Ode to Frida quilt completed!

This took some time but I am happy to say that I finally finished the "Ode to Frida" quilt and am very happy with how it turned out!

 This quilt is lap-sized and completely hand quilted with a small meandering flower pattern. I am super happy with the look and feel of this quilt.  I took a machine quilting class at my local shop and yes, I am still hand quilting! I guess you could say I need a lot more practice on the sewing machine!

I have a Huge pile of un-finished projects and need to get to work!  But I always feel good as I complete them so hopefully more completed projects to come soon....

Annual Fundraising Quilt

      For 33 years the women in my town have gotten together and created a quilt to raffle off to raise funds for our local fire department. I have been lucky enough to participate in this event for the last 4 years.        This is how I got the quilting bug! Prior to joining these woman, I new just the basics of sewing and did very little. Over the years I made costumes for my kids, sewed set designs for their school plays, not much more than that. 

     This year, I am organizing the fundraiser and have been very busy with this! We started in February, with several meetings to decide what this year's theme would be, what style and layout of the quilt and to get an idea how many women would be participating. Then it was off to our local quilt store to pick the materials! Our next step was to organize a cutting party and get the packets ready for pick up. This year, we have 25 women quilting 25 squares!

We then meet as a group and sew our individual squares. This is always so much fun! We try to share materials, stories and help each other with technique. 

I have learned so much from these ladies! I learned how to needle-turn applique, baste and hand quilt from these lovely ladies and then I was hooked!

This year, we chose "roots" as our theme, and each woman interpreted that in their own way. I chose a turbulent ocean scene with lots of kelp to represent what roots my family and I to our coastal community. 

     The next stage, is deciding on a final layout and sewing all the squares together. This is my favorite part. We get to see every one's finished square and how beautiful they have all turned out.

   

      Then, the quilt is taken to local festivals, events and farmer's market and we sell raffle tickets for a chance to win our quilt. I am so impressed with the amount of time and effort that everyone puts forth. As I mentioned there are 25 women who sew squares for this quilt and even more volunteers that help out with selling raffle tickets. 

                                   

                                                                                                                                        

I have made some truly wonderful friendships with some incredible women! Here is one of them at our first fundraising event of this year. 

    

 I have finally reached a "lull" with all the work associated with organizing this event am looking forward to getting back to my unfinished projects pile!