Quilt-As-You-Go Tutorial!

Happy Sunday! I'm over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict today sharing a tutorial for a quilt-as-you-go quilt as part of Sarah's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.

I made my first version of this quilt (using the same fabric!) for a guild charity event a while back. I'd always intended to use the remaining fabric to make a second charity quilt, and when Sarah put the call out for guest bloggers, I knew it was time! I made this quilt in one day, and you can too!

Head over to Confessions of a Fabric Addict to learn more about the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge and how you can participate (plus, there are prizes!). You'll also find an ongoing series of tutorials for making easy charity quilts, including mine--perfect for anyone who is intimidated by machine quilting!

Post-Sandy Quilt Effort

Thanks so much to those of you who responded to my last post about making blocks for people affected by super storm Sandy! I think that by working together, we can make a few quilts to donate, which is fantastic.

Here's the plan:

1. If you have any pre-made blocks you'd like to donate, any size, any pattern, great! Please send them my way and we'll make a sampler-type quilt.

2. If you are planning to make blocks specifically for this, please follow the recommendations below:

Option A: Inspired by Julianne's offer of readymade blocks, sew 8-1/2" unfinished string blocks (Click here for a great tutorial at Film in the Fridge.) See below for a photo of my first couple blocks.

Option B: Sew 12-1/2" unfinished nine-patch blocks (I'll do the math for you--you'll need nine 4-1/2" squares for each block)

I (and hopefully some friends/family) will assemble the blocks into quilts, get them quilted and bound, and send them onto the relief efforts that eQuilter is organizing.

Last night I finished my Tula Pink Sew Along quilt, which I'm now going to add a couple extra borders to and send to the East Coast as well. I'm thinking a black inner border, about 3" wide, and then more colored patchwork.

I also spent about 20 minutes cutting strips and about 30 minutes sewing blocks and put together these 4 string blocks. Quick and easy!

If you would like to make/send blocks to be assembled into quilts for people who lost everything in the storm, please email me at lequilter (at) gmail.com. I'll email you my mailing address and a sincere thank you! To yesterday's commenters--Stephen, Julianne, Mego, Grammy, and MamaPea, I'm sending you an email right now!

And if you are a longarmer or know a longarmer who might be willing to quilt a charity project, please let me know. I'm planning to do the string project quilt as you go, but assuming I get enough blocks for another quilt, I'd love some quilting assistance!

Thanks so much!

p.s. Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced, this week guest hosted by the super-talented Svetlana of s.o.t.a.k. handmade to hopefully bring in a few more block donations!