IS FUNDRAISING JUST AN EXCUSE TO MAKE ANOTHER QUILT?

For the past two Novembers, I have joined my sister and one of her friends to form the Titular Titans, a team committed to participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, a three-day walk in support of breast cancer awareness and research.  

In addition to training to walk 20 miles a day for three days in a row (yes, that's right), we set a goal of raising at least $10,000 among the three of us.  A hefty goal, to be sure, but also a particular challenge due to the economy and to a controversial decision made by the organizers back in February. To help encourage donations (or perhaps as an excuse to make another quilt). I decided to make a quilt to be given to one of our supporters after the walk.  
 
 
I didn't want to make the easy choice and make a quilt with pink ribbon fabric (although there's nothing wrong that choice).  I had developed a fondness for Valori Wells' Wrenly line, so a while ago, I purchased a jelly roll of various fabrics from that line.  It had been hanging around my stash for a while, so I decided this was a good use of the fabric.


I found yardage of some of the fabrics in the roll to use for the back, but since the line has been around for a while, the pickings were somewhat slim.  Luckily, there were a number of fabrics that worked well with the colors and pattern.

I wanted to keep the pattern fairly simple, since I had a number of other projects I was working on (isn't that always the case?) and I wanted to be sure that I could finish it before the walk in mid-November.  And as usual, I wanted to do it as quilt-as-you-go so that it would actually get finished!

I sorted the 42 strips and found that the various colors could be divided evenly into sets of three strips.  Since I don't have room for a permanent design wall, I bought a large flannel-backed tablecloth at the dollar store and sewed a few rings on one end.  Then I hung a few small clear Command hooks on the French doors between our foyer and living room.  Once the doors are closed, I can hang the tablecloth on the hooks (which aren't noticeable) and I have a temporary design wall that can accommodate a fairly good-sized quilt.

I assembled the strips into the color sets and then prepared the back.  After determining what I'd need for the back, I found that I'd have enough fabric to include a few solid blocks with the strips to kind of break the monotony of strips alone. 

I went back to the design wall and worked out how I could place the blocks.  Since I'd already sewn the strips into color-coded strips, I decided to cut the already assembled strips and insert a block in each row.  It's surprising how much easier it has gotten for me to cut my work, although I do still feel a little anxiety.

Once I had the blocks and strips sewn together, I positioned the batting on the back and started sewing each color strip to the batting and back (sorry, I don't have any photos of this step).  I knew this wasn't going to be enough quilting for the whole quilt, but it does help hold everything together for the rest of the quilting.





After everything was assembled, I went back and added linear quilting using a multicolored thread.  I like how it turned out.

Our cat got attached to it while I was sewing the binding, but since she didn't make a contribution, she wasn't eligible to win the quilt.

I finished it before the walk and we were able to draw the winner's name at the finish line.  I hope it helps keep her warm during the sometimes chilly Bay Area winters.

Here's the finished product, front and back.

Quilt front

Quilt back

And here we are at the finish line.  Only seven months before I start training for the next one, but I'll plan next fall's quilt a little earlier to avoid the rush (famous last words).