I thought I would take the opportunity to share with the wider world some of the amazing Charity Quilts that the Portland Modern Quilting Guild has produced this month. For those of you who follow me, you know that I am a pretty active charity quilter and I organize our guild’s charity sewing. I am constantly amazed at the generosity and talent of our guild when it comes to our program….
Some Guild members donate orphan blocks that we make up into quilts. Our wonderful Guild president this year, Elsa, donated the blocks that made this beauty….
Elsa donated ten blocks which were sewn into a top by me, and then quilted by Coleen of The Quilted Thistle. Photos do not do Coleen’s quilting justice, it is beautiful.
Oh and did I mention the little hedgehog?
I used the tenth donated block in the back of the quilt…
Other guild members donate fully completed quilt tops to us… Sam Hunter of Hunter Design Studio donated the top and back for this beautiful quilt….
and another guild member Gail Weiss free motioned quilted all over it, to great effect…
One or two of the quilts we donate each month start life at our Charity Sew Day, which are held at our local quilt store Modern Domestic. Once a month we invade MD’s class room space and whip up blocks which in turn are made into quilts…
I love this improv rainbow quilt top. All the blocks were made at the Charity Sew Day in January by guild members including Mary Ann, Kim, Debbie, Dawn, Michelle, and Elsa. The top was then quilted by the fabulous Dawn Graf-Thiessen, another one of the Guild’s talented long armers.
The fabric for these blocks is from scraps that were also donated to the Charity Sew program. When I receive a donation of scraps I sort them into colours (each colour has its own shoe box). What is left over is put into a catch-all box of multi coloured scraps…
..and some of those scraps were used to make blocks for this bright improv quilt. In November last year I asked Guild members to make a 12 inch square bright improv block, if they wanted, which would then be used in a Charity quilt. This top was the end result…
Bright loud and fun this quilt is definitely going to make some kid very happy… The top was quilted by last years Guild president, MaryAnn. She did a great job free motion quilting on her home machine.
The last quilt I want to share is a simple quiet baby quilt…
This top was made during a Charity Sew Day by guild member Anne. She took some precut squares that had been donated to the program and made a disappearing nine patch block. On Sew days I always pack some precut or orphan blocks so that people who do not necessarily want to make the block of the month can play.
Another guild member, Emily, free motioned this darling pattern all over the quilt using her home machine. The sweet pattern works so well on this low volume quilt.
I would like the thank all the PMQG guild members who every month help our charity program in ways big and small…either by donating fabric or blocks or their time and talent. We could not do it without you. Thank you.
WOMBAT QUILTS 
Truly wonderful, each one of them!
Thanks for posting quilts we otherwise may not get to see. A great collection.
What beauties! My favourites? Elsa’s blocks and the improvs, the former because the shapes are so lovely and the latter because they’re bright and fun. You guys do such good work.
Chapeau – that is hats off to all involved in these marvellous charity quilts. I was particularly impressed with the FMQ – something I am VERY bad at, and only attempt on very small projects.
Simply fabulous! Warms my heart.
I’ve always wanted to live in Portland… and this post is pulling me there again. Lovely work and the recipients will be totally blessed!
How lovely that all those wonderful quilts have been made for charity — a very generous group of quilters whose sewing needles must just fly across the material!
Hello!
I’m hoping that this email gets through to you, as I’m responding to the feed from your blog. I love your quilts and your quilting!!
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now, though I’m a silent reader 🙂 I’ve been a quilter for a while too (14+ years?), but I’ve also not been quilting for a few years now, with a couple young kids, and a job, and a life that doesn’t have much unscheduled time. I’ve got some fabrics that aren’t getting used, and I’d love to send them to you for use in some charity quilt(s). Or in whatever you see fit — they’d be happy in your work, too, since you do such amazing stuff. 🙂
So can I send you some fabric? I know there’s a modern quilt guild down here, and I’m even on their mailing list, but I feel shy to go in without participating and hand off fabric. It’s not the most coveted stuff, but still, there are quilts to be made and diversity is good stuff in quilts…
Please let me know.
Thank you!
Elise
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Why is it that nowadays the quilts are so tightly quilted, ridiculous! It came about early when people hand quilted and then the machine quilting came, now its ridiculous to expect machine quilting on a long arm and to mimic it with a domestic machine! Hate the look and the feel as its like cardboard so in between quilting is much nicer and softer and home like! Best regards Tina
These quilts have been machine quilted using both a long arm and home machines. Each quilt is beautiful and the quilting on each is perfect. I am in awe of anyone who can use a home machine to quilt (I struggle so much to do anything but straight lines) and I constantly marvel at the beauty a long arm can achieve. Each of these quilts has been made with such love and the kids that receive them will not care about the preciseness of the piecing or the density of the quilting. They will just know someone they do not know cared enough to make them a quilt.
All the quilts turned out so lovely! I just want to say that I didn’t do any of the blocks on that star quilt ~ they are all from a bee I was in last year and the women that made them did a wonderful job of it! I want to take a photo of it so I can share with them!
And, what is up with the previous comment. As Thumpers Mom said ~ “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” (from the movie Bambi, for those that don’t know).
Cath, you are so generous with your time and skills ~ I admire you so much!
I was planning on leaving a comment saying how wonderful the quilting is on these quilts as often charity quilts look like they’ve had a lot of effort put into the piecing but are let down by scant quilting. I was then surprised to see the comment left by Tina, we obviously have a different opinion about quilting. Carry on the great work.
All beautiful quilts and quilting! Too often, charity quilts are sort of cast-offs or second bests, and they shouldn’t be!
these are all beautiful! I too disagree with the comment above, the quilting is beautiful! These are all fantastic quilts!