News about The Quilt Project

THE QUILT PROJECT TO WIND UP OPERATIONS

After 11 years of service and raising over $1.8 for Support for People Living with Cancer, the Board of Directors of The Quilt Project has made the difficult decision to discontinue the project. The organization has begun winding up operations, in accordance with the registered charity requirements of Canada Revenue Agency.

WHY?

Discontinuing an organization dedicated to raising funds to support people living with cancer was not an easy decision. We have been challenged by the current economic situation and the budget shortfall arising from organizations and individuals reducing overall donation dollars to The Quilt Project. The Board was encouraged to make this difficult decision at this time because a number of organizations raising money for Cancer now provide funds for support programs.

We are justifiably proud to note that the early groundbreaking work done by The Quilt Project has translated into support being provided by many mainstream fundraisers.

WHAT ABOUT THE QUILTS THAT HAVE BEEN DONATED AND NOT YET SOLD?

The uniqueness of The Quilt has been the source of the funds – wonderful works of art lovingly made by so many contributing their time and talent to support this worthy cause.

Before the Board made the difficult decision to wind-down the project, The Quilt made a commitment to work with “Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada” on a fundraising initiative and auction, to be held in the summer of 2010. Willow is a unique breast cancer support organization that provides free information and emotional support for those impacted by breast cancer. We will use donated quilts for this committed initiative and others that are aligned to providing support for people living with cancer.

If we have your quilt from the 2009 collection with us, or you or your group have sent in a “call for entry” commitment or quilt for the 2010 fund raising season, and if you no longer wish to commit this quilt for our June 2010 initiatives, please contact us. Otherwise, we are thrilled you will be continuing to support people living with cancer. We have been quite heartened by the enthusiasm that has been expressed to continue our work in this way!

THANKS TO ALL

We want to thank all the quilt donors, sponsors, volunteers and staff who have been a part of our 11 year journey. Carol Miller - as founder and visionary - has been the single most significant contributor to the success of The Quilt. Her dedication and determination are an inspiration to many. We thank her on behalf of The Quilt Project for her years of service.

Again, we thank you for your support over the past 11 years. Should you have any questions or concerns, we invite you to contact our office at 519-272-2588 or via email to quiltinfo@thequilt.com.

Mark Wiltshire and Gail Johnson Morris, Co-chairs on Behalf of the Board of Directors

More Fabric Bowls

Here is a photo of the bowls I made on Friday. I still need to embellish them with beads so that I can give them as Christmas gifts. Now that they are made I need to get back to piecing more of the Stashbusters String Quilt so I can use up my stash! That will be January's project!

Hot Apple Cider recipe

Had a great time at Hole in the Closet class all day Friday at Quilts and Calicos. For all of those who would like my secret recipe for hot apple cider, here it is. I also thought of after the fact, that if I put all the spices into cheesecloth and tied that up with cotton string that would be a great way to keep all the "debris" together and out of our mugs. (right Nancy?)

1 jug of PC apple cider

2-3 cinnamon sticks

2 nutmeg balls

a pinch of ground nutmeg

a pinch of cloves

Heat it up and serve.

Jim Shore quilting figurines

I love the Santa figurines that Jim Shore makes. He has many different figurines such as snowmen, cats and angels or different themes like Hallowe'en, Easter and Christmas and they all have some sort of quilt block design on them. I try to get a new Santa each year to decorate my house. I have found a cute little sewing machine that I think will be my next purchase!

Here is a link to all his products- Jim Shore

And here is a link to many cute desk top images for your computer, all of them for free to download- images. I think I will use the snowman for winter!

Underground Railroad Quilts

A while back I stopped by the Lucan Museum to have a look at their quilt display. Only a few were quite old and many were made over the past 50 years. Here are some photos of the ones they had as part of their Underground Railroad quilts.

Batik fabric from Mexico

I have been really busy catching up after getting back from Mexico on a family vacation. Haven't been away like that since our honeymoon. Yikes that makes me feel old! One of our day trips while on vacation was to a Mayan ruin. I was too chicken to climb up to the top- I only made it a few steps. Dan went all the way to the top and back down again. His legs were like jello he said. Moments after climbing the Coba ruin our tour bus was about to leave. I spotted a vendor selling hand dyed batik panels so Dan offered to RUN down the street and get me one. Poor guy, after climbing all those steps I then made him run. What a sweetie.

Make a Wish Fund Raiser

MAKE A WISH-Blue Night Reception and Golf Classic

4th Annual Blue Night Reception took place the evening of July 22nd at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club. They had an auction that evening to raise money for Make a Wish and Mary Anne P. pieced a quilt to donate and kindly asked me to do the machine quilting. She just heard back from the coordinator and the quilt raised $285 which is fantastic!

Elisabeth is teaching kids in Africa to quilt

Had another e mail today letting me know that Elisabeth from the Mzansi Zulu Quilt Centre is teaching children a learn to quilt class. Their ages range from 8-13. Here is one of the students and her name is Khetthwe Shezi. I love the photo of Khetthwe kneeling on a chair while long arm quilting!

Funny Machine Quilting Comic

Helen, a fellow longarm quilter sent me this cartoon today. Made me laugh!

FABRIC BOWLS

Today I took a fantastic class taught by Heather Stewart at Quilts and Calicos.

We all made fabric bowls of different sizes, colours and fabrics. They work up so quickly and are so much fun, not to mention beautiful. EVERYONE will be getting these as gifts for the next few years, or until I use up my stash. Here are some photos.

Heather even suggested we embellish them with trims and beads so I came right home after class to embellish my brown and green bowl. I just love it.

Vacation in NY State Parks and Vermont

Last week we had a family vacation camping in the Fingerlakes Region and Adirondack Region of New York State and then on to Lake Champlain in Vermont. Tried to find a quilt shop but did not see one.

In Vermont on Grand Isle we visited Hyde Log Cabin which is believed to be the oldest log cabin in the US- built in 1783. Inside we saw some amazing antiques and they had a quilt on one of the beds. Many of the antiques were donated so I can't say it belonged to the Hyde family but it sure was interesting to see the fabrics used.

Also while driving in NY we decided to stop at Almanzo Wilder's homestead. Alex is a HUGE Little House on the Prairie fan so this was the hi-light of her trip (and seeing Jimmie Johnson at the NASCAR race) They would not let me take photos in the house so no quilt pictures but we could take photos in the barn and this is a needlepoint sample made with some wool that they would have had from their sheep. I thought it looked like a quilt too.

Despite the rain and bugs we had a great time away!

More ribbons won at the Royal Show in South Africa

Once again the quilts entered by the Mzansi Zulu Quilt Centre won ribbons at the Royal Show. It is the biggest show in the State and it lasts 10 days.

In the Outreach class Lungile won 1st place. Rose Ndelela won 2nd place. and N Ncobese won 3rd place. Other winners include Lungile again for 2 more quilts, S Nene, B Skakhane, M Mbanjwa for 2 quilts and Rose Ndelela. In the Junior class, Lungile's daughter Nosipho won 1st place. Nosipho sold that winning quilt and has orders for a few more. Nosipho's 12 year old cousin (not sure of his name) also sold his first quilt. Elisabeth who runs the Mzansi Centre also won 1st place in the Traditional Class, 3rd place in traditional Small Class and 1st place in Innovative Class.

Here is a photo of their vendor booth at the Royal Show.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Update from Africa

Had a quick e mail today as our phone call yesterday was so short and hard to hear because of the poor connection. Here is what Elisabeth wrote:

"The Mzansi Centre is going well and we have two booths booked for the Provincial Garden show and the Hilton Art show next month. The finished quilts are coming in and we sell about one a day at the centre."

Frequently Elisabeth and the quilters rent a booth at local craft shows to sell their quilts. They do quite well at these venues! It's great to hear that they are selling about one quilt per day at the centre which is great income for the many quilters!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUNGILE !!

Just got off the phone with Lungile in Africa. Today is her birthday. I wished her well and to have a good day. She said she had a birthday party on Saturday last week and Elisabeth cooked her "good German food"

She said that they were still busy quilting at the centre. I also congratulated her for winning a quilting ribbon at the Winter Fair.

It was a quick phone call as the connection was terrible, but it was so nice to hear her voice.

Memories Manor Quilt Retreat Weekend

What a fantastic weekend. Rosemary, Cathryn, Nancy and I all relaxed in St. Clair, MI. We were pampered at Memories Manor which is a scrapbooking bed and breakfast. Rosemary has been there before scrapbooking and inquired if quilters were permitted and Jan and Deanna welcomed us with open arms. In my opinion the best service they offer is taking your luggage and quilting supplies in from your car upon arrival. I think we all know what kind of a klutz I was carrying my supplies last retreat!

We ate, relaxed, had massages, overlooked the river, laughed uncontrollably, ate some more and even got some quilting accomplished. We were even treated to a tour of the Manor complete with historical references. This home is amazing!

Everyone had a fantastic time! Thanks again to all the sisters at Memories Manor!

Church Fundraiser Quilt

WOW, it's been a while since I posted as I have been so busy quilting, quilting, quilting.

Just to update you on the scrap quilt I pieced on Earth Day. I finished it and donated it to our church for their annual Strawberry Supper auction. It raised $100 for St. George's and it even had a small strip of strawberry fabric.

MQS Best of Show Quilt

Here is a photo of the quilt that won best of show at MQS.  It is a beautiful quilt depicting the grape harvest.  Machine quilted by Gina Perkes and pieced by Lynn Drennen & Marilyn J. Smith.

Lungile wins a ribbon at SA Quilt Show

I just received an e mail today with the wonderful news that Lungile won a ribbon at the local quilt show in South Africa. Her daughter Nosipho also entered a quilt and won a ribbon too. The small photo shows the newspaper clipping about the quilt show and ribbons. If you click on the photo you can read the article.

WAY TO GO!

Back from Kansas/ MQS

I am home from my trip to Machine Quilter's Showcase.  Have tons of new thread, and so many new quilting patterns.  Will be posting them over the next few weeks for you to see.  Here are some of the patterns I bought while at MQS.  I can't wait to start quilting them!

SHOP HOP

Hope everyone had a chance to get out to all the stores for the Spring Quilter's Shop Tour this past weekend.  I wanted to show you a photo of the really adorable dinosaur quilt at Quilts and Calicos in Exeter.  I machine quilted it with a stegosaurus pattern and it would be so cute for a little boy in your family! 

Call Linda and pick one up before they are all sold out.............

One week and then I am off to Kansas

I have already started packing, making my shopping list and am trying to get everything organized for my trip to Kansas.  Jane and I will be going to MQS- the biggest machine quilting show/ conference in the US.  We will both be taking classes, seeing the new quilting techniques, buying tons of thread and patterns and having a great time away!  

Let the countdown begin...........

After we return I will post photos and a recap of our trip.  

ONE WEEK TO GO...............

Welcome Home Dave!

On Friday our family welcomed Dave home from Afghanistan. He had been there since the Fall and we are all so happy to have him safely back home.  His oldest son Cameron piped him into the airport as we all waited to give him hugs.

(he is the one with his arms in the air) 

I thought he needed a quilt to cozy up with at home so here is a photo of my last Stashbusters quilt I gave to Dave.  It's great to have him home and we are all so proud of everything he did!

Welcome Home Dave!

EARTH DAY

Today is Earth Day ! Please take the time to think of new ways to protect the EARTH.  I know we can all be a little greener.

One great way is to make scrap quilts by using all the little pieces of fabric you would normally throw away.  

I love Heather Stewart's Stashbusters classes because they are helping me obtain my goal of using up all my stash so that I can buy more fabric. And who wouldn't love that?  I am still working though my bin of strips from the String Quilt class (it's taking a while) and here is a photo of my blocks. 

Take some time on Earth Day to quilt.........

Country Haven Quilt

Kim Diehl's Country Haven quilt features her informal "scrap basket" approach to quiltmaking, taking the guesswork out of choosing prints and colours for your own scrappy-style quilt designs. Here are some photos of the fabrics the quilt and machine quilting. I just love quilting feathers!

This workshop and quilt kit can be purchased at Quilts and Calicos in Exeter, ON.

Time To Tidy Up

While waiting for the bus today, my daughter Alexandra wondered if my customers thought my quilting room was messy.  I tried not to comment on the mess in her bedroom and grabbed the vacuum.  I can find the floor now but still need to tidy my desk.

Don't all sewing rooms look like organized chaos?

First Ever Blog Post

Shall I keep up with the times and become a blogger? I'll try my best......

I thought I would start a blog to keep everyone up to date in the ever changing, fast paced world of machine quilting!  Here you will find news from the Mzansi Zulu Quilt Centre in South Africa as well as keep updated on new patterns, threads and everything related to Melon Patch Quilts.

Enjoy.......