do Good Stitches {a Charity Bee} - The Queensland Edition

I have been a member of the do. Good Stiches {a Charity Bee} on Flicker for several months now.

 There are several circles in the bee regularly making quilts for different charities and individuals, some for recognised charities and some for individuals in the local community. As it is run from the US most of the charities and all the individual recipients are from the US also but I am a firm believer at charity beginning (but not ending) at home. And this month I have the opportunity to put that into practice.


My circle, makes quilts for individuals in the Quilters local community (all circles have quilters and stitches - check out the link above for more explanation) but this February my circle has agreed to change the structure slightly and make a quilt for a recipient outside of the US, in my local (or local-ish) community as a result of the unusual and tragic circumstances in the Queensland surrounding the recent floods.


As we make quilts for individuals I was scratching my head to be able to identify an individual for the finished quilt to be donated to, not being from Queensland and not having family directly impacted who could point me in the right direction and knowing that there are many people who have suffered loss and none are more deserving than any other.


I contacted two people I thought might be able to help. The first was Julie, she was the generous bidder who won the auction for the quilt I auction off during the recent Flood Auctions spearheaded by Toni from Make it Perfect and her sister Carli. I thought she might be in a position to identify a recipient as she had shared with me she was intending to donate the purchased quilt to a person who had lost a great deal in the flood, and to make many more quilts herself and donate them as well.


I also contacted Jan, the person who inspired the auctions in the first place when she emailed Toni. And again she has offered to put me in touch with a family that has lost a great deal.


So this month I will be collecting blocks for two quilts, one each for two different people from two different families and areas of Queensland, with the other members of the bee making one block for both of the quilts.


The story of the recipients is shared with the other bee members but I don’t feel it is right to share a family’s story so publicly here.

Over the next couple of days I will post the designs for each of these quilts and share with you the construction and delivery over the next two months. I am so looking forward to these projects!