I spent part of Friday volunteering at a nearby quilt shop for their annual Quilter's Quest - "Eight spectacular Bay Area quilt shops where you can experience the creativity and inspiration in the best quilt stores the Bay Area. In three days, travel through beautiful Wine Country, view picturesque Marin and explore the charm of the Bay Area's small towns. One size doesn't fit all - especially when quilting is involved. That's why nothing compares to a journey to discover shops that inspire your creativity and excite your interests."
Participants were invited to pick up a passport and two free Kaffe Fassett Collective fat quarters at the first shop on their Quilter's Quest journey. We volunteers stamped passports, answered questions, looked for matching or coordinating fabrics for projects and reminded quilters to enjoy refreshments and water as they shopped, visited and explored.
This year, Quilter's Quest welcomed a new category for young quilters - the Jr. Passport - kids 9-15 receive a special passport. At the end of the weekend's hop, Jr. Hoppers will be entered to win a special prize. I met a family of quilters and issued the 9-year-old quilter his passport. Jr. Hoppers were encouraged to bring in their first quilt. He asked his mother to show us the photo because she was still working on the binding. The quilt was quite large with colorful squares and he was very proud to share the photo with everyone in the back of the shop.
As I talked with the other quilters, we share a common thread of volunteerism. Whether donating time to work on fundraising items, community service projects or quilting for others - quilters take time to help others.
I learned about the recent Tickled Pink event - gathering quilters together and having fun fundraising to help those in our community win the fight against cancer.
Sewing quilts, comfort shawls, chemo hats and heart pillows for the Thriving Pink Organization - raising money for women undergoing breast cancer treatments in Davis, CA.
Stitches of Love (in support of Thriving Pink) meets every 1st Thursday (10:30am-4:30pm) at Cloth Carousel in Winters, CA. Make homemade quilts for newly diagnosed women. RSVP to Info@ThrivingPink.org
M.A.D. - Make A Difference (Monday's)
Come hang out and do something good for the community. Many quilt shops open their classroom for Make A Difference (Monday's) - bring your sewing machine and thread (they may provide the fabric and pattern) allowing us to make community service quilts from scraps.
Perhaps you'd prefer to contribute to the American Patchwork & Quilting 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. Please contact charities in your local area before donating to make sure they are accepting pillowcase donations and to understand any restrictions on care, laundering, etc.
These are just a couple of local and national projects. If you are looking for a way to get involved in your community, why not check out your local quilt shop and see what they have to offer.
Do you belong to a guild or enjoy volunteering? What fundraising project are you currently working on?