HeartStrings Quilt Project

Archive for November, 2009

Did you know that tying is a traditional way to finish string quilts?  We’ve written instructions on tying a HeartStrings quilt to help you out.

These tops were pieced by Lani and her group in CA and tied by me. The backings were brought to the front and machine stitched down for the binding.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you plan to join in our holiday block party this weekend. Even a few blocks will make a difference when joined with the donations of others.

See our Block Guidelines for instructions for making blocks to send in for group quilts.

HeartStrings Block Guidelines

Of course if you’re going to make the entire set of blocks you can use any color centers. You can send in a set of 48 blocks or assemble the top and send that in for quilting. Here’s the brown HeartStrings top I finished this week.

Several months ago HeartStrings members made and sent a number of Quilt as you GO string blocks to Jan Mac for relief efforts in Australia. While it’s hard to know which blocks came from our members and which from other quilters  – it’s neat to see all the quilts she’s making from the blocks. Here’s a peek at one and you can see others on the Oz Comfort Quilts blog.

I had the opportunity to speak to this Mankato, MN guild last night about HeartStrings and to show off some of our quilts. Thanks to Dee who invited me to speak and to Sheree who came along with me and helped.

Dee, Sheree, and Mary

Mary with the quilts

Susan made a set of 24 RWB blocks to send to Sue to be assembled and finished.

And Melva made an entire top she’ll send in to be finished and donated. You can click on both photos for a larger view.

I’ve assembled my teal blocks and the top is ready for quilting.

You can participate too and the information on what to do is here.

November’s Block Party

I visited a local quilt show in Hudson, WI today. Kathy was there (one of our HeartStrings members and also a member of the guild putting on the show) and I snapped her photo at their charity quilting booth. She’s the one standing. Notice the HeartStrings quilts?

And hanging in the show, one of Kathy’s quilts that incorporated HeartStrings blocks with pieced blocks.

If you’re in the area, the show continues tomorrow so drop in.

We’re having a Thanksgiving Holiday Block Party but you can get an early start. We’re going to see how many blocks we can make and help plump up our block inventory.

Blocks sent in to Sue and Stephanie should be made according to the guidelines with a RED or BLUE center string and you can make 1 or 100 (or MORE!).

If you’d like to make an entire set you can use any color center string you’d like. A set consists of either

• 24 blocks for a child’s quilt (make sure you use kid friendly colors)
• 48 blocks for an adult quilt

Contact me for the mailing address or complete the quilt yourself but if you do, make sure you share a photo with us.

At our sew-in on Saturday, Cindy showed us her Musical HeartStrings quilt that she’s making as a fundraiser for the band at her son’s school. Isn’t it gorgeous? Click on the photo for a larger view of the top.

Yesterday was Halloween and we met in Kasson, MN to piece, assemble, and tie HeartStrings quilts.  Take a look at our photos from the day.