quilt blocks for aneela

I received my special delivery of Aneela Hoey's "Posy" fabric on Friday afternoon. Hello little bunnies, chickens, flowers and... is that pollen?!

As I mentioned on my previous post, several quilters are making blocks to comfort Moda fabric designer Aneela Hoey as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. Chelsea at Pins and Bobbins has organized this project, and I knew that I wanted to participate as soon as I heard the sad news. Blocks can be made in either 10" or 5" (mine are 10") using any of Aneela's prints and need to be mailed out by July 1. You can read the full details of this project here. The pattern that we are using is a free tutorial by Canoe Ridge Creations. These were fast to sew - start to finish took me just 1 hour! - and really fun to make. I used fat quarters, but all you really need is 8 charm squares, plus some white stitch-and-flip corners. They were a calm, easy break from the complicated red, white and blue Butterscotch Tart blocks that have kept me occupied for the past few weeks. This pattern really allows the focus to be on the fabric.

I had to make a block from my favorite color combo, pink and green (ok, I cheated a bit with the lavender, but I wanted the block to have a softer look). And now I have 9 nearly full fat quarters to use in another project! I can't wait to see how Chelsea finishes the quilt, and I think that Aneela is really going to love receiving this gift. Get well soon!

I'm linking up with the Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times, and I invite you to check out what other quilters are working on this week.

butterscotch tarts + a special quilt

I've finished another three Butterscotch Tart blocks! See that red rose print? Probably one of my favorite prints from the past few years. Love it. It's Annie's Farm Stand by the talented Holly Holderman at Lakehouse. I knew that I wanted to use this fabric. It's so American Beauty - the rose, not the movie! Just one problem. I checked my stash and found none in the studio. I used it all up on last year's Quilty Barn quilt. Panic! I considered sending a note to Holly or putting out an SOS on Instagram. Never mind that there are a gazillion other rose prints. I needed THAT one. So, late one night I searched online and found just one seller who had some. When it arrived I made one block with a rosy center. And then another with a rosy ring. 

Plus, I made another block with an alternate rose print by Pam Kitty Morning. 

I've been working towards an even distribution of red and blue outer rings which isn't so easy because I've come up with lots of fabric combinations! The final three blocks might see just a bit more pink. And so far I've avoided stripes and gingham because of the fear of wonkiness. I expect to finish the last three by early next week, and then I can start the sashing with fun pinwheel posts. I've been auditioning sashing fabric (scrappy whites? pale blue print?) and thinking about my outer border. 

On a more serious note... 

I read just a few days ago that fabric designer Aneela Hoey was scheduled for surgery for breast cancer this week. I've loved Aneela's fabrics for a few years. They're so naively whimsical. She opened up her quaint English house to us on her blog. She's given us lots of fun fabric collections, such as Sherbet Pips, Little Apples and Cherry Christmas. And now a group of quilters is getting together to create quilt blocks that will be assembled into a special quilt for Aneela. The request is to create two simple blocks using Aneela's fabric and to ship them by the end of the month. You can read how you can help here. I'm happy to contribute. And now I need to admit that I ran out of my supply of Aneela's fabric when making the Quilty Barns last year. So I just bought more of her Posy collection from an Etsy seller and asked her to put a special rush on my order. Are you noticing a common thread here with me always running out of the perfect fabric?! Oh well. I can't wait for it to arrive!