HeartStrings Quilt Project

Judy Laquidara of Sunshine Quilts and the founder of the Stash Quilts blog ring issues a monthly Use the Stash Challenge to encourage quilters to dive into their stashes and make quilts using the fabric we already have.

Judy’s challenge for June is to make and donate a quilt to your favorite organization. Since HeartStrings quilts use all those little leftover bits and pieces of our stash to make donation quilts this is a great challenge for us.

Join in the fun and visit Judy’s site and let her know you’re playing along.

Since our Chinese Coins project has just come to an end, I’ll be pulling borders and sashing from my stash and will be assembling quilts from the coin sections sent in by HeartStrings quilters.

I love this recent photo of a HeartStrings quilt top that Nann posted (I see one of these in my future)! Don’t you love the touch of red?

Many of the HeartStrings quilts are bold and bright – certainly the group quilts that have the red or blue center strings tend to be – but choosing pastel fabrics makes a softer, sweeter quilt.

Jan in CO recently finished this quilt which is being donated to the breast cancer support group at her local hospital.

Another example is this Roman Stripes pieced by Helen in VA (quilted by Mary) using 30’s fabrics – also going to a woman with breast cancer.

Joanne emailed a photo of her finished HeartStrings quilt and wrote : I finished and donated the completed Heartstrings quilt at my guild on Monday night. The completed quilt will go to the Rockford Rescue Mission(IL). They have requested 10 – 12 twin size quilts. I also have volunteered to put together quilts from members completed blocks, so hopefully we’ll get this ball rolling here! I’ve attached a picture of the quilt. I also sent a blurb for our newsletter so the website should be getting a few more hits next month!

Stephanie, Jane, and Cheri have also sewn HeartStrings blocks with their groups. Kitty has taken her quilt to her guild’s show and tell.

Magazine articles have been written by Megan in Australian Quilters Companion and Australian Homespun Magazine.

Blogs like mine and Joanne’s, Jane’s, and too many more to list here – link to our website and this blog.

Quilt sites like Quiltville, Kaye Woods Quilting Friends, and Real Women Quilt link to us also.

And finally, following a link the other day from Samantha’s blog, I found an article about Project Linus on The Daily Nightly – the MSNBC blog and was able to leave a comment that links back to our website and blog.

So help us spread the word!

Sue called the Haviland Church today where we’ve been sending quilts for those affected by the Kansas tornado in Greensburg and wrote:

“I spoke to another person at the church in Kansas (Jeanne was not there when I called). The quilts have been arriving and they are being used! Jeanne has been handing them out herself.

The shelter has been closed – all the residents have moved in with relatives or been located to hotels and such and the FEMA trailers are starting to arrive.

Jeanne will hand out any more quilts as people get settled and the need arrives . If you are still planning on sending a quilt she will find a home for it . Otherwise we can start stockpiling quilts for the next event where a group donation would be helpful.

She gave a big THANK YOU to everyone that helped and everyone that prayed for the people affected by the tornado .

For anyone who would still like to send completed quilts to Kansas, the address and contact information can be found by clicking this link.

Thank you all who contributed both HeartStrings and other quilts (and the HeartStrings blocks they were made from) that were sent to Kansas.

Read the Article (PDF file)

An article about The HeartStrings Quilt Project has been published in the May/June issue of Australian Quilters Companion. This is a sister publication to Australian Homespun, and the editors of both magazines expressed interest in helping to spread the word about HeartStrings amongst their readers.
Again, Stephanie and her Stitch by Stitch group were featured. Thanks Steph!

Find out more about the magazine at www.quilterscompanion.com.au
Readers in North America can buy a copy (Vol 6 No 3 #25) from www.craftmags.com

Maxine emailed me photographs of 5 of the 6 HeartStrings quilts she recently donated.

She wrote “These are the photos of the quilts which have been donated to the Ke Kange Orphanage in Tanzania. I had such alot of trouble getting these done, first the machines went down and had to go in for repair and then I left my glasses at a daughters home 3 hrs drive away………As a result of all this I was one short to go back with my son.”

You may remember the other group of quilts from Maxine that were donated in March. All the quilts are lovely but she really inspires me with the wonderful string quilts she makes.

If you’ve wondered whether making a few blocks and mailing them to HeartStrings can really make a difference, here’s a reminder that every contribution counts – from a single block to an entire quilt. Guidelines for making HeartStrings blocks can be found on our website.

I posted a photo of several quilts that were heading to Kansas last week. Sue and Jennifer had found a local church where we could safely send quilts and know they would be received by the people of Greensburg affected by the tornado.

The HeartStrings quilt in that photo was assembled and quilted by Virginia from string blocks that had been mailed to Sue.

Since then, Becky shared photos of two HeartStrings quilts that she assembled and quilted – from group blocks – that had been mail to Kansas.

And yesterday, Meloney mailed another HeartStrings quilt (from group blocks) to Kansas that she had assembled and quilted.

I’ve received many emails from HeartStrings quilters (and others who have visited our blog) who are sending quilts to Kansas for people affected by the recent tornado in Greensburg.

I’ve counted at least 40 quilts that have already been sent (or will be soon) as the result of the HeartStrings Quilt Project effort as well as at least another handful of tops that are being mailed out for quilting and will be sent as soon as they are finished.

Although I’ve received several emails from groups asking us to join their efforts and send quilts to them for Kansas, I think it’s important to continue to focus on our local donations as well as sending quilts for special circumstances such as the Kansas tornado. I have responded to those requests with the following information:

We’re a group that makes and donates quilts to local organizations. Because our members wanted to make donations for Greensburg, we contacted a local church and about 40 quilts have been sent with at least several more to follow once they are quilted.

We have chosen to contact a local church and send quilts directly there. You can read more about our efforts at our blog .
http://heartstringsquiltproject.blogspot.com/2007/05/helping-those-in-need.html

Good luck with your efforts,
Mary Johnson
HeartStrings Quilt Project

For those of you still working on finishing quilts that you want to send to Kansas, I suggest you send them directly to the church contacted by Sue.