So glad to do. Good

Awhile back I filled out an application to become a member of the do. Good Stitches {Charity Quilting Bee}.  It's a group on flickr that's run by Rachel.  I got my group assignment last weekish and I am now a member of the Empower group!  We will be making quilts for an organization out of Detroit called Alternatives for Girls.  And October is our first month that we'll be stitching together.  I am so excited to join this group for lots of reasons. I get a chance to meet new quilters, make new and interesting blocks that I might not have chosen for myself, organize a quilt all on my own and then quilt it, AND use my skills and favorite hobby to help others in need.

  In each group there are sewers, and quilters.  Sewers are just responsible for sewing up the assigned blocks each month and sending them to the quilter-of-the-month.  Quilters also do that, but we have the added responsibility of taking turns being in charge of a month--meaning we'll take turns choosing the quilt block and colors for the quilt and let everyone know.  Then at the end of the month, when we've received all of the blocks, we are responsible for putting the blocks together and quilting it before sending it to our assigned charity group.

  Ronit is the host of our group and took the first month to give us all an idea of what to do.  This is the beautiful block she chose for each of us to make.  Our color scheme is "fallish."  She told us to "please use bright white (not cream, but whatever bright white you have on hand is fine) and warm fall colors -- deep oranges (not Halloween or traffic cone orange), golds, cranberries, magentas, and reddish-purples."

found here

  I can't even imagine how beautiful this quilt will be when finished.  We're each making 2 12.5-inch blocks.  WOW!  So, I went through my stash of fabrics and found that I am woefully short in the reddish-purple category and not too high on the non-traffic cone orange either.  Apparently, I need to diverse a little more when fabric shopping.  But, I pulled a few fabrics together and came up with this.  What do you think?

I'm hoping to get these blocks started tomorrow while the kids are at school.  It doesn't look difficult--it's just half-square triangles.  But I never use the word easy until after I've finished something...know what I mean??

  The online community of quilters and other crafters has been such a blessing to me.  I have made new friends and learned so much.  This bee is a perfect example.  I am so glad to be a part of it and to use my blessings to help others.  I'm the quilter for the month of December, so I'm already looking for ideas and color schemes...there are so many great options.

P.S.  Deborah from Whipstitch just posted about this same topic the other day (but I'm just reading it today).  It just goes to show what a good thing giving can be.

P.P.S.  This week marks one year that I've been blogging...stay tuned for a special giveway coming up to celebrate and reward those of you who come back day after day to read my silly ramblings.