The Charity Quilt

So, in my last post I talked about the quilting group ladies that I used to sew with on a regular basis (before I had the boys) and I wanted to tell you a little bit about the history of this quilt and why it has to do with them.  When I first arrived in Australia nearly 6 years ago now, (!!!!) I had been quilting for only about a year while I was still living in the States.  I didn't have much of a fabric stash and most of what I had was still in Michigan.  I was itching to sew but had little to sew with and no quilt shops close by.  Ha!  Imagine that, no stash!!  The ladies at the quilting group had a cupboard of community fabric that anyone could use and they kindly offered me the use of whatever I wanted.  In addition, my mother-in-law also let me go through her fabric trunk from the days when she used to sew clothes for her own kids.  So, that is how this quilt came to life.  I got the inspiration from one of Kaffe Fassett's earlier quilting books for the pattern.  This quilt is probably full of a mixture of polys and cottons and whatever else I have no idea.  I wouldn't normally do this, but I also felt that everyone should try a true scrap quilt at some point and so I just went for it.  It somehow developed a nautical theme along the way with the anchor fabric I had from my MIL.  So, anyway, it has also served me to be one of my first practice quilts on the long arm.  I thought the anchor pattern fit perfectly for it.

Now, I have given it back to the ladies in my quilting group to use for the local show as a raffle quilt.  Every two years they have a quilt show to raise money for the local old age home.  I hope that by adding my quilt as a raffle they might make a few extra dollars for the cause.  It felt like the right purpose for the quilt as the fabric started from there in the first place!  I actually do like this quilt a lot even though it is a mixture of polyester and cotton, old shirts, etc.  I hope someone enjoys it as much as I do.