Monday, April 25, 2011

Blessed, to be a Blessing

    One of the things I wanted to be able to do when I started this whole quilter's journey thing, was to make quilts to donate. I figured most likely they would be for fundraising type events. There are several charitable organizations that we've supported over the years; most of them because our lives were somehow touched by the disease or circumstance those organizations serve. We've made donations to:

    Juvenile Diabetes Foundation -- my sister was a Type 1 diabetic from the age of 12, and issues related to her diabetes are what took her life at the age of 38.
    American Foundation for Suicide Prevention -- our nephew was a suicide victim in 2006, leaving behind a family with lots of questions, memories, and reasons to trust God.
    Hines Heros -- an organization established in memory of our nephew, who was killed in the war in Iraq in 2005.
    City Gospel Mission -- an organization dedicated to equipping the homeless and underprivileged in our home town, Cincinnati, Ohio.
    Whiz Kids -- an organization established to pair Christian adults with inner-city, at risk kids from our neighborhood, for tuturing and mentoring.
    Faith Food Pantry -- run by our church to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of hungry people in our  neighborhood.

    These are a few that are near and dear to our hearts. Another is Connections,  an organization whose mission is to help victims of childhood sexual abuse find Hope and Healing. We, like lots of folks, have a close family member who was a victim of this horrific crime. She is a beautiful, whole, healed woman now, but the issue remains close to our hearts.

    So, when Connections put out a message requesting donations for their up-coming "Be the Scream" awards banquet, I decided to make a small lap-sized quilt to donate. = )  Here's what I came up with!


    I wanted to do something relatively simple, since I only have 3 weeks to finish it. So, I sketched out a simple arrangement of 12 colored six inch squares, with 3 inch solid white sashing and 6 inch borders. I wanted to do something with batiks, and I wanted it to be a little "girly." So, I chose pinks, purples, and oranges. I really like how it turned out.




    The back will be solid white and I got purple quilting thread. Now I need to decide if I want to quilt by hand or try doing it with my machine ... decisions, decisions.

    I've linked this post to Fabric Tuesday on Quiltstory! = )

3 comments:

the gathering girls said...

It's such a beautiful quilt. I really love the simplicity of it and the fabric choices are perfect!

Sew Many Mamas said...

Sometimes simple is so beautiful! Very nice !

Stephanie Suzanne Designs said...

Hi Deanna,

I love batiks. Your quilt is will be so pretty which ever way you decide to finish it. I'm visiting for Fabric Tuesday. I'd love to have you come by for a visit.

Pink Sparkles for your day,
Stephanie ♥