A string heart for HeartStrings

Michele sent photos today of two of her recent HeartStrings quilts.

She writes “Most of the quilts I make make are just regular patterns (through my quilting group), my string quilting is usually patriotic to send on up to Madigan Army Hospital.  I just love string quilting and almost always have one in the pile for the days when it’s too hot to think or I’m too tired for any precise cutting and measuring!” 

Don’t you love seeing all the variations HeartStrings members come up with?

 

Visit Michele’s blog.

Join us for a Sew-in

If you’re in the MN/WI area and want to join us in person in Roberts, Wisconsin for a HeartStrings sew-in on August 2nd, please contact Kathy at kwmiller@pressenter.com.

Otherwise, consider joining us in spirit and working on a donation quilt or HeartStrings blocks at home that weekend. Make sure to contact us and let us know what you’re working on by emailing Mary.

Guidelines for HeartStrings blocks that can be sent in for group quilts.

It’s not all strings

Tresica recently sent me some photos of quilts she made and donated locally. She wrote:

“After seeing the photo of my 365 blocks, a lady at the Skidaway United Methodist Church here in Savannah contacted me and told me about the quilts they were making.

I donated the twin quilt tops to the church to help the orphanage. The United Methodist Women are quilting any twin size quilt top donated to them. After completion they are given to the United Methodist Orphanage in Macon Georgia.”

Tresica’s photo with her blocks also inspired other HeartStrings members to start their own 365 block challenge.




Quilts for wounded soldiers

In honor of our Memorial Day, HeartStrings members worked on making blocks and Chinese coins sections that will be assembled into quilts for wounded veterans. We’ll continue to make and collect both through July 4th.

If you’re interested in joining us, you can find instructions for making RWB HeartStrings blocks by clicking this link.

If you’d rather make Chinese Coins sections, instructions can be found here.

For the mailing address for RWB blocks or RWB Chinese Coins sections, please email Mary at mmcjohnson@gmail.com

Memorial Day Weekend

Won’t you join us sometime during the Memorial Day weekend (May 23 – 26) to work on HeartStrings blocks or quilts that will go to our wounded and returning veterans?

You can either make HeartStrings blocks using just red/white/blue strings to send in for group quilts or work on your own quilt to be donated.

For blocks to be sent in, the following instructions should be used:

HEARTSTRING BLOCKS – to be pieced on a cotton fabric foundation; muslin or any cotton fabric can be used, if using dark or printed fabric foundations they shouldn’t be visible through the strings pieced on top of it.
Please start with a foundation that is 10 inches square.
Using only Red/White/Blue strings, use a 2 inch BLUE string for the center and add strings on either side of the center strip until the entire foundation is covered. Refer to the above photo if you have any questions about how the block should look – you can click on the photo to see a larger view.

You may use strips of any width up to 3 inches wide in your blocks; you may use strips all the same width or a variety of different widths in each block. You can even use strips that are not a consistent width down their entire length if you wish.
You can use any 100% cotton Red/White/Blue fabric for your strips once you’ve got the blue starter strip in the center.
When you’ve covered the entire foundation, press it and then trim it back to 9 and 1/2 inches square.
Email me for the address to mail your finished block or to tell us what YOU are working on.
Mary Johnson at mmcjohnson@gmail.com