Doll Quilts And Happy Hearts

Oh yeah, that's right!  I have a blog!

It never fails to amaze (and dishearten) me how easy it is to fall out of the blogging habit.  I have sincerely enjoyed the times in my life when I've been able to make a consistent habit of it.  But, my life is so full of so many wonderful things, that I simply can't do all of them all of the time.  That's just the way it is, and I'm blessed to have that problem.

And, while the blogging has stopped for the last year, the sewing has not.  Nor has the reading of blogs or the Instragram stalking of my favorite quilters, sewists and bloggers.  Sewing and following the "Sewciety" are my primary forms of relaxation and stress management.  I spend a lot of hours each week doing these sewing related things...I just dint take the time to write about them!

So, why this post now?  Well, leave it to Bernie from Needle and Foot to bring me out of bloggy retirement!

I love the "fabric pull" stage of starting a new project!

Bernie has been one of my favorite bloggers and Instagrammers for a while.  She is full of good ideas and is passionate about what she does.  So, when she posts about cool stuff, I take note.  Recentlly she introduced her readers to an organization called A Doll Like Me.  Through another quilt blogger, Bernie had become aware of Amy, its founder.  Amy is another amazing woman who, like Bernie, is creative, passionate and a loving spirit in this world.  Amy makes adorable dolls that are representative of children (and some adults) with physical differences.  Like their kids, these dolls might have scars, wearable medical devices, or limb differences.  Amy lovingly crafts a special doll so that it's recipient feels less alone in the challenges they face.

I borrowed this photo from A Doll Like Me's Facebook page.  I just had to show you how wonderful these dolls are.  Please find Amy on Facebook and read through her posts.  Yow will be touched and amazed by the power of representation and acceptance.

Bernie was moved by Amy's story, and decided to join in with another quilter who had made some mini quilts to accompany the dolls to their forever homes.  That's not all, though.  Bernie decided to open wide the gates of caring and invite us all along!  She issued a "challenge" to her readers for the month of February.  Her goal was to provide Amy with a small stack of quilts, but, in reality, Amy has been met by her local post office workers with a CART FULL of packages, each containing a one of a kind work of art!  SO. MUCH. LOVE! And there are more on the way!  Call the post office Amy!  We're not done yet!

I was as moved by Amy's mission as I was  by Bernies' drive to help.  It was really a "can't lose" situation.  After I finished up some Valentines' Day treats for my girls, I decided I'd make a couple doll quilts to send to Amy.  She lives pretty close to me, and has some connections to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, where my daughter is a frequent patient.  It felt good, and right to join in on this project.

These quilts are almost entirely created from my scrap baskets.  It felt so good to be putting those scraps to such a good use.  And I loved having a quick, no stress, doesn't have to be perfect project to work on these last few weekends.

These little hearts are so fun to make.  I wasn't thrilled with the color choices once I finished the top.  They seemed so dark and drab, not the rainbow I was going for.  But, that cheerful yellow binding helps a ton, and I think that Amy is going to make the perfect doll for this quilt, and they'll make someone very happy!

The second quilt was quick and fun to make.  Strippy and colorful, it uses up lots of pieces of odd fabric that have been given to me over the years.  The back uses the bonus HST's from the other quilt!

Amy sometimes receives pictures of the kids and their dolls.  I'll be keeping an eye on her site, in hopes of catching a glimpse of one of these little cuties in action!

Thanks, Bernie for following your heart and helping this amazing organization.  And thank you for giving us a way to join in, too.  Nothing soothes my anxieties quite like being creative and doing things for others.  This project certainly fit the bill!

Bernie is sharing some of the many, many quilts that were made this month on her blog.  Be sure to pop over and take a look!