Wednesday 22 June 2016

Let's Bee Social .... spreading the love!

Well I am having a very social week this week seeing as it was my turn on the Blog Hop for the New Quilt Bloggers group.  If you missed my introduction post then click over here if you fancy learning more about me and a host of other great new bloggers.  Pssst .... there are prizes on offer too!  I also have a little something on offer at the end of this post ... so keep reading!

I appreciate each and every comment I get on this blog and love visiting other people's blogs and reading about their adventure in quilting and life in general.  I think we quilters are quite a unique breed.  We may be separated by many thousands of miles but we still find things in common and we all pull together when needed.


I am sure you have seen the call out from the Orlando MQG for #quiltsforPulse and the Leeds MQG for #quiltsforjo and so it felt only right to get some made .......


For those in the UK Esther Moorey, IG @esthermoorey, at Squeeze Quilts, is collecting blocks for #PulseOrlando, so you can send them to a UK address.

Some of you will know that I am a local co-ordinator for Project Linus and last week saw lots of finishes for them.  Over the weekend I pulled out another quilt for another cause, Siblings Together.  I 'met' Nicky from Mrs Sew and Sow over on instagram and loved the idea of these quilts.  She was recruiting mini bee members earlier in the year so I jumped at the chance,  My Bee mates made me single colour scrappy blocks bordered with white.  I even got a whole load of blocks from people who weren't in my Bee!


I have another example of how lovely quilters are .... at the beginning of the year I signed up to the Bee Hive and so had 11 Hive mates.  Through swapping blocks and various chats on IG you get to know some of your Hive mates quite well.  One of mine headed off to the States for work recently and just before she left she messaged me and asked if there was anything she could bring back for me!!  Of course I could have had her fill a suitcase but I decided to ask for something that I was finding impossible to get in the UK - a printed version of the Fancy Forest pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.   I wasn't holding out much hope but look what arrived yesterday ....


I have never met this lady, although we plan to meet later in the year, but she was kind enough to do this for me.  Like I said, the quilting community is very special.

To celebrate this wonderful community, both online and in real life, and to mark my 150th blog post (this will happen on Friday) I would like to spread some quilty, bloggy love around the place.  Back in February I was lucky enough to be chosen as a recipient in the Pay It Forward Ruth, from Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner, had up on her blog.  As Ruth says, the premise for a Pay It Forward:

was based on a book of the same name about a kid who comes up with a social experiment to make the world a kinder place. He decides on the Pay if Forward principle - I had heard of this before the movie, paying the toll for the next person coming along behind, buying someone a cup of coffee unexpectedly. Giving without the expectation of receiving in return, only asking the next person to do the same at some future date, when they have an opportunity to make someone's day easier! 

Actually I have just realised the book is by my bedside but I haven't started it yet!  It is now my turn to Pay It Forward.  I want to offer something to people in my quilting community and so will be picking someone who reads my blog, someone who follows me on IG and someone from a Facebook group that I am part of.  It's called UK Quilters United, if you're interested, and it is a really active, friendly and supportive group.  So three people will receive something from me at some stage before the end of the year ..... hopefully it will be a lovely surprise for those people.  In turn they will offer a Pay It Forward into their quilting community.

If you would like to receive something from me, then please just leave a comment below and a person will be picked at random at the end of the week.  If you are on instagram you have another chance by commenting on my IG post!  If you are going to leave a comment please state your favourite colour/s and also just for fun what do you think the collective noun for quilts should be?!

Linking up to Let's Bee Social with Lorna today. x

18 comments:

  1. Thanks Abigail... lovely post. My favourite colours are red, green, blue. Bit of a rainbow theme... but colour tones are important too😀 noun for quilts, hmmmm thats a hard one, I will need to think about that. It would be good for us 'bees' to meet up at some point. Xx

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  2. Thank you..I am so pleased there is a UK group, I have asked to be included..I am ancient, sewn since a small child, only now trying to teach myself to quilt, I follow blogs and fb from USA quilters who have taught me so much. It would be so good to belong to a UK group. I think I am no reply gwen116@gmail.com

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  3. Look at all the love in this post! You really are a wonderful part of our community, Abigail. And I am so lucky to know you!

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  4. Lovely post Abigail, and you are so right, the quilting community is wonderful in my view. A favourite colour? That's a hard one, I love sunshine yellow, it's so bright and cheery, a real happy colour, but I rarely use it in a quilt, would never be able to wear it, and it is too bright for my home except as an accent. The collective name for quilts? You so ask hard questions, my only suggestion would be a quire of quilts, because it sounds nice and I have no imagination.
    Smiles
    Kate

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  5. The quilting community far and wide is such a generous, loving group. Your donation blocks are wonderful and I love those color blocks.

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  6. when i am the recipiant of a pay it forward it makes me feel warm and happy the rest of the day. when i am the giver, my heart smiles the rest of the day. i am signing up for your blog because your post today has made me feel thankful.

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  7. There was a huge wave of love after the Orlando tragedy! Our quilting community is no exception...talented and generous! I really love those scrappy rainbow blocks! so very pretty!

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  8. Great post Abigail.There are generous quilters.The,scrapppy quilt is awesome.
    What is a Pay It Forward?The book looks fabulous and sure you will make many projects from it.

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  9. This is a wonderful post Abigail and I think I may steal your idea for my 150th post. I am always awed by the generosity of the quilting community. My favourite colour is blue. A cuddle of quilts, a nestle of quilts.

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  10. This post is just like you, Abigail, loving and generous. I'm trying to make a quilt for Orlando although doing so will leave me crunched time-wise. I just can't help it though. It's just something I need to do. Ummmm. My favorite colors are bright purple, fuchsia, and lime. I know...bright! Hmmm. A quorum of quilts?

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  11. What a great idea to pay it forward and use this platform to help do that. I am just getting my feet wet in the blogging world and poking around to get ideas and it's amazing how friendly and helpful fellow bloggers are. I'm starting to make all sorts of friends. I am retiring at the end of the year and other than spend time with my 2 beautiful granddaughters I hope to be a blogger and share the creations I've been making for years. I've always thought, who would care, but I know I love every blog I open and am interested in seeing what they are making, so someone, I am sure will be interested in looking at my blog. My favorite color is by far blue. I'm not sure what my noun would be but it's something to ponder. Good luck with your pay it forward -

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  12. Lovely post, Abigail, and I am amazed at the opportunities that are out there to get into the on-line quilting community. My favourite colour is raspberry pink (if that makes sense) and I will go for a comfort of quilts.

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  13. My favorite color is orange, but I also like yellow, gray, purple, and aqua. A collective noun for quilts...a patchwork of quilts. kthurn(at)bektel(dot)com

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  14. Wonderful causes to be involved in. I can't run a race, but I can make Project Linus quilts which will be cherished by some little one. It's nice to see kids making them for other kids. My granddaughter and her friend have been involved in my latest Project Linus quilt. They are proud of the work they are doing. So your work spreads in many directions.

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  15. I don't want to enter the giveaway as i can't make that kind of commitment at the moment, but i did want to tell you that the siblings together quilt looks fab! It was really exciting seeing my blocks there!

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  16. Lots of fun stuff going on in your sewing room. The project Linus quilt turned out beautifully!

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  17. People in the quilting community amaze me with their generosity. It's been fantastic to see so many people making quilts ans blocks for Pulse. I myself hope to have 2 quilts to mail to Orlando.

    My favorite color is purple, though I love lots of colors! Can't wait to see what you make with the Fancy Forrest pattern!

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  18. Thank you so much for making hearts for us here in Orlando. And I'm sure the blocks for Jo are going to be wonderful as well. Both tragedies are heartbreaking. I love the idea of Paying It Forward, even if I'm too late to join in. I might just have to start a round of that on my own blog.

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