Pretty and gentle quilts.

Pretty and gentle aren't words that I'd pick to describe my quilting style. But I wandered outside my comfort zone this week. I went so far outside of it that I had a hard time photographing the quilts to show on my blog. I find it tough to show things that aren't "me".

A friend mentioned to me that Corrie of Retromummy is organizing a quilt drive to collect quilts and quilt tops for the Dandelion Support Network in Sydney. I've been sitting on a bucket of fabric scraps from my NICU gowns which I'd hope someone could turn into quilts for children. I didn't have time or enough batting to finish them all myself, but Corrie is organizing an army of volunteers to help with the quilts. It seemed like a good fit.

I've used those soft blue scraps for a boys quilt and then I dove into to my own stash to see if I could manage something in the pretty realm. I struggled a bit, but reminded myself to think about the audience. I hope local families who need support find happiness in these quilts.

Corrie's open sewing day will be held in March or April, so you still have plenty of time to help out. I've made three tops and even managed to quilt one of them. I think I'll make up some binding too.  I kept the patchwork simple to let the babies shine. Then I bundled them into cellophane and labelled them with notes like "quilt top and backing fabric" with the dimensions. I think the the notes will help the volunteers on the day.  If you're interested, pop on over and learned how you can donate blocks, fabric, binding, quilts and time.