A Quilt For Kaaren [The Painted Quilt]

Edit July 17th - I am still accepting blocks, please email me!  The deadline has been extended.  Allie

 
As I'm sure many of you know, Kaaren from The Painted Quilt is taking a break from blogging to deal with a serious health problem.  Most of us know Kaaren from her blog and her wonderful free gifts to us stitchers - her First Friday Freebie, and her Raggedy and Friends bom.  We would like her to know that she's not fighting alone, and Paulette from Sweet P Quilting and Creations and Leslie from Les Quilts and I have decided to organize a quilt for her.

We're asking for you to make quilt blocks.  And I'm doing a tutorial below for an easy block.  The quilt [or quilts, if we get enough blocks] will be in Kaaren's favorite colors, dark red, dark blue and beige.  Her style is prim - you can look at her blog to see her gorgeous new home and how she's decorated.  The block is a square in square in red and beige, finishing at 6.5 inches.  The beige will go in the center, and we're asking you to write your name, location, and any scripture verses or well-wishes for Kaaren in the middle.  There will be navy sashing between the blocks, and I will use navy to bind it.

Also, when you send your blocks, PLEASE put your email address in the envelope.  Not on the block, but on a piece of paper.  I'd love to thank you for making a block.

You'll be sending your blocks to me, I will put them together, quilt and bind them.  I'm going to ask that if you'd like and are able [NO PRESSURE!], to please donate toward the batting and navy fabric.  The most important part is the blocks - I'd love to shower Kaaren with all the love she's shown us here in blogland.

Now, the tutorial - I've used fabric I grabbed in a hurry, these are not her colors.

Square In Square Tutorial

It helps to use a fabric sizing or starch on your fabric, to keep the bias from stretching.

Cut one taupe square 6.5 x 6.5 inches, and 4 red squares 3.5 x 3.5 inches. 



Draw a diagonal line down the middle of the four 3.5 squares, corner to corner [I used a washaway marker].  [Ugh - a dirt smudge on my mat!!!]



Lay the square on your larger square and pin.



Stitch along the line.



Cut seam allowance to 1/4 inch.



Press with seam allowance to darker color.



Repeat for other three corners.



Back.



That's it.  Now here's the part I don't have a picture for.  Iron your block to some freezer paper, with the shiny side toward the fabric and the paper side toward your iron [that's important].  Low setting on your iron.  The freezer paper will adhere to your fabric and make it easy to write on.  I recommend a marker specifically for fabric - any craft store should have them.  Most need to be heat set.  For best results, please pre-wash your fabrics, the markers work better, and also because we're using red fabrics and we don't want them to bleed.  Please please pre-wash and check for bleeding.

If you'd like to make a block, you may email me at alliehomeschool [at] yahoo [dot] com.  [Put the appropriate symbols in there -I'm trying to avoid spam bots].   I'll give you my mailing address.

I'd love to get enough squares to make a larger quilt, and a smaller one she can take for any treatments she faces.  I hope you can help us to spread the word and really shower Kaaren with all the love we have for her!  Kaaren has almost 1500 followers and I need your help getting the word to them.  Thank you!

EDIT - I'd like you to have your blocks in the mail by July 15th - thank you!

I'll be back soon with that recipe.....