Friday, November 15, 2013

Bags and Bee and BOM

Thanks to 31 of you who entered my giveaway for a copy of  Modern Baby Quilts. Number 31, was the winner - Sherry, who's a member of the Des Moines MQG. Congratulations, Sherry!

Have you heard of Operation Christmas Child? It's a shoebox-filling project to collect and send boxes of small gifts to children in other countries. Our church is supporting the effort, even sending 14 people from our church to help process boxes in Atlanta. We took two empty boxes for filling.

We could choose to fill boxes for a boy or girl, in one of three age ranges. We picked the 5 to 9 year-old group, one box for a boy and one box for a girl.

We've been told that book bags are a much-needed item, so it was fun to make these two with fabric from my stash. I adapted this tutorial, making small modifications to make sewing even faster.

For the boy, some essentials (bar soap, washcloths, toothbrush and toothpaste, lip balm, pencils and an eraser) and a couple just-for-fun things.

Likewise, for the girl. It's satisfying to help just a little bit, and know that we'll have helped put a smile on a child's face. We saw the video of what it's like when the boxes are distributed. It just makes you feel warm and squishy inside.

For the Mid-Century Modern Bee, our November Queen Bee, René requested four triangles to sew into a Spider Web block. Here's the tutorial we used. The only difference is that René doesn't want us to sew together the triangles. That's so she can mix them up once she receives pieces from all 12 of us.

These were a mess to make, but oh-so-much-fun! I pulled out several of my small pieces bins to press and cut strips 1" to 2" wide.

I could sew spider web blocks for hours... and probably still not make much of a dent in my scraps. René will be getting eight triangles from me. One of them includes this bit of flamingo. I guess that fabric has become sort of my identification, as I've included it in several bee blocks. 

Keeping up with the Bay Area Modern BOM, along with a few quilters from our Central Florida MQG, I made this 12-1/2" Pixel Strips block. It was easy to sew.

Lately, I've been adding to my fabric stash, for ease in sewing when the moods strikes, or so I rationalize it. I also now own a Quick Curve ruler, and can't wait to make the quilt that's in my head. That is, after finishing the Riley Blake Challenge, a Project Linus quilt, a new quilt design for students in my beginner quilting class, and a couple Christmas gifts! I bet your quilting list is as long as mine. Make me feel better and say, "Yes, my list is long too, Linda!"

16 comments:

  1. Oh wow, I love your modern bee blocks. The colours just "speak" to me. I'm going to "pin" them right away. What a neat idea to send Christmas boxes to kids in other countries. Can you imagine the joy when they unpack all these wonderful goodies. And I hope they also feel the love!!!

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  2. Great post, Linda. We also do the Christmas Child bloxes with Samaritan's Purse....such a wonderful organization!

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  3. Yes, my list is long :). We also do shoe boxes at our church. I took two boxes and turned them in last week. What a great idea to make tote bags. I'll be doing that next year. Love the blocks!

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  4. I enjoy doing the boxes at this end. If I were at the other end, I'd be a useless puddle of tears ; )
    Wonderful blocks too

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  5. Yes, my list is that long too Linda! I just don't want to write it all down! I must get my siggy block done before I send my spiderweb blocks sent off to Rene! And I think I might have seen evidence of your recent fabric shopping trip on IG too!

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  6. Ha- had to chuckle at the things to do before you do the other next thing! Yes, my list is too long. It's almost embarrassing, except I know I'm not alone. I like the b&w prints you used in the center triangle of your bee blocks. Colors are very sharp and lively, too. All such fun stuff. And those boxes will be welcomed gift for the children I'm sure. Good project.

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  7. I think my list is 10 long...way too long for someone who doesn't make real fast progress!!! Your blocks and triangles are so colorful and bright!!!

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  8. Lovely post about the boxes sent overseas. We do charity work in our church too, and I agree with your assessment of warm feelings all around!

    My list? Does it ever end? And then I see cute things on blogs and I keep adding to it. Horrors!

    Love your bee blocks.

    Elizabeth
    opquilt.com

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  9. Yes my list is long Linda, and time is short! We do the shoebox ministry at my church too and it's such fun. One year I got to take the shoeboxes to the next church down the line where they were packed into a huge truck to be shipped on. I'm working on some projects for the next blog hop at Sew We Quilt and am about to finish that up but have several ideas in mind for the next thing. :) blessings, marlene

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  10. Linda, my list is as long or longer. There, does that make you feel better?? lol Your spider web triangles are wonderful. Love the bright colors and b&w in the centers. That might be a good idea for my block exchange when my turn comes around again. The shoebox project is a wonderful idea. It was a good idea for the book bags too.

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  11. We did the same thing for kids at our church awhile back. Your bags will be much appreciated I'm sure. very cute. Rene's blocks look great. I plan to make mine next weekend at our guild sew day.

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  12. I love filling the shoeboxes every year. This year I filled boxes with my Mops group. We all brought different items and piled them together. Our table alone was able to fill 15 boxes. So much fun!

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  13. I went back to see the tutorial you reference, but there was no word highlighted for the link. Am I missing it somewhere? Thanks for your help.

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  14. Linda when I was doing classes at a local shop we did the shoebox thing too - I loved the time spent choosing fun things for the box - ended up putting together several of them. The simplest things - a tennis ball, a toothbrush/paste, hair ribbon, pencils and paper, soap. But a few months later some photos showed us the joy on the faces of the children receiving them - tears flowed! A very satisfying thing to do.

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  15. :) I like your list of upcoming projects. Fun modern BOM block, and the spider webs are super cool. That's on my Do-This-Someday list, too. . .

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  16. Being Mid Century myself, I'm lovin' the blocks you all have been making!

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