4Patches4Hope - update

I've finished up 2 more quilts for 4Patches4Hope, and they are going out in today's mail to be shipped to SC - along with some other goodies for family down there.  Terri is visiting both the chemo and radiation centers on Wednesday and offered to do a delivery - which was the push I needed to get some flimsies buttoned up.

Neither is a 4 patch - but these were made from donated fabric and I picked a block that is fun but works up very quickly.  The 2nd one was actually because I miscounted when I was cutting, and ended up with too many for the first quilt.  Munchkin helped me lay them out on point - he's got a good eye for that even without setting triangles to finish the layout (I hadn't cut them yet).  A bit of straight line quilting and these were done.  I still like to hand finish my bindings - it takes a bit of time but it just feels right to me to do it that way... like I put the last little bit of me into the quilt at that point.

I

1600 - 600 = a new quilt

A couple of weeks ago I was sewing with Shellie and since we had lots of catching up to do, I decided to bring a project that I could work on without thinking about too much - a "Jelly Roll Race", or "1600 Quilt".

The only problem was that the "jelly roll" I pulled from my stash was not a true Jelly Roll - instead of 40 strips WOF, it only had 20.  So instead of 1600 inches of strips to sew end to end, I had half that.  I grabbed about 10 strips of white to fill it out a bit, and proceeded to sew.


Well... the nice proportions of about 48x64 that would result from a full Jelly Roll became a bit skewed with my gimpy one... not to mention that even with random placement of my strips, both the whites and the greens clumped together quite obviously.  Long and skinny - and adding borders would make it REALLY long and still pretty skinny (not that I am opposed to that... but...)

So after I got it home, I decided to do some selective un-sewing.  I removed 8 of the strips and set them aside to use for binding the finished quilt.  I then rearranged the whites and greens a bit to break things up -though I didn't go too crazy and still have a few clumps in the finished quilt.

The addition of some borders, some dense parallel line quilting, and a scrappy binding and the result is:

Unless claimed by my boys, this quilt will most likely be added to the 4Patches4Hope donation box, even though there are no 4 patches in it.  It is also my 5th finished project since Christmas!!!

4Patches4Hope

4Patches4Hope began as a desire to use my passion for quilting, and the power of social media and word of mouth, to create quilts to comfort those undergoing cancer treatments and at the same time raise money for cancer research. The original timeline was to begin on Valentine’s Day, 2011 and culminate on my mother’s birthday –today - October 4, 2011.

For one reason or another, I did not get the ball rolling and start to get the word out about the project, so then I revised my start date to START on Mom’s birthday.

Unfortunately Mom’s cancer had a different timetable, and on July 12, 2011 her battle with this disease ended.

As I worked through the emotions that came after - I decided to forge forward with this project - as there are mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, daughters, nieces, friends and more who could benefit.

The concept is simple - Make a 4 Patch... Make a Donation... Make a difference.

How to Help:

1.  Make light-dark 4 patch block(s) using 2 1/2” squares (blocks should finish at 4 1/2” square).     
Use any colors you like for your “dark” but please try to use white or ivory for your “light.”

2.  Send the finished block(s) to: 

4Patches4Hope c/o Regina Arlauckas, PO Box 363  Churchville, NY  14428

3.  Please consider making a $4 donation for each block you make to the American Cancer Society via the link at The American Cancer Society or enclose a check to the American Cancer Society with your blocks. (Please do NOT enclose cash and be sure your checks are to the American Cancer Society.)

4.  The goal is 1000 blocks and $4,000 by February 28, 2012.

5.  Received blocks will be assembled into “comfort quilts” and donated to the Anderson Medical Center in Anderson, SC and the Pluta Cancer Center in Rochester, NY. 

6.  Each block donated will enter your name into a drawing for “participation prizes.”

7.  Donations of backing fabrics, batting and services are also appreciated.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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