Safari Quilt Auction for Red Cross

This year I'm especially thankful for a warm home, good food, and a job that I love that allows me to stay home with my family.

I was finishing up the Safari quilt while Sandy hit many of my friends and colleagues in the northeast and the two things are now forever linked for me. The quilt has been sitting on my work table ever since I finished it, and every time I see it I'm reminded again of the many things I'm grateful for.

Someone asked who was getting the quilt. I didn't really have anyone in mind as I made it - I just wanted to make cute animals and teach an easy applique technique. But I've been thinking that I need to give it away. I thought about giving it to one of the organizations collecting quilts for kids who lost everything - and there's something lovely and personal about that. But I kept thinking about the Red Cross. They're always there - any time a disaster hits anywhere in the world. They're still providing shelters, meals and supplies to the folks hit hardest by Sandy, and tomorrow they're providing Thanksgiving dinner for many, many people. You know what they need? Money. It's not romantic or warm and fuzzy - but it's what they can use most. So I'm going to turn this quilt into money (with your help, I hope) and then send the quilt to one lucky winner and the money to the Red Cross.

I talked to a couple of people about fundraising auctions and it seems like the simplest thing to do is run it like a silent auction in the comments section of this blog post. So if you want the quilt, place a bid in the comments section. If you want to raise the bid, add your own comment with a new bid. You can bid as often as you like and you can raise the bid by any increment you like. We'll keep going until noon EST on November 30.  At that point the highest bid gets the quilt. I'll probably ask the winner to make the donation directly to the Red Cross and forward me a copy of the receipt, then I'll ship the quilt out and you'll have it in plenty of time for a holiday gift.

I suppose it would be helpful to have a few details about the quilt. It's 62 inches wide x 78 inches tall. That's a twin size quilt with no pillow tuck and a shortish drop on the sides. The batting is 100% cotton and it's machine wash and dry. (Seriously - anything else for a child is insane.) The back of the quilt is mostly dark brown with a section of pieced greens.

If you want to donate to the Red Cross, the link is here. If you want to bid on the quilt - just make a comment. I've never done anything remotely like this before, so I've got my fingers crossed that it goes well and we can raise some money. :-)

Best,
Wendi

PS - I should have mentioned - if you want to keep up with the comments and find out if someone tops your bid - click on the "subscribe to post comments." Just scroll down past the comments and you'll see it. You'll get an email notifying you of any comments posted after yours - and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.