My Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry......well, mine and a few friends !

Come, have a look at my Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry. I'm off to

find yours ! Click on the link at the top left of my blog for an entire list of entries.

My best thought was to share with all of you online friends a quilt that was helped along by my "in-person" quilting gals !

Many years ago, in a medium sized town, called Shawnee, Oklahoma, there existed a very young quilt guild . Into this guild came ladies of all shapes and sizes, ages and hair color, eager to get to know each other, but frustrated at trying to remember so many names and faces. One thoughtful member hit upon the idea of meeting in each other's home once a month to get to know each other while delivering a block of choice to that month's blessed recipient. At the previous month's regular guild meeting, the chosen quilter would hand out copies of the pattern for her choice of block, along with instruction on what her chosen color scheme would be. Then, on "party night", we'd meet in their home with the finished blocks and refreshments, or, oft-times a few members would bring the fabrics and sewing machine to make the blocks right there on the spot with support from the whole gang !

Well, let me tell you that this was THE MOST FUN way to learn new faces and names, and I was blessed to be honored TWICE, as we kept this tradition going for years.

On my second go 'round, I chose this block, called "Calico Country", from a book by Judy Martin, because I love the look of the spools made from scraps, and our guild's name was "The Spinning Spools". I just requested scraps as my colors, and had the ladies sign the blocks in the lower left-hand corner.

I chose this setting for the blocks, as it allowed me to trim the individual blocks and build them up to a consistent size. I quilted it many years later, and, now that I have moved away, it is a gentle reminder of some wonderful friendships that sustained me through a lonely time away from family. Quilters do that you know.........they fill in the gaps with the batting of understanding, and keep you warm with layers of friendship.

Edit : I just read of a wonderful quilter, donating hours of her time and energy to Project Linus. She has plans to start a machine-quilting business and would appreciate our checking out her site soon. As an added incentive, she's offering an online giveaway......be sure to check out her blog at http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/2009/10/bloggers-quilt-festival.html

Edit II: Added bonus for late lookers

Click on the photo of the geese quilt for the story on my flickr page.