hands2help 2020 first quilt done

Back in May, as I was finishing up and cleaning up my Pantone challenge quilt, I decided to make another quilt from the scraps.  And started a personal challenge to have 12 quilts - one per month - to donate to the Hands2Help charity quilt-along/challenge for 2020.  To some that probably seems like a lot, but I'm up for it.  And no one said they had to be huge quilts.  Some of the charities take smaller ones.  (And I may or may not have a few tops - with backs - on the Rack of Shame to bail me out in busier months...)

So I started this top, using the pattern "It's Hip to be Square" from Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Fitting, I think, because Sarah, the blogger, is the coordinator of this whole thing.

It started out with some pieces and math...and raiding my stash for more pieces...

And then a bunch of sewing (and maybe some Thread Chicken)...

Of course, there was the layout to get everything just so...

(poor lighting, but that coral refuses to be photographed the same way twice...and never like it is in real life...ugh!)

And then a top was born!

Then it went to the Rack of Shame.  It didn't even get binding.  Poor lost soul!

I had intentions to finish it.  I did.  Just not exactly a plan of when...

And then JoAnn's had a sale on batting.  Like a majorly good sale on a big roll (my calculations tell me at least 8 bigger quilts big), so, after checking the online counts and finding the second-nearest store still had 19 rolls, I drove 30 minutes.  To find out that they did not have ANY.  The internet lied.  (Apparently they were shipped the wrong thing and no one could fix the store inventory.)

What to do?

Make lemonade!

Calicos were 30% off.  Not a great sale, but an okay sale.  Remember the baby quilt I mentioned?  Well...these might have jumped into my cart for that project...

And then I noticed that flannels were on sale 70% off.  Holy wow!  I decided I might need to get a few backs for languishing quilts.  And the above quilt was on the list.

I walked around and around and around - there were waaaaaay too many bolts and that made the decision even harder...and finally settled on this (pardon that it's already quilted, but I guess that's a spoiler alert...then again, I'm pretty sure you'd figured out it was finished...)

It doesn't exactly match, but I decided it was good enough.  (Apparently coral is not a color used in flannel.  Like ever.)

This week my hubby is gone.  It was supposed to be our annual trip to Drummond Island, where I sew and he fishes all week, but our house and cat-sitter fell through (for very good reason) and it's not easy to get someone to stay at your house with five unruly cats for a whole week.  And it's hard to find someone you really trust to do that, too.  So I'm home and he's fishing.  Really not much of a change, just I didn't have to pick up half of my sewing room and drive it 5 hours north!  Oh, and I have my longarm...

What to do?

Longarm Week!

Though this was not the first quilt on the longarm this week, it has made it already!

Today was its day!

And, unlike the previous two days where I finished the binding after dark, so photos were impossible (my clothesline is my quilt holder when the hubby is not around...well...it's my quilt holder often when he is around, too, if the weather cooperates!), I finished early enough today to get photos.  Of this quilt and the two others!  (You'll see those soon, but I make no promises about the remainder of the week, because it is Longarm Week!)

And there you have it!  Finished.  Binding and all!

Quilt info...

Name: It's Hip to be Square by Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Size: 56x56" (a little smaller than the original, due to lack of fabric for borders)

I've actually quilted a second quilt that will be donated, too, but that will be another post.

And though I've quilted three quilts already, this was the only one from the Rack of Shame, as the other two were new enough (and, um, the rack might have been full...) that they hadn't even gotten there yet.  But I have plans.  Oh yes, I have plans.  Tomorrow will be another from the Rack of Shame.  I already know how I want to quilt it, but should probably use the remaining time tonight before bedtime (I would stay up later, not having to go to work this week and all, but Starving Emma needs to be fed and will wake me up at 6am whether I went to bed at 7pm or 5am, so I might as well stick to a normal schedule) to make some binding.  Because I am on a roll!

And quickly, the most recent of the 100 blocks!

I'm still keeping up, though this week, due to wanting to get to the longarm as soon as possible, I've been making them just one a day.  Which is fine.  That's keeping up.  Next week things will go back to normal, so batches will probably happen again.

Off to the binding-making!

Happy quilting!

Katie