"Memory Quilts & More" Class

Yesterday I had the pleasure of teaching my "Memory Quilts and More" class to members of the Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild.

Lunch was provided by the United Church women.

The official class photo! Everyone got their little memory quilt top finished. Some got the quilting done and one student even had the binding put on by the end of the day.

Thanks to this great group of quilters who made my day a very pleasant one!

More Quilts in Chernobyl

Here is another excerpt from Eric McKenzie's Blog. He has just distributed the last of the quilts, many of which were made right here in Brockville.

Murray and I went to the Chausy Orphanage today for a few last items on our list. We were the lucky ones who got to present more of the quilts created by a group of Quilters in Brockville. We let the children pick out their own as it means a lot to them to get to choose. Here are some of the childen making their selections.


And here is a small group of the children with their new quilts.

It is so rewarding for us to see that our quilts are truly appreciated in the orphanages and homes in Chernobyl. Thanks, Eric and all members of the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl group, for a job well done!

Quilts for Chernobyl

Here is an excerpt from Eric McKenzie's Blog. Eric is in Chernobyl with the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl group.

Today is the first day of school after the spring break. Cathy Boone and I headed to the Kostukovichi Orphanage to deliver a few boxes along with quilts made by local quilters, many of whom belong to the 1000 Islands Quilt guild. It is about a two our drive that took us through the exclusion zone created by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Speaking with the Orphanage Director, Valleri, we discovered that more and more children are being taken in foster care and the population of the orphanage is decreasing in this region. One result of this is a disproportionate number of boys in the orphanage. Families tend to prefer to take in girls over boys. One of the classes that we met had 11 boys and no girls!

Here a group of boys each select a quilt.


These quilts are lovingly hand-made by a group of quilters in the Brockville area. Every quilt is unique just like the children that receive them and we explained this to the children before they picked their own. Here a group of boys proudly display their selections. Living in the orphanage environment these children have very few personal belongings, but these quilts are theirs to keep forever. A treasured gift as evidenced by the smiling faces.


We also delivered quilts to a daycare in Gorbavichi. Again, these quilts were lovingly hand-made by a group of quilters in the Brockville area. We managed to arrive at naptime and all of the children were sleeping. I have no idea how they can get this many children to sleep at once.

We managed to sneak in and place a quilt on a sleeping child for this photo op.

Thanks, Eric, for a job well done! Thanks also to my fellow members of the Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild for your continuing support of this worthwhile project!

Canadian Aid for Chernobyl

You will notice that I have added a link to the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl site in the Favorite Blogs section of this Blog. This organization is based in my city of Brockville.

Here is their mission statement:
Canadian Aid for Chernobyl is dedicated to providing humanitarian and medical aid to those affected by the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Our primary focus is on the most vulnerable victims - the children - offering a healthy respite and dental and medical care in Canada to those who continue to live each day amidst the extreme radioactive pollutants.

My Guild, The Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild, sends over 100 quilts every year to the children in the Chernobyl area.

This picture shows some of the 152 quilts made by members of our Guild and the community as they are being presented to Eric McKenzie (far right), President and Communications Director of the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl.

Eric is part of the delegation that is in Belarus now and is the author of the CAC Blog. I hope you will enjoy reading about this amazing organization!

Appliqued Quilt

Several members of my guild, The Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild, hand-appliqued all the blocks for this wonderful quilt. It will be hand-quilted and then given to a local non-profit organization. The chosen group will then be able to raffle the quilt as a fund raiser for their organization. I think I will be buying lots of tickets for this one!

Elaine Quehl: Contemporary Art Quilter

Elaine Quehl was the guest speaker at our Thousand Islands Quilters’ Guild meeting on April 24. Elaine started quilting by doing traditional designs, but soon branched out to explore contemporary art quilting, free motion machine quilting and fabric dyeing. Her work has been exhibited across North America and she has won many awards.

Here are a few pictures of her quilts, including some “in progress” works. Be sure to visit Elaine’s website to see more of her wonderful quilts. Elaine was a real inspiration to us with her dynamic presentation!

Canadian Aid for Chernobyl

In my post on March 18, I mentioned that our local Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild has sent hundreds of quilts to the Orphanages in Chernobyl, the site of the nuclear disaster in 1986. The Canadian delegation is in Belarus now, delivering supplies of all kinds, including more quilts from our Guild. My neighbour, Eric McKenzie, is part of the delegation and has been there many times. This year, he took his son, Alex, with him for the first time. Eric posts stories about his visit on his web site on a regular basis. I'm sure some pictures of our quilts will show up soon!

Eric's blog is fascinating to read. It certainly makes us realize how lucky we are to live in this country!

Quilts for Chernobyl

For the past several years, the Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild has been making quilts for the orphanages in Belarus, the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster in 1987. 102 quilts were made in 2006 and 115 quilts in 2007. These quilts are distributed to the orphanages by Canadian Aid for Chernobyl which is based in Brockville, Ontario.

Most of the quilts are made from a simple design that is machine pieced and quilted in such a way that each quilt is reversible. Here is a picture of one of the recently completed quilts.