Relay Quilting Rundown!

Our relay team is doing some big quilting stuff this year! Several folks have asked for a rundown or just asked me to tell them more about the quilt things our team is doing to raise money for American Cancer Society.

Currently, our Curtis Cousins team is making six quilts. Three of them, our team is selling the squares. Lucas McGregor is the little brother of Jamie's college roommate and is 17. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma around Christmas time. As for the history of the signature quilts, this was the first. I wanted to "do something" for Lucas. He has lots of support from family and church family and friends, but I wanted him to have some "tangible" comfort from his supporters. Thus, started the signature quilts. When the signature blocks are complete and put together in a quilt, the quilt will be presented to Lucas - American Cancer Society gets the $$$.

The next one - REL and I decided if we are doing one we needed to one for Beachel also! So our team is selling squares for Beachel's. That is the second. The quilt will be a surprise - can we really keep it a secret until it's complete?

The third one our team is doing is for Liston Hitchcock. Jessica, Jamie, and Joey are heading that sell up, but our team donates all the money for that one.

Then, I opened it up to other Relay teams. Every team has at least one person who is fighting the battle with cancer right now or in one case, just passed away. If they want a signature quilt for that person or in memory of that person, they contact me and I cut and deliver "blank" squares. The team sells the squares - minimum of 100 to raise $500. That Relay team then gives our team $250 of the money raised and we donate to ACS through our Relay team. They donate the remainder through their relay team and present the quilt to the person it is in honor of.

We are doing three for other teams. One is a memory quilt.

Another is a quilt for a husband and wife. He has prostate cancer and she has breast cancer. They are both in treatment right now. She has always headed up the team for McMinnville Electric Company, but is unable to do so this year. They (MES) decided to have a team and they are selling squares for a quilt for the two together. The entire quilt will be signature squares because they have sold 220! (Do the math!!!! $1100 raised for ACS in honor of these two!) I am working on that one right now. The sketch is drawn and I am beginning to cut the strips to put it together. Also a surprise - keep it "under wraps" - pun intended!

The sale of squares for the sixth quilt just kicked off last week. The lady works at one of the local banks. I worked with her when I was "fresh" out of high school. I am proud to be a part of a quilt in her honor. Not sure if the recipient knows about this one or not.

So that is the story of the signature quilts. I will post pics as the quilts come together.

THEN - we have the quilt class/get together where Dar, Jam, Karen, and Sheila made their quilts. For that one, participants just paid a flat $40 fee to come to the workshop and their materials, instruction and lunch was provided. Each person who participated keeps their own quilt or does whatever they want to. We made $200 that day! If you want to know more about the plans for more of these get togethers, check out the blog entry right before this one. Also would like to do a "block of the month" if there is enough interest. People could do this by hand and we would work for twelve months. Of course, this would go to next year's relay team.

Probably more information than you wanted or needed, but hey - I you have the option of reading or not!