Becky's Relay for Life QuiltI know many generous quilters. Quilting is one way that many of us support people and organizations -- whether it's giving a baby quilt to a friend or making a quilt for a community service project, or making a quilt for a fund raiser. A friend of mine, Becky S., recently was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is not a stranger to cancer -- her husband had cancer and her brother, two aunts, and mother all died of cancer. One in three persons in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. So, for Becky, helping the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" organization by making a quilt for a local fundraising auction was only natural.
I want to share this quilt with you because you may find Becky's process helpful if you are moved to help your local cancer society or another charitable organization. Becky's quilt has 124 blocks in it. She gave people the opportunity to honor cancer victims and cancer survivors by donating $10 to have a loved one's name added to the quil
t -- each block has the hand-inked name of an individual with the words "in honor of" or "in memory of" before the name. The block pattern, "Remember Me," is from the 1800s. And now Becky is giving the quilt to the local Relay for Life organization for their auction and fund raising gala in May. Her creative fund raising efforts will help others through Relay for Life. Think about how you might follow in Becky's path -- selling name opportunities on blocks, and then providing the funds raised, as well as the finished quilt, to a charitable organization's fund raiser. I quilted this quilt for Becky -- it took 45 hours, but it was a labor of love: my sister died of breast cancer eight years ago.
These quilt photographs were taken by Jim Evans. If you want to learn how to take great quilt photos, check out Jim's lesson at http://www.factsfacts.com/quilts/Photographing_Quilts/. Jim offers free photo-editing lessons too (http://factsfacts.com/photolessons/index.htm) -- but you have to be serious about learning from him!
I want to share this quilt with you because you may find Becky's process helpful if you are moved to help your local cancer society or another charitable organization. Becky's quilt has 124 blocks in it. She gave people the opportunity to honor cancer victims and cancer survivors by donating $10 to have a loved one's name added to the quil
t -- each block has the hand-inked name of an individual with the words "in honor of" or "in memory of" before the name. The block pattern, "Remember Me," is from the 1800s. And now Becky is giving the quilt to the local Relay for Life organization for their auction and fund raising gala in May. Her creative fund raising efforts will help others through Relay for Life. Think about how you might follow in Becky's path -- selling name opportunities on blocks, and then providing the funds raised, as well as the finished quilt, to a charitable organization's fund raiser. I quilted this quilt for Becky -- it took 45 hours, but it was a labor of love: my sister died of breast cancer eight years ago.These quilt photographs were taken by Jim Evans. If you want to learn how to take great quilt photos, check out Jim's lesson at http://www.factsfacts.com/quilts/Photographing_Quilts/. Jim offers free photo-editing lessons too (http://factsfacts.com/photolessons/index.htm) -- but you have to be serious about learning from him!
What else have I been working on lately? I've been very busy -- I've finished several new quilts in the past month. And as soon as my camera decides to stop playing hide-and-seek with me, I'll take some photos and share some new quilts with you.
I'm off to hunt for my camera again - until I find it, happy sewing!
Sue Garman
(c)2009 Susan H. Garman
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Sue, Thanks so much for sharing this idea, and also this pattern (I was not familiar with it). I really like the idea of raising money while dedicating the individual blocks, and then being able to auction the quilt as a whole. You, as always, did a beautiful job quilting this creation...I love how the quilting highlights each individual dedication! Nancy
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful quilt, you do wonderful work.
ReplyDeleteWill check out the link on photographing quilts too, need to get better pictures of my work.
Debbie
That is a beautiful quilt, you do wonderful work.
ReplyDeleteWill check out the link on photographing quilts too, need to get better pictures of my work.
Debbie