Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Sew Some Love Houses


Today I have two brand new things to share: this quilt, and a new link up from Kat & Cat Quilts. The link up is called "Sew Some Love" and is for sharing any project we are sewing for charity. I'm excited to be part of the first link party and to see what other crafty folks are creating to give away.


Over the holidays, my niece Lauren asked me if I would donate a quilt to a fund raiser that her sorority is having in March 2017. All the proceeds will benefit CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children), which provides legal advocacy for abused children near Walla Walla, WA. 


I've been eyeing the Hillside Houses pattern on Pretty Little Quilts and thought it would make a nice donation to a charity called CASA. Using only fabric that I already had in my stash, I pieced this quilt in blues, greens, and browns, with two bright red houses. All the roofs are solid gray, and the colors get lighter toward the top of the hill, as if the sun is rising on a bright, new day.


After Kat announced the new link up, I decided to name this quilt Sew Some Love Houses. Here are a few photos of it draped around our house, which is currently a boat in the swamps of Louisiana.


For the backing, I used a piece of basketball fabric that was *almost* but *not quite* big enough. Not enough basketballs? Fatten it up with butterflies, I always say. The basketball fabric is a really nice quality Robert Kaufman print that has been languishing in my stash for quite a while. Lauren's college is buried under snow right now, and I figured anyplace that wintry is probably full of basketball fans.


Here are a few of my favorite houses/blocks. Red bricks with curvy shingled roof.


Wood grain fabric and wood grain quilting.


Fun sky fabric. Partly cloudy with a chance of basketballs.


Faux Greek key roof pattern.


I made flanged binding out of a medium gray with a red inner stripe. I thought it kind of tied back to the two red houses in the middle. It's also a fancy-looking but very forgiving, all-machine-sewn binding technique.

This quilt wasn't my favorite thing to make, I must admit. I liked each combination of dark and light shade for individual houses, but wasn't thrilled with the overall look. It is so much bigger than most of my quilts (60"x75") that I couldn't step far enough back to see the overall effect, and I've been working on it a lot at night when the lighting was lousy. But things started to turn around when I decided to use the basketballs on the back and then started the quilting. It was slow going, but the addition of all that texture made me happy! And when Kat announced her link up, it reminded me that charity quilting is all about sharing the love.

I'll wash Sew Some Love Houses next week when we have access to more fresh water. The crinkling should be epic on this one after a spin through the washer and dryer. Then it will wing its way to Walla Walla, where hopefully someone will buy it in support of CASA's good works.

I'm also linking up to Free Motion Mavericks this week, since this was my biggest FMQ project to date, and with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? because I'm happy it's finished!



18 comments:

  1. It might not be your favorite to make....but all those houses on a hill make it one of my favorites :-) Thank you for sharing your talent :-)

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  2. Looks great, the houses are definitely climbing up the hillside!

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  3. Louise, it really is a beautiful quilt. You placed all the colors in the right spots and the red houses make it pop!

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  4. I love it! What a great donation!

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  5. That's a really fun quilt! Love that you "shaded" your fabrics toward the top - indicating hope with that new day!

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  6. Perfect pairing of pattern and purpose!!

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  7. I love your house quilt.... it's lovely and a great cause it's going to
    Hugz

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  8. I already loved the windows in your houses, but now that I have more time to look at it, I love the way you shaded the houses to look like sunrise. And I'm glad you included some close up pictures so we could see the detailed quilting. Thanks for sharing the Kat and Cat Quilts link. I'll check it out. I think charity quilts are the most satisfying to make.

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  9. Louise, I am a sucker for house quilts and this is one of the best ones I've seen lately. I think it is WONDERFUL!!

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  10. What an absolutely gorgeous quilt! The amount of work and detail you've put into it is what makes it so amazing. I'm sure it will raise a lot of money!

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  11. I love the way that turned out. The colors are fabulous. I'm sure it will bring a nice price at the auction.

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  12. Another reader said that she loves a 'house quilt', and so do I. Yours is beautiful, and I love how even the lighted and dark windows seem to indicate, along with the lighter houses at the top of the hill, that the sun is either coming up or going down.

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  13. Fabulous quilting! Awesome job!

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  14. What's not to love in this post! You live on a boat, how interesting. And I love the house quilt, the grey unifying all the roofs was a great idea. The lighted windows looks so warm and welcoming

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  15. Hello Louise,

    Such a gorgeous quilt! I love the way the colours fade towards the top.

    Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks - your quilt is this week's featured project!

    Love, Muv

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  16. This quilt is wonderful . . . the little houses on the hill just put a smile on my face :)

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