Catching up.

One of the last beautiful days I spent at Hamilton.

I didn't think I'd be gone that long! Unfortunately, life and theses have a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it, and unfortunately mine did so with a vengeance.

But, I survived as I usually tend to do, graduated, and moved to Pennsylvania with Glenn, the fish, hamsters, and as soon as I find a job, TC. Who I am sure will be absolutely thrilled to be back with her mommy. Of course, you don't care about that, you want to know what happened to that quilt I made for the Syracuse Symphony!

Our setup.

Well, I ran over to Wellin Hall to set up; I spent a little time that afternoon making a poster for advertising our raffle and worrying about whether or not we'd bring in anywhere near enough money to help the musicians.

The poster. Apparently I managed to inspire another quilter to donate her windmill quilt!
We both bought tickets for the other's quilt. ;)

I was in such a tizzy I forgot to count exactly how much the raffle tickets brought in, but I believe it was somewhere around $120, though it could have very easily been more than that. I had a lot of fun talking up both quilts, and got to show off more than a little just how much I knew about the construction and workmanship behind each quilt.

Me and my quilt, once we got a proper stand.

It was really gratifying and more than a little amusing to have older women stop by to admire and buy raffle tickets and to make their eyes pop out of their heads when they heard I was one of the quilters. I got a number of lovely compliments for the unique quilting and effort I put into it--I will admit to playing a pity card and mentioning how short a window I had to finish the quilt. ;)

On the stage!

Finally intermission rolled around, and we realized no one really knew who was going to run the raffle! Undaunted, Heather and I stepped up to the plate and went out with the tickets. I served as the quilt holder while Heather talked the other quilt up a little. When my quilt was raffled I got to talk a little about the details I put into the quilt, you know, make those who didn't buy a ticket feel a little guilty.

Vladimir drawing the ticket for my quilt.

And the winner is...!

Out of all the people who purchased tickets, it turned out that one of my professors from my freshman year at Hamilton College was the winner. I couldn't have been happier to see it go to him; I know it will have a good home and be much loved for its lifetime.

Heather, me, and Onno. Thank you!

So, that is the story of my first charity quilt. It was a lot of fun, a lot of work, and a great experiment for me to try out my new method for HSTs and to work on my precision in piecing. Now I need to get back to writing thank you notes for graduation presents!

To tide you over until my next post, a quilt I was working on for fun today.

Marisa