dunster

I debated whether this should go in pictures or in Main, but my purpose is to talk about the Bolt to Bed program, not this particular quilt, so here goes (in Main)!

I belong to a large guild, Mid-Valley Quilt Guild, that meets in Salem, Oregon. (I also belong to a very small guild, Santiam Scrappers, which meets in Lebanon. I get a lot of satisfaction from both guilds, partly because they are so different.) Every year the MVQG has a meeting set aside for "Bolt to Bed". Before the meeting, some of the members put together kits that can be used to create comfort quilts. Then members can either bring their sewing machine to the meeting and spend several hours sewing, or they can take a kit or two home to work on there. Last year I stayed and sewed (and had a wonderful time doing it) and this year I took a kit home. All the finished quilts are returned to the guild and given out as comfort quilts. So far, the MVQG web site says that 88 quilts have been turned in from this year's bolt to bed - but there will be more, because some of us (me!) are late getting them back.

The kit I received consisted of 5.5" x WOF strips of 3 different coordinating Moda fabric, plus enough fabric for backing and binding. Instructions were provided to make a "fractured 9 patch" which is basically the same as a D9P. The quilt I made is about 60x60. I quilted it on my longarm and supplied the batting, but the guild also supplies batting on request. The guild will also find someone to do the quilting and/or binding if the person who does the piecing doesn't want to do them.

This program makes it so easy to make a comfort quilt! No fabric selection worries, the initial cutting is already done, the pattern is selected and supplied - what could be easier? It isn't necessarily fabric that I would have selected, so that means I get to work on something different - I can approach it as a new learning experience.

For example... I've owned my longarm for almost 2 years, but (amazingly) I had never done an all-over meander quilt design, either with the longarm or previously with my DSM. I decided to meander, just to see how it went, and found that it went very quickly. I was also enchanted by the backing fabric that the guild provided. I haven't purchased Moda fabric before, and thought it was rather thin, but the colors were lovely. I'm used to pre-washing all my fabric, and then using starch, but since this was already cut into strips I couldn't do that. But everything went together very nicely, I think.