When I hosted my first family reunion about 15 years or so ago, I came up with the "brilliant" idea that since none of my Mother's utilitarian quilts had survived, having been well loved by 5 brothers and 2 sisters, that I should make a quilt to be raffled off so there would be a piece of family history to be passed on. The previous reunion 2 years earlier, my SIL came up with the idea of each family picking a color, that would be worn on T-shirts so that an uncle who was coming to meet his sister's family (my Mother) for the first time would know who belonged to whom. Starting with that idea, I asked family members to send fabric in their "family colors" and I would make a quilt, using those colors. I used the album block for the quilt, and it was very well received, with my oldest brother winning the quilt, much to the chagrin of my aunt from CA. Since then I made one more quilt in the family colors, then 2 with red, white and blue and after that I picked one family color for each of the next quilts. I've been amazed at the variety of fabrics my family members have chosen for each quilt, and that I (who was not a big fan of "scrap" quilts) was able to come up with a beautiful quilt that has become the highlight of every reunion. These have become my favorite quilts to make, as I love the "challenge" of picking the right pattern for each quilt using fabrics I had not chosen myself, but which always seemed to coordinate well with one another. These quilts have become a way for me to be remembered for putting "the ties that bind" into a "family" quilt to be passed on to other generations. These are the quilts that I love making, for the family that I love the most, even though we are scattered across the country, but in these quilts we are together as a family unit to be used for comfort and caring. I do make quilts for other reasons, but I love making the family reunion quilts the most.