100 Quilts For Kids Blog Hop - My Turn, With A Giveaway!

Hi, all!  

I'm so happy (actually tickled pink!) that Katie asked me to participate in the blog hop for 100 Quilts For Kids!!  If you've never heard of it, 100 Quilts For Kids is an annual charity quilt drive co-hosted by Katie Blakesley of Swim, Bike, Quilt and the DC Modern Quilt Guild.

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The idea is simple:

Make a quilt or two.  Donate it to a child in need, locally if you can.

Enjoy a blog hop that runs from July 2 - September 25, 2012, complete with inspiration and mini-prizes.

Join in on a 100 Quilts for Kids Quilt Along (Kick-off post on July 15th at Swim, Bike, Quilt)

Have a chance to win great prizes from sponsors, including Moda, Fat Quarter Shop, Westwood Acres, Rowan , Free Spirit, and Ty Pennington Impressions, among others that will be shortly announced.

Spread the word to family and friends!

Smile, knowing you used your skills for good!!

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And now, as my part of the blog hop, I'd like to share a super simple pattern with you.  Our church quilt ministry, Piece*Love*Quilt, is using this pattern to make quilts for children right now.  In fact, we're even using it for children to make quilts for children - our summer camp is happening even as you read this post, and we've got sixteen young girls learning how to piece this top!

To make this quilt you will need:

1-  32" square of a focus fabric

4-  11.5" squares for corner blocks.  This can be a contrasting

               fabric, or you can use the focus fabric again.

4-  4.5" x 32" strips in color A, 

4-  3.5" x 32" strips in color B, and

4-  4.5" x 32" strips in color C.

Please note that the center strip on each side is narrower than the two outer strips!

Now, lay out your design and decide how you want to position your strips.  Different layouts give decidedly different looks!

Here is mine with the light strips to the outside...

And with the dark strips to the outside.

Looking at this in the photographs, I decided I like the look of the dark outside border best.

Now, sew your strips together in sets of three, remembering to put the narrower strip in the center.  Pin, if necessary, to make the strips match in length.  Press your seams toward the inside border strip.

Next, sew a strip set to each side of the center square.  Remember to keep the strip you decide for the inside border next to your square!  Pin if necessary to make the border and the square line up.   Press seams toward the center.

(Note:  I hardly ever pin if I'm not matching seams, but in this case, I do because that way I know everything will square up.)

Take those 11.5" squares and sew one to each end of the two remaining strips.  If your squares are larger than your strips, match the edges that correspond to inner border.  You can always trim any excess off the outside edge!  Press the seams toward the corner squares.

Now sew the strips onto the top and bottom of your center piece.  Once again, I recommend pinning, matching up the seams at the corners of the borders and easing the fabric across the seam so everything ends up the same size.  

And now I'll introduce you to my little friend.....

....because this is what happened when I stitched my top and bottom sets on!

Oops!  A little frog stitching is in order...

And so I grabbed my trusty friend and fixed this mistake....

... and here's the finished top!  Easy peasy, as promised!  You've got a 54" square quilt top, suitable for everything from babies to teenagers, depending on the fabric you choose!

Now, some variations....

You can easily change the size of this quilt.  We've made baby quilts in the same style, using a 24" center square, 3.5" and 2.5" side strips, and 8.5" corner squares.  This will give you a 40" square quilt, perfect for babies!  You could also use a 36" center square, 5.5" and 4.5" side strips, and 14.5" corner squares, ending up with a 64" square quilt, a great size for a lap quilt.

You could also use a large scale block for the center of this quilt, and other blocks for the corner squares.  This could be a handy way to use up orphan blocks!  You could also use a single strip of fabric for the side border, instead of three separate strips, or piece together short pieces to make up your strips (think subway tile).  Or you can use two colors - one on the outside of the strip sets, and a different color in the center.  It's a great stash buster, whatever you do!

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So that's the tutorial.  Now for the giveaway!  I have a kit for another quilt top just like the one I showed in the tutorial to give to one lucky commenter!!

Here's what you need to do to enter - first of all, leave a comment on this post!  Something interesting or funny - be creative!

For a second entry, put the 100 Quilts For Kids button (below) on your blog, come back here and leave a comment letting me know you did...

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.swimbikequilt.com/p/100-quilts-for-kids.html" title="Swim, Bike, Quilt"><img src="http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z420/swimbikequilt/100quiltsbutton2011.jpg" alt="Swim, Bike, Quilt" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

And just for fun, take a look at the left side bar.  See my Followers count?  It's getting really close to 700 - and when I hit 700 followers, I'm going to have another giveaway.  So if you want to help me get there, become a follower and leave a comment letting me know you did.  And if you're already a follower, leave a comment telling me that, too!

So that's three chances to enter - be sure to leave a separate comment for each - and I'll draw a winner Friday and announce it on my Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? blogpost.  Someone will surely have something to whoop about!! 

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Here's the line-up for the rest of the blog hop - check out some of the other posts for great ideas to use in charity quilting!!

July 9: Dana @ Dana and Thread

Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

July 16: Lee @ Freshly Pieced

July 23: Katy @ Monkey Do

Erin @ Sewing Summit

July 30: Dana @ Old Red Barn Co

Heather @ Olive & Ollie

August 6: Jessica @ Twin Fibers

Holly @ Bijou Lovely

August 13: Leigh @ Leedle Deedle Quilts

Heather & Megan @ Quiltstory 

August 20: Melissa @ Happy Quilting 

August 27: Jeni @ In Color Order

Miranda @ One Little Minute

September 3: Ellen @ The Long Thread 

Faith @ Fresh Lemons Quilts

September 10: Elizabeth @ Oh, Frannson!

Anne Marie @ Gen X Quilters

September 17 Cheryl @ Dining Room Empire

Jane @ Quilt Jane

September 24: Angela @ Moda Home Mom

September 25: Sara @ Sew Sweetness

And you can check out these two links for more info about 100 Quilts For Kids and to see great pictures of some of the quilts being made and donated!!

100 Quilts for Kids Flickr Group

More information on 100 Quilts for Kids

One last thing - if you're looking for a worthy cause to make a quilt for, check out Julie's new blog, Phoenix Quilts!  Julie was inspired by wildfires near her home to create quilts for all of the families who have been burnt out of their homes this summer.  It's a huge undertaking, and she's asking for the blogging community's help.  So hop on over there and check it out - see how you can help!!

Hugs!


Sarah