Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Building Loving Neighbourhoods

When I was at quilt retreat, our guild president showed us how to sew improv house blocks starting with any sized square. It was a little bit scary at first since I didn't want my houses to be totally crazy looking. But every block was more fun to sew than the last. Here are some of the blocks we made at retreat from scraps of batik. Marjorie is going to turn them into a donation quilt. 


Building houses with my Singer 301 (Ethel)
When I heard that the members of the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild were making quilts to donate to the families of the victims of the Quebec City shooting, I couldn't resist participating.

The guild requested 12" house blocks. So I made a little neighbourhood using the Stash Bee tutorial (which is exactly what we learned at retreat) for improv house block construction.  My little houses started out as 6" charm squares and ended up between 4" and 5". 
9 house blocks were joined together to make this 12" neighbourhood, which is in the mail on the way to Montreal.
One little quilt block will not change the world, but it will be part of the efforts to provide more love and comfort in lives and situations where fear and darkness live. 
Linking up to the Let's Be Social party!

10 comments:

Barb said...

yay - I love your houses (of course I love all house quilts). Your color pallet is great.

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

You have the most unique quilts....love it!

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Great improv houses! Made a very cute neighborhood.

Lisa J. said...

Great post Kathy! I love that you made a little neighbourhood for Montreal's quilt drive. I'm also happy that Marjorie shared the wonky houses technique with your group!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

One quilt block might not change the world, but it can do a lot! I love how your neighborhood came together and perhaps the recipient will feel that much more connected for having received it.

Ariane said...

This is a super cute block!

Monica said...

I love both these projects! How fun. :D

Janet O. said...

I like your more sedate improv houses. Wouldn't mind living in that neighborhood. : )

Kate said...

A very sweet neighborhood.

jann said...

what a great idea on how to enlarge a block! love your neighborhood and your guild's quilt.