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Monday, December 31, 2018

52 Charity Quilts in 52 Weeks - December

I am SOOOO excited to share my progress with you this month!!!

I met exceeded my goal!!! I made 54 charity quilts in 2018!!!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts


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If you're new here, hello! I'm Laura! I design quilt patterns, and I'm a self-proclaimed deal hunter! Be sure to join the popular Quilting & Sewing Deals Facebook group where I post sales, deals, and coupon codes from all around the web!


I set a goal at the beginning of the year to make 52 quilts for charity in 2018. You can read more about my plan on this post. On the last day of each month, I recap my progress and host a linky party where you an link up any charity you've done too!

If you remember from last month, I had:

1 finished cat quilt for Emma's Plan
3 finished teenager quilts for foster kids
11 finished Debbie Mumm charity quilts (3 here, 5 here, and 3 here)

That's a total of 15 quilts for charity, still 37 away from 52.

But I had a plan!!

I started by loading 15 yards of 108" wide backing fabric on my longarm.

Backing loaded on my Gammill longarm

Using batting scraps, I started quilting the 10 tops that I made last month. I started with polyester batting scraps, then used my cotton batting scraps. I am happy to say I eliminated a LOT of batting leftovers with this project!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

I could get three quilts across.

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

I worked in groups of six, then cut those off the frame before starting the next set.

Once the pieced tops were quilted, I decided to use the one-yard pieces that I had planned to use as backing (before I got the longarm!) as whole cloth quilts.

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

This was how I could meet my goal!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts
Debbie Mumm charity quilts
 Debbie Mumm charity quilts

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

When the batting scraps ran out, I used my roll of Fairfield batting I got from Jo-Ann. It's almost all gone now!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts


I free-motioned a large meander over the quilts.

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

Debbie Mumm charity quilts
Debbie Mumm charity quilts

I used 50wt Aurifil #2324 Stone for all the quilting. It blends so well with all the Debbie Mumm fabrics!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts


I was able to quilt 12 quilts each day for three days (15 quilts on the third day), for a total of 39 quilts!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts


This handsome fella made sure I got plenty of breaks!



Working against the clock, I had just December 30th and 31st to bind all 39 baby quilts! Thankfully, I had done much of the prep work in earlier months!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts


I stitched the binding to the front of all the quilts. I used up all my bobbins of various colors of Aurifil to do this!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts
Debbie Mumm charity quilts
 Debbie Mumm charity quilts

Debbie Mumm charity quilts


Usually, I press my binding to the back, then stitch in the ditch from the front. This produces a clean finish that I really like.

However, I didn't have time to press. Instead, I decided to stitch on the backside along the binding edge. I made sure to use the same Aurifil 50wt #2324 Stone thread in the bobbin, so the line on the front matched the other quilting.

Debbie Mumm charity quilts
 Debbie Mumm charity quilts


This method allowed me to stitch the binding down in a final victory lap that took just three minutes per quilt!

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

 Debbie Mumm charity quilts

Debbie Mumm charity quilts

 Debbie Mumm charity quilts


It didn't take long for the finished quilts to add up!

39 quilts in 5 days.
39 quilt finishes all on December 31st!

In summary, my total charity quilt count for the year looks like this:


50 finished Debbie Mumm charity quilts (3 here, 5 here, 3 here, and 39 this month!)

For a total of 54 charity quilts in 2018!!

I hope to get some better pictures of them all and do a recap post to discuss what I've learned from this year-long endeavor. Maybe next week. Until then, what did you sew for charity this month? Link up!





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11 comments:

  1. You did it! I am so impressed but that method of stringing them along on the frame really worked and the binding solution was perfect. Congratulations on making it. Hope you are taking a big rest today!

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  2. Oh wow, Laura, that is amazing! Way to go for not just meeting but exceeding your goal. I love how you were creative and made it work. Do you plan to try to make as many charity quilts in 2019?

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  3. That is awesome! I really want a long arm just for making charity quilts! But alas, no room! I’m planning at least 12 in 2019, and I really am hoping for 19!

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  4. Wow! Wow! WOW! I am just in awe at how much you are able to produce. Congrats on exceeding your goal and I look forward to seeing what you accomplish in 2019!

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  5. Wow. That was quite a production line you had going. Kudos for being creative.

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  6. WOW!!! You had me nervous, because I know you still needed a lot and that you have an infant at home, but I should not have doubted! I'm so impressed! I did not do nearly as many this year, though I did blow past my goal of 12 charity quilts for 17 total and I set the goal of 25 for 2019. I'm looking forward to your recap and thoughts on the year. Congratulations on meeting this tremendous goal!

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  7. Amazing, Laura! Way to go! And the little guy is just too cute!

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  8. Well done! Way to meet and go beyond your goal!

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  9. Way to power through and get 'er done! There must have been smoke coming from your machine by the time you finished, lol :)

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  10. Awesome job, Laura! You came up with a great idea to simplify your quilt tops, especially since they were all cut and ready to go. Cute photo of the handsome guy that keeps you grounded, too!

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  11. Simply amazing! This inspires me to make more charity quilts this year (only managed five last year).

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