MANITOULIN—The Island’s Happy Quilters group has generously donated to the number of comfort quilts being made across Canada for children who stay at a Ronald McDonald House in Canada. There are 15 homes and about 5,000 families annually are able to stay at one of these homes while their children receive medical care in hospital.
The Canadian Quilters Association/Association Canadienne de Courtepointe decided to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday by asking quilters to make quilts to give to the families in the Ronald McDonald homes this year, explained local quilter Lauren MacDonald. Originally a goal of 1,000 quilts was established and, as of June 1, quilters have made 814 quilts (from 36”x48” to 60”x70”). There are 571 quilt tops and 1,712 blocks ready to be sewn. One of the patterns used for the quilts is a ‘slab’ block, designed by Calgary quilter Cheryl Arkison. For those who like math, there have been a total of 20,864 blocks sewn or about 5,536 hours of work provided by quilters across Canada.
The Happy Quilters group has provided more than 20 quilts made locally to be delivered to Quilt Canada during the conference in Toronto held from June 14 to 17. At the conference there will be a Big Quilt Bee, where a large group of volunteers will sew and quilt the rest of the quilt tops and blocks that have been donated.
