Back in October or November I heard about the Lala Salama group that was collecting quilts for a children's wing in a hospital in Kenya--they hoped to collect 100+ quilts, one for each bed. They're facebook page states, " The aim for this project is to provide a special quilt for every child's bed in the new Bethany Kids Pediatric Wing at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya. This project is scheduled to be complete in mid 2014. This hospital will serve vulnerable children all over East Africa with medical and surgical conditions, especially Spina Bifida and birth defects. "
I signed up to make a quilt, imagining I would have plenty of time after Christmas to make it (that time was eaten up by this commission quilt). By mid-February I was starting to freak out with all the things I had to finish by April, including the Lala Salama bed quilt. A friend on FB heard my concern about not finishing the quilt, and offered to help. She has two little kids too, and her sewing speed is similar to mine, so the timing worked out really well. I gave her a pile of fabrics (all from my stash, and only one with a print on it as my blue and green stash has been nearly depleted in the past year!), and we agreed on a disappearing nine patch quilt.
I went to her house a few times to help where I could, but most of the top was pieced by her. The layout was planned out by her and her husband. She gave me the completed top, and I basted it last night.
I think I have a plan for the quilting, and will hopefully get started on it today--and finish by the end of the month, right on schedule, hooray!
They are still looking for more quilts to be made and donated! If you are interested in making one, go check out their facebook page or this blog post.