Scrappy Trip to Ethiopia

I finished up a quilt top this morning - one which I've been working one for a month or so. It feels good to turn a couple of blocks that I started as an experiment into a finished quilt top.

And this one feels even better, because it serves a really fun purpose!

It's for a raffle, the proceeds from which will help the Snyder family take a mission trip to Ethiopia! Shannon asked on Facebook if anyone had a homemade item they'd be willing to donate - and the Lord laid it on my heart that I didn't need this quilt. I started to make this quilt with no purpose, just to try it out - so this is the perfect use for it!

So, the last week or so I've been working to finish the blocks and arrange them. Many of the fabrics are ones that have some sentimental meaning to them, or are favorites of mine - the purple hydrangea fabric and two floral pieces are ones that I bought at the quilt store I worked at in high school. This morning I got all of the blocks pieced together, and now it's ready to be quilted and then bound.

It's been a great conversation piece with Micah - we've gotten a few opportunities to talk about Africa, and why we are giving this quilt away. Helping prepare him for more conversations about kids in Africa who don't have families?

I'm not sure when I'll be ready to quilt it though. I'm kind of loving it hanging in my dining room!

I'll share more details about the raffle when they have it all set up!

Comma Quilt Top

We have a new quilt shop in town, and on its first day open, I made sure to check out her stock! I snagged a couple of charm packs of Zen Chic for Moda's line, Comma. I love the bright colors (yellow, green, orange) and how punctuation is used throughout the line to make up the majority of the designs.

I cut the charm squares in half, so they were 2.5 x 5 and sewed them into strips of 8. Then I trimmed each strip down to 4 7/8 x 15 7/8. I had some white fabric that has a subtle wood-grain pattern, and cut it into 16 inch squares. Using squares of the main star burst fabric as corner anchors, I pieced the top together, forming a colorful grid around the white squares.

Now it's hanging in my craft area, waiting for me to decide what to do with it. I contemplated putting on a border, but I think I like it the way it is. Now I need to choose a backing and binding, and quilt it.

For now, it's fun to look at while I work on other projects.