A few months ago I made some garments for Free Spirit’s booth at Quilt Market, and I chose to be paid in fabric. Wanting to put it to use right away rather than have it languish on my shelf, I immediately cut a host of strips from Loominous, True Colors, Mod Corsage, and Fibs and Fables- all collections from the one and only Anna Maria Horner. They go together so beautifully and were practically begging to be made into a strip quilt like the one Maureen Cracknell made so many years ago. 

 It went together without a hitch, and I had such good fun choosing fabric after fabric. 

    The best part was having to do so little quilting because the batting was already so stable from using it as a foundation for all the fabric strips. 

   For the backing, I chose a single yard of AMH’s new wideback collection, Halos in Glisten. It was awesome because the print is 108″ wide, so with a quilt that measured about 54″ x 64″ all I had to do was cut my yard in half and sew it back together and my quilt back was ready. 

 That Halos wideback is awesome. I wasn’t terribly excited by the motif to begin with, but the fabric is absolutely lush. It has a beautiful, light sheen that really does seem to glisten and it is so, so soft. Its not like regular quilting cotton at all. I’m tempted to buy some up and use it for bed sheets. 

 I made this quilt for a woman I met who is going through a rough time. Her family is split up and they are having to live it separate places due to the outrageous cost of housing around here. I just thought she could use some sunshine in her life, and while we don’t have much to work with financially, I do know how to sew. So that’s what I did. I know it doesn’t do anything to tangibly help, but I hope it can at least lift her spirit.

I hope this post finds you well! I have more to share in the coming days. I’m on a bit of a quilting kick and I’m trying to work down my stash. I need to make some more useful bed size quilts for us, but I’m also thinking of helping out a local organization. Its just been on my heart that we are all given something, and something is enough to bless someone else, so that’s what I ought to do. I’m thinking of finding a local place that helps families with children who have Down Syndrome or perhaps a local pregnancy crisis center, because both of those are issues close to my heart. Do you do any sort of charity work for a local organization? I would love to know how you got involved and what you are doing to help! At this point I’m just looking for ways to be a blessing, so any advice would be appreciated.

-Meredith