Maria's Bee Block Quilt

This quilt was donated to the auction by Maria Johnson.  She is a breast cancer survivor who stumbled upon my blog a few months ago and offered her help.  She collected each of these blocks from friends and stitched them together to form this stunning quilt.  I love the orange & aqua color scheme!

When I asked her about how the quilt came about, she shared this with me:

"So many people from the quilting world were so incredibly generous to me when I had cancer that I never want to forget that, and that's why I always want to pay it forward in any way that I can.  I don't work much, so I don't have a lot of money, but I do have time to create and share what I have.

"When I see a post like yours on a blog like yours, it just feels right.  I also help out with another charity drive run by my friend Sarah on the other side of Nashville.  She picks two groups that collect quilts each year and asks her readers to sign up to help how they can, and that also feels right.  We're breast cancer sisters.  :)

"I want to share that feeling of having been blessed by so many in my time of need, and I want to do the same for others in their time of need."

Thank you so much, Maria!  What a lovely way to "pay it forward."

Maria is not the only cancer survivor who has contributed to this year's auction.  There are at least two more ladies who felt compelled to share quilts with us, and perhaps more!  I don't know each woman's story, but I suspect that there are many who have battled cancer themselves or who have helped a loved one along in the journey.

Here are some close-ups of a few of the blocks.  It would be too difficult to photograph, and I could not recognize all of the fabric, but I was able to pick out some pieces from Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry, and Kate Spain.  If you are a fabric connoisseur, this would be a really fun quilt to get your hands on!

And perhaps you can see the quilting?  It is an edge-to-edge meander.

Oh, and this backing fabrics is just great!

The backing fabrics accent the front so nicely.  I love it when the backing is clearly much more than an after-thought!  (Sometimes, that doesn't work out so well with my own quilts...)

Win this lovely piece and help cure kids with brain cancer at the same time?  Yes, please!

Click here to bid on this quilt.  *Bidding Closed

Quilt Stats:

Size: 55 x 55 inches

Made by: Maria Johnson

Fabrics: quilting fabrics

(Want to see more?  Click here to see all the quilts that are on auction until Saturday, April 5, 2014.)


"Someone in your life needs a quilt, and someone in mine needs a cure."
  Charlotte's gRACE for a Cure 2014 Quilt Auction to benefit the PBTF