You can WIN this
Spectacular Autograph Quilt
for only ONE DOLLAR !!!
CLICK ANY PHOTO TO GET
YOUR TICKET(S) or click here http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Rikkis/food
or by check payable to Rikki’s Refuge and mailed to
Signature Quilt, Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
$1 per ticket.
Increase your luck 100% and buy 100 tickets!!!!
All donations to the quilt fund will be used to buy food for
the animals of Rikki’s Refuge!
Be sure to include your contact information so we can tell you
when YOU win! If buying tickets on line
at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Rikkis/food
leave your contact the information as a comment. If by mail, include a note!
Name, Address, E-mail address.
If you would like a ticket stub mailed to you, please add
45-cents for U.S. address, or $1.05 for other country addresses. We’ll be keeping track of your tickets and
contact info on our computer, and contacting the winner, so it’s not necessary
to have a ticket stub. But we will mail
you one if you like and if you provide the extra postage.
Please note that your contact information will not be made
public.
Contact Melissa at: autographquilt@gmail.com for more
information AND if you’d like to help us sell raffle tickets !!!!!
The drawing for the quilt will be held on Labor Day,
September 3, 2012, at Rikki's Refuge.
The winner does not need to be present to win. Shipping anywhere in the world provided, as long as our post office
will send it there!
Look for the quilt around town in Orange, Va., and Fredericksburg,
Va. We will be at businesses and stores
selling tickets all summer long!
It's finally finished!
The Autograph Quilt for Rikki's
Refuge!
Made by Melissa Felts of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and
quilted by Jo Ann Cooper of South Carolina, this spectacular quilt measures 73
1/2" wide and 76" long. Made
from 100% cotton fabrics, and 100% wool quilt batting. It features the autographs of 20 well-known
animal lovers:
Angelica Houston
Cloris Leachman
Raymond Usher
Betty White
Raquel Welch
Ryan Newman
Martin Sheen
Dolly Parton
Johnny Depp
Maya Angelou
Matt Damon
Tim Allen
Sally Struthers
Victoria Stilwell
Kiefer Sutherland
Bill Cosby
Whoopi Goldberg
Bob Barker
Jack Hanna
Elizabeth Taylor
she signed this
just 2 months
before she died
How the
quilt was made:
This quilt took 1 1/2 years to make! I started by mailing letters and fabric to
118 celebrities. I sat by my mailbox
for days. A few trickled back. Many
"return to sender--no longer at this address" labels arrived. Months would go by, and 1 or 2 would come
back to me.
In the meantime, I scanned various quilting websites and
magazines, looking for a pattern that would be right for the job. I finally
decided on Judy Neimeyer's "Cattails in the Meadow".
Then, in August of 2011, 1 month before my annual quilting
vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I went to my friend Carol's
house to choose the fabrics for the quilt (yes, her sewing room is like a quilt
shop! She used to own a quilt shop, and still has many of the fabrics from it).
We chose a selection of batiks in earth tones. This was
going to be a beautiful quilt!
My week in the Outer Banks was fun -- my 12 friends and I
literally spend the week quilting. It
took nearly 2 days just to cut the fabrics for this quilt. By the time the week ended, I had 3/4 of the
center section completed. Once home, I
continued to work on the quilt, still waiting for more autographed blocks to
arrive.
Some of the autographs were easy to read. Others arrived,
and I'd say "who the heck is this?"
Then, I'd have to search the internet, trying to figure out who's
signature it was. Tim Allen and Johnny
Depp were the hardest. Luckily I had my list of who I had mailed blocks to, and
that helped with the investigations.
Some of the stars included autographed photos, which we sold
in an online auction back in November.
Maya Angelou even included a book of her poems!
As luck would have it, Sally Struthers was in Fredericksburg
for a few months performing the lead in Hello Dolly! at our local dinner
theater. I mailed her a fabric block,
and she sent it back right away!
Then, there was a GreyHounds Rock! event in town, and
Victoria Stilwell was one of the guest speakers. She was more than happy to sign a block for me!
Cyndi Lauper signed a block, but she signed on the bright
blue painter's tape that I had put on the back of the fabric so that it would
not slip and slide while being signed.
I could not add it to the quilt -- it will have to be framed, I
guess.
And Greg Biffle signed a block, but it was returned to me
just a few weeks ago, after I had mailed the quilt top to Jo Ann in South
Carolina to be quilted. I never heard
anything from 79 others....maybe they will eventually be returned to me signed,
and I can make another quilt. Greg
Biffle's will be the first autograph in it.
Finally, I had 20 autographs, and I could finish the quilt
top. 2 of my 3 cats love to help me
when I am at my sewing machine, and it was difficult keeping them off of this
quilt.
I sewed, and sewed, and sewed. When I was finished with the machine, it was time to hand sew the
appliqued pieces. This, too, is no easy
feat as my dogs like to lay on me on the sofa, and the cats want to be in my
lap. I took the quilt to several of my
"Girls Night" outings, just to try to keep it as clean and fur-free
as possible while I sewed! Once the
hand applique was done, it was time to go back to the sewing machine and add
the border with the autographs. Much
measuring and calculating was necessary to get it right, but I finally got
it. Then, I boxed it and mailed it to
Jo Ann.
Jo Ann is one of the best quilters around! Many people are investing in Long Arm
Quilting machines to do the work (but they are BIG, and take up a car's space
in a garage, or huge sections of the basement. Most are about 9 feet wide and 2
or 3 feet deep, but you need lots of empty, clean space around them in order to
keep the quilt clean). But Jo Ann uses her regular sewing machine, and
maneuvers the fabric ever so precisely around the needle. It is much more difficult, and takes much
more time, but she is an expert and loves to do it! And, she does not have a big long-arm taking up space that she
can use as storage for more fabrics! (Most quilters are Fabricaholics, so
storage space for fabric is so important! lol)
She had so much fun quilting the quilt (and showing it to
her friends) that she was slow to send it back to me. "Would you like me to bind it for you, too?" she
asked. "Sure!" was my
response. And then, to push my luck "how about adding a casing on the back
so that we can hang it to display it?"
And she graciously agreed.
Finally, I received an e-mail from her that the quilt was on it's way
back to me. "It's become like
Bilbo's ring: I was getting fond of it and had to get it out of here!" she
said.
When I opened the box, all I could say was "oh my
Gosh!" The quilt was
stunning! Not only did Jo Ann add the
binding and a casing, but she added a pumpkin-colored piping just inside the
binding, which really helps to frame the quilt. It's absolutely gorgeous!
I've made many quilts, but nothing as beautiful as this
one. I hope that you all enjoy it, too.
So purchase your raffle tickets, and let's make this one of the best fund
raisers that Rikki's Refuge has ever had!
The drawing
will be held on
Monday, September 3, 2012
Labor Day
Monday, September 3, 2012
Labor Day
CLICK FOR YOUR TICKET - ONLY $1
or click here http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Rikkis/food
or send check payable to Rikki’s Refuge and mailed to
Signature Quilt, Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
$1 per ticket.
Increase your luck 100% and buy 100 tickets!!!!
All donations to the quilt fund will be used to buy food for
the animals of Rikki’s Refuge!
Be sure to include your contact information so we can tell
you when YOU win! If buying tickets on
line at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Rikkis/food
leave your contact the information as a comment. If by mail, include a note!
Name, Address, E-mail address.
If you would like a ticket stub mailed to you, please add
45-cents for U.S. address, or $1.05 for other country addresses. We’ll be keeping track of your tickets and
contact info on our computer, and contacting the winner, so it’s not necessary to
have a ticket stub. But we will mail
you one if you like and if you provide the extra postage.
Please note that your contact information will not be made
public.
Contact Melissa at: autographquilt@gmail.com for more
information AND if you’d like to help us sell raffle tickets !!!!!
The drawing for the quilt will be held on Labor Day,
September 3, 2012, at Rikki's Refuge.
The winner does not need to be present to win. Shipping anywhere in the world provided, as long as our post
office will send it there!
Look for the quilt around town in Orange, Va., and
Fredericksburg, Va. We will be at
businesses and stores selling tickets all summer long!
Thanks, and good luck!
Melissa
