Project Linus Mystery Quilt Challenge!`

Hello everyone!

Can it really be the end of August?!?!?!? Our Helena Blanket Bees start in less than 2 weeks, the one in Great Falls in less than 3 weeks! I am busy trying to get things ready for all that!

What else is going on??? I'm glad you asked! It's time to register for the Project Linus Mystery Quilt Challenge! This year's challenge is Gracie's Get-Well Garden, and I get the feeling it will be an owl theme! ;) Clue release will start September 10. This promises to be another fun, child-sized quilt!



Some of the questions I've already been asked.....

• Cost is $15... plus forty-some cents in change to cover the credit card fees.
• Clues will be released over a 6 to 8 week period, each should be released on Saturday mornings.
• Instructions will be detailed, and techniques used will allow quilters of all levels to participate. Don't let your new-ness to quilting keep you from joining in the fun!
• No, you do not have to finish the quilt in a specific amount of time, unless you want to enter it in the contest to win some of the big prizes! You can download the clues and save them and complete the quilt as quickly as you can, or as slowly as I might.....
• No, you do not have to donate the quilt to Project Linus. You can give it to someone you know, or keep it for yourself, or donate it to Project Linus - that is your choice!
• No, you can't share your entry with another. Due to copyright laws, you cannot post or share any specific details about the challenge's weekly clues (yardage, fabrics, instructions, cutting, etc.). However, there is a Facebook page dedicated to the Mystery Challenge and there is lots of sharing of progress on that page! Fun! Fun! Fun!
• Yes, this is a fundraiser for Project Linus, and our chapter gets the entire registration fee if you put that on your registration form. There is a question on the registration where you should enter the GREAT FALLS/HELENA, MT CHAPTER. Again, each entry is $15.

You can find more information and complete the registration on the PL National Website... http://www. projectlinus.org/contest/index.php

I know a few of us have already signed up... I hope more will join us! And feel free to share this info with all your quilting friends!

Thanks, and see you all very soon!!!!

Kindness always

gina

Supplies

Well, we meet again!

I was actually encouraged to write this post. And it's not something new... we've talked about it before. Let me explain...

Some time ago, there was an opening at the Glasgow Weather Service Office. Interested candidates put in their resumes, and a very nice gentleman was selected. He went to Glasgow before the rest of his family to get things set up and ready for their arrival.

On June 10th, this man woke up and was getting ready to head to work. He was excited because the next day he was flying to Arizona to be reunited with his wife and kids and bring them back to their new home in Montana. As he was doing his laundry, a huge explosion occurred. What the explosion didn't destroy of the home, the resulting fire did. His neighbor heard him yelling for help and ran over and assisted.  He was transported to the local hospital with serious burns. He was stabilized and then transported via AirStat Ambulance to Salt Lake City and the University of Utah Burn Center.  The house was a total loss.

This man held on to life with a vengeance... and while he had the spirit to keep going, his body could not keep up. After more than 40 days of battling the burns, the surgeries, and everything else....he passed away.

I was in contact with the Glasgow office to get an address for his family early on so we could send his kids some blankets. With all that was going on, I didn't get it until a few days ago.  So I start going through my blankets on hand to find what I want to be two very special blankets for these kids. And here is where we reach the point of this post.... the two kids are boys...one 6 and one 8 years old. While I have given away several blankets over the course of the summer, I still have many left. But there are almost none to give to two boys, 6 and 8 years old. Lots and lots of girl blankets. Lots of small blankets. Some with great fronts for boys (or girls) but a definite girly fabric on the back. But I have almost nothing that will work for these two boys. I almost regretted sending some out to Benefis recently... maybe I should have held some back... but they need boy blankets, too.

So once again, I am encouraging you to think about creating more boy blankets and quilts. And if you have something that will work for either a girl or boy on the front, please try to do the same for the back...something plain or geometric...rather than flowers or something girly.

Thanks so much for everything you do!

Kindness always~
gina

Mid-Summer Musings

Hi. My name's Gina, and it's been nearly 5 months since my last blog post.

Yes, indeed... time can get away from me! Please don't say "But you should have lots of time on your hands now!" Nothing could be further from the truth, and if my eyes roll one more time upon hearing such a comment, I'm afraid they'll get stuck that way. Not a good look for me. :)

But we are right at the half-way point between our last blanket day and our next blanket day, so busy or not, it's time to start gearing up!

She's Here!

Yes, little Olivia has arrived! Olivia is the daughter to our Great Falls volunteer, Sophia, and her husband, Nate. Stats...
1013 am June 28th 2016
7 pounds 12 ounces
20 1/2 inches long

 
Congratulations to Sophia and Nate and little Olivia! What a wonderful blessing!!!

Project Linus National Conference

I went to what is expected to be our last PL national conference in June... gained lots of fresh ideas and tips! Instead of a large national conference, there will be smaller, regional conferences in the future. There have already been a few...Kansas City, Phoenix, Portland... the hope is that these will be inviting and more affordable to coordinators and volunteers in different corners of the country. Will one be coming to a state near you??? Time will tell.

Project Linus Mystery Quilt

Yes, another Mystery Quilt is in the works! This will be done similarly to Lukey the Lucky Penguin quilt, but this will be Gracie's Get Well Garden! Gracie, like Lukey, is another of our PL VP's grandchildren... just the sweetest little girl. Mary is currently at 11 grandkids... so there are a lot of quilt ideas for the future! Registration will start August 20 with the clue releases starting September 10. Registration is $15, and if you designate the Great Falls/Helena, MT chapter, all that will be donated to us!

Changes to our Blanket Day Routine

We've tried to do it in as many ways as I can imagine, and it still isn't working all that well for a number of reasons. And, it's taking a lot of YOUR time! So...... volunteers will no longer be tagging or labeling blankets at our blanket days or at home. What I will ask you to do is bring in your blankets with your name in the upper right corner of the front using either an address label, some painter's tape, or masking tape. I will do all the tagging and labeling afterwards. This will also allow us to start with the demo promptly at 10:30.

Another change....we're going to push Show and Tell to 1:00 or 1:30 depending on how many blankets we have. Doing Show and Tell in the middle seems to be too disruptive to the work in progress. Once Show and Tell is done, we can start cleaning up, packing up, and calling it a fruitful day

Loose Ends... or Not Knot!

Perhaps the greatest tip I learned at conference was the Russian Join for yarn! This technique simply rocked my world! (We were doing a lot of world rocking at this conference....) All those loose ends of yarn can be avoided, and I won't have to try to weave them in myself! Lion Brand Yarn has the instructions for the Russian Join on their website...just click here! But I'll also throw them in below... I don't want any of our knitters or crocheters to miss this! Again... rocked my world!!!!

1. Thread a blunt needle with one end of yarn leaving a few inches of tail

2. Work the needle back through the plies of your yarn for a few inches. Don't worry if this looks bunched up now.
3. Pull the yarn tail through, leaving a small loop at the end. This is where the second piece of yarn will be attached.
4. Thread your needle with the second piece of yarn, again leaving a tail.

5. Insert the needle into the small loop you created before pulling a few inches of yarn, including the tail, through the small loop.
6. Like you did before, work the needle through the plies of your second piece of yarn.
7. Give each strand a little tug to smooth out the bunching. You now have a secure join! Trim off any excess ends.

That's all there is to it! Depending on your yarn, you may notice that this joined area is slightly thicker than the rest of your yarn, but for most projects it should not be noticeable.

See more at: http://www.lionbrand.com/blog/how-to-russian-join-yarn-in-7-easy-steps/#sthash.cTinqmz8.dpuf

2016-2017 Blocks of the Month

Cindy, Marsha, and I have been chatting and started firming up our plans for next year's blocks. I know it can take some time to find the fabric you might want to use, so here's the list...


September - Bullseye Block
This is a fun and easy technique to get us going again! Raw edge and done in flannel... it will give us some great warm blankets to give out going into our colder months. I have a lot of flannel to get us started.

October - Stacks
This is a great quilt! Done with some prints and a background fabric, it looks like the piles of books I used to work with when I had a job at my university library. In fact, the book storage areas are called the 'stacks'! For this, you'll want to collect 2 1/2" strips, half in your background color, and half in fun prints.


November - Shape Shifter
Okay... I made up that name. It is basically an exercise in taking one block and shifting around your placement for light, medium, and dark fabrics to give a number of different looks. In the end, at first glance, you won't realize all the blocks are exactly the same. you'll have to really look to see that they are all the same block. 'Indian Puzzle' is the block that is used, and it has a lot of pieces to it. I've heard that some of you don't like the more intricate patterns... blocks with a lot of pieces... thinking they are too intense for a PL blanket. So, instead of everyone doing a whole top, we're going to share the work and have everyone make one block. I might try to buy some fabric and give small pieces of each to everyone so that the differences are seen as truly a result of shifting the placement of color rather than the difference being the result of different fabrics. Stayed tuned for updates!

December
Many of you stated you would like a catch-up day mid year. Since our December Bee is also our holiday potluck, there won't be a block of the month. Unless some really want one, then maybe I can come up with something easy. Let me know.

January - Cutting Corners
This is another one that will make use of some 2 1/2" fun print strips and some background fabric.






February - Dandy Star
I love star blocks! I was going to try to include the Montana Star for one month, but that really is a busy block! This is much simpler and still has that starry impact! This pattern will make use of 5" squares in fun prints and some background fabrics.

March - Animal Theme

We're going on a safari...

It's an elephant we seek!

He might boldly walk 'cross our quilt top

Or from the corners he might peek!

Yes, this month will be a little different in that we're going with a theme rather than a specific block. And, as the rhyme implied, the theme is ELEPHANTS! How you include elephants in your blanket is up to you... the pattern, the fabric...creator's choice! If you really can't find any way to include elephants, try for a safari theme. This is just supposed to be fun. The ladies in Helena and all their frog quilts steered us to this idea!

April - Fat Quarter Frenzy
Start searching for some fun and coordinating fat quarters! We're still trying to choose how we'll work these. (Okay... so not every plan is nailed down....)

May
May is our month to organize, catch up on some unfinished projects, and enjoy lunch together.

One Last Thing...

Our chapter name has officially been changed to Great Falls/Helena, MT. It's something I've been meaning to do for a very long time. We have always served both areas equally when it comes to blanket deliveries. I know this still leaves out a lot of areas we cover, like Havre and Butte, but I want to keep some consistency so it doesn't look like a new chapter or something like that.

I think that's enough for now. So, enjoy the rest of your summer, but start searching for some of those fabrics you might need!

Hugs and blessings!
gina

Evolution

Hello everyone!

I hope you're enjoying our early evolution from winter to spring - I certainly have been! I'm trying hard not to think about the implications of possibly not having enough snowpack as a result of the recent warm weather... not easy. Regardless, I'm loving the milder temperatures and lack of ice on the roads.

I wanted to send this out before our next blanket day, which is Saturday. Last month, the whole day I felt like I never really got my feet under me. With our group growing, evolving, and more people coming to our blanket days, it is becoming difficult for me to keep up with everything going on, so I think we need to change how we do some things. I know this is long, please bear with me....


Supplies
A few times recently I've heard someone say something like "...if I don't take it now, it will all be gone." With that in mind, when someone sees something they'd like to use to create a blanket, they take it before it's gone. And they might take all of something even if there is a lot of it. There are a couple of problems with this. First, I have to note every donation that comes in for our chapter and list it on our quarterly report. We've had donations come in recently that were gone before I saw what it was. Also, everything that is donated belongs to PL...until it is deemed to be something we can't use. I certainly want you to have the supplies and have some fun with them, but I do have to see them before they go to the volunteers.  Second, not everything that comes into the blanket day is meant for our volunteers there that day. There are times when things come in meant for a specific person or with a specific purpose in mind....and even though these supplies may be far separated from the common work areas, they are taken.

So, we are going to start having a Take-It Table. Anything that is ready to go home with a volunteer will be on that table. If it is anywhere else in the room, please consider that to be 'not available', at least for the time being. You are free to ask about its intent... but please don't take anything that is not on the table. The fabric in the closet totes will be considered Take-It Totes.


Organizations Wanting to Help PL
In the last couple of years, I've had several organizations approach me with the intent of them wanting to help Project Linus. However, as I talk to them, I find they want the chapter to furnish the supplies for them to help. I've thought about this to great length.... I would love to have the help, however, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with supplies just for our routine blanket-makers. As you know, the only funds we have to purchase anything are the funds we raise. I try to use this to take the sting out of some of the supplies all of you use. I don't feel I have enough to supply other organizations, even if the completed blankets would come back to PL. I will add that I have tried giving supplies to organizations in the past, and the results were not particularly positive; I'm not sure I got back all the blankets I gave supplies for, and some that I did get back needed a lot of mending before I could give them out.

"But what about the Logos blankets for Marsha, aren't you giving fleece to them?" No. For those that don't know, Logos is the kids group at Marsha's church that meets one evening a week. The kids are elementary to high school. The evening has three parts...worship, dinner, and an activity. Several years ago, Marsha included blanket-making as one of their activities during the year. Because these are kids and there are only about 45 minutes, maybe less, to get things done, the blankets are all pre-cut... the kids just braid the fleece. I do help Marsha with this activity, in part because the blankets come to PL, and in part because it is just fun. However, we do not buy the supplies for this activity; the church and other sources have provided funding for the fleece. She does bring in some of the fleece on our blanket days so she can get some pre-cut.... nothing like big tables to make that job easier...but that is not PL fleece she is cutting. We do need to thank Marsha for sharing her fleece with our volunteers in January! I'd brought fleece the previous couple of months, but interest was low, so in January, I sacrificed that to bring in fabric ...and Murphy's Law took effect.

Along these same lines, I've had requests from other organizations for blankets to distribute... some of these requesting a significant number. Most of these organizations are well-run and with good intent. So how does one distinguish between an organization that we can help and those we can't? My policy is to give to hospitals, shelters, and aid organizations that provide help in a number of ways - e.g. Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. However, if it is another organization whose mission it is to give out fun blankets to kids ... well, harsh as it may sound, they need to build a volunteer base to make blankets for them, just as we do. We give out many blankets in our area - for 2015 it was over 1400. Even with that number, we had shortages at times, and could give out even more. And honestly, it doesn't make sense to me to give a PL blanket, with our label, to Blankets4Kidz (I made that up!), they put their label on it, then FunBlankets (also made up!) gets some from Blankets4Kidz and puts their label on it...... you get the picture. All three of these groups might be reporting they gave out 200 blankets - which would appear to be 600 total - to the community, when it is actually the same 200 blankets with three different organization labels. So, for the foreseeable future, we will continue to follow our current policy of receiving organizations.


Tagging the Blankets
Use of the tagger gun continues to be a nightmare.... the tags break, the tagger gets jammed, it is used again before the jam is cleared and now it is really jammed... oy. The tags aren't that expensive, but the tagger gun kindof is. And I can't get to other things if I'm constantly having to tag blankets or unjam the tagger. So, let's try this...please just pin the ribbon to the blankets, and I will remove the pin and tag the ribbon as they are processed.


Donations
This is a tough one. We get some marvelous donations that have been such a blessing and allowed us to create some beautiful blankets. We've also gotten some that are less so. Last week, I spent over 2 days going through boxes of donations that resulted in maybe (!) 3 totes of usable fabric. Of the rest, I took 3 large bags to the Mission Thrift Store, stuffed enough scraps to make over a dozen dog beds, and 2 large bags went to the dump. Not a good use of my time, or my garage. Actually, I felt like I was cleaning the garages of about 5 other houses doing this. There was a bag of old clothes, a bag of clothespins, much polyester/satins/lace fabric that we just can't use, things pinned together for so long the pin had rusted in the fabric, stained and dirty fabric, old curtains, bedspreads, etc. People have suggested I be sure and ask if this is quilting fabric that is to be donated. Believe me, I do. However, if you aren't a quilter, you don't really know what that word means, and some believe it includes pretty much any type of sewing. Again, oy. Cost vs. gain. From this point forward, I will take only those fabric donations that I know will be of use to the group. If you know of someone wanting to get rid of some fabric, and you want to take it and sort through it, please feel free.


RSVPs
Marsha mentioned this last month, and I will mention it here as well... please RSVP to the evite whether or not you will be able to attend. It would really help Marsha, Cindy, and I be better prepared with any supplies we might be planning to bring for our block of the month or other activities.


Facilities
We have been blessed in being allowed to host our blanket days at the Moose Lodge in Great Falls/Black Eagle and now in Helena. Please keep in mind that these facilities are used by many others. We need to be respectful of any rules or policies that might be commonplace for a public facility.


Labels
For those who are sewing the PL label on their blanket, some of these are starting to drift farther and farther into the body of the quilt. You can shift it a little to the side or down to keep from covering a design, but please try to keep this close to the upper right corner of the front of the blanket.


Kits
We are happy to offer kits to construct as we are able. We have noted, however, that not all the kits taken are being returned as either a PL blanket or even an unfinished kit. There was a kit taken that was completed and entered in the State Fair...but it still has not been returned to PL. I have always taken an honor policy approach in letting people take home supplies, without deadlines, and I would very much like to continue in this manner. And I have no problem with the blankets created from PL supplies/kits being entered in either a local quilt show or the fair. However, if a blanket is made from PL supplies, please ensure it finds its way back to the organization.


Show and Tell
This is another tough one. For many, this is the favorite part of a blanket day! It is always so inspiring to see the many creative ideas! I am wondering, though, if they might be getting a bit long. With 80 to 100 blankets coming in, is there a way we can pare down the time some? Maybe if you made 2 nearly identical blankets, show only one in detail. I don't want to shortchange anyone's bragging rights.... but I know some want to get back to work. I'm open to ideas on this.


Okay....that's a lot. I'll end now, and start getting ready for Saturday. I do hope I'll see many of you there!

Hugs and Blessings
gina

Blanket Blocks for the Coming Year!

Well, here we are, end of August.... and the 3rd Saturday in September is just around the corner! Are you ready???

Cindy, Marsha, and I had a great lunch and came up with what we think, and hope, are some great plans for the coming year. I will put some of the requirements on here now, and update more later. So here we go.....

September - Square in a Square 

• What you'll need is a 10" square and a coordinating 5" square for each block.
• Finished block should be 9" square

October - Crayons and Other Rainbows 

• These will have several different rows, each its own color, but created from several 2 1/2" strip scraps of that color. We're thinking this might be a good one to do some swapping!

November - Buzzsaw

• Each block will be created with 2 10" contrasting, coordinating squares - a light and a dark.

December - Matchstick Marimba

January - Foundation Piecing

• Pattern to be determined but it will be done on muslin. Cindy has some she is cutting up for this.

February - Surprise!

• All I'll say is you'll need a neutral background 10" square and a contrasting 10" square.

March - Skateboards 

April - Quilt As You Go
Pattern to be determined.

Summer Wrapping Up

Hello everyone!

Here it is, almost the middle of August already! Time to start thinking about getting Project Linus things rolling again soon! Our Helena friends stayed busy and continued to meet in June and July. Cindy, Marsha, and I are still in the process of selecting some block for the coming year... so more to come for that later.

A Pointed Topic

Today, I made a delivery to Benefis Pediatrics.. While chatting with the nurse, she mentioned that a needle had been found in one of our quilts. My heart sank. This is something that just can't happen. Now, I can tell myself that we've delivered over 7000 blankets over 9 years and this is the first one - at least that I've heard about. That is one one-hundredth of one percent occurrence... or 0.014%. That's a really good success rate... but it means nothing if you are the recipient/parent of the one blanket that had the needle. I know I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again.... needles and pins left in blankets is probably the biggest complaint we get as an organization. And with most of us having been jabbed by a needle at one time or another, we can understand.

I did ask if she was sure this was a Project Linus blanket, and she was.

Yes, I do check every blanket with a metal detector. So, how could it get missed? I'm not sure. I brought the needle home (yes, she had saved it) and ran the detector over it. It set it off without incident. I put in an old battery, and it still found it. I put it under several layers of fabric...and it set off the alarm.  I moved the wand quickly, still no problem. The only possibility I can think of is if the battery died while I was doing that blanket. I don't think that is an issue though, because you can hear the wand when it is on. So somehow... it slipped through.

Really, the metal detector should be the second line of defense... the blanket-maker is our front line. What can you do to eliminate the possibility of pins and needles being left in the quilt? Here are some of the things I do...

1. I almost never use pins. I might use my binding clips at times, but almost never pins.
2. If for some reason I do have to use pins, I allow myself a certain number, typically 3 or 5, and keep them on a magnet. These are the only pins on the magnet and the only pins I will use. At the end of the project, that magnet had better have the same number of pins, and if it doesn't, I'd go looking in the blanket for the missing one(s).
3. When hand sewing any part of the quilt and need to take a break, don't ever slip the needle into the quilt until you come back to it. Knot the thread, and put the needle in a pin cushion. Then re-thread and start again when you can get back to it.

The needle found was a hand-stitching needle... a relatively large one. Please, please, please double check your blankets for pins and needles before turning them in.

Fair Time!

Our own Miss Marsha is feeling very proud! While walking through the quilt entries at the fair last week, she passed one that she thought was really cute, and then suddenly realized that the blanket was a kit that she had put together for Linus! The blanket won a blue ribbon...so congratulations Marsha on great fabric choices! I wasn't able to get out to the fair, so I am anxious to see it when it gets turned in!

Blankets

The house was well inundated with blankets early in the summer, but the numbers have come down with recent deliveries. We'll be needing anything you've been able to work on during the summer come September.

Lukey the Lucky Penguin Quilt

This is way late in coming, but I want to say 'Thank You' to EVERYONE who voted for my Lukey the Lucky Penguin Quilt! I was very excited to be one of the top 20, and was even in the top 10 for a while! Becky Smith took the top prize, and she is truly one of the most lovely, warm, generous, giving people..... I am absolutely thrilled for her. In the end, Project Linus was the winner with over $6000 raised! And the kids are winners because there are some great blankets that were made during the contest, and will be made in the future. Again, my thanks to you all - I truly appreciate your help!!!

Okay.... I think that is all for now. Enjoy what's left of the summer, and I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Vote early, vote often!

Hello everyone and happy summer!!!

Well, I see that I haven't done a blog post since February. February!!!! Just an indication of how busy things have been.

Coincidentally, the last blog post was on the PL Mystery Quilt...which is why I'm writing this today. The purpose of the Mystery Quilt was to be a fundraiser for Project Linus. First, the registration... which got you the weekly patterns. If you didn't enroll then, you can at any time... the clues are all still waiting for you, plus you have the option of looking at the finished quilt to see how you might change it up if you would like.

After finishing the quilt, participants were encouraged to send in a photo of the quilt, and PL Headquarters would select the top 20. Even though it was a crunch time for me at work and at home, I somehow managed to finished my quilt, and I am very excited to say that it was one of the top 20 selected!!!

Now it is time for me to ask for your help. The winners are chosen by popular vote... and, as this is a fund-raiser, the votes are $1 each. Voting started June 1 and goes through June 30. Voting is easy, and you can vote as many times as you like! As the post title says... vote early, vote often! The top three quilts with the most votes win some great prizes and the chapter coordinator of the winning quilter's chapter will also win a beautiful assortment of thread for the chapter. Right now... I'm in the bottom half of the pack.

I can't express how important it is to our organization that we get financial donations. Maintaining 501(c)(3) status means keeping up with a lot of legal stuff. We also need supplies for Blanket Days, brochures, printing, postage, etc., etc., etc. We get some donations from area businesses but it seems we always could use more. On the positive side, because we are a 501(c)(3), your votes, which are a donation, qualify as a tax deduction!

Since starting this chapter in 2006, we've given out over 7000 blankets! We are often told how much these blankets mean to not only the child who receives it, but also to the parents, to the nurses, to the family! Please consider a donation to help us continue to do this work!

So, I am half-asking, half-begging you to go to this website and vote for my quilt.... Quilt #7...which, by the way, I named "Antarctic Summer". To view the quilts, you can go to this website...

http://www.projectlinus.org/lukey/voting/ 

or you can go straight to the voting page at

https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=b71a5a 

Again... it is Quilt #7... Lucky 7!!!

 

Thanks for listening!
gina

Who doesn't love a good mystery?!

Wow. Two blog posts in one weekend! I think that's a record for me.

I know you are busy finishing up some blankets - thank you all SO MUCH for the overwhelming response! I also know many of you, maybe most of you, don't follow our chapter or national PL through Facebook or the Blanket Beacon. I further know we have a lot of quilters who are always looking for a fun idea. In that light I am sharing the news that the Project Linus Mystery Quilt Challenge fundraiser has officially started! Registration opened a couple of days ago and will be open throughout the challenge. Once you register, you will have access to the current as well as all the previously released clues....in other words, you won't miss anything if you register after the start.

The challenge will be a great learning experience for many who classify themselves as a "quilter wanna-be" as detailed instructions and tips will be provided with each clue. The contest will be even more fun for those who use their creativity with the pattern and enter their masterpiece! 

As this is a fundraiser, there is a $15 fee ($15.45 with the fee for paying with a credit card.) When you register, remember to list the Great Falls, MT Chapter on your registration form so the $15 will come to our chapter.

Now, some may remember we were planning to do a Quilt Challenge fundraiser ourselves, and I was planning to start that on our February Bee day as that is National Make a Blanket Day. Well, as the saying goes, great minds think alike. I wasn't aware HQ was planning to do this, and especially with the same timing. It would be too much to have two going at the same time so our local challenge will kick-off later in the spring.

For those interested in participating in Lukey, the Lucky Penguin Mystery Quilt Challenge, please go to this website for more information and to register... http://www.projectlinus.org/lukey/clues/ Clue #1 has been released! I hope many of you will participate just so I can see all the fun quilts that you create!

Hugs and Blessings
gina

  

It's gone viral!

The winter, that is....

Good morning everyone!

As I'm sure you've heard in the news, and from friends and neighbors, this year has been a bad season for colds, flu, and viruses. I took a typical month (or so) supply to Helena January 15, and they were mostly gone by February 1. Havre is out of blankets as well. I've gotten more to Helena, and am about done getting more ready for Great Falls - I haven't heard from them, but they're probably going through them as quickly as everyone else. I'm trying to find a way to get some to Havre in the next few days.

So.....our supplies are dwindled! If you have any in the works that you might be able to get done before our next blanket day - that would be fantastic! I'm sure these facilities aren't done with winter yet, even though my trees are (at least one is leafing out already!)

Thanks for all you do - as these requests show, it means so much to so many!!!
gina

Happy January Thaw!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you have been enjoying our break from winter! I know it won't last for long, but it sure has been nice to de-ice the streets and go around without a coat for a couple of days!

Quiltmaker Magazine Project Linus Patterns

For those who were at our Blanket Bee in Great Falls, you may remember Mary's quilt with the boats, a pattern from Quiltmaker Magazine. I said I would send out a link to those patterns and..... Ta Da! I didn't forget. Quiltmaker started their Project Linus series of patterns back in 2000, so there are 16 different ideas on the page! Over the years, I've done a sample of several of these at the PL Conference. Most, maybe all, are paper-pieced. I love paper-piecing, myself, so I find these fun. If you've never done paper-piecing and want some help, I'm sure you can find some at our blanket days! The page with a link to all the different patterns is found at .. http://www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/projectlinus.html

Supplies for February Quilt Block

It may take a bit of time to gather your fabric supplies for our February quilt block, so I want to give you a head start. The block/pattern will be Bali Love Song. This is a simple pattern and is done with 2 1/2" strips. You will need 13 sets of 2 contrasting fabrics - these sets can be all the same or all different - I would lean toward all different. You will want a  light fabric and a dark fabric in the set - you're looking for contrast. The pattern calls for width of fabric strips, but you will cut these down to smaller pieces. As long as you can cut two pieces each that are 2 1/2", 4 1/2", 6 1/2" and one 8 1/2" long, from each fabric, you'll be fine. You'll also want some additional strips, up to 14, for the border design. You'll also want about 1 yard of a neutral for the background.

March Quilt Block - Crazy Eights

As the name suggests, this block will be divided into 8 equal angles. If you remember your geometry, that means that your angle will be 45 degrees. If you have a 45 degree template, or were thinking of buying one, this would be a great time! I will make some cardboard templates, but this will be much easier to do if you have a more sturdy angle.

Build a Block, Build a Quilt

In case you don't know, Project Linus is launching a "Build a Block, Build a Quilt" Mystery Challenge followed by a contest on Feb 8th with GREAT prizes! I would like to invite you, and all your friends and family, to  participate. The challenge officially launches on February 8th and registration will be open on the national Project Linus website, projectlinus.org, at that time. If you choose to participate, be sure to designate the Great Falls Chapter as the recipient of the $15 participation donation. I'll share more details I learn them!




I think that's all for now. If I've missed something, just let me know!

Until February!
gina