Some days you wake up with a plan, only to find that life has a much better one in store for you. Yesterday, I woke up with one idea for how my day would progress, but I quickly found that I was called in a different direction. In case you missed it, Molli Sparkles is organizing the creating of quilts to support the families of those who lost their lives in Sydney. After having gone through a recent traumatic experience myself, I knew instantly that I wanted to give back to the global community that held my friends and I in their collective thoughts and prayers. So, I quickly made 14 of Molli’s Hashtag Blocks to contribute and mailed them off yesterday. I’m not sure if the black / gray / brown block will work with the color theme, but I thought I’d throw them into the mix anyway. The blocks are in the mail, and I hope that they are received in the spirit of healing and gratitude in which I created and shipped them.
Hashtag Blocks by Quitling Jetgirl
Based on first hand experience, having others reach out to you in a time of profound grief is an amazing lifeline. Please, consider joining in on the creation of blocks to send love from all over the world to those in need. If you are in the US, Julie @ The Intrepid Thread is collecting up blocks to send together to save on international postage, so please get in contact with Julie if you would like to make a block or two but do not want to pay the international shipping fee. She will collect blocks through the end of December. More details available at The Intrepid Thread blog.
Tutorial at http://www.mollisparkles.com
My original plan for yesterday was to finish the piecing on the Pretty Secretive Queen Sized Quilt, but instead I will be working on it today! I am almost done piecing the top and I just need to figure out some details for the large center block before I can finish it up. Sorry to keep teasing you with distorted images, but it’s the best I can do for now. The image below has been distorted in Photoshop to make it look like a tiled mosaic to hide some of the details.
Pretty Secretive Quilt Top
This past week I have also started piecing the Cocoa Leaf Medallion quilt. As a quick recap, the quilt is inspired by this beautiful light fixture that is in the bedroom where the quilt will reside:
Cocoa Leaf Drum Light – Quilt Inspiration
I created some large templates and got the center of the quilt pieced over the weekend. The center is currently 60.5″ square and the quilt is going to be about 100″ wide by 120″ long.
Cocoa Leaf Medallion Quilt Center
The next step will be to figure out how to applique down the large cocoa leaves in the center of the medallion. I had thought that I would first finish out the quilt top with the rest of the Kona Cream and then do all the applique work (all the leaves will be applied via applique), but I decided that it would be easier to manipulate the center leaves now before adding even more material. And, as always, I am really impressed with how well the real quilts look in comparison to the EQ5 designs that I make.
Cocoa Leaf Medallion Quilt – Design
I realize everyone is probably really busy in this final week before Christmas. I hope that you are finding time to stop and enjoy your family, friends, and that you are happy, warm, cozy, and loved this holiday season.
Linking up to WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced and Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts (buttons on sidebar to the right).
Very nice. It’s a wonderful thing to reach out. I am in a searching mode right now that I hope will change my life. We shall see.
So looking forward to your final reveal on that great big beauty of a Pretty Secretive quilt. You have me intrigued!!! Wise call on appliqueing first and adding to the medallion later with the cocoa leaves quilt. This is going to be a fantastic quilt. I love the design! What a gorgeous set of hashtag blocks…. And for such a wonderful cause. My prayers are with those affected.
I think the mosaic of your pretty secretive top looks pretty awesome!
Your hashtag blocks look great and I’m sure they will all be very much appreciated and used 🙂 I need to make a trip to the posty today, will have to put some in the mail as well 🙂
The cocoa leaf medallion is looking great too! It’s going to be huge! How fun it will be to get some great time on your long arm quilting!! 🙂
Good of you to jump on Molli’s challenge. I was glad to see he doesn’t need them until January…I should be able to contribute too! How are you piecing the Pretty Secretive Queen Sized Quilt? Are those hexigons? Are you nuts??? 🙂 It’s looking great but…my word! That’s a lot of little pieces?
These teaser shots are really keeping me interested! I can’t wait for the big reveal.
Beautiful hashtags. They will surely be put to good use, I heard he wants to try and make 6 quilts! I think he might make his goal – I’ve seen such a great outpouring of support from the community.
Your hash tag blocks are so wonderful and thoughtful. And I am very intrigued by your secretive quilt. As for the medallion, have you seen how some people use a light weight iron on interfering when doing appliqué? Just a thought.
I love how the Pearl Bracelet hash tag block turned out! A whole lot of lovely looking WIP’s.
Gorgeous! I do love the hashtags and the cause is amazing.
Wow, that was quick work on the hash tag blocks. Thanks for sharing your beautiful projects.
Well done Yvonne!
Great start to the medallion, the circle looks great!
Your blocks are great – and they were made with love… so even more beautiful!
What a great cause to sew for, and your blocks look wonderful. Love the start of your cocoa leaf quilt too.
Great hashtag blocks!!! They will all be cherished.
Your hashtag blocks are wonderful–and will be a great addition to the quilts they are making. Before I realized your photo of the PSQSQ was tiled, I was trying to figure out how you did that mosaic! Can’t wait for the reveal!
A big thank you from this little Aussie for sending those hashtag blocks 🙂
Wow! That cocoa leaf quilt will be huge! Beautiful, but huge!
I can’t wait to see your two quilts!! I can already tell they are going to be awesome! I agree, reaching out to others in times of trouble is so important!