For the past 6 years, I’ve been making 3 quilts a year for the Greater Cincinnati Linus Project.  This year, I made an additional quilt.  I had bought some panel fabric on Etsy showing girls and boys at work and play.  I cut it apart and used the boy panels for one quilt and now I’ve used the girl panels for this one.  For alternate blocks I found an interesting block on my Judy Martin Stars & Sets software.  Judy has a way of giving a relatively easy block a twist and making it special.  This block is called Waltzing Matilda and is also in her book, Ultimate Book of Quilt Block Patterns.  There is a tiny amount of partial seaming at the very beginning of the block and from that point, it’s an easy block to piece.  It’s a good introduction to partial seaming for beginners.

The software was used to make a 4″ version for the border and I used the outline shape to quilt in the center of each 12″ block.

I used red calico as sashing to bring the panels to the correct size and did some decorative stitching in the sashing and borders.  Fleece forms the backing/batting as recommended by the Linus Project.

The quilt measures 40-1/2″x50″.  I hope some little girl in the hospital enjoys the bright colors and cute pictures in this quilt.

The third quilt I made this year for donation to the Linus Project is one that was made with a large panel showing rows of storybook characters.

The top border incorporated a “Whirlwind” block from the Electric Quilt 6 software alternating with 9-patch blocks.

The bottom border was all 9-patch blocks.

The backing/batting was light blue fleece and machine quilting was minimal, using free motion stitching around the rows of storybook figures and in-the-ditch stitching on the borders.  The inner border had decorative stitching going down the center.

The finished quilt measured 38″ x 57″.

The Linus Project distributes donated quilts and blankets to seriously ill children in local hospitals.

To commemorate back-to-school time, my oldest daughter gave me a redwork panel she had embroidered with a charming old-fashioned schoolroom scene.  She got the pattern from Quilting Bee Designs and used her usual excellent embroidery skills to make it special.

I thought the size of the panel would make it an ideal piece for a wall hanging and started thinking of what I could use as a border that would frame the work without overwhelming it.  I found a block pattern on Judy Martin’s Stars and Sets software that I adapted to use as a border.  The name of the block is Virginia Backroads and typical of Judy Martin’s designs, it takes a relatively easy pattern and adds an extra twist or two to make it interesting – to sew and to view.  I like the way the star overlaps the adjoining blocks and I extended the 9-patch portion to make the size I needed on each side of the embroidered piece.

I used a lot of scraps in red and white to piece the backing and the quilting is made up of very simple outline stitches and stitch-in-the-ditch with machine embroidered feather stitching along the edge of the panel.

The finished size of the wall hanging is 20×26-1/2 inches.

Above the wall hanging I like to place a small picture or piece of needlework.  My daughter adapted an internet drawing to make a design of a schoolhouse and tree with falling leaves which she did in redwork.  I simply framed the piece with a border.

These cheerful, colorful pieces are a nice addition to my living room.