Girl Scout Quilting Extravaganza!!!

Today was finally the day! I had done two quilting sessions with my own girls, and we have a stack of quilts ready to go, but today was the day that I hosted another troop for a quilt making session. So, to all the Girl Scouts who gave up their Sunday afternoon to make quilts that they don't even get to keep, thank you so much for all your hard work and amazing effort! I promise, if you want to make another quilt to keep for yourselves, I'll be happy to help you do that as well.


For anyone who hasn't been with me from the begining, it all started with Christmas caroling last year. One of the moms from our troop worked at a nursing home, and made arrangements for our girls to go caroling during one of our regular meetings.

Sheila, my co-leader is always so thoughtful, and brought along a board game as a gift to leave for the residents. The girls enjoyed the experience, and we planned to return again this year. In talking to Ashlyn, one of the ladies I run with, about our caroling, we realized that we had both gone to the same nursing home to sing. Her grandmother is a resident there. And so things simmered in my head.

Trying as I do, to bring quilting into every aspect of my life, I thought about how nice it would be to bring quilts as gifts instead of a board game. I made a couple of prototypes to test patterns and sizes, which Ashyln brought to her grandmother for a "test drive".

Given that there are about 30 residents within one specific section of the facility, I thought we could try to make a quilt for each person. After bouncing the idea off of Sheila, she decided it was a great idea, and started soliciting fabric donations from ladies in her church.
The fabric began to flow in, bags and stacks at a time! I sent out word as well, and soon we had plenty of fabric to work with. I kitted it up into pre-cut strips ready to be sewn together in a quilt as you go fashion. There was a practice session this summer where we worked out the kinks and made about 5 quilts.

I've been adding to the stack with my own experiments and creations for the past few months as well. And then today, Ashlyn brought over her troop, along with her mother and co-leader, and we sewed and sewed and sewed. The girls all did such a phenomenal job! They picked up on the procedure right away, and with only a little reverse sewing, we managed to produce 7 finished quilts in just 3 hours! It was amazing. I've just got to trim off the edges and sew on the binding and labels and we will have a LOT of quilts ready to add to the stack.

Now we just need to find a date so that we can all go caroling together this year and present the quilts to the residents around Christmas time.
Look at all the amazing work the girls did! They planned out the strip placement and immediately figured out how to make the machines work. Not a single girl sewed through her fingers or stuck herself with a pin. Each of them produced and entire quilt in just 3 hours!!
So to all the girls and to all the leaders and co-leaders. Thank you so much for all your help in making this idea into something real. Check out the pride on those faces! And look at how beautiful those quilts are!! You are all amazing!!!
Tomorrow I'll update you on the Girl Scout roller skating party and the 17 mile long run I also managed to fit in today. Needless to say, I am so tired that I am in actual pain, but I am going to go now and sleep it all off.