Thursday, May 17, 2012

Bloggers' Quilt Festival: A Quilt for Mack

So what was my secret project... well, here's some background.
I am a speech/language pathologist by trade though I have been home with my kids for the past 3 years. I worked at a local school for my last position and I made a lot of friends there. I also saw a ton of kids, one of whom was a great little kid named Mack. Mack has leukemia and has fought it since he was 3 years old. He got to attend school all year in 4th grade, but now he is in 5th grade and his cancer is back. He just underwent a bone marrow transplant May 11 with his mother as the donor. With all the chemo and treatments involved with Mack's cancer, his mother has been unable to work. She has taken fabulous care of him and she is a wonderful woman.
The beautiful people at the school where I worked decided to throw a fundraiser last night to help raise money for Mack's mom to pay the bills while she and Mack recover at the hospital and then Ronald McDonald House. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that I could make something to donate (I'm spacey like that sometimes!). Then my friend Mitzi showed up to our Saturday Sewcial for quilt guild selling tickets for a quilt she made for Relay for Life (her quilt is SOOO gorgeous, by the way, and I so hope I win it!). So Monday I made a quilt top, Tuesday I made a back and pinned together my sandwich, Wednesday I quilted it and put on the binding. I washed and dried it, then delivered it yesterday morning! My house is a wreck, but the quilt got finished!
Sorry the pictures are not crisp and clear. I've been cutting back on the size so I can fit more into my Picasa. Anyway! The top is done in Hello Luscious by Basic Gray for Moda. I used a quilt top idea from a Missouri Star Quilt Co. youtube video where they used a layer cake. I lucked out that my LQS carried Grunge by Basic Gray and I was able to get more of the teal to use as a border and binding.
I quilted it on my home machine with my walking foot using wavy vertical lines. The above picture is post washing and below is prewashing.

I backed the quilt in Ambrosia by Robert Kaufman which ended up being perfect. The colors melded together so well!

I loved this quilt so very much, I may have to make it again...for me!
I took the kids to go by the "Miracles For Mack" event to see what all was going on. Good thing I did...they had my quilt lying in a chair. They were floored, however, when I suggested they tack it up to the tack strip high on the wall. Well, people have to see it!

There were vendors all down the halls (each table was "rented" and some vendors donated percentages of their sales) and there were horse rides outside. My son jumped on that immediately; I could not talk my daughter into it even though she's ridden horses at camp. They sold spaghetti dinners as well; one of my friends told me they'd pre-sold 200 by yesterday at 2:00, and that wasn't including the teachers or vendors! I'm just praying they did well for Mack's family.

Quilt size: ~ 60X70
Fabrics: Hello Luscious by Basic Gray for Moda & Ambrosia by Robert Kaufman
Quilting: wavy lines by me on home machine
Enjoy all the quilts in the festival!
**********UPDATE***********
I just heard that we don't have any hard figures yet but they event raised over $7000 last night! Big Whoop!!!!!! I'm so ecstatic for Mack's family!!!
*****SECOND UPDATE*******
The principal just let me know they brought in right at $8000! I also found out who won my quilt; the coach was also there when I worked there won it! I hope she enjoys it and I emailed her to let her know how happy I was that she won!

Amy's Creative Side    
TGIFF linkup                                                    

46 comments:

Carol Swift said...

Such a nice gesture and a lovely quilt! I love the way you did the border the same color as the binding. I had to look really close because I thought you'd made a really wide binding.

Grammasheri said...

What a lovely quilt! I hope the fundraiser did exceptionally well.
Prayers for Mack and his family.

Michele said...

That is so wonderful and I'm sure the quilt was a huge hit. I too pray that the event did well and that Mark will recover quickly.

Pat Merkle said...

What a wonderful story and your are pretty wonderful for doing it.

Thanks for linking up to TGIFF!

Unknown said...

What a fabulous gift for such a deserving cause. You Rock!

Eileen said...

pretty vibrant quilt and for such a great cause. hope little mack will soon be well--what trials for such a little child! thanks for sharing and have a great day

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

This is beautiful! Congrats on getting it finished so fast :)

quilthexle said...

Great idea to do a quilt for a fundraiser - I'm sure it worked out well! Your quilt is lovely, and wow- you were fast in doing it !!

Katie B said...

Such a lovely quilt! I know it means a lot to Mack and his family to see this outpouring of support.

Unknown said...

Gorgeous Quilt! Hope you get lots of support for Mack & his Mommy!

Heidi Grohs said...

Love this quilt's story! Love the colors!

straythreads said...

love the colors
Ann

Melinda said...

I have made two quilts using this pattern. It is so quick and easy and turns out great. I hope Mark's family made a lot from the event. I am sure whoever got your quilt will be delighted with it.

Sarcastic Quilter said...

That is a pretty quilt for a fantastic cause. I will add Mack and his mother to my prayers for health and strength.

I hope the donations rolled in.

CitricSugar said...

Beautiful - I hope it raises a bunch.

Praying for Mack.

Heidi Staples said...

Beautiful quilt...I love that fabric line!

Linz said...

Beautiful Quilt Melinda!!! It is so nice to be able to help sweet children like that! I hope he recovers quickly!! Love that quilt! (And way to get it up on the wall!)

Cecily said...

Very pretty - great colors! Best of luck with the fundraiser!

M-R Charbonneau said...

Oh Melinda, what a wonderful gift to give! It's beautiful! Hope the fundraiser is hugely successful!

Mom said...

wonderful story!

Margaret
http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/

pinsandneedles said...

A very pretty quilt! I hope it does well in the auction for Mack.

Cindy Sharp said...

Well done!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Melinda that's fantastic! How wonderful that they raised so much!

Julia Graber said...

I enjoyed browsing through your site. You have a lot of nice fresh modern quilts. Great job!

Janet said...

Lovely quilt for a wonderful cause. I bet you feel all warm inside...:)

sandra said...

A wonderful reason for making a quilt. Quilters are just the best people when it comes to helping out others and giving comfort.

Melanie said...

How nice of you to make a contribution to this wonderful cause! It's a lovely quilt and I'm sure the coach will love it for many years to come!

cat in tassie said...

A lovely quilt, and I enjoyed reading the story behind it. Sounds like the fundraiser was a great success!

Carla said...

don't you just love that line? I did a quilt too out of that. Yours is lovely

Dorothy said...

A lovely quilt for such a worthy cause. I'm so glad the fundraiser did well.

Wendi said...

Beautiful quilt, just beautiful! I too, forget I can make a quilt to help raise funds. Its so wonderful to hear the fundraiser was such a success!

Busy Little Quilter said...

I, too, am so glad the fundraiser did so well. I'm sure the person who won your quilt was excited to win. It's beautiful.

Lynne (Lily's Quilts) said...

Wow a wonderful quilt and what a fabulous fundraiser too, what a wonderful supportive community.

Charlotte said...

what a lovely quilt! I love the palette

MariQuilts said...

Lovely quilt...wonderful gift.

Andrea Louise said...

Very nice of you doing that fot the little boy! I bet his Mom is very proud of you. And the quilt... oh... love it!!!!

Ariane said...

What a wonderful thing to do. Thanks for sharing this story and your quilt. I love it!!

Robin said...

Beautiful quilt! I'm so happy that they had a successful fundraiser!

Shari said...

What a great post! Such a lovely story to go with your beautiful quilt. It's so good to hear how the community pulls together and how we can be a part of that. I'm impressed you made a quilt so quickly. Well done.

Linda at Roscoe's Ma said...

You put your priorities in the right place, for sure. This quilt is beautiful!

quiltmom anna said...

It is a beautiful quilt that will be well loved by the lucky winner.
Your story is inspiring and reminds one why one quilts. They are truly gifts of love.
Sending positive thoughts for Mack's recovery.
Regards,
Anna

Dana Gaffney said...

Great story and beautiful quilt, thank you for sharing.

April said...

such a pretty quilt! I love the backing fabric.

Melissa said...

Such a special quilt story and such pretty fabric!

Stephanie said...

What a great story and gesture for this little boy! Great job with the quilt! Sending lots of prayers for his family!

thequiltingdoberman said...

Beautiful quilt and I am a sucker for a fun background fabric.

My heart just breaks for such a young person going through cancer like this. Not to mention what it must be like on his mom!

Thank you for your story!