May 18, 2012

Liberated Heartstrings



For me, my best and most favorite quilts of all, are always the ones that I give away. I seldom know where they are going, or who ends up wrapping themselves up in one. But in my heart, these are always my favorite projects and my favorite gifts from the heart.

So, for Amy's Spring Quilt Festival, I selected this colorful string quilt that I have shown many times before. I still love it and while I have remade it several times, this photo is the one that makes me smile!

This baby quilt was made for and donated to a wonderful organization here in Salem called Liberty House. Made with leftover bits and pieces of strips and strings and then appliqued with my own simple cut out flower shapes and their center circles. The sewing down of the flowers created the fast and easy machine quilting and allowed me to make it very quickly.

It was donated to to a local child abuse prevention center that has an intake center for children who have been injured by child abuse. Each child is given a small donated quilt and a little teddy bear or similar stuffed animal. I can only hope that the donation of my quilts to this wonderful organization and these precious children helps to alleviate some of their fear and perhaps even gives them a bit of comfort and the feeling of being loved and wrapped up and protected.

And I can only pray that their parents or others who have hurt these children will some how think about why complete strangers reach out to love and help their children that they, themselves have somehow failed. May the parents be reached and helped, the children find love and acceptance, and through counseling may they all somehow have their lives forever changed for the better.

String Quilting: Primers and Free Patterns


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Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska. Sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in the Liberated Quilting Challenge and make or donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!

14 comments:

Barbara said...

What a pretty quilt!

Unknown said...

Darling and such a wonderful cause!

CitricSugar said...

Beautiful quilt. What you do is pretty special.

Ocean Dreams said...

Really cute! I love everything you do, Michele!

Mom said...

A great quilt for a great cause

Margaret
http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/

Betty Lou said...

It's a very "happy" quilt and I'm sure it made some little one very happy.

Sarcastic Quilter said...

It's a beautiful and bright quilt which I'm sure, has made some little child smile and enjoy something good to look at and give comfort.

Michele Bilyeu said...

Now that was truly sweet..not the tiniest bit sarcastic ;) I suspect you have a dry sense of humor and your friends love you for it...and thus the moniker ;)

straythreads said...

wonderful quilt
Ann

Janet said...

Very sweet! I love the bright colours.

Eileen said...

lovely quilt and for such a wonderful cause helping children. my son was in eagle river for awhile serving a mission for our church--i send good thoughts and prayers to rebecca there! and good thoughts and prayers to you and your family--took care of mom for a few months through hospice and it was hard, so just cannot imagine doing what you do and through all your travails for years--you are an angel! thanks for sharing and have a great day

Martine Kuciel said...

j'aime beaucoup la dynamique des couleurs ,jolie réalisation

Robin said...

What a sweet quilt! I love the flower appliques scattered over the top-- so clever to stitch them down and quilt it at the same time. It is surely giving comfort to someone. :)

Lynne said...

It is such a happy quilt; I'm sure it brought joy to its new owner.