Free Spirit Gathering Community Quilt

Hosted by Scribble

What is it? | When will the quilt(s) be ready? | How can I be a part of it?
What are the specs for a square? | How can I help?

What is it? The FSG Community Quilt is the first of (we hope) many quilts that will be made at FSG by the attendees. The actual quilt won't be made at festival, but panels for the quilt (or quilts!) will! This has been an idea bouncing around in my brain since my first festival, which was in 2002 or 2003. I thought it would be a wonderful idea for the people at FSG to create special panels for a quilt that would be later assembled and auctioned off to benefit the FSG College Scholarship Program. Every year, the quilt would be different, based on who participated, the theme, and so on. I think it's a wonderful way to express how we as a community work together in support a common goal—and have fun in the process! If this year's quilt project is successful, we will continue for next year, and the year after that, as long as there is interest!

It's our hope that enough panels will be made to create one quilt, usable on a queen-sized bed. If we don't have enough, we'll either make a smaller quilt, or a wall hanging. If we get a lot of panels, we can make multiple quilts and/or wall hangings, which would be great!

My additional hope for this project is that I can create an “art book” of the Community Quilt panels, with the proceeds also to benefit the FSG College Scholarship fund. This would be a great way to support the scholarship fund if you can't bid on the quilt itself!

When will the quilt(s) be ready? It will be completed sometime before next FSG, but next FSG (2010) is when it will be up for auction.
When will the books be ready? I'm going to shoot for the 2009–2010 winter holidays. They will be print-on-demand from a site such as Lulu.com. Watch for announcements!

How can I be a part of it? Just show up! I will be available each day of FSG 2009, Tuesday through Saturday, from 4:15p to 6:15p in Tin Can C. Just look for the signs; I'll be hard to miss! I'll also have a schedule up of when I'll be available outside of the set scheduled time, just in case people want to stop by and work (this will be available on site, posted at check-in and the bulletin board on merchant's row).

I will have fabric, beads, fabric paint and who knows what else for people to use for their creation. I can help out with techniques in embroidery, sewing, appliqué and much more. Or you can just have at it yourself! It would be nice to have panels that harmonize with the theme, but if that doesn't inspire you, you can work with what does!

Specifications for squares: Now, some people out in the FSG community are undoubtedly thinking to themselves: “I am a creative person, and I know how to sew/quilt/etc. Can I make my panel ahead of time?” Absolutely! There are, however, some requirements:

• Size: Each panel should be an 8 inch square, with a 7 inch square of usable area (i.e. a ½ inch seam allowance on all sides).
• Material: Please use cotton or cotton blend fabrics in your creation. If you are very experienced, other types are OK, as long as they are machine washable.
• Embellishments: All embellishments (trim, beads, appliqué, etc) must be sewn on. Do NOT glue on embellishments. Embellishments should also be machine washable. Fabric paint is the only exception to this rule.
• Identification: Please include your name (magickal or legal), city and state (or city, province and country if not in the US) and age with your panel, preferably pinned or taped to the back of the panel. This information will be used for the art book. If you have a title for your panel, please provide that as well, but it's strictly optional.

Should you decide to make a panel in advance, please bring it with you to FSG. You can either drop it off when you register, or you can bring it me to Tin Can C. If you don't think you will attend FSG this year, you can mail your panel to me at:

FSG Community Quilt
c/o Laura 'Scribble' Young
21038 Thoreau Court
Sterling VA 20164

Any panels that come in after 30 June 2009 will be used for the 2010 FSG Community Quilt.

How can I help?

• Please donate:
  • fabric
  • fabric paint
  • sewing thread
  • embroidery thread
  • trims (lace, ribbon, etc)
  • beads
  • other machine-washable fabric embellishments
• If you have a portable sewing machine that you are willing to both a) bring to festival and b) lend to the project, please do! It will be set up in an area that can be secured when nobody's there.
• If you are willing to cut out a lot of 8 inch squares of cotton or cotton-blend fabric in advance and bring them to festival, I will love you forever.
• If you are willing to sit in Tin Can C to assist people with their panels when I am not there, that would be extremely helpful. You don't necessarily need to know how to sew, but that would be a plus. Even if you can't do anything with a needle, you can point people to supplies and take the panels from them when they are done. There will be a volunteer briefing sheet just in case I can't brief you in person.
• If you are willing to help with the completion of the quilt, and you live in or near Northern VA, I would love your help during the fall. This is a pretty big project, and if I can get experienced quilters willing to donate their time and skill, it would help immensely.

Please bring any donations to FSG and drop them off at Tin Can C. If you need to see me in person, find someone on staff, and they'll call me on the radio.

If you have questions about the FSG Community Quilt, please feel free to email me at scribblecraft at gmail dot com. Hope to see you there!