Thursday 30 May 2013

Check out my knickers! (Or - the Chance to Give Back)

I have some large ongoing quilts at the moment, hence the silence.  However, having recently joined the Perth Modern Quilt Guild and attended my first meeting and having joined an online quilting bee group, I can see a lot of blocks in my future.

I like the opportunity to work on individual blocks for swapping, giving to a charity quilt or just plain learning.  I tend to extend myself a bit more, trying out new techniques that I wouldn't be game to try on an entire quilt in case I didn't like the end result or stuffed things up. :)  Also, on an individual block I am more likely to make something that isn't what I would immediately consider my style.  I am not big on applique for example, or paper piecing...or more traditional piecing with perfect points.  However, it is nice to know that you can do these things or at least have given them a bit of a go.

Being a part of Giving Hands has ticked a lot of boxes for me - the opportunity to give to the community, to improve my skills in a non confrontational environment, to be able to work with and learn from some amazing women and of course to be able to create beautiful quilts as a group, where I end up using materials and designs I wouldn't normally have tried.  (The first green and blue quilt shown in the link is our group's by the way :)).

To my delight I have discovered not only more wonderful ladies, funky designs and ideas, fabric to covet and many cups of good coffee at the PMQG but also more opportunities to give.  On my first day with them I am presented with blocks of the month which can go into charity quilts and even better the Knickers project.

As the entry suggests, quilters are submitting knicker blocks.  These will go into a quilt to be given as the raffle prize to raise money for research into uterine cancer.  I pretty much did mine immediately!





I can't wait to see everyone else's knickers! (Even though I have only just met them all...)