A Quilt for Homeless Veterans - Linda Seward - Part 2
The Veterans' Quilt was finished and presented to Dennis Gimes at the Sewing Evening on 15 February 2016. Most of the members who worked on the quilt were present and all present agreed that the finished piece looked beautiful. I will let you know about the progress made in the fund raising.
A Quilt for Homeless Veterans - Linda Seward - Part 1
In January 2015 I was contacted by Dennis Gimes. As a former member of RAF Bomber Command and a Trustee of Soldiering On Through Life Charity, he wanted to start his own campaign to raise awareness about homeless veterans as well as some much needed funds.
Dennis told me of his idea to make a signature quilt: as he is in touch with many celebrities through his charitable work, he believed that the quilt idea would generate good publicity and felt he was in a position to get famous people to help. So we invited Dennis to come to our January 2015 meeting to discuss the idea of making a signature quilt with London Quilters. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea to work on this project, and a collaboration was born.
I showed Dennis some simple designs for signature quilts and he picked the Rail Fence pattern. We decided on a red, white and blue colour scheme, as these were the charity’s own colours. I prepared dozens of blocks using purchased white fabrics and my own red and navy fabrics so the quilt would have a scrappy look. I ironed freezer paper to the back of the blocks, to make signing them easier, and Dennis took several dozen to give to various celebrities for their signatures.
We composed a letter to send out with the blocks, with instructions to recipients about how to sign the block, etc. Then we sat back and waited for the blocks to arrive. We weren’t disappointed. We received signatures from such luminaries as Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Ranulph Fiennnes, Joanna Lumley, Dame Kelly Holmes , Baron Paddy Ashdown GCMG, Nick Clegg MP, Matt Lucas, Richard E Grant, Mathew Wright, Earl Spencer, Sir Roger Moore and Barbara Walters. One of the names we are very proud to feature is that of Miss Simone Segouin who was a French Resistance fighter during World War II. We also have a number of former soldiers (Chelsea Pensioners).
I gave a number of blocks to LQ member Yana Krizka to embroider over the summer. Then in the autumn, I prepared a number of “packs” of blocks and threads for various other London Quilters to embroider. These were done beautifully, with each signature embroidered in red, white or blue. Eight members of London Quilters assembled the quilt at my house on 21 January 2016. We first arranged the blocks, making a note of the signatures in each row. We then sewed the blocks in rows; the rows were then sewn together before stopping for a well earned lunch. Borders were added, the quilt was layered with wadding and backing and basted. All done by 4pm. A very good day’s collaborative work.
I am currently doing the machine quilting and will embroider the names of the charities on the borders before handing it over to Dennis, who is very grateful for all the help he received from London Quilters.
Dennis is hoping that the Canadian & Australian Embassies will display the quilt as well as Lloyds Bank (who raised £1,000,000 at Christmas 2014 for homeless veterans). And he is also hoping for lots of press coverage.
The quilt will be auctioned on 30 June 2016 at a Square Mile event in the city. I'll keep London Quilters informed about the quilt's journey to its new owner as I get news. In the meantime, many thanks to the following members of London Quilters whose help enabled this project to get off the ground:
Janet Beck, Jennifer Campbell Kirk, Bernice Chan, Diana Darrer, Lyn Fry, Mary Rose Fry, Sarah Hibbert, Yana Krizka, Kathy McMahon, Lucy Poloniecka, Jo Shipley and Philip Steward.
Dennis told me of his idea to make a signature quilt: as he is in touch with many celebrities through his charitable work, he believed that the quilt idea would generate good publicity and felt he was in a position to get famous people to help. So we invited Dennis to come to our January 2015 meeting to discuss the idea of making a signature quilt with London Quilters. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea to work on this project, and a collaboration was born.
I showed Dennis some simple designs for signature quilts and he picked the Rail Fence pattern. We decided on a red, white and blue colour scheme, as these were the charity’s own colours. I prepared dozens of blocks using purchased white fabrics and my own red and navy fabrics so the quilt would have a scrappy look. I ironed freezer paper to the back of the blocks, to make signing them easier, and Dennis took several dozen to give to various celebrities for their signatures.
We composed a letter to send out with the blocks, with instructions to recipients about how to sign the block, etc. Then we sat back and waited for the blocks to arrive. We weren’t disappointed. We received signatures from such luminaries as Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Ranulph Fiennnes, Joanna Lumley, Dame Kelly Holmes , Baron Paddy Ashdown GCMG, Nick Clegg MP, Matt Lucas, Richard E Grant, Mathew Wright, Earl Spencer, Sir Roger Moore and Barbara Walters. One of the names we are very proud to feature is that of Miss Simone Segouin who was a French Resistance fighter during World War II. We also have a number of former soldiers (Chelsea Pensioners).
I gave a number of blocks to LQ member Yana Krizka to embroider over the summer. Then in the autumn, I prepared a number of “packs” of blocks and threads for various other London Quilters to embroider. These were done beautifully, with each signature embroidered in red, white or blue. Eight members of London Quilters assembled the quilt at my house on 21 January 2016. We first arranged the blocks, making a note of the signatures in each row. We then sewed the blocks in rows; the rows were then sewn together before stopping for a well earned lunch. Borders were added, the quilt was layered with wadding and backing and basted. All done by 4pm. A very good day’s collaborative work.
I am currently doing the machine quilting and will embroider the names of the charities on the borders before handing it over to Dennis, who is very grateful for all the help he received from London Quilters.
Dennis is hoping that the Canadian & Australian Embassies will display the quilt as well as Lloyds Bank (who raised £1,000,000 at Christmas 2014 for homeless veterans). And he is also hoping for lots of press coverage.
The quilt will be auctioned on 30 June 2016 at a Square Mile event in the city. I'll keep London Quilters informed about the quilt's journey to its new owner as I get news. In the meantime, many thanks to the following members of London Quilters whose help enabled this project to get off the ground:
Janet Beck, Jennifer Campbell Kirk, Bernice Chan, Diana Darrer, Lyn Fry, Mary Rose Fry, Sarah Hibbert, Yana Krizka, Kathy McMahon, Lucy Poloniecka, Jo Shipley and Philip Steward.
