Hello Everyone and Happy 2018!!!
Yes, it is the dawning of a new year. If you were to ask me, I'd say it came at us like .... well, I can't come up with that just-right analogy. Regardless, it certainly feels like the last half of 2017 just went flying by and 2018 is smacking me upside the head!
My last post was August, I believe, and in that I mentioned the first few patterns for our monthly blanket days, but said I was saving the others so I would have to do another blog post. Which I am now... but I didn't intend for it to be last minute! Yeeks!
Blanket Deliveries...
First... some details on 2017.I reviewed all my numbers and the total count for our chapter deliveries in 2017 is 1906 blankets! In just the last quarter - October through December - 787 blankets went out. That's nearly twice a typical quarter and explains very well the "It feels like all I do is blankets!" comment I made to a few. If we compare 2017 to previous years, we delivered...
1617 in 2016
1414 in 2015
1316 in 2014
The overall total for our chapter stood at 11,333 at the beginning of the year. Wow.
Monthly Pattern Outlook....
Okay, so now to the patterns...January - Chevron
For this quilt you are going to need some WOF (width of fabric) strips. For each color/fabric change (zig-zag row), you will need one 6" x WOF strip.You need at least 2 different colors/fabrics, and can go up to 19 different colors/fabrics.
If you use 19 different fabrics, you need only one 6" x WOF strip of each fabric. If you use only two fabrics, you will need 57" x WOF of each fabric.
February - Snowball's Chance
2½ Yards Neutral Solid or Tone-on-Tone
36 10" Squares in Colorful Prints (there are 42 used in the picture to the right, however this makes it 80" long and we don't need it to be quite that big.)
I will another blog post out in February for our March and April patterns.
Blanket Cleanup
I am happy to say over the last several months, I've found only one pin in a blanket. Much improved from a year or so ago.... but still room for improvement. I'm aiming for ZERO!I'll also mention that we're going into the time of year when animals start their change of coat. If you have any, please try to keep them away from the blankets (believe me, my cats have taught me this is an ongoing battle!), and if you work on blankets anywhere close to where they might nap, maybe put a sheet down and keep the blanket on that. The pet hair I'm finding is also very much reduced from a year or so ago, but I am still finding some. A HUGE 'Thanks!!!' to everyone who is going to special effort to eliminate these concerns for me!
Project Linus Mystery Quilt - Part 2 - The Mystery Quilt Challenge!
For those who want to take their completed Exploring the World with Ethan Mystery Quilt to the next step, a reminder was posted to the Mystery Quilt Facebook page...Just a reminder that we will begin accepting entries in the 2018 Project Linus Mystery Quilt Challenge Contest in less than a week (January 15th)! The FIRST 20 quilts entered will be accepted for the contest and then, if we have more than 20 entries we will select up to 10 more entries from the additional entries. I've seen so many beautiful photos of your finished Exploring the World with Ethan quilts and we hope each of you will consider entering your quilt. Here's a link with the contest rules AND descriptions of the GREAT prizes you can win! In addition, as the votes start coming in (beginning February 1st) we will be giving away some GREAT prizes RIGHT HERE on our Facebook group page as well!!!
Remember - this is NOT a judged contest - it is a fundraiser for Project Linus which means any quilt entered could win! (See the contest details for more info.)
To win, all you have to do is enter and then get people to vote for your quilt. Yes, there is a small charge for voting, but it is a fund-raiser for Project Linus...that's how they raise the funds. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your workmates, tell your Facebook and Twitter and Instagram contacts, tell complete strangers! to go and vote for your quilt. I know there were some great ones from folks in our chapter!
Alrighty... that's enough for now. Stay warm and try to keep your head above the snow!
Blessings
gina
