Quilt 21: Thanksgiving Charm Squares Tablecloth

When I went shopping for the fabric to use in the borders on Quilt 20, I made the fatal mistake of glancing at the layercake/charm squares table. Yup..there they were... the cutest little charm square packs. Thanksgiving prints! I adore Thanksgiving. It's my favorite American holiday, and one I make a point of celebrating each year (although I do it in July when it's cold here in Australia - November it's too warm here to want a big turkey dinner). I just loved these and thought "OOOoOO! Small, quick project!"

Here's a closeup of some of the squares.  It's the autumn colours here, plus the handful of squares with the words "Thankfulness" and "Gratitude" that make me think of Thanksgiving:

I decided to go with a simple design - 8 squares x 8 squares, sewn together without lattice - then add a couple of solid borders to get a square large enough to be a table cloth for our small dining room table.

Simple, really, but it did take a little while to decide which blocks to put next to each other:

And - in a FLASH! - the center was all stitched together and pressed. Here it is, just about 1 square yard:

Now I'll dig through my UFO closet and see what I've got to use as borders on this. I'm thinking all I need is three 2" borders to get this to the perfect size for my table.

Quilts for Orphans

There's a unique quilting group in Monbulk, not far from where I live. "Quilts for Orphans" has been around for about 6 years. It began as a response to hearing that orphans in India sleep on the floor - and a deeply-felt desire to do something about it. Group members volunteer their time and talent to make quilts which are sent to orphaned children in India, China, Indonesia, and other places where they are needed.

I've been hearing about this group for a while, but didn't really know a lot about them. But then a woman attending a meditation group I joined a few months ago brought advertising fliers for their upcoming sale and exhibition.

The sale is coming up this Saturday and Sunday - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The entry fee is $5 and proceeds from the sales will be used to purchase batting for more quilts for children.

For more information, here's the group's website: http://www.quiltsfororphans.org/
(You can also find them on Facebook)

And here's a short TV news story about them and the work they do: