This is my very first blog post. It's meant to honor the quilts made for donations and the families they bless.
Donating a quilt can bring happiness and financial gain, to an individual, individuals or an entire organization. I recently had the honor of contributing a quilt for an auction.
The donating of quilts date back as early as the 1800s, with a story of one lady who raised money by asking local businesses for donations of a dollar in return for stitching their business logos on the quilt, and asking $0.10 from individuals from her community for their names to be stitched on the quilt. This contribution, along with the money from the auction, went to the support of local families who suffered a loss from the war. This quilt is now in the Illinois State Museum for all to cherish.
I come from a very close community, who rally together for the support of one another, big and small. Then, one of our most loved, most beautiful, and overall one of the greatest was in need of support, and our community was there for her, just like she has been for us.
In October of 2020, our fellow community member was diagnosed with breast cancer. This brought pain and hardships to her, her family, and her friends. In response to that, my family along with her friends and family decided to organize a benefit to raise money for her family. I was volunteered by my husband to make an auction quilt. The process of making this quilt brought out so many emotions, after all this quilt was meant to help a struggle, and that is difficult. I would love to quilt away life's struggles!
The benefit was an enormous success raising over 47K!!! The quilt contributed $900, with the entire live auction contributing 13K. Along with the live auction, there was a silent auction, also raffle tickets with Yeti prizes, a Poker Run, food plates, drinks and t-shirts for sale. Also live bands and those who chose donate cash.
All of the items, food, venue, and work were done by the volunteering of friends and family. All proceeds went to the community member's family.
This whole process has been bittersweet but I am thankful for the skills I've learned to add to the blessings.
If you find yourself with the sometimes hard privilege of making a donation quilt, I hope you go for it.
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Amber Foret
