Blogger's Quilt Festival // Strawberry Patch Quilt

If you are here for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome to swimbikequilt! I'm so excited to be participating in the BQF for the third time--my other quilts are here (Around the World) and here (Community Gardens). I have actually been lucky enough to be a part of the International Quilt Festival in Salt Lake City this year, so check back for pictures of upcoming fabric lines, booths, and a bit of fabric overload. Quilt Market is intense! One of my favorite parts has been meeting bloggers I admire, including Amy from Amy's Creative Side over the last few days.

I made this Strawberry Patch Quilt for a friend for her new granddaughter, Charlotte.  I posted about the quilt earlier, enjoyed making it, and thought it turned out well, and didn't think much more about it.  A few days ago, my friend C called me after giving her daughter-in-law the quilt, and thanked me profusely for it. She said that her daughter-in-law was moved to tears--her grandmother had a tradition of making each child and grandchild a handmade quilt, and her grandmother had passed away recently and there was no one to make her daughter a quilt.  The one thing she wanted for her daughter was a handmade quilt. So many of us make quilts a dime a dozen, that we forget the beauty and simplicity and love that goes into them. So, keep quilting!

And if you are making a quilt and would be interested in donating it to a child in need in your community, Aunt Spicy and I would like to invite you to join in our 100 Quilts for Kids effort September 15-October 15. (You can read a little bit about 100 Quilts for Christmas, our event last year, here).  We will be doing a post-quilt market giveaway soon (sample spree, anyone?) to help spread the word. We hope you will join us!'

Note: I used this great tutorial by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew.  I was lucky enough to meet her today at Quilt Market--she had a beautiful booth and lots of great patterns--this one might be my favorite.