Wonky Blocks

Blanket Saturdays are great fun.  On a recent one, we learned how to make Wonky Quilt Blocks from one of our talented quilt makers. Our block teacher brought lots of fabric in assorted colors, fleece center pieces for each block and instructed us with a “you can’t make a mistake here, you can always cut it off and sew another strip” attitude. This have no fear quilt philosophy is quite helpful especially to those of us who are less experienced in the quilting arts.  In fact, in a Wonky Block, a mistake can make for an interesting visual effect that you end up being happy for its happening.

In just five hours, 16 Wonky Blocks were made.  You can see them here along with the fabric baskets that held colorful scraps that were used constructing these blocks.

One blanketeer volunteered to complete the quilt top and another volunteered to quilt it.  Now that’s team work.  Once again, I am impressed with our blanketeers willingness to share their expertise with others.  We also learned how to attach fleece to a quilt top with basting spray.  This makes for a two layer quilt versus a three layer quilt with batting….and avoids the need to pin or hand stitch the quilt layers together.

Project Linus makes blankets for children in need and also wants to engage others in this effort because it makes people feel like their efforts make a difference in a child’s life. We read about and feel the divisiveness in our current national scene, but all of that falls away on a Blanket Saturday when everyone is “stitching” for the same thing: love, compassion and warmth.