Thumbs Up to the Quilting Community

My local quilt group is ramping up preparations for only our second show. Roundabout Quilters show is scheduled for 17th-18th June and is being held in the same venue as the first, All Saints Church, Basingstoke. We will be raising funds for Project Linus by raffling a group quilt.

Taking initial inspiration from a photo on the internet the Committee decided on the production of a quilt-as-you-go quilt featuring an appliqued batik tree on each block. Months and months ago each member of the Group received a bag containing fabric for the front and back of a 12″ block along with wadding and a piece of batik fabric to use for the trunk and branches of the tree. The rest was up to us (although quilters being what they are, help was always on offer!).

Last week the final tree blocks were gathered in. I count myself privileged to have been one of the Group with time to spend a few hours together arranging and trimming thirty-six blocks ready to receive their strips of sashing fabric to complete the quilt-as-you-go process (I found this tutorial online that is very similar to the method we are using). We were ably instructed in this art by a member of the group who also provided us with easy to follow notes 🙂 (again, aren’t quilters wonderful?).

My title for this post is ‘Thumbs Up to the Quilting Community’ and I direct this positive hand gesture to both local groups and the worldwide quilting community. Local groups can provide inspiration, expertise, life-long friendships and serve their wider communities providing stitched and quilted gifts to a wide range of charities. The international quilting community is busy doing all of the above via the wonders of social media. And what amazing links are made! Take little old me: yesterday I posted a question to a Facebook group, I received such helpful, encouraging replies from none other than Christa Watson and Pat Sloan! Sorry! But I have to be very uncool and say: just how cool and generous is that? 🙂

‘Other news in brief…’

• The log cabin quilt, ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’ is completed and ready to purchase from my Etsy shop 🙂

• The scrapvortex/leader-ender quilt is ongoing (see previous blog post). The little basket is now full of pairs of scraps but the bin of scraps remains as full as ever (the quilters eternal question: how do scraps multiply?). Special note – if someone else in your household empties the bins do explain that a waste paper bin full of fabric scraps is not to be emptied out with the rubbish – just saying 😉 after a close call!

• The garden quilt continues to grow but rather too slowly – my deadline was to have the top complete by end of March… The blocks are completed and up on the design wall but there are no sashing pieces cut… And today I received the quilt and postage labels from Grosvenor Exhibitions – a bit of a wake up call – this is real and the 10th May deadline looms.

• Beginners Quilt classes at Purple Stitches. Next Saturday will be the fourth and final session – time to make and attach the binding to the quilts – which are all looking fantastic, way too neat for first quilts 🙂 I am really getting a thrill from seeing these four absolute beginners tackling each stage of quilt making with such diligence and good humour.

Easter on the horizon:

A footnote to the overwhelming thumbs up of this post is that sometimes people let us down. Last year I read a blog post by a quilter who, having plucked up courage to visit a quilt group had been made to feel very unwelcome. Unfortunately, living in a rural district she didn’t have the luxury of being able to try another local group. I hope she hasn’t given up on the quilting community as a whole, or worse still, lost enthusiasm for patchwork and quilting because of her experience. Recently I heard a discussion on a secular radio station in which one guest described her teenage experience of belonging to a Church that became too oppressive. She chose to leave and in so doing rejected all churches. I found this very sad and got frustrated listening to the discussion as no one thought to ask her about her faith – in rejecting the church had she rejected Jesus or maybe in raising questions had she realised she had not yet accepted Christ for herself? ‘Warts and all’ ordinary people populate the church (in fact the people are the church – not the denomination or the building) and all are quite capable of disappointing one another and those outside of the church. As Easter approaches I’d really like to appeal to anyone who may have been hurt by a church or an individual Christian not to use that as a reason to ignore or deny Christ. Rather I’d ask that you’d let Jesus speak through the Gospel writers; read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John before writing Him off along with the church.

And lastly, just a few more glimpses of Spring:

Linking with Amanda Jean, who is sharing her Happy Quilt, for Finish it up Friday and with Myra, who is showing us her new sewing space, for Finished or not Friday.

Allison