After my mother went to live with my brother and his family, I thought I would like to make a quilt for the Ladies Auxiliary of Fire Department in my hometown, to raffle. My mother, a longtime member, and her friends, besides making their own quilts, often put together the collaborative quilt that the group made each year for raffle at their summer fair. With this in mind, in my mother's honor, I made this quilt for the group.
I found a pattern I liked, which came in a lovely promotional brochure for a specific fabric line called "Vintage Violets." I suppose I didn't want to play around with fabric choices this time, so I bought the specified fabrics...all but two of them. Those I substituted with other fabrics (couldn't help myself!) Of course, I adore purples and this was a deep purple leaning towards a blue-violet.
According to the few notes I kept, I started the quilt in January of 2005 and finished it in March. The quilt was queen-sized and contained 13 different fabrics. I had a professional quilter from Pepperell, Massachusetts quilt it; she did a beautiful job! (I forget her name at the moment, but I hope to come back an add it here when I find it). Once I was finished, I found the quilt difficult to give up!
My mom's Auxiliary pals were ecstatic and I was pleased to give to them. The Auxiliary raises money to buy much-needed equipment for the local fire company, and for local college scholarships.
I never did hear how much they raised by raffling the quilt, but I know a woman from Connecticut won it. If the tag is ever separated from the quilt, it will be identified as mine by the fabric substitutions I made.
Here are several more close-ups of the quilt:
