04 March, 2013

A Centennial Quilt, Times TWO!

Bailey's Chapel Centennial Quilt 66" X 78"
I've been helping out with a special project for a local church over the last several months. They wanted a unique way to celebrate their centennial anniversary and settled on a quilt; well, actually, TWO identical quilts! One will hang in their sanctuary and one will be raffled off to support the church. You may recall seeing a photo on this blog of the growing pile of "signature" blocks as I embroidered them, there are 58 of them (per quilt!)! The church members sold these blocks as opportunities to have one's name immortalized on the quilt. They opted for machine embroidery in a consistent font/size so that it would look harmonious and the names would be visible from a distance. I worked from printed forms to ensure that the names/spellings/ dedications were exactly right.

There was a celebratory moment over the weekend when focus shifted from these signature blocks to the machine appliquéed banner sections! There are sections for five photo transfers; the church in every season in each of the four corners plus one larger, 12" square panel, in the center of the quilt a group snapshot of the membership gathered in front of the church at the Centennial Gathering last summer.

I've assisted by serving as the designer (thank you, EQ, you make me look smart!) and facilitator for this project. It won't be long now before workshops are scheduled and I can hand over the units to the church members for assembly. This has been a wonderful collaborative effort and I'm proud to have had a hand in seeing them achieve a dream, I am also very grateful to them for their patience with yours truly!

Life is Good!

7 comments:

julieQ said...

What a wonderful project!! I know it will feel good to hand the pieces over to the next person.

Karendianne said...

Oh my! How special - about brings a tear to my eye how you contribute in this way. You are such a light, Debbie.

Janet O. said...

Looks like you have had a big responsibility on your hands, and you have handled it well, as usual.
That is a nice idea for fund raising and commemoration. Did you do the overall design of the quilt?

Quiltdivajulie said...

Marvelous concept and masterful execution!! How good of you to share your gifts and talents this way!

jude's page said...

Wonderful idea, and your design is great, I know EQ is good, but you must have had the ideas to start with. Well done.

phyzz said...

Such a lovely quilt you've created!! The colors, the design: masterful! Cannot begin to imagine the time you have dedicated to this project: a wonderful gift to this church and its membership!

LizA. said...

Wow--what a daunting project. Trust you to tackle it with such ease and competence. Beautiful.