Island Batik February Challenge - Kennel Quilts

I am excited to join with Island Batik and Kennel Quilts for this challenge!  This is a charity I would never had heard of if I wasn't an Island Batik Ambassador, so I am glad to share it with all my readers.  This is a great way to do something good for our furry friends and a super way to use up bits and pieces left after completing a project.

Since I found out you can ship 8 in a flat rate bubble envelope I made 8.  After all, you might as well get the most for your money, right?  My donation is going to a local group that brings in animals from kill shelters in California and places them in local shelters so they can find a forever home!  It's called Rescue Express and they are in the process of replacing all their beds, mats, blankets and towels with more consistently sized bedding to make the pets more comfortable and the laundering and sorting easier.  This size will fit their extra small carriers!

I happened to see Rescue Express on a news article and thought that it would be the perfect place for me to donate to, and I am glad I contacted them.  I plan on sharing their information with my local quild and at Threads That Bind.  These are great little projects to use up the leftovers from projects, I've even pieced the batting that goes inside.  They would be great to make up ahead and keep on hand to try out different free motion quilting designs, or just as warm-up quilting before starting a larger quilt!

Kennel Quilts is a great organization - you can see more information here.  It's a great way to help out by sharing something that we love to do - they always have current needs posted, or you can donate to a local shelter if you like!  It doesn't take much fabric or time and it's a terrific way to put our quilting talents to good use.

I started out with making the XO quilt - this was originally going to be for our Galentine's Day challenge, but it was a bit too large for a mug rug!   I made a smaller version for that challenge, then thought this one would be perfect as a kennel quilt.  I just added a border to make it big enough for a Kennel Quilt, and was really happy with it!  Then I did some strip piecing using a set of leftover strips I had from my first Island Batik box and ended up with a couple of quilts using those.  I did a couple more, just sewing strips of fabric together and trimming to size - these were super fast, and looked wonderful as well!  Finally I pieced some log cabin style blocks using the last of the leftover strips.  It was a fun way to use up all of those pieces that would normally be leftover from a project and they looked terrific as well!  For the last one, I had pieces left from my last Project Quilting Challenge, so I sewed the strips together, then added pieces as needed to bring it up to size.

You can see that you don't need to do anything fancy!  Just some fun and simple sewing, then sew around the edges, turn right side out and topstitch.  Do some quilting to hold it all together and you are done!  (Do make sure you follow the guidelines so your little quilt is animal friendly) Yesterday I washed and attempted to dry - unfortunately my dryer has decided to stop heating, so I had to hang them to dry.  I'll give them a bit of a press to straighten them out, then off they will go to cheer up some lonely pup or kitty!

Thanks, Island Batik for encouraging us to participate in this challenge.  I think I will be donating regularly from now on, as it gives me a good way to use fabric from my projects instead of adding it to my overflowing scrap bin!  I hope you will consider helping out, too :)

Quilts for Tennessee - Quiltsy Cares

I've been working on this quilt in fits and starts all month, but needed to get myself in gear and finish it up so I can mail it on Monday!  The Quiltsy team decided that we wanted to send some comfort quilts to the victims of the fires in Tennessee - we have a member that lives nearby that was willing to coordinate delivering these to a local church to distribute.  Thanks so much, Jennifer!

I decided to use a package of charm squares, strips and a bit of yardage that featured some happy yellows and oranges with browns.  It took me a while to figure out my plan of action to use these fabrics.  I decided to make disappearing nine-patch blocks and use the strips for a piano key border.

After I finished the center I decided that it really needed a plain muslin border to frame the center and set the final border apart.  Plus it added a bit more size to the quilt!  This block is a great way to use random scrappy fabrics.

I had a lot of choices for thread color!  In the end I decided on the orange thread, just for the fun of it.

I love the way a simple meander adds a soft, touchable texture!

And that bit of yardage?  I couldn't bear to cut it up, so used it on the back, framed with more muslin. I think this will be a cheerful quilt for someone.  I hope it brings the recipient comfort and makes them smile.

Linking up with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for "Oh Scrap!"  Come join the fun!

Island Batik Mini Madness

I am excited to be an Island Batik Ambassador this year!  They have cooked up a years worth of fun activities and challenges for us to work with.  This month is Mini Madness - and I am really excited about it!

I got off to a head start with the mini I am giving away for the Planes, Trains and Automobiles blog hop, but never fear - their will be plenty more mini madness happening on my blog, facebook, and instagram feeds!  

If you love minis too, you can check out my pinterest board.  So much inspiration there - what shall I make?  It will be fun deciding, that's for sure!

I received my first Ambassador box for the year and it was stuffed full of great fabrics and some Aurifil thread!  I usually use the 50 weight, so am excited to try the 40 weight thread for quilting.  Lots of fun fabrics, so expect lots of great projects coming up this year - here is a little sneak peak: 

Makes me want to go start cutting and sewing right now!

Only a couple days left for Planes, Trains and Automobiles!  Here are links for yesterday and today:

Wednesday, March 2 – Lavish
Freemotion by the River
Moose Stash Quilting

Thursday, March 3 – Fire Island
KISSed Quilts

Can't wait to see who wins the drawings!  Thanks for all your lovely comments and entries!  Don't forget to check out the Quiltsy Team blog this month - our Quiltsy Cares promo is featuring a different team member each day and the quilts they make to bring joy and comfort to others!