More inspiration from Katie of Swim, Bike, Quilt

We are so thrilled to have the wonderful Katie share her inspiration and free patterns with us this month...

Hi! My name is Katie Blakesley, and I blog at Swim, Bike, Quilt. My blog has been a little quieter than normal lately due to a difficult pregnancy and an impending cross country move (from Virginia to Oregon); I hope you will still visit.

I’m happy to be talking a little bit about this month’s Le Challenge blog theme, charity.  I know my life is happier when I think about charity in a broad sense—trying to show a little more love, kindness and forgiveness for myself and those around me—which includes choosing to believe the best in others instead of the worst.

Since this is a sewing related post, I'm going to share a little about my experience with charity quilts, and include a few free pattern ideas that work really well for donation quilts.

If you are interested in making a quilt for someone in need, the easiest thing to do is to join in a charity quilt drive or group that is already established. Not only do you benefit from a cheering section, deadlines, a cause, and sometimes even prizes (not that we sew for prizes but its kind of fun anyway), but you don't have to do any organizing. It's already done for you!

For several years, I have organized a yearly quilt drive called 100 Quilts for Kids. It has been a wonderful thing in my life, and I’m so happy to announce that my fellow DC Modern Quilt Guild member and friend Heather Tompkins of Quilts in the Queue will be continuing as the organizer of 100 Quilts for Kids. Make sure to follow her blog as she announces 2014 dates and fun! I hope you will consider participating.

100 Quilts  = fun + easy!

1. Make a quilt.  Great time to use bee blocks, try a new pattern, practice your free motion quilting, or experiment with a design of your own.

2. Donate it to a child in need, locally if you can.  Consider donating your quilt(s) to a local foster care program, domestic violence center, homeless shelter, children’s hospital, or to a local military family support organization. You can also mail them to the DC Modern Quilt Guild if you would prefer.

There are so many great charities and sewing circles out there!! If you don’t know where to donate your quilt, try one of these organizations or quilt drives: Margaret’s Hope Chest, Bumble Beans Basics, do.Good Stitches, Project Linus, the work done by Sarah and her Quilt Ministry, and Siblings Together.

If you are interested, here is a little information about 100 Quilts for Kids in 2013!  Check out the quilts linked up here, in the Flickr Group, and using the hashtag #100quilts4kids on Instagram.

In the past few years, the DC Modern Quilt Guild has donated quilts to a domestic violence shelter for women and kids in Alexandria, VA; a community group that supports indigent families in DC;  and the DC center that transitions children to foster care.  In some cases, quilts have been hung on walls to brighten up sometimes dreary and non-inviting spaces. In other cases, they have been given to kids who need some comfort and care.  You can’t really go wrong with that, I think. 

Free Patterns for Charity Quilts I thought I would share a few free patterns to get you started thinking about quilts for kids. If you aren’t up for making a quilt by yourself, ask a local guild, group of friends, or quilting bee to each make a block for you, or invite friends over to your house and teach some basic sewing lessons! I have done all of these--there is no wrong way to sew for charity. 

The Wonky Star Quilt 

Last year, Dear Stella donated this great fabric for a Wonky Star Quilt and a number of friends in my guild made 15’’ wonky star blocks using this tutorial. I was able to quilt and bind the quilt, and I think it was a great group effort. If you have bee blocks or sampler blocks that are just sitting around, its a simple way to use them! 

Star Bright Quilt 

I made one of my all time favorite quilts last year, and shared a downloadable free Star Bright Quilt Pattern. Its available on Craftsy or my blog.  

The LOVE Quilt

I’ve always loved this Love quilt made by Jessica for 100 Quilts for Kids a number of years ago.  Kelly Bowser has a tutorial for the free wonky letters at Sew, Mama, Sew.  

Linked Octagons 

Anjeannette Klinder has a great free pattern on the Moda Bake Shop

Giant Starburst Quilt Along 

Megan has a great Giant Starburst Quilt Along on her blog, Canoe Ridge Creations. This would be a fun and simple quilt to make!  

I hope this post helps you think a bit more about charity quilts, and that you join in on a charity project this year!

Huge thanks to Katie for joining us and providing such brilliant links and ideas! We wish you all the best with your pregnancy and move :)

More inspiration from Alyce

Today we have a special guest post by Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts...

I'm thrilled that the Le Challenge ladies thought of me for this month's theme, Rising Sun. After all, living in Japan, I live and breath (and sell) Japanese fabric! We are Aussie ex-pats living in Chiba (right next to Tokyo on the Bay) for 4 years for my husband's work and we're almost halfway through that time.

 

Recently, I was was able to attend my second Tokyo Great International Quilt Festival. It is a massive quilt show held at Tokyo Dome - an indoor baseball stadium! Aisles and aisles of quilts and shopping are laid out on the field and it is a sight to behold when up in the stands, the hordes of people swarming around.

 

Despite being a "Great International" quilt show, it's very Japanese. The signs next to each quilt are mostly in Japanese, with only a few naming the quilt or quilter in English. All the Special Exhibits are in Japanese, leaving you to guess what's so special about the featured quilter, other than their amazing creativity and technical skills of course! And of course, most of the quilts have a "Japanese look" to them, which I've been pondering and trying to identify just what it is that makes them look so Japanese.

  The Fabric

 

 This the most obvious one, of course. The use of indigo fabrics and Hawaiian solids (ombre effects) are widespread, using various shades to create a fascinating visual effect.

   

 Then there is the use of popular Japanese fabrics like First Of Infinity. Granted, this particular quilt is by Kumiko Fujita herself... 

  The Style

 

 Other than using solids to create unique visual effects, and bold graphic designs like Fujita-san, Japanese quilters are also big fans of the scrappy quilt. When they do branch outside solids and use a variety of print fabrics, it's always with a scrappy effect. And usually with incredibly tiny, hand-pieced designs!

   

 Art quilts are also highly popular, in particular the highly-lifelike variety. This quilter used tiny pieces of fabrics and sparkly thread to create this incredible cherry blossom quilt, accurately recreating the light and shadows, the colours, and, the light and airy feel of the blossoms.

You can see all my photos from the Quilt Festival in my Tokyo Great International Quilt Festival Flickr set, as well as the 2012 Yokohama Quilt Festival, the 2013 Tokyo Quilt Festival and the 2013 Yokohama Quilt Festival for more Japanese inspiration! And if you are ever in my neck of the woods, I'm always happy to help out with recommendations for fabric shopping in Tokyo.

Thank you so much for the fabulous inspiration Alyce!

Remember to come back and link up your Rising Sun projects on 15th February for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.