a quilt for Aneela

On Wednesday Aneela Hoey posted on instagram that she was going in to surgery for breast cancer.  She hadn't been on social media for a while and this was the heartbreaking answer to why she wasn't around much.  I feel like the fabric designers we love give so much to the quilting community, why not take the time to give a little back to Aneela and her family now.  And so, the #quiltforaneela.

My idea was to make Aneela a quilt using this brilliant tutorial from Megan at Canoe Ridge Creations.  It's free and fast, perfect, right?  If you'd like to make an x or an o or both, that would be awesome.  Two things, though.  Please make the body of the x or o in Aneela's fabric (all one print or scrappy).  And please make the background white (no specific white, some of my blocks are kona snow, some Michael Miller white).

If you'd like to join in but don't have enough fabric for the four 5" squares called for in the original block pattern (my Aneela Hoey fabric normally gets used up right away!), I've come up with an idea.  Mini blocks!  These half size blocks finish up at 4½" (5" with seam allowances) and are super cute.

For the mini blocks you'll need:

4 squares of Aneela's prints cut at 2 3/4" x 2 3/4"
8 squares of white fabric cut at 1½" x 1½"

Draw a diagonal line connecting two corners on each of the white squares.

Sew two white squares onto each print square along the marked line.

Trim off the extra fabric then press the the triangles out.

Now you just have to decide if you want an X...

Or an O!  And stitch the sub units together with a ¼" seam allowance.


Now, what if your pieces are even smaller, or you're working with jellyroll strips?  Don't worry, there is a solution!

For this method I just took photos of the sub units, so you'll need to multiply everything by 4.

For one sub unit you'll need a rectangle of print 2¼" x 4" and one square 2½"x 2½".  Cut the square in half on the diagonal.

Centre the triangles on the print strip and stitch down using a ¼" seam allowance.

Press the triangles out.

Now fold the blue rectangle in half along its length, finger pressing to get a crease.

Use the creased centre line as a guide to trim the sub unit down along 2 sides.  If you have a square ruler it should have a diagonal line that you can run along the pressed line.  We'll be trimming these units to 2 3/4" so make sure you don't cut off too much!

Flip your piece around and trim the other 2 sides to get a nice 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" square.  Now make another 3 and decide if you want an x or o.

Thank you so much to anyone who wants to send blocks!!!


My goal with this is to have a quilt to Aneela as soon as possible, so I'm hoping blocks can be on their way to me by July 1st.  I'm not sure what the response will be like, you never know how big things can get when we all rally!  So my plan is to make up to a 90" x 90" (100 original size blocks or 400 minis, or a mix) for Aneela.  If I get less blocks, the quilt will be smaller.  If I get more I will use the blocks to make quilts for our local oncology patients.  I'll update as blocks arrive!

Speaking of arriving... once you have blocks ready to send, leave a comment here or contact me on instagram (chelseafr) and I'll send you my address.

hugs,
Chelsea

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