Tag: texas

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Charity quilt for SAPD

A quilt with the city skyline in blue and white.


A quilt with the city skyline in blue and white.
The back of the quilt

So on my birthday this year, only five days after bringing our little girl home from the hospital from being born, I have the tv turned on to some inconsequential show to help me forget how tired I am.  A news story comes on about a police officer in San Antonio being shot and killed while writing someone a ticket.  It is really disturbing that we keep having incidents like this happen, and even more so when you just had your first child.  It’s so discouraging thinking that this will be the world she grows up in–where good people who lay their life on the line on a daily basis are killed without rhyme or reason.  

A heart made of blue hearts on top of a white wall.
The front


I am happy though, that I am part of a guild that has such a heart for charity and outreach.  I won’t name the individual who organized everything and made this happen, but I am so glad she did.  This is one of the quilts that was put together by members of the San Antonio Modern Quilt guild for the officer’s surviving family members.  I really felt priveleged to have a hand in this (even if all I did was the quilting–check out the appliqued back!).  I hope that the family is brought some small measure of comfort, or even feels a little appreciation for what their family member worked for.  And hopefully the good that people do will overpower the wicked people in this world. 
A close up of the heart on a quilt
meandering heart quilting

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Making connections with t shirt quilts


I know that t-shirt quilts aren’t considered to be the most glamorous form of creating in the quilt world, but they have always held a special place in my heart.  The first quilt I ever made was a t-shirt quilt.  And I definitely won’t post pictures of that quilt here (I had no idea what a 1/4″ seam allowance was or that knit fabric stretched when you sewed it…), I still have the quilt and use it often.  Honestly, you could more appropriately call it a blanket.  But I digress…

I want to talk about this fabulous t-shirt quilt I was asked to finish for a customer.  Her son attended the same high school that I went to, ran cross country and track (as I did), and attended the same University!  This person was 5 or 6 years behind me in all these things…nevertheless, making this quilt was almost like making it for myself.  His mother even embroidered symbols from the university to put as cornerstones on the border of the quilt.  It turned out really cool!
I love seeing t-shirts being re-purposed, and it is really cool to see how many were saved and the duration they were saved for! 


Here is the finished quilt–It was so much fun getting to work on this and think about my college days (and I seriously can’t believe that was 10 years ago!!!)

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Finding time to give back #quiltsforpulse


 In the midst of tragedy, I am relieved that I belong to a group of people that goes out of their way to show love for others.  The group I’m talking about is the Modern Quilt Guild.  And even  more specifically, the San Antonio chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild.  The Orlando MQG organized collections to accept in progress quilts and completed quilts to show support and love for some of the people affected by the Pulse night club shooting.  I hate that I’m even writing a post about this, because it’s so disturbing the amount of violence we hear about on a daily basis on the news…but I want to focus on giving back and showing support for our fellow human beings.  



The SAMQG members are SO giving and generous with their fabric and time, that we’ve had a plethora of blocks constructed (most using the Heart pattern tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew).  A few charity sew-ins, and we’ve finished (I think) 5 quilts!  



I had the great opportunity to quilt a few of these, and wanted to discuss charity work in this industry.  I’ve done a little bit of charity sewing in the past, but not really donated much of my time or resources prior to getting my longarm.  And once I started donating my quilting, I kind of just rushed through the process, doing a stipple or some quick meandering design to get that top off my frame as quickly as I could.  But one night, I started thinking about the recipients of these rushed through pieces I had worked on.  Was I proud of the work I was doing on them?  No.  Absolutely not.  I was just FINISHING THEM.  There was nothing special or generous about what I was doing to add to the quilt.  And maybe those recipients don’t even look at the quilting.  But it really got to me that I was doing about 2% of my best work on something that was supposed to be making someone happier.  I decided to start doing my best work on every quilt top.  Whether it was a paying customer or not.  If I’m going to commit to working on something, why would I give anything less than my best?  And besides, if you want to look at it from a really selfish angle, it’s great practice and helps develop your skills even further.  


I really love the graffiti quilting style, and chose to do that on this quilt.  These blocks were pieced together by so many different people, with such love and compassion in their hearts.  It really does give me a little bit of hope for humanity.

Anyway, my two cents for the day is to think about where your heart is when you decide to do charity work.  If it’s in your heart, put your best foot forward and really give all you have.  Otherwise, what are you wasting your time for?