Raffle Quilt for UT Chi Omega Sorority

Just a few weeks ago we were approached by a lovely young woman from the Chi Omega sorority at the University of Texas at Austin Texas. She wanted us to make a quilt from her organization's T-shirts to be used as a raffle quilt for their chosen charity, Make A Wish Foundation.

As a way of keeping costs low, we asked Sallie to prepare the shirts by cutting, stabilizing and sizing them which she skillfully did by spending a few Friday mornings working with us in our Studio. We then completed the piecing of it for her and of course, did the quilting of it on our APQS Millennium machine.

Sallie had the quilt in time for the raffle which brought in a decent amount of money that went directly to the support of their wonderful chosen charity.

Do any of your supported organizations have a raffle coming up? Consider this very creative, useful, warm and profitable idea - make a quilt from your old T-shirts!

Deeply Felt Memorial Quilts

The power of quilts can evoke the deepest and sweetest memories, especially those that come from clothing that has been incorporated into a Memorial Quilt.

Amber asked us to make these two very simply designed but heartfelt quilts for herself and one of her relatives. She so wanted to capture her Mom's spirit and courage as she battled a long and painful illness. Amber knew the power of fabric turned into a quilt. Amber spoke to us of her Mom's joy in sewing - many of the fabrics in this quilt had been destined for articles of clothing for Amber and she spent many minutes remembering the joy of the planning, the sadness of the unfulfilled promises and finally, the peace of seeing these pieces turned into something she can wrap around herself and remember the love of her Mom.

These quilts are made of just 25 simple squares created from her Mom's clothes and extra fabric. So simple, yet so deeply poignant and satisfying to Amber.

Love Passed On

We were recently honored with a commission for a small quilt. One of our clients who was about to be a grandmother for the first time asked us to create this wonderful wall hanging. Debbie wanted her new granddaughter to have a part of her life forever. She brought us her 30 year old wedding gown and asked us to cut it apart(!!) and use the bodice and lace on the sleeves to make this meaningful connection through the generations. We chose a design which would reflect the love and joy of a wedding day coupled with the love and joy of the birth of a child. Do you think we succeeded? Debbie seemed to think so since she gave us the greatest gift of all by shedding tears of joy and pleasure when she first saw the quilt.

I have my wedding dress of 35 years ago still hanging in my closet and I bet many of you too have the same situation. When my son gets married and has his first child, I just may take advantage of Debbie's wonderful idea and make some real generational use of the fabric in my dress. Think about for yourself too. Pass on the love.