Quiltingboard Forums - a group effort comfort quilt

In November, one of our quilting group, told us she has cancer. The rest of us and bought a bright & cheery modern print batik jelly roll. We divided it so each person got 2 or 3 strips to work with. We set a rule of the width, but each person could do whatever they wanted in their row, adding fabrics from their own stash as desired. This was the weekend before Thanksgiving. We set a goal to get the row done and turned in by the beginning of December.

Once all the rows were done, they were sewn together. And it was amazing how well they went together! Several rows had strips (log cabin, rail fence, windmills etc), some had triangle shapes (geese, pinwheels, chevron), two had applique on a white background, 2 quilters printed a message to her – just a few of the coordinations that happened.

None of us had known what the others were doing. There were 8 of us making rows. A ninth person added borders, pieced a back and long arm meandered it. One of the row makers embroidered a label.

So, this morning several of us gave it to her. Of course, before giving it to her, we laid some Kleenex on the desk. She loved it and everyone walking by remarked how amazingly beautiful it was & took pics. We hung it on a rack so both sides could be shown at once, and they left it in the lobby.

Mary told us that the jelly roll we had chosen, that we thought looked like the quilts that she makes, was one that she had personally chosen when she went to Quilt Market in Texas this year, and had ordered some for the gift shop where she works.

We also made a card with the label, part of the poem, and full pic of both the front and back of the quilt. That way even if she does not have the quilt with her, she can still have it in her purse or pocket!