Have you heard about THE BIG CANADIAN QUILT BEE? If not, listen up…….we need your help…… Our national quilting organization: The Canadian Quilters Association/ ACC has decided to really celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday with an awesome charity endeavour. CQA/ACC is aiming to be able to donate 1000 quilts to Ronald MacDonald Houses across Canada.
A rather lovely article has just been published about this project on the Quilts Inc website (Quilts Inc is the organization which produces Quilt Market and Festival in Houston and several other large quilt shows in the USA). Please read all about Canada’s 150th and the Big Quilt bee here.
In addition, pics and reports about the making of these 12 or 24 block slab quilts is all over Facebook, and many other quilting related blogs, Facebook pages and websites. Quilts and quilt tops are pouring in from all over Canada as well from the USA and further afield. It is just too exciting! The Big Quilt Bee has gained traction and is now gathering momentum as Quilt Canada 2017 in June as well as the big official 1st July Canada Day approaches.
Janome is one of the sponsors of the BIG QUILT BEE. We currently have almost 20 quilt tops here in our Janome office to sandwich, quilt and bind to add to those quilts which will find their way into rooms at Ronald MacDonald Houses to cheer sick kids and their families across Canada. Now we do need to add that we did not personally piece all these quilt tops. Liz made one 24 slab block quilt top back last October on the Thanksgiving weekend and she thanks the CQA/ACC president, Leslie Whitby who quilted it for Liz.
These quilt tops were donated by quilters in the Fraser Valley of BC. We believe they handed them in to the CQA/ACC booth at the Abbotsford show last month and we were given the honours to do the sandwiching & quilting. Let the quilting begin…….. The plan is to do some Acufeed Flex/ walking foot quilting, some Acufil quilting ( our unique system of using the Janome embroidery machine do the quilting) as well as some free motion quilting. A fun quilting time ahead for sure.
Here are 2 sandwiched and ready for quilting with the big roll of donated batting lying on the floor in front of them. Thank you to N Jeffersons for the batting.
And here are the rest waiting to be sandwiched and quilted. I think most of these quilt tops came from the Abbotsford Quilters Guild, BC but I may be incorrect about this. Hope not? Whoever made them…..THANK YOU you, they are just lovely: bright and cheerful quilt tops.
This bee hive shows the number of quilts currently handed in to CQA/ACC. The number is rising and is updated every so often. YOU CAN HELP CQA/ACC REACH THE GOAL OF 1000 QUILTS.
Have you caught the BIG QUILT BEE fever yet? We sure hope so as it is the very loveliest type of fever to catch! Check out this website for more information about how you can become involved.
Janome Life 