I participated in the 2022 Hands to Help Quilt Challenge. These are the three quilts I made and sent. It's the first year where I branched out and gave quilts to two projects which were not officially part of the project.
A quilt shop in Florida announced that it would accept donations of finished quilts for Ukraine. The shop is owned by twins; one twin in Florida runs the shop (it's really a warehouse, not a store front). The other twin lives in Poland, not too far from the Ukraine border.
The twin in Poland has been buying loads and loads of food, diapers, hygiene supplies, etc... things that people in Ukraine need desperately. Our quilts were sent to Poland and recently started arriving. The twin in Poland packs them into vinyl packets which include a pillow, pillowcase, and a blanket along with a quilt. Then these packets are added to the shipment of food items. The first big shipment of quilts into Ukraine happened a day or two ago. It is very exciting to see that our quilts are there and ready to provide some comfort to people in need.
Pictures show the big boxes that arrive in Poland (this is only a fraction of them). Then you see packets as they are trucked into Ukraine and delivered. I believe the first shipment went to a place that is like a refugee camp -- temporary home for people who have fled the war. A home-made quilt will be of great comfort, I hope.
I will also include pictures of a some of the quilts I donated. I don't expect to see them in pictures, because they are a drop in an ocean of quilts. But seeing any of the quilts being delivered is a thrill. (The collection of quilts in Florida has now halted, and donations are being accepted to help with shipment of quilts to Poland as well as to help with the purchase of food and supplies being trucked into Ukraine. See Quilted Twins to donate.)
This year I am participating in a Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR). It gets rounds added, but unlike a usual robin, it doesn't travel. It stays at my house, and I do all the rounds myself. The theme for each round is chosen by various bloggers.
First I chose a center block. This is one I made using a special ruler. I made it years ago, and later had a friend add to it. She did the orange rays in the middle. Then it sat for a few more years until I decided to use it for this SAHRR.
First round assignment was curves.
Second round assignment was diamonds.
That's all so far. We will get another round assignment in the next day or two.
Here's what I have made so far. Sorry the picture is blurry.
To see more SAHRRs so far, go here.
Sunshine Quilt Guild is an online group whose members make quilts for kids in need around the world. One of our current initiatives is for kids going into foster care. We send our quilts to Quilts Beyond Borders which has an arrangement to provide quilts to a program called Comfort Cases. Comfort Cases gives kids a backpack with a blanket (or quilt), book, pajamas, and a few other things that can comfort a child. This is to avoid them having to carry their belongings in garbage bags. Comfort Cases is headquartered in Maryland but provides these backpacks and duffel bags to foster kids all over the U.S. If you like the idea of helping kids who are going into foster care, you could help us make quilts, or you could donate financially either to Quilts Beyond Borders or to Comfort Cases.
Recently some pictures of quilts sent to Comfort Cases were posted here. The pictures are only partial views of the quilts, so I thought I would show the pictures of the whole quilts. These are only pictures of the quilts that I helped make. Interestingly, many of our quilts are group-collaboration projects. Each of the quilts below has their own creation story, which I won't go into at this time. Here you go:
This is the backing on the quilt above.
Several years ago I found this long, narrow, already-quilted piece on a Free Table at a guild meeting. I don't know who made it. I took it, not sure what I would do with it. Eventually I decided to turn it into a quilt on which to display my pins: quilt show pins, pins from work, school, church functions, and pins from my various travels.
Today I put on a binding, a hanging sleeve, and now the pins are officially in their place. I am sure I used to have more pins, but without an official spot, they have been mislaid. That's OK. I like the ones I could find.
My church pin includes a president's pin from the year I was president of United Methodist Women (I was a terrible president). Travel pins hale from Scotland, Czech Republic, Panama, and the states of Washington, New York, and Florida.
c
