Over the past few weeks, I’ve been busy finishing up the quilts for Fort McMurray project (as mentioned in my previous post!)

At the last Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild meeting, many members brought back finished quilts. I wanted to label them before shipping. I had some labels printed on Spoonflower, with the date. I used no-sew “Heat N Bond” to fuse them to corners of quilts. 

Then, I wanted to make sure I had photos of all of the quilts! Each one is unique, and a beautiful community effort. I love knowing how many hands have put each one together.

I used my hanging rail to put up each quilt to photograph.

I used tape to centre all of the quilts in the same spot, and a tripod.

All of the photos I took are available over on the Flickr album! So, please check them out! (And if you see your work in one of the quilts, please comment to tag yourself!)

The next thing to do was pack up all of quilts. I found out that you can get more quilts in a box if you roll them up (like sleeping bags!)

There are 12 quilts rolled up in each of these boxes. Almost all of the quilts are 72 x 90″ - a twin/double size.

I added in a note with each box to describe a bit about the project and also about quilt care!

My husband had to help me bring the large boxes of quilts to Canada Post to ship out! 

Each box weighed about 22 kg (48.5 lbs)! 

These quilts are being shipped out to Fort McMurray and will be distributed there by the United Way of Fort McMurray - who are also generously going to reimburse shipping costs!

So – what was the final number of quilts completed with the maple leaf blocks that were sent?

For starters - 54 quilts were finished here in town by members of the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild and other local guilds. The 54 quilts represent a whopping 1,874 maple leaf blocks! Below are just a sampling of the beautiful quilts that were finished (check out the album for all of them!)

But, there are even more quilts still being finished off using the blocks! There are 3 more in Olds, Alberta being hand-quilted by a volunteer, 7 being finished off by members of the Edmonton MQG, and one still being finished locally. (I don’t yet have photos of those 11 quilts, but will eventually add them into the Flickr group! So, if you don’t see your work, it’s part of a quilt still in process.) Once the quilts are all done, I’ll have the final block count - which I am estimating is around 2,400 blocks!

So, in the end - there will be 65 quilts finished with the blocks sent! The majority of the quilts are twin / double sized for a bed, at around 72″ x 90″. It’s a pretty amazing feat, considering this all started with a small call out on Instagram and this blog! 

Thank you so much to all who have helped out with this project, at every step of the way. There have been so many people who have helped: from those who went blocks, pieced quilt tops, quilted, finished binding, and also generous sponsors. I really have been blown away by the support from the broader quilting community from across the world for this project! Thank you, again.

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Previous posts about this project:

• Quilts for Fort McMurray - Call for Maple Leaf Blocks
  
• Maple Leaf Block tutorial
  
• July Update (Sew Day 1)
  
• August Update (Sew Day 2)
  
• Last few quilts to finish
  
• Finishing the last quilt
  

You can also see more on Instagram at the hashtag #quiltsforFortMac !

In my previous post, I mentioned that some of us from the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild are collecting blocks to make quilts for those affected by the wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta. For all the details, please see here. 

If you’d like to help out, here is a tutorial for a simple Maple Leaf block to send to us - and we’ll put it into a quilt to donate. We are collecting blocks made with blue / yellow / green / red / white  (Alberta flag colours) - just combine any two of the colours together for your block. 

12.5″ Maple Leaf Block

Use a ¼ seam allowance throughout.

STEP 1: Cut fabric as shown in the photo below:

Fabric 1 (Leaf):

• - 2 x 5″ squares
  
• - 3 x 4.5″ squares
  
• - 7.5 x 1.5″ strip 
  

Fabric 2 (Background):

• - 3 x 5″ squares
  
• - 1 x 4.5″ squares

STEP 2: Make the half-square triangle units - Pin 5″ squares of Fabric 1 and 2 together. Draw a line diagonally across the square and sew a seam 1/4″ from the line on each side. 

Cut down the centre line to make two half-square triangle units. Press to the darker fabric and trim to 4.5″ square. 

Repeat for a second pair of 5″ blocks, so you will have 4 finished half-square triangle units.

STEP 3: Make the leaf “stem” -

Cut the remaining 5″ background fabric square in half diagonally.

Sew the 7.5″ strip to the cut edge.

Press seam, then align the second piece on top so it is centred and sew together.

Press seam and trim block to 4.5″ square.

STEP 4: Sew the blocks together as per the diagram below.

And press to finish.

This block should finish up at 12.5″ square unfinished, so they can be joined and finish at 12″ square. 

I hope this tutorial was helpful! But, you don’t need to use it to contribute - as mentioned in my previous post, you can do an improv leaf block or use a different sort of Maple Leaf tutorial, we’d be happy to have your help.

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Please mail blocks by June 30, 2016 to:

Quilts for Fort McMurray, c/o Mad About Patchwork, 2477 Huntley Road Stittsville ON, K2S 1B8, CANADA

Like many of you, I’ve been watching the news about the wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The entire city of over 80,000 people has been evacuated. Whole neighbourhoods have been lost to the fire. People have lost everything. The images from the disaster are shocking and heartbreaking. And unfortunately, the fire is still spreading. 

It’s hard to know what to do to help. But as quilters, maybe the thing that we can contribute is to give back a bit of comfort by making some quilts for these families and evacuees who have gone through so much.

Along with some others from the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild, I am collecting quilt blocks to make quilts that will be sent to those who have lost their homes in Fort McMurray. We would be grateful for blocks that you might be able to contribute:

• * Maple Leaf quilt blocks at 12.5″ square (unfinished; so they can be joined and finish at 12″ square)
  
• * Colours can include blue, yellow, green, red and white (like the Alberta flag) but two-colour blocks are preferred (i.e., use two of these colours in combination, like blue/yellow); any mix of print or solid fabrics are fine
  
• * Use any Maple Leaf pattern you’d like, or you can make an improvised leaf block - it’s up to you. Here are some examples of 12.5″ unfinished Maple Leaf tutorials online:
  
• * From “All Patched Up”
• * From equilters.com
• * My basic tutorial here

Please mail blocks by June 30, 2016 to:

Quilts for Fort McMurray, c/o Mad About Patchwork, 2477 Huntley Road Stittsville ON, K2S 1B8, CANADA

If you are in the Ottawa area, you can drop blocks off in person to Mad About Patchwork.

Thank you so much for your generosity and help. I will post updates on this as I get more information. 

If you have any questions please comment below or let me know by email, slostudio.stacey at gmail.com.

* * * 

Other ways to help:

If you have finished quilts that you would like to donate, you can get in touch with the Quilts for Fort McMurray group on Facebook. Or, check out the listing of places collecting quilts on Cheryl Arkison’s blog.

You could also consider donating to the Canadian Red Cross, which is responding to this emergency.