Tia of Camp Follower Bags and Quilts has started the BushFire Quilt Project. She is asking for donations of one or two 12.5" quilt blocks constructed in the "wonky" star pattern, first made famous by Gwen Marston in her "Liberated Quiltmaking" book. Tia will be assembling the blocks, (God bless her) into quilts to be donated to victims and survivors of the Australian Bushfires in a sincere desire to give tangible comfort. I think it's a fabulous idea and will definitely be participating. The stars can be any color and the background fabric should be a white, light or cream color.
Tia has also started a Bushfire Quilt Project flickr group to go along with this project. More information can be found there including tutorial links and mailing information, (Tia is currently living on a US military base in Australia.)
Don't be intimidated by making these star blocks! They may look fancy but are really very fun and easy to make. When put all together they create striking quilts. I think Tia picked a perfect block to help lift weary spirits. When I first started quilting it was one of my favorite blocks to make. Below is an old blurry photo of an art quilt I made about 12 years ago using the stars.
Hope you sewers will consider participating in this project, and many thanks to Tia. Her generosity of spirit is amazing and once again I am blown away by the goodness of people.
Also thanks to Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio for spreading the word about this project. I wouldn't have known about it had I not read about it on her blog.
