Week #5 – Star III – Stars of the Forest QAL for a Cause 2020

Huge thank you to Fabric Gypsies, our generous sponsor. Did everybody see the lovely goody bag Sue provided for our first Giveaway winner, @christiannec1? There will be more fun to come, so don’t forget to share on Instagram with our hashtags! #StarsoftheForestQAL#QALforaCause20

Sue is also having a De-stash for a cause on her destash page- @FabricGypsies_Destash. I’ve snagged a few things myself this destash, and several before. She’s so great to work with, and it’s for a great cause, so check it out!

Without further ado, onto Week #5’s block- Star III!

This star seems simple enough, but it does require a bit more fiddling than some of the previous ones. The process is straightforward enough, and I’ve outlined it in the video below!

Here are some photos (Huge thanks to all of my stupendous pattern testers!)

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This week I wanted to share something a little personal – one of the reasons this Quilt Along for a Cause came about, and a reason that quilting for The Wrap Them in Love Foundation seemed so right – my struggle with infertility.

I won’t go into too many details, because this is a quilting blog, not an infertility blog, but I just gone through a failed fertility cycle, wondering if I should continue or if it was time to pursue adoption or another means of becoming parents. I was sad and frustrated, and knew I needed to do something that brought some good and love to this world, even if I was unable to grow a small bundle of love myself. And so the idea sparked – I needed to do something kind and I wanted to get as many people involved as possible.

While researching where to donate the quilts I wanted to make, I came across The Wrap Them in Love Foundation, she spoke of adopting one of her children, and while waiting for the paperwork to finalize, she would sit and worry about her new child, and others like him, alone in an orphanage. I teared up (probably residual hormones), but it clicked. This was a woman who organized something because she felt called to bring some good to the world. I don’t have the connections to get blankets to those who need them, but I DO have the connections to provide this worthy foundation with those blankets.

I’m hoping this little Quilt Along snowballs, and future years there are more and more quilters who join the Quilt Along for a Cause movement. Because then I know I will have made an impact on the world, and spread love instead of the bitter feelings I find myself having sometimes at the sour lemons I feel life has given me. Doing something kind and generous for others reminds me that my lemons could be more sour, that I’ve always known love, and that spreading love will always be the right thing to do. I look forward to the yearly reminder, and I hope you do too.

Please share photos of your finished block so we can build our quilt along community! #StarsoftheForestQAL #QALforaCause20 #StarsoftheForest

If you are joining after the Quilt Along has already gotten started, you can purchase your copy of this week’s pattern from Etsy.

If you enjoyed this post check out the Stars of the Forest – Quilt Along for a Cause 2020 hub!

There are a few tips for you in the video, however having already put out my Learn Foundation Paper Piecing segment I am trying not to repeat myself 30 times each week. If you aren’t sure how to get started, that’s the place to go!

Week #4 – Freddy the Fox – Stars of the Forest QAL for a Cause 2020

It’s week #4 and yes, you read it right, this is the only quilt block from this pattern that has it’s own fun name! This little guy was named by the granddaughter of one of my pattern testers, (and one of our own QAL members!), Melissa. When she told me a three year old had excitedly declared this was a boy fox and his name was Freddy, who was I to argue? Freddy is a great name.

Growing up in central Indiana, I would occasionally catch a glimpse of a fox, but it is a rare and exciting sight. The majority of the foxes I’ve seen are gray foxes, although we also have the spectacular red fox. Interestingly enough- the red fox isn’t actually native to Indiana, and is believed to have been introduced by European settlers. The gray fox, on the other hand, is a native Indiana species and smaller in size. I didn’t know this before the time of writing, but the red fox and gray fox are completely separate species and do not cross breed.

Foxes are depicted as intelligent, cunning, wily, and mischievous across almost all cultures. I’ve always found them to look like they have a funny quip they’re keeping to themselves. Cute, floofy, and closer to dogs than cats, they are one of the first creatures I think of when I think of the forests near where I grew up, so no “forest” quilt should be complete without a fox!

I didn’t think outside the fox with my fabric choices, so he’s a traditional orange color, however you can easily make him any variety of colors! My pattern testers were also traditional, sticking to grays and oranges.

This fox pattern is a bit more pieces than we’ve worked with yet, assembling in 10 sections. Here’s the video that walks you through assembly. I forgot to watch the clock on this block, so I don’t have a time estimate for you, but it’s definitely still a single afternoon kind of project.

As promised, here’s the photos courtesy of all of my amazing pattern testers. As you can see, if you’re looking to make a throw pillow, these Stars of the Forest patterns are a great size! (Thank you Nicki!)

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Please share photos of your finished block so we can build our quilt along community! #StarsoftheForestQAL #QALforaCause20 #StarsoftheForest

If you are joining after the Quilt Along has already gotten started, you can purchase your copy of this week’s pattern from Etsy or Payhip.

If you enjoyed this post check out the Stars of the Forest – Quilt Along for a Cause 2020 hub!

There are a few tips for you in the video, however having already put out my Learn Foundation Paper Piecing segment I am trying not to repeat myself 30 times each week. If you aren’t sure how to get started, that’s the place to go!

Week #1 – Star I – Stars of the Forest – QAL for a Cause 2020

When I decided to design a quilt specifically for kids in need, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of rough trauma or unpleasantness they had felt or seen. Hopefully, not much, but, sadly, that just isn’t how the world seems to work.

So I thought. I hemmed, I hawed, and I thought some more. I trashed design after design because it just wasn’t right. I was finally inspired by a feeling I had the summer before my Sophomore year of college. It was time in my life that I was struggling- I was just barely 20 and fighting a bought of depression, feeling a little lost in my life and soul. My summer job abruptly ended, leaving my in a financial bind for the upcoming college school year, most of my friend had not come home, and I was feeling the first pains of the loneliness of early adulthood. I was called by a college friend, who was working at a summer camp on the other side of the state and they’d had an sudden vacancy.

I ended up a lifeguard at a church camp, while questioning my own faith and place in the world. After a whirlwind of a first day, I found myself alone on a dock in the middle of the woods, looking up at more stars than I could count, shining down from a perfectly clear navy sky, listening to the wind rustle the leaves and slap gentle waves against the dock. It was the most peaceful I’d felt in years, and is still my happy place when I close my eyes.

Long story short, I designed something that I hope will be with the child that receives it until they, themselves, are able to find the peaceful bliss I was able to finally feel that summer.

Without further ado, let’s start our first week! Our Week #1 pattern is Star I. (I know, I got very creative with the naming process on this quilt!) This star is very simple and goes together in 3 sections. The largest section of this block has 15 pieces.

Take your time on this block, even with filming, it was less than 3 hours from start to finish. That being said, there are lots of sharp angles, so double check yourself before you sew pieces on, or you may come up a little short. 

This block is the perfect time to start honing your skills when it comes to pinning sections together- if things turn out a little wonky, it will still look great! Remember- kids don’t notice misaligned corners, they notice that someone did something special for them.

The entirety of this pattern took me less than 3 hours, and that included filming!

Here are a few versions of Star I sewn by some stupendous pattern testers who helped me get this pattern ready. You’ll see that some of them decided to keep the stars as only 3 colors, while others used 10+ different fabrics, and they all turned out great!

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There are a few tips for you in the video, however having already put out my Learn Foundation Paper Piecing segment I am trying not to repeat myself 30 times each week. If you aren’t sure how to get started, that’s the place to go! For everybody else, enjoy this simple block, and please share photos of your finished block so we can build our quilt along community. #StarsoftheForestQAL #QALforaCause20 #StarsoftheForest

If you are joining after the Quilt Along has already gotten started, you can purchase your copy from Etsy or Payhip.

Organizing Before It’s Out of Control

I started really getting in to quilting in March of this year. It’s only been three months! I may need to remind myself of this next time I’m fighting with perfecting Half Square Triangles on the quilt I just started….

Anyway, today I wanted to talk organization.

I must confess, I am not, by nature, a very organized or neat individual, which is why I think I’m so proud of how my stash organization turned out. My husband just stares at me blankly when i get enthusiastic, like why can’t I get excited about cleaning the rest of the house this way, or maybe he doesn’t think I’m as clever as I think I am?

I remember telling the woman who sold my my new sewing machine that I was trying really hard to only buy fabric for projects I had a plan for. She laughed at me and told me “Just you wait.” I didn’t understand. I do now. I honestly tried to stick to this! The fear of spending money on something and then either not having enough or never knowing what to do with it terrified me. (It still does!)

But my mom found a woman who was de-stashing for $10 a grocery bag, so, needless to say, now I’ve got a stash, and once you’ve started, every trip to the fabric store ends in a few cuts of unnecessary fabric. It adds up quickly.

One day I glanced into the garage and realized my quilting stuff had completely taken over a table and spilled onto the floor. Everything was just piled like a cotton volcano that had recently erupted.

That day I went to Big Lots and bought clear plastic tubs, then I neatly placed chalkboard labels on them, and commandeered a shelf. Lids were important to me because my garage is prone to dustiness, and I didn’t want to have to wash everything before starting a project. I bought three smaller tubs for scraps. I keep 2.5″ strips or precut squares, 3.5″ strips or precut squares, or precut triangles that are bigger than 2.5″ in these.

I used the other 6 tubs to sort by color. In fabrics that have lots of colors, I picked the color that spoke to me most, because, honestly, if I’m putting together something, I’m going to think the same way.

Next to the shelf I used the pegboard to sort my rulers.

On the top shelf, I have legal-sized cardboard boxes with masking tape labels to sort by project, and since I carry my stuff into the house to work, this has made a HUGE difference in the time it takes for me to set up and clean up from working.

My sweet husband has allowed me to keep my sewing machine on the dining room table, cover on, which saved me from trying to find a spot in the house to keep it clean and safe.

My next step is to start labeling all the folded fabric in the tubs with a piece of paper attached by a pin that lists how big each piece of fabric is, that way when I go searching it’s easier to see what I’ve got.

I’d love to see what any of you use to organized your quilts, fabric, or sewing tools!

Here’s what I’ve got! I’ve limited myself to just this space, so hopefully I finish some projects before I buy any more, as some of the tubs were surprisingly full.

RUN’s Positively Pink Quilt

I’ve put my other projects on hold to tackle queen sized quilts for my two nieces and my nephew. They are getting ready to have their own rooms in a new house for the firs time EVER. Actually, the girls will go from sharing a bed to their own individual space. I’m sure I will go back and talk about the challenges I faced with some of the other steps, but I wanted to bask in the excitement of the stage I’m at!

This quilt is for a girl positively OBSESSED with pink. Like, her name could easily have been Elle Woods. Since I haven’t discussed sharing pictures or anything with their mom, I’m just going to stick to intitials and/or ages. RUN is 5. I figure she’ll be six by the time I get all three of these quilts ready to be gifted, and before their new home is ready to be moved into.

Anyway, on Sunday I managed to get the last of the 60 9.5”x9.5” blocks sewn together out of 3 3.5”x9.5” pieces. Last night and today I began sewing them into strips. I don’t know WHERE I went wrong, but my blocks came out 9.25”x9.5”, which I probably could make due with, however these blocks are being sewn together after a rotation, so I ended having to go back and square them all up at 9.25”. Lesson I’ve learned here- triple measure yourself before you assemble 60 blocks to make sure you don’t need to be sewing things on a scant quarter inch seam….

Anyway, here are the pictures. I’m down to two more 10 blocks long strips to sew, and I need to attach them all to my decorative strip (which I’n super proud of, as its my first time working with triangles!)