HeartStrings Quilt Project

We’re having another holiday sew along and we’re making Happy Blocks. It’s been a few years since since our first Happy Block project and it’s time for another.

We’ll start on January 1st, New Year’s Day, and sew through the weekend but feel free to start early! Stephanie has already made a set of blocks and it’s not even Christmas yet. We’ll continue making blocks through the month of January and you can send them in for group quilts, assemble a top and send the top in for completion, or finish the quilt yourself and donate it locally.

Here’s a photo from the last project to inspire you – this was a group at a WI/MN sew-in assembling blocks sent in.

Happy Block Instructions

And if you’re making the top or entire quilt yourself and would like a grown up version using a package of Charm Squares … I have instructions for that too. Instructions for my Charmed Squares quilt.

Cathy has finished a 3rd top for our current Black and White project … She used another polka dot fabric for her centers and I love how all of hers turned out.

There’ still one more week to participate … The Black and White project ends on October 31. Details are at this link.

This one is from Joyce

This one from Sarah

And this one from Cathy – don’t you love the polka dots!

Remember, our project continues through the end of October and if you’re sending in blocks you should use a red center with your black and white prints. If you’re making the entire set of 48 or completing the top yourself you can use any color to accent the black and white!

One of the fun things about HeartStrings is working with other quilters. I had the pleasure of quilting and binding these two string tops.

This one pieced by Tish

And this one by Jackie

Both of these will be donated in Maine.

A top pieced by a group in California, quilted by Teresa, a volunteer in PA will be donated along with an earlier quilt to a local domestic violence shelter. The quilt back was also donated but I’m afraid I don’t remember who pieced this particular back.

The generosity of quilters never ceases to amaze me. Tish is a very generous quilter who has, for years, been sending backings and some quilt tops to me to finish and donate for HeartStrings.

In the last 4 years she has donated too many backings to count … Pieced, pressed, and ready to use from beautiful, good quality fabric. I’ve been the main recipient but others have benefited also.

This week she sent 3 boxes … 29 backings total for us to use in Maine and she sent backings earlier in the year too prior to our April sew-in.

Since then I tied a number of quilts using these backs and this week, Brenda took all the trimmings and with some help from Carol, she turned them into a beautiful HeartStrings top which I tied last night. Brenda bound it and it’s now ready for donation. She has more strings from the backing trimmings and there will be more quilts to come.

Brenda making the blocks

Brenda and Carol with the top

And here’s the finished quilt

Thank you Tish for your generosity and hard work!

The Maine sew-in continues and in addition to lots of other progress, these two were completed for our Black and White project.

Keep in mind if you’re sending in a partial set for group quilts the center needs to be red and then black and white fabrics should finish the block – all the information is at this previous post.

I’m loving all the black and white HeartStrings quilts that are being completed for our current project but I have a new favorite pieced by Ann today at the Maine sew-in.

She used a planned layout and 2.5 inch strips rather than ones of various widths. Here’s her block

And here’s her top

To see more photos from the sew-in click here

We’re already up and sewing in Maine! We’ll be here all week working on HeartStrings quilts and other donation quilts.

Bunny shared one of her HeartStrings quilts with me and wrote:

I made several ‘heartstrings’ quilts for the Quilters Dream ‘’’Hopes and Dreams Challenge for ALS’’ this year. Hubby Joe won the category for long-arm submissions. They are featuring one of the HS quilts on the website right now. I got a little crazy, so you may have a hard time recognizing it. The lighter cat fabric is the middle strip.

I love that HeartStrings quilts show up in support of so many causes!