Rainbow I Spy Block Drive

Due to the large number of emails I've received from fellow quilters interested in participating in the Rainbow I Spy preemie quilts I am doing with the Hope group of do. Good Stitches, I am officially starting a block drive!

I'm not sure how to insert the html code so that you can easily make the above picture a button (if you know I'd love some help) but there it is in all its rainbow glory. For all the details on the pattern and fabrics to use, check out the post below or click this link for the original Rainbow I Spy post.


Blocks, quilt tops, and finished quilts will be accepted! Your donations are greatly appreciated! 

Please be sure to construct your blocks, tops, or quilts with all natural materials. Quilts will be donated to the Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children NICU.

Where to mail your blocks: 

Natalie Weaver
6759 Rockledge Place
Centreville, VA 20121

Submission Dates: I'm breaking these up a bit so you have plenty of time and opportunities to get your blocks in.You can, of course, submit blocks for more than one deadline.

Round 1: August 30th
Round 2: September 30th
Round 3: October 30th

Working Sessions
Anyone willing is welcome to join me in constructing finished quilts. I will announce the working session date(s) at a later time. We will have a working session after every submission deadline so that the work is a little more spread out.

Spread the Word
It would mean so much to me if you could spread the word about this block drive. Blog about it. Tell your friends. Get your guild involved. The more the merrier!

Share Your Work
I would love it if you added your photos to the Threaded Mess flickr group. If you do not have a flickr group you can always email me the photos or send me a link to where they are posted on the web. With your permission I will share the links and/or photos on this blog throughout the block drive.

Thank You!

Thank you so much for your interest in helping out with this special project!  

Happy Quilting

Update: Here are some smaller versions of the above picture. You can also grab these from my flickr photostream:

100x100

240x240

Please link back to this post. Thanks! :)

do. Good Stitches {A Charity Bee} August Project - Rainbow I Spy

I'm up again for the month of August for do. Good Stitches {A Charity Bee} and I have decided (with Anna Maria's permission of course - thanks Anna Maria!) to have the ladies of the Hope group do Joseph's Square in Square blocks. I first tried this block when Anna Maria Horner started the Rainbow Around the Block project to benefit Tennessee flood victims back in 2010. Anna Maria asked for blocks in 1 color in the Rainbow so I created these:

originally posted here

As I was trying to decide on a color story and looking for other examples of this block I came across Rachel's block that she made for Rainbow Around the Block:

Like the Heather Ross Mendocino octopus print in my orange blocks, Rachel used a couple of novelty prints in hers (Heather Ross Mendocino mermaids and Heather Ross Far Far Away frogs) which got me thinking that a Rainbow I Spy quilt would be really fun! Which then made me think of babies (who am I kidding, I'm always thinking of babies these days). Which made me think that these blocks would make GREAT preemie quilts for my local NICU. They can be used as blankets when they are babies, mats for tummy time, lovies, and eventually for learning, fun, and exploration (point to the frog, the mermaid, the octopus, etc).

Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children is home to the largest subspecialty neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Northern Virginia. Their 75-bed, level III NICU cares for high-risk infants requiring specialized care and observation. They have an incredible team and their hospital has a very low infant mortality rate.

My guild (NOVA Modern Quilt Guild) does 4 drives a year for preemie quilts, each with a different theme, but we are the only guild donating to their facility at the moment and they are always running out.

I'm asking each lady to make 2 or more 12.5" Joseph's Square in Square blocks. For each block they will pick 1 color in the rainbow. They will construct the blocks using solids, novelty prints, and prints that 'read' that color (see Jeni of In Color Order's post on overall color and this post on organizing by color might help too).

Preemie quilts range in size from 29" to 45". If I put nine 12.5" blocks together (3x3) I'm right in that range. There are 10 of us in the Hope circle so if each of us make 2 blocks I can make 2 preemie quilts and have a 2 block start for the next quilt. Those 2 and any extra blocks we make will be used for the 3rd quilt.

The blocks will be arranged like this with a variety of colors and prints:

please note it is not necessary to have a gradient of color from light to dark as shown above

You can download the Joseph's Square in Square PDF here. 

Up to 2 novelty prints can be used in each block but I am asking the ladies to mix in other tone-on-tone prints, tone-on-white prints, or solids with their 1-2 novelty prints so that each block isn't too busy. One other thing, the fabrics, thread, and any other material used to construct the block must be natural (i.e. cotton, linen, etc. but not polyester or other synthetic fabrics) or come out in the wash (permanent synthetic fusibles are not permitted but washables like applique glue sticks are).

It means so much to me that the Hope group is letting me make preemie quilts with our blocks for the NICU babies this month! As always, this is an open project so feel free to join in. For every 9 blocks I receive, I WILL piece them, donate batting, backing, thread, and binding from my own stash, and quilt them.You can email me at threadedmess (at) gmail (dot) com for information on where to send your blocks. In addition, if you would like to donate a preemie quilt of your own design I will gladly deliver it to the NICU on your behalf. Just email me for my mailing address.

Happy Quilting!

do. Good Stitches {A Charity Bee} - "Hope" June Blocks

My June do.Good Stitches blocks for the Hope group are done.

Check out this post if you want the details on June's project.

Happy Quilting

Catching Up

It's getting late so this will be a quick post. I'm slowly but surely catching up on all my commitments and that feels pretty good! I wish I wasn't so late on these but that's the way life goes sometimes I suppose.

do. Good Stitches {A Charity Bee}: May Blocks

A Dozen Quilters: May and June Pillowcase Dresses

And finally, though I didn't take a picture, I did package up the giveaway prize for my 101 Followers giveaway.

Everything has been packaged up and is ready for the post office tomorrow.

One last picture because I couldn't resist! My Lovie and Boo, Matt and Lucy:

A boy and his dog? Or a dog and her boy? Either way, this makes me smile.

Happy Quilting

News and Updates - Catching Up

Thank you to everyone who responded about the QAL! I promise to catch up but your understanding is appreciated. The good news is we really are in the home stretch! and I WILL catch up!

We DID find a car to replace my Mazda so I can cross that off my list. I love our new Pilot and can't wait to take it on a trip!

I finished binding the two quilts for Ava. Unfortunately I didn't have enough blocks for two quilts made from purple wonky star blocks but I had just enough to make one. As it turned out, I liked all the blocks that were turned in better together than I did separately so it all worked out in the end. For the second quilt, I made a strip quilt from my stash and here's a sneak peak:

Which will be bound in this:

Here's a picture of the purple wonky star blocks before I pieced them:

I will post some more pictures once I upload them from my camera. Both quilts are on their way to Pennsylvania to meet Ava.

Do. Good Stitches is off to a great start this month. I designed a Chartreuse and Raspberry Spiderweb quilt and some of the girls have already started making blocks:

By Muriel

By Hollie

By Jeni

By Jeni

I'm really looking forward to working with these blocks!

We had a nice weekend down at the lake with family to celebrate our 1st Anniversary. Most of our family members were there with us and that was really special. I took a bunch of photos but these are my favorites.

My nieces and nephews. We got to babysit the girls last weekend and had a blast at the park and nearby festival.

My honey

My sister and her boys

My niece loved Princess Maria (the puppy)

I have one of the sweetest friends a girl could have. Waiting in my mail for me the other day was a surprise package from Hollie.

I gushed over the fabric Hollie selected for her commissioned wonky star quilt. It's such a perfect fabric for binding and I love the color. When Hollie returned to her LQS to get some more for herself she bought an extra yard for me. Isn't she sweet?!

Hollie's gift was so thoughtful and the timing of her surprise couldn't have been any better because I was having a really tough day. I can't wait to use this fabric! Thank you Hollie! You're the sweetest!

Matt's sister graduated in May from Appalachian State University:

Maura and Ann

Matt, Me, Maura, Al, Carly, and Mark

Scott and Maura

That about wraps up all the updates I have for now. I still need to catch up on May and June do. Good Stitches blocks, A Dozen Quilters May and June Pillow Case Dresses (already sewn, just need to take pictures), do. Good Sitches Wonky Cross Quilt, update everyone on my exact cuts for the Lap size quilt in the Marshmallow Brochette QAL, and hopefully get another Inspired post out to you all.

I can't believe it's already June 8th. Where did May go? 

Happy Quilting

Calling All Quilters: do. {Good Stitches} A Charity Bee needs your help!

As most of you know, I am a member of do. Good Stitches {A Charity Bee in the Hope group which benefits Threading Hope. do. Good Sitches was created by Rachel of Stitched In Color. Without going in to details, 3 of our quilters have had to step down from the group after the current round which ends in June. We are in extreme need of quilters to replace them in our group.

Designed by Emily of This Little Life of Mine

What do the quilters do you might ask? All Quilters are first Stitchers.

Stitchers: Every month ALL members complete 2 blocks for their circle. At the beginning of each month Stitchers will receive instructions from the Quilter as to color scheme and block design. The instructions are posted here at the Flickr group in the discussions threads. Blocks will typically measure 12.5 x 12.5″ unfinished. You must share pictures of your completed blocks at our Flickr group. Completed blocks must be mailed to the Quilter by the end of each month, and received by the Quilter by the 10th of the next month.

Designed by Krista of Spotted Stone Studios

Quilters: Each circle has 5 Quilters. All Quilters make blocks each month, just like a Stitcher. In addition, the Quilters take turns planning, assembling and finishing a quilt once every 5 months. You’ll need to communicate your design to the Stitchers, keeping in mind that they’ll be pulling fabrics from their fabric stash. Once all blocks are received, the Quilter pieces the quilt top, and finishes the charity quilt within 30 days. You must share a photo of the finished quilt in our Flickr group. The completed quilt is mailed directly from the Quilter to your circle's charity.

Designed by Hollie of Undercover Crafter

We have done some AWESOME quilts. Seriously. I am constantly amazed at the creativity of this group.

One of our circle's more recent quilts was designed by Emily of This Little Life of Mine and inspired by this color palate:

We were all asked to make 12.5" blocks with a white background and circles in the colors above. My blocks:

Here's the finished quilt:

We also made this quilt that I designed in honor of a friend who has passed. The group was asked to make wonky cross blocks using this tutorial by That Girl That Quilt in purple, green, and blue. My blocks:

And the top:

This awesome aqua and orange quilt designed by Jeni of In Color Order was based on this color palate:

We were asked to make 12.5" checkerboard blocks with squares of any size. I really like how all of the blocks came together! My blocks:

And the top:

I love the quilt we made based on Little Miss Shabby's scrap buster tutorial that Hollie of Undercover Crafter designed. I missed the boat on the color scheme but they ended up still working with Hollie's design. My blocks:

And here is the finished quilt top:

There are so many other fabulous quilts made in this group. A little browsing in our flickr group will allow you to see them all plus all the work done by the other 7 circles in this group.

Quilters, we need you. If you are willing to sign up as a quilter in the Hope group please contact me (threadedmess [at] gmail [dot] com) and I will get you connected with the right people.

Happy Quilting

Wordless Whatever Today Is

It's Thursday right? I have bronchitis and it's been a bit hazy here. Please excuse the lack of words in this post...I'll just let the pictures do the talking...

I hope none of you catch what's going around like I did!

Happy Quilting!