Our sewing group - which is really an embroidery group - is involved in charity quilting. We try to have at least one, ideally two charity quilting days per year. Yesterday was our latest one. Most of the quilts we make go to Belarus but we have also sent quilts to the local Women's Refuge and the NSPCC.
Jack who is our contact with the school in Belarus which we support is visiting us in October. He will be giving a talk to the members and showing pictures of his last visit which was at Easter this year. We are hoping that he will have some photos of the quilts being given to their new owners. We will be sending him home laden with a new batch of quilts for Easter 2009.
Our members also knit and crochet for the children in Belarus - blankets, hats, gloves, scarves and sweaters.
This photo shows quilt tops which have been tacked ready for quilting. We have lots of members who do not want to piece or quilt but are very happy tacking or sewing on bindings - which is great!
One of the two ladies in our group who do the most work towards the charity quilts is Kath. I have taken these next two pictures so you can see how organised she is. As I said to her yesterday we need her to run the country! The first picture shows how she packages a quilt top, backing and wadding and ties it together for the tackers. They are tied together with selvedges - this woman wastes nothing!
This second photo shows how she has prepared the bindings, measured them and wound them onto home made bobbins made from last years Christmas cards! I bet you would all like Kath to join your quilting group!!
Finally one of the quilts being tacked.
The pictures are not great but I will share them so you get a feel for how the evening went. You can click on them to enlarge them if you want a closer look! We donated another 30 quilts to go to Belarus for Easter 2009. Some of them are displayed on the screen top left of the photo.
Jack brought some of the traditional crafts made by the children in the school they support in Belarus.
Lots of our members knit and crochet hats, scarves, blankets etc for the children. These are some we sent with him on Wednesday.
Three of our members put together stalls selling items which they had made - all the profits went to Jack.
Altogether we raised £300 cash for Jack's next trip and Jack and Elaine went home with a car bulging with donated quilts, knitted items and donated clothing. What a great result!
