Blessing Quilts and Baby Blankets

I love creating baby quilts for others. It is so much fun and each and every one is so precious and so dear. I call them "Blessing Quilts" as I make them, and give them away in multiples at a time.

Having just finished a nice big stack of receiving blankets and quilts for donation to Alexia's Cozy Covers  where they are handed out to various social services here in the Salem, Oregon area. I was still on a roll of having so much fun giving to others that I started another little baby quilt.

This one is blues and apple green with touches of brown, it seemed a good fit for either a boy or a girl and I began it not quite sure who it would go to or how it might be used.

Then , a miracle happened. a couple we know who have been longing for a little one for years and years were 'instantly' selected for adoption by a young mother coming into a major hospital in Portland, in labor, and unable to care for the baby she was about to give birth to.

Our friends who had been on adoptive lists and done all of the home studies were selected out of a portfolio of profiles and the young mother she said she wanted this couple, absolutely wanted them to be the parents of her young baby.

And my little quilt is just perfect for this little one and I couldn't be happier to be able to give this one away! Welcome to the new little one and your wonderful, loving new family!

And how do I get so many done, and so many finished and given away?I  sew with three machines at once! Here, is my serger for flannel edges, my featherweight for simple top seaming of blocks from the nearby design floor...

And my Viking is powering away just around the corner in the sewing nook! Three at once with pedals to the metal in synchronized sewing!! And yes, this is how I keep from sitting in one place and getting a bit of exercise during the day ;-)

It's such a wonderful feeling to make a big pile of quilts or blankets, wrap them up into bundles, or stack them in a carry back for bringing for donation!  It fills up my heart and reminds me that giving to others with my heart and from my hands is what I am meant to do! 

Links to my other posts and tutorials:

Creating a Modern Baby Layette: Free Patterns and Tutorials

 

  

 

 

Disappearing 4,9,16 And Other Patch and Twist/Turn Variations!

But here's a quick and easy D9P reminder:

1. Seam three rows of 5.5" strips as shown

2. Cut apart into 5.5" squares

3. Sew the same with your other printed fabric...cats, here..and alternate the strips as shown

4. Sew into 9 patches.

5. Cut nine patch square in half vertically, then horizontally.

6. Rearrange as shown. Two outside corners and two inside corners.

7. Sew into a new your D9P block.

                                                    

8. Make the remaining blocks and there is the layout ready to sew together!

Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey from Alaska to Oregon with thousands of free Quilting, Sewing, and Crafting Patterns and Tutorials. Help change the world, one little quilt, art quilt, and prayer flag at a time!