Quilting with and for Friends

This Amy Bradley "Campers" block eventually will be shared in a friendship group block exchange.

I have been going through my collection of quilts recently partly with the idea of "taking them on the road" and doing trunk show presentations to guilds.  I was surprised at how many group quilts I have.

Over the years, I have been a part of a local quilt guild, a couple of friendship groups, and also have some amazing quilting buddies and with each group I have amassed a great collection of friendship quilts.  Some projects involved everyone in the group making the same quilt, but interpreting it in their own way; some were swap-a-block exchanges; one was a "birthday block" exchange; and the most memorable was a round robin that resulted in 11 highly original, ginormous quilts.  Most have been fun, but to be honest, a couple were horribly tedious but produced highly satisfying results in the end.  Some of the quilts include blocks or sections made by friends who have passed or have moved out of the area - these stir the most poignant memories.

Quilting with friends has been and continues to be one of the best perks of a quilty life.