Maggie's Memory Quilt Drive - Can You Help?!

I am helping Maggie's Centre with a charity quilt drive to help them celebrate their 20th birthday in November, and I'm hoping some of my dear readers may be able to help us.

We are looking for donations of quilt blocks for a special memory quilt that will eventually hang in Maggie's Centre Edinburgh and raise money at the same time!

We will display the donated blocks at Maggie's 20^th birthday party on Friday 11^th November and guests will be asked to sponsor a block with a small donation. Personal messages or memories can then be attached to the block and these will be pieced into the back of the quilt. Once finished the quilt will hang in the new extension to the Edinburgh Maggie's Centre.

Can you help us by making an 8½ inch (8 inch finished size) block? These can be pieced or appliqued to any design you like. Perhaps you have an 'orphan' block lying around that could work? Or a favourite patchwork pattern that means something special to you? We would like enough blocks so that people can choose their favourite one to sponsor. All left over blocks will be made into charity quilts for Maggie's Centre or other worthy causes.

But what is Maggie's Centre? You can find out more on their website but here's a nice summary.

" Maggie’s provides free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends, following the ideas about cancer care originally laid out by Maggie Keswick Jencks.

Built in the grounds of NHS cancer hospitals, Maggie’s Centres are places with professional staff on hand to offer the support people need.

Our Centres are places to find practical advice about benefits and eating well; places where qualified experts provide emotional support; places to meet other people; places where you can simply sit quietly with a cup of tea.

The first Maggie’s Centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996 and since then Maggie’s has continued to grow, with 17 Centres at major NHS cancer hospitals in the UK, online and abroad."

I have a few friends who have found the Maggie's Centre in Edinburgh to be an absolute lifesaver recently and I am so pleased this resource has been there for them.

The blocks above are a mixture of orphan blocks, class samples and even one of my Farmer's Wife blocks that I sacrificed and added a border to. Maybe you have got something suitable you could send? Or can you make something special?

Send your blocks to:

Jo Avery

15 Cauldcoats Holdings

Linlithgow

EH49 7NP
Or you can drop them into our Edinburgh store. And we will also have a collection point at the Stitch Gathering for those of you attending this.

Please feel free to email me with any questions – hello@mybearpaw.co.uk. Deadline is the end of October.

Thank you!