Hands2Help Gingham Quilt

This is my third quilt for Hands2Help this year, and my eighth year of participating. This one was a DrEAMi, as in a Drop Everything And Make it project. It is not a true DrEAMi, in that I did not drop everything until it was done, but it did definitely take me away from regularly scheduled sewing for two separate chunks of time: cutting and constructing. From starting to piece until finished quilt it took just 24 hours!

It started with making a string placemat for the RSC challenge, which happens to be forest and sage green for this month... I had the squares all cut and on the design wall on May 9. And then a couple of other necessities preempted its completion: La Mer (I behaved, and finished up a UFO) and making the Pop Star flimsy for my QAL.

I noticed that I actually did have a fair amount (in smaller chunks) of these shades of green, and some of them are pretty old! In my newfound desire to "use it all up" I decided that I could probably cut these chunks of forest greens into 5" squares. They would be the dark, and I was sure I could find some sage greens for the medium...

Friday May 20

Well, I didn't have enough of any one in my 1/3 to 1/4 yard drawer organizers, so I checked on my shelves of yardage, and I spied this adorable Laurel Burch (have I said recently how much I love her fabric? No? Well, there I just did, and now I feel better.) Moving on. I thought it might do the trick, and I did have enough. Just. You need 40 squares of the medium. The dark and light have a lot less. I was having trouble finding a light that worked with the forest and sage, and then I thought of maybe a beige or cream... and found this lovely solid. I think it's a lawn, because it's very soft and lighter in weight than regular quilting cotton. It really was a lovely little chunk of soft fine fabric. So this is the convo I often have with myself:

Maybe I shouldn't use it.... it's so beautiful a hand.

Okay, well what should you use it for then? 

Waiting...

Maybe a camisole...

I don't make them!

Maybe I bought it for a lining for ... ??

Still no idea?

Okay, sold. Use it.

So I did. And it's all gone. I ended up having to cut five different forest greens to get the required number of squares, but they all read the same, so they work. The cream actually takes on a bit of a greenish hue, doesn't it?!

I pieced, quilted and applied the binding all with the same Madeira polyester thread. Not one break while quilting with it in Avril. I am SO happy she had her spa last summer. She is back to taking on any kind of thread and stitching beautifully. Speaking of taking on any kind of thread and stitching beautifully, I pieced this on my 1947 Featherweight, Billie, and she continues to amaze me with her sewing prowess. 

Finished on Saturday May 21! Storms all evening meant I had to wait until Sunday for photos.

For the backing, again I went to my shelves of yardage since the backing vault didn't really have anything I wanted to cut into, only needing 40-odd inches. I found a lovely Moda (sooo soft!) that I had bought for the border of a quilt I made my sister Linda several years ago. Perfect. Except there was only about 3/4 yard. Okay, need another 16" or so. I found a sage that I'd originally thought might work as the medium on the front of the quilt that could add to the amount required. Great. However, there was not quite enough. Aha! Fill in with what's left of one of the forest greens from the front.

I cut up the remainder of the forest green into a 5" square and a few 2.5" squares. All three fabrics on the back are now gone! This is feeling very good I must say. And I have this wonderful quilt to give to someone in need of a quilty hug! For the batting, I had two small hunks that butted together perfectly (I just hand-whipstitch them together with big stitches as they lie on the backing on my longarm), so that felt good to use them up too. 

As for the binding, I nearly pulled out some forest green fabric from the drawer organizers, when it occurred to me to check my baggie of binding cut-offs. The two floral quilts ate up a ton of it, but I had quite a few hunks of black, a deep purple floral, and a wine... sold!

It doesn't show that well, but I love the pop of the green thread (it has such a nice sheen) on the black binding.

I'm so pleased with how it turned out. The photo below is post-laundering as it finishes air-drying on my sewing room floor. For the first wash I pop them in a low dryer for 5-8 minutes and then let them finish air-drying flat.

Here are all three.

It's so green thanks to some really good rains and sunny days in between this past week.

I've contacted a reporter for CBC about donating one or two of these to an Afghan immigrant family in need. I feel awful that Canada seems to have let these incredible people (interpreters, navigators, helpers of all kinds, and their families), fall between the cracks since helping Ukrainian refugees has become forefront. I will also be sending one or two, depending on what happens once I hear back from whoever she has forwarded my phone number to, to my friend Tammy, who has been a wonderful go-between for refugees and Indigenous people in need over the past several years.

I am so grateful to Mari at The Academic Quilter for taking on the demanding role of organizing this event in Sarah's absence this year, and I continue to send Sarah heartfelt good wishes.

Quilt Stats:

Pattern: Gingham quilt by Simple Simon & Company

Size: 40.5" square
Fabric: Stash and scraps

Backing: 'Quilt Connection' by Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda and scraps

Batting: 100% polyester
Quilted: on Avril 20 947 stitches

Threads: pieced and quilted with Madeira Polyneon 100% polyester

Linking up

AlyciaQuilts

TGIFF at Sarah Goer Quilts