Charity Quilt - Siblings Together Quilting Bee 2016

I am so pleased to share this finished quilt with you. Not only because I think it is beautiful (well, I would say that, wouldn't I?!) but because of the wonderful quilters I got to collaborate with over the year making blocks for their quilts and them making blocks for mine.

Here are just a few of the blocks I made for the other bees over the year:

We could each choose the design of our own blocks - I designed this 18.5" finished block and I asked for yellow, blue, orange and green fabrics with a white background:

My month was March and the blocks soon trickled in:

I ended up with a couple of extras so used three on the back (after checking that no-one would mind) and they went perfectly with some stripey fabric I had in my stash - I do like the backs of my quilts to be as 'tidy' as the front - do you?

And with grateful thanks to these fabulously talented and kind-hearted ladies: Maria, Nicky, Jane, Sonia, Joanne, Sue, Mary, Carol, Julie, Hannah  and Brigid, here is my finished quilt:

It ended up at 72" x 56" so a really nice size  - for a teenager, perhaps? And the very important label:

This is my 3rd quilt for the charity this year - my first one was a collaboration with Joan from Ohio:

My second one was an unplanned improv scrap-busting blue quilt:

And this last one ... I love them all. I do hope the child / young person who will receive this quilt this Summer thanks to the wonderful charity - Siblings Together - will love it too:

Linking up with Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and the Siblings Together Quilt Group.

Great tutorials :)

I have a few little finishes to share with you this week; a patchwork tote bag, a small table mat, a one-hour basket and a simple zipper bag. The first two I made are for a charity I have recently got involved with - Chernobyl Children's Lifeline (CCLL North Wales) - and I put together a tutorial for the bag here and the mat here.

A little reminder of the work CCLL North Wales do: they are part of a national charity that helps children living in Belarus and Northern Ukraine who still suffer the effects of low level radiation some 30 years after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl. They are bringing 17 children (12 girls and 5 boys) to North Wales this July to stay with Host Families - whilst here, the combination of uncontaminated food, fresh air and sunshine, exciting trips out and lots of exercise does the children a power of good. 

I met the local chair recently (Gerrie) at a talk she was giving  - she was incredibly inspiring and passionate about her work - this drew me to her and so I introduced myself. I told her I was a hobby quilter and asked what could I do to help. We agreed a tote bag and a small table mat would be perfect gifts for the children and their families. Knowing I couldn't possibly make all of this by myself (as fast as I am!), I put out a request on Instagram and got 16+ volunteers within hours - I was thrilled at the wonderful response. 

Please do search the tag #ccllnorthwalesquiltbee on Instagram to see what 'my gals' have been making. 

Then yesterday, I made my sister a one-hour basket using Kelly @ Kelby Sews' tutorial:

And I got swept up by all the recent #simplezipperbag posts on Instagram, and made this cute bag following (with just a little variation) the YouTube tutorial from Fat Quarter Shop:

All these projects are great to make (including mine!); even better to give away and also are wonderful form of therapy when you just want / need to sew little things quickly. Thank you to all the quilters who share their time and creativity in whatever way to make life just a little bit easier for someone else - someone they've never even met but share this passion with.

Linking up with Amanda Jean @crazymomquilts and Sarah @confessionsofafabricaddict.

Happy weekend :)