Scraps for a Cause ~ Sew & Tell - 7/6/26

I hope that you enjoyed the Patriotic weekend celebrating the 250th birthday of the United State of America 🎆 and that it was a safe and fun celebration.

Ours was pleasant with cooler temps. ;)  But before I jump into the activities of the week, let's take a look at this week's feature...

Gwyned shared an 8″ x 8″ sampler quilt to incorporate several of the Pinterest inspirations (of FMQ). Isn't it amazing?!?  Head over to her blog to learn more about it.

Our weekend activities found us attending the "dry" 4th of July parade.  The drought conditions have forced the city to implement water restrictions which meant not allowing the water parade to take place.  It was still well attended.

On Sunday morning we were up before the sunrise to drive to a small balloon rally held in Raton, NM.  Just a short 30-minute drive delivered some fun entertainment.  It was a joy watching the patchwork of colors ascend into the sky.

The smoke from the fires in Southern Colorado has been horrible making it difficult to spend much time outside due to poor air quality.  Two of them within a 1-hour drive has affected numerous friends we know, none have lost their homes or businesses.  The fire crews are finally getting a handle on it.  Continue to pray for them and those that are displaced. 

While the poor air quality is an inconvenience, we are grateful for the fact that we are not directly impacted by the fires.

We have several friends that were evacuated from their home on Monday.  They then had to evacuate from their "safe place" on Wednesday because of a shift in wind and sudden growth of the fire.  The fire is located near the castle we had visited when camping two weeks ago!  And it is about 5 (&7) miles from our daughters' homes in Pueblo... Yikes.

All this to say that I've been searching for ways to keep my mind and hands occupied and body cool... and then I found a free pattern for a sweet little mini-Dresden block (from A Crafty Fox) on Tuesday and since I had Red/White/Blue on the mind I played with them for a few hours while it was cooler in the studio.  The studio gets quite warm in the afternoon and by 3 p.m.... I am ready to scoot out of there for the day.

I had one plate circle and started auditioning assorted centers.

On Wednesday I decided that I liked the flag circle for the center... and then proceeded to make another "plate" of red and white and placed the dark blue circle in the center.  Ta-da!

What should I applique them on to?

I assisted with the hanging of my quilts on the art wall at the Trinidad Carnegie Public Library one morning.

Here's the information about the display...

In 2025 I joined an on-line challenge for quilters – The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The “rules” were pretty basic.

Pick a project that is simple and will work with the scraps that you have. Square or rectangle blocks are common.  Maybe you have too many strings or crumbs (tiny pieces of fabric). You can make the Rainbow Scrap Challenge work with what you want to use up.  Each month will have a new color assigned (suggested) to work with.

My personal goal was to use as many scraps as possible that I had tucked away in storage bins for the quilt tops and use larger pieces from my “stash closet” for the backings.  The quilts on display here (and many more) were the result of the challenge.  

Some quilts were given as gifts, still others were purchased by customers.  In total I made more than 30 quilts and in a rough estimation I used over 117 yards of scrap fabric!

All of the quilts displayed are ideal for babies or toddlers.  I know of two crisis pregnancy centers that will make certain these quilts will find a good home.  If you would like to be a part of making the donations even more special, you can “sponsor” a quilt by making a monetary donation via Venmo.  

The average sale price of the quilts is $40 each. If you would like to donate one of these quilts to the centers, you can make a payment of $40 or more.  Be sure to include the name you want on the donation card to be sent with the quilt.

A donation of or any amount will help to cover the cost of delivery.  

The quilts will be offered to the Hope Pregnancy Center in Trinidad.  A few will be sent to a special organization that celebrates with the Moms who choose life over a visit to the Fort Collins Planned Parenthood center by hosting baby showers.  

Would you like to join me in supporting these two organizations? Scan the QRC.

 

Let's get the linky party started!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

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