Red, Gray and White Slab Quilt

A few posts back, I showed you two red, gray and white slab quilt blocks that I had made for a quilt for a new refugee to Canada.  I did not have time myself to make all of the blocks for this quilt, so I asked members of two of the guilds I belong to if they would like to help out by making a block or two. Several members of both guilds made blocks for me and soon I had enough for a single bed quilt.  I received 26 blocks from my quilting friends and ended up making two more myself (still not even a dent in my scraps!)  for a total of 30 blocks (including the two I had made previously). 

I decided to use sashing and cornerstones around each block.  The gray and red fabrics were in my stash.  I used two different reds that looked similar for the cornerstones.   My friend, Cathy, has Electric Quilt on her computer and she helped me to figure out the number of squares and sashing strips to cut as well as how wide to make them to end up with the right size of quilt in the end.

I don't like sewing long skinny strips to rows of blocks so I added two sashing strips and a corner block to each 12.5" block.

Here are my extra two blocks in progress.

Here are the first 12 blocks laid out on the floor.  I hope to have all of the blocks sewn together into a finished top by later this week.  The sashing and corner blocks will go around the entire quilt.  Then, I will need to get some backing fabric.

Thanks, quilting friends, for your help making blocks for this quilt!  I could not have done it without you!

I Spy...

This past January, my church, along with several other churches sponsored a refugee family from Syria.  The family includes the parents and four young children.  You may remember that some quilting friends and I made sure that they all had quilts for their beds when they arrived in Canada. This first family is expecting a baby any time now and I made the new baby an I Spy quilt a few weeks ago.  The churches always intended to sponsor two families and have recently been told that the second family will be arriving soon.

Earlier this year, Christine, Cathy and I made a double bed quilt for the parents of the second family. Then, we decided to wait to see what other quilts would be needed before proceeding with more quilts.  The new family is made up of grandparents, parents and a one year old child, as well as the aunt of the child.  The quilt we have already made will be for the parents.  (Sorry I don't have a picture of the entire quilt!)

We decided to make an I Spy quilt for the one year old.  We each contributed 40 fabrics to the quilt.  I supplied the green fabric and Christine supplied the blue.  Christine is piecing a flannel back for this quilt and I will likely do the quilting and binding.  

(Sorry for the bad lighting...)

I looked through my quilt collection and found a pretty quilt that I have never used. I made it years ago.  I decided to gift it to the aunt.

 

We showed the quilts at our guild meeting and asked if anyone had a quilt or quilt top at home that they could donate for the grandparents.  The morning after the meeting, I received an email from Maureen saying that she had a quilt top to donate!  Cathy has agreed to quilt it for us once we get some backing.  I love my wonderful quilting friends!  

Quilts for a Refugee Family

We just found out today that the Syrian Refugee family which is being sponsored by local Presbyterian churches is arriving on Saturday!  In this post, I am excited to show pictures of the quilts that the London Friendship Quilters' Guild has made for the members of the family of 6.

This quilt is for the parents.  The blocks were made by all the members of the LFQG. We each contributed a few blocks to the pile and two of our members put the quilt together with all of the donated blocks.  I love the way this quilt turned out!

After putting the parents' quilt together, it soon became obvious that there were enough blocks left to make a quilt for one of the children:

A few borders and the quilt was done!

Members of the executive donated red and white fabrics and maple leaf blocks for this quilt for another one of the children.  The backing is truly Canadian... (You can also see the maple leaf quilting in this picture.)

 

This chevron quilt is for another one of the children.  I love how the bright green fabric pops!

 



I made this last quilt at a workshop years ago and decided to quilt it myself for the youngest child--a two year old girl.  Jacqui did the binding for me and gave me the finished quilt tonight. 

I will take the quilts to the welcoming committee sometime this weekend.  I wish the refugee family good health, happiness and a warm welcome to their new home. 

More quilts are in production for a second family, expected to arrive later this year.

Quilts for a Syrian Refugee Family and a Stash Report

Like many people, I have been moved by the plight of the thousands of Syrian refugees who have had to leave their country in search of a safe place to live and raise their children.  Several local Presbyterian churches, including my church, are sponsoring two families to come to Canada. A few weeks ago, I spoke to the representative of my church that is on the organizing committee and offered to arrange for quilts for the members of the two families.  I asked our London Friendship Quilters' Guild president what she thought of this idea and she jumped right in and made some quilts for the first family who should be arriving sometime in January. I had a quilt top in my stash that needed to be quilted and it will be given to the youngest child--a girl.

I am still in the process of quilting it and it should be done soon. Once this quilt is done, we will have 5 quilts ready for this family--2 parents and 4 young children. 

We do not know much about the second family yet but I decided to get started on a quilt for the parents using fabric from my stash.  My friend, Christine, found a pattern in a magazine that was simple and quick to make. 

I cut out the large squares a couple of weeks ago and found the sashing fabric in my stash.  I don't have quite enough of it but found a solid yellow colour that is very close to the sashing fabric to use as well. 

Christine and I made most of the star blocks last week when we got together to sew and I finished up the last few stars on Monday this week. 

I started sewing the blocks together on Monday as well.  It is coming together nicely and I hope to have the top completed soon so that it can be taken to the long arm quilter for quilting. 

Several members of the guild have offered to help make quilts for the second refugee family as well. We may do a sewing day to put a few more tops together once we find out more about the children's ages, etc.

I encourage others reading this post to make quilts for refugee families who may be making your community their new home. A quilt is a wonderful gift to welcome newcomers to our country.

I have not done a stash report for ages.  I am ending up in the red this year.  There has not been enough sewing time this year for many reasons and I hope to return to the black for 2016.

Fabric used since my last stash report: 42.3 yards
Total fabric used this year: 62.9 yards
Fabric added to the stash since my last report:  31.5 yards.
Total fabric added this year: 70.75 yards
Net fabric added this year:  7.85 yards