Linus Project - August contribution

August's contribution is a completely one-of-a-kind quilt that I started working on during Christmas 2012.  I had seen this calendar at Hobby Lobby on clearance for 2013 with different cupcakes.  Whitney stole my calendar, but the idea for a cupcake applique remained with me.  It took me several attempts to get my two contrasting pieces of the cupcake shape to fit together into a nice shape.  I made a dozen different appliques, and then decided to use most of them into a quilt.

The material for the quilt top is completely repurposed from other projects.  I purchased the blue floral contrast for the front piece and the Flower Power print for the back piece to tie this together.

Total Cost:  $8
Total Hours:  16

Linus Project - July contribution

July's contribution is a Shabby Chic Americana made with recycled colored denim and soft floral prints.  All the fabric I purchased at the Goodwill Blue Hanger store, most of which had stains or tears that would put most of these clothing items trashable.  I originally saw the idea on Pinterest.  I changed the inspiration directions by:  using colored denim and by leaving a slight edge when I sewed down the denim on the front so that the denim would ravel a lil' bit.

Total Cost:  $11.50
Total Hours:  20

Linus Project - April, May and June contributions

I can scarce believe I have let months go by without blogging about my Linus Project contributions.  Lots of personal issues have kept me fairly busy, but I have managed to keep up with completing each month's blanket on time....just not the blogging portion.

So, here are April, May and June's contributions.

April's is completely recycled.  The fabric is left-over from other projects.  The top is a lime green floral pattern with large flowers and squiggly vines in pink, orange and yellow.  The back is a soft yellow thin fleece.

Total Cost:  $0
Total Hours:  3

May's contribution is another completely recycled blanket.  the top piece is a thin plaid fleece that I salvaged from being thrown out..  I cut off the frayed and dirty edges and was able to save a piece large enough for a kid sized blanket.  The back piece is a black cotton left over from another project.

Total Cost:  $0
Total Hours:  3

June's contribution took a while to complete.  My mom is always on the lookout for crafting materials for me, and somewhere, she had found a small collection of blues / greys / greens that I have had for a while and not sure what to do with them.  The other colors were left-overs from a Shabby Chic project a couple years ago.  I started making granny squares that eventually morphed into June's crocheted contribution.  The only thing I had to purchase were two skeins of black yarn to tie this blanket together.  This ended up being the largest blanket in my donations because I just kept adding squares.  My daughters keep trying to steal it.  At Whitney's insistence, I kept the decorative yellow
lacey edging.


Total Cost:  $6
Total Hours:  30

Linus Project - February and March contributions

Ok, so I must confess..........I had really wanted to do the Linus Project last year, and my lofty goals were replaced with finalizing my graduate thesis and looking for a new job.  So, I did have a bit of a headstart for 2013.  Whitney reminds me that I am a whole year behind.

I guess it would be a good thing to knock out all 12 blankets early this year and then turn my attention to other things.

February's is a green/white polka dot quilt.  Three items were recycled:  an old polka dot curtain that was very faded in the middle, an inoperable electric blanket (wires removed) and a pair of pajama bottoms.

Total cost:  $3
Total hours:  6

The hand quilting took the bulk of time for this.  I did not have enough fabric to make wider edging, so I hand stitched it down.


March's is a throw away fleece blanket from one of those kits you see.  It was in a jumbled mess when I found it, and after carefully separating the ties and laying it flat, I decided I'd make a smaller tied fleece blanket.  The lil' bows on the sides were an afterthought.  The kit had button holes on the sides to tie together with those contrasting fleece pieces, and when I approximated cutting the button holes off, it would've made the finalized blanket too narrow.  So, I did some fancy stitch work to keep as much of the original fleece.  The bows were hand stitched to hide the original button holes.

Total cost:  $0
Total hours:  2

Linus Project - January contribution

At the heart of my life's passion is charity. Donating time and/or items to causes has always appealed to me. I love quilting.....and I love blankets. When I first heard of The Linus Project, I was thrilled and have wanted to become involved. Last year I visualized a year long project. Each month, I would complete a blanket. Sounds scary maybe. But remembering that my other passion in life is environmental consciousness, I decided to make repurposeed blankets instead of brand new ones. January is done.

I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

Two items were recycled from waste:  a maroon fleece blanket with frayed edges and a pair of worn women's cotton pajama pants.

I challenge you to become involved with causes you support........find ways to combine your interests in life to make a difference.

Cost for this project:  $0

Time for this project:  2 hours