Quilt Won Comes From Down Under

As many of you know, I belong to a quilting board on the HGTV website, started back when Alex Anderson was the hostess of "Simply Quilts."

Each year, they hold a retreat in a different part of the county and in an attempt to give back to that area, charity quilts are made by members to donate to the hostesses particular cause. I was fortunate enough to attend one several years ago in Manchester, NH so I got the opportunity to get to meet many of the quilters on the boards. It's a delightful group of quilting sisters with hearts of gold willing to band together and help with each other's projects, charities and participate in fun swaps.

As of late, most have been made and raffled off with all monies going direct to that retreat areas "Ronald Mc Donald House" Charity fund. This year, I won a quilt made by an HGTV member, Kentucky Sunshine, who lives in Australia (or the land of Oz, as she calls it). By her board name, you can tell she loves the South and visits with her family often.

Usually, as quilts are donated to this cause, photos are taken to encourage members to buy and sell tickets. Any where from 30-40 quilts are made, using the hostesses theme (this year it was black and white with a bowl of ... (in this case, cherries for the red). For some reason, a photo of this quilt was never taken or posted, so when I found out I won I didn't have a clue as to what it looked like. Imagine my delight when I opened up the box to find this eye-popping quilt with beautiful machine quilting. To make it even better, I know the maker and she is delighted to know a fellow quilting sister will find it a good home!

Next year's retreat will be held in Harrisburg, PA, near Lancaster and Intercourse--Amish quilting heaven! My late husband and I traveled there many years ago for a week of shopping and taking in the ambiance of the area. It's beautiful country and I look forward to returning back there in June of 2013.

In lieu of making quilts to raffle off, our Harrisburg hostess will be having all quilts made and donated to the "Quilts of Valor" program. Lucky for me I have a vast supply of the required red, white and blue fabrics in which to make at least one quilt to bring. Stand by for future posts and pictures of the quilt I will be bringing along with me.