Quilt for a Smile: We have a quilt top!

As is par for the course around the holidays, things have been pretty busy around here.  Children's activities, meetings and my shoulder surgery have kept me away from the sewing machine more than I'd have liked.  But I did manage to eek out a quilt top.

 As I posted earlier, the generous Patricia Bravo sent fabric scraps from her studio to readers who volunteered to make a quilt for Project Linus.  I chose to make a Mod Mosaic quilt based on Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic floor pillow tutorial.  I absolutely love the Mod Mosaic block, but it is time consuming!  I think I'll keep to simpler blocks for charity quilts- the goal is to make them quickly so I can donate them quickly.

After watching me play around and make blocks with the scraps I received, Martina (my 8-year old) has become an ardent admirer of Patricia Bravo.  So much so that she has commissioned a Mod Mosaic quilt from me.  We went to Pat's blog and browsed though her fabric collections, where Martina chose the yet-to-be-released Poetica in the cool colorway for her quilt.  My parents gave her Christmas shopping money, and she decided to put aside some of that money to buy a 1/2 yard bundle of Poetica when it hits the shops in February.

The quilting of the Project Linus quilt will, unfortunately, have to wait until my shoulder completely heals.  This gives me a little time to decide how to quilt it.  Free motion quilting is out (never tried it), as is stitch in the ditch (which lines would I follow?).  Any suggestions?

Art Gallery Fabric/Project Linus Charity quilt

          Look what I found waiting in the mailbox after the wine weekend getaway:

The scrap bag from Patricia Bravo's studio had arrived!  She's one of my favorite designers- those gorgeous prints and solids!  Her generosity has just sent her to the top of my list!  Sending out studio scraps to benefit Project Linus- it's green (reduces waste), it benefits a wonderful cause, and I get to work with her beautiful fabric- what's not to love?

      I've spent the past couple of nights piecing like mad.  The Mod Mosaic block is perfect for the scraps I received- mostly small scraps, but almost a yard and a half of Pure Elements solid.  I LOVE how the blocks are shaping up.  Little momma watched me working on the blocks last night and lamented that they were not for her.

I am now fighting what will probably be a losing battle to buy a half yard bundle of Bespoken and some yardage of Pure Elements in Cabernet to make a Mod Mosaic quilt to keep!

Worthwhile diversions

     It is with much regret that I report that, for the first time in my adult life, I missed a deadline.  I dislike being late for anything.  I even had all three of my children early!  [Not on purpose- they all just decided to show up a few weeks earlier than expected.]  The Habitat Challenge is a different story altogether.  Here sits the quilt, hibernating on the hutch until I feel inspired to pick it up again:

I'll blog about the Habitat challenge in my next post... not feeling great about it at the moment.

    In the meantime, I'll post about something I do feel good about- helping others.  I came across a blog post where Kelsey of Kelsey Creates put out a call for help making blocks for a donation quilt.  The quilt will be made for an acquaintance of hers who not only lost his home last year in the San Bruno gas line explosion, but was recently involved in a car accident that put him in the hospital.  His wife is due to have a baby in December.  

    The block requested is a Mod Mosaic block, which I've been wanting to try.  I love it.  Here it is in the chosen color palette:

There's still time if anyone is interested in making a block.

     And because my family keep hounding me about finishing their quilts, of course I decided instead to answer Pat Bravo's call to make a charity quilt for Project Linus.  I received an email from her, and some of her beautiful studio scraps should be landing on my doorstep this week.  I'm looking forward to playing with her pretty fabric, and I hope to knock out a quilt before Christmas.