week we also have a guest blogger - Jean Kester, who blogs over at Layers of Hope - Quilting 911.  Jean is the driving force behind one of last year's charities, and is here to tell us the story of how her charity started and grew.  So without further ado, I'll let you see what she has to say!

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Our Motto Is: Love for Our Unseen Heroes

Layers of Hope - Quilting 911's mission is to enhance the lives of 911 Telecommunications Operators (911 Dispatchers) and their families during times of illness, disaster, loss and tragedy by inspiring hope, faith and optimism with a quilt of warmth and comfort in order to make a positive influence in the lives of those who make a difference everyday, one quilt and one stitch at a time.

Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 began many years ago when my husband asked me to make him a quilt with Harley bandanas; it was one request that took five years in the making.

Shortly after that, Hurricanes Katrina  and Rita hit the gulf coast of the United States and tore up places from Central Florida to Texas with most of the damage stemming to the failure of levee system in New Orleans and most of the damage along the coast of Mississippi.  I was a police/fire 911 dispatcher at the time and I wanted to find a ride and go help.

However, my husband and I were raising three grandchildren, I was working full time, attending a local university full time and could not go.  My husband suggested I make quilts for those who lost everything and that started the eight year progression to Layers of Hope - Quilting 911.

I reached out to the one man and organization I knew I could find answers from and that was Kevin Willett of 911 Cares/PSTC who not only teaches telecommunication classes, but started the drive to reach out to the unseen men and women in our field.

Kevin not only said yes, he found me an entire telecommunications department to make quilts for, and then he found me a New Orleans dispatcher whose little baby had to be in Texas and they couldn't see each other and then Gloria from Pass Christian, Mississippi whose story broke my heart and I quilted! That was in 2005.

I quilted for those on duty in the Virginia Tech tragedy, I have sent quilts to dispatchers whose homes were involved in flooding in New York, to dispatch centers who have lost members of their family (and believe me, dispatch centers are families), dispatchers enduring chemotherapy, dispatchers ill children, premature children, fire victims, tornado victims, I have sent quilts.

Then, the tragic shooting in July 12, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado happened and with a telecommunications center that had over sixty operators and I knew, I could no longer personally do this on my own, I had to ask for help!

I set up a Facebook page at the time and help came by the droves, quilters from all over the world sent so many quilts to the center that they were overwhelmed and we sent one to each operator and in turn the extras went to other first responders and surviving victims and families of the those lost.

Just over five months later, the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT and once again I asked for quilts and once again the need was met.  Then 19 firefighters lost their lives in Yarnell, AZ in June 2013 and I knew we had to help and I needed a new name!

I reached out to my blog readers and asked for help to rename my blog and Facebook page and many great ideas were offered and I couldn't decide on just one, so I took some bits and pieces and added my own and Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 was born here and on Facebook.

All good stories have happy endings and this one is no exception. In May of 2013, Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma were devastated by tornadoes. Dispatchers from the Aurora center stepped forward and asked me how they could help and they knitted and crocheted blankets for the dispatchers who lost all in those cities.

Out of one simple request from my husband so many years ago to make a quilt has turned into a giving organization or ministry that brings comfort to those in need during the most devastating times of their lives.

 I have, you have, together we make a difference and I will continue to reach out to those rarely seen and always heard during our darkest hours unseen heroes when they answer that call, "911, what are you reporting?"

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Definitely an inspiring story, and a great example of how something that starts small can turn into something truly amazing!  Unfortunately, Jean has had to suspend her mission temporarily to deal with family and health issues, but I certainly hope that she will be able to return soon to this amazing ministry!!  Thank you, Jean, for sharing your story with us!!

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And now it's time to link up with your own Hands2Help progress!  You can link an old post, a new one, or a picture from Instagram or Flickr - it's all good!  I can't wait to see what you've been working on...

Hugs!

Sarah