Quilting Bee

Okay. So there is a little bit of a back story to this post. Here goes....
If you know me personally, you know about my friend Amber.
In November of 2009, she was battling for her life, in & out of the hospital. Effing cancer. I had the idea that I should make her a quilt to try & make the hospital time even the tiniest bit ...more bearable. At the very least, I hoped it would remind her of all the friends & family she had pulling for her.
I am still just learning the quilting ropes & a quilt can take me a good chunk of time, depending on what else is going on with life. Of course, I know now that I don't feel much like quilting when I am sad either. Anyway, at a certain point, I realised that I probably wouldn't have time to finish a quilt for Amber. And so I never started one. Amber's time ran out....
To this day, I wished that I would have at least started her quilt. I could have showed her what I had done so far... maybe I could have gotten it done in time to at least give it to her, even if she didn't have much time to enjoy it. Maybe I could have finished it late & given it to her amazing husband. You know, all those "I wish.." thoughts.
Soon after her death, I decided that someday I will make a quilt to donate to the hospital she stayed at, for them to give to someone else battling cancer. It won't be the same. But it will be something.
This is something that I will do when I can. Until then, I'm happy to have the chance to participate in a quilting bee I found out about on a blog. There were so many participants that the blog hosts have decided to make 2 quilts in the first round & then do round 2! I am in round 2 which will probably start in March.
This is how it works: Everyone who wants to participate is mailed a package of fabric bits with which to make a quilt block. The block (square) is to be made however we want with the provided fabrics & then mailed back. 'Sew Fresh Fabrics' will then take all the completed blocks & sew them together to make the quilt top. Add the batting, quilt it all together & bind the edges and there you have it! The 2 finished quilts will be given to a charity, Project Linus. This is a quote from their site: Our mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers."

http://sewfreshfabrics.blogspot.com/2011/01/wont-you-join-us.html => The blog post that started it all.


So... I will be a small part of something I've been wanting to do for a while. I'm excited about it! There is a flickr group for the first round & I will be watching it to see the blocks being posted!