Fruit & Veggies in the Window

I saw the cathedral window quilt pattern made with recycled blue jeans and immediately flashed to a way to raise funds for a food bank: By using the Farmer John food print fabrics (and others like it) to feature inside each of the windows. I have a cousin who manages a food bank in a small town in Northeastern Washington state, so I had an idea and a recipient. Now I needed material. I started collecting different prints and put out a call to friends and family for old blue jeans. They came in from all over the country. I learned first hand how hard it is to cut denim. I now am the proud owner of at least a half dozen circle cutting devices. (Little tip: none of them work really well on denim, just sayin') Because the quilt was headed to the Canadian border, I figured it could use some batting too. Quickly, the project became too heavy for me to get through my machine alone. Thank Heavens, that my husband sat down on the other side of the sewing machine and pulled it through. The weight actually caused me a slight shoulder injury requiring I stop sewing for a couple of days to let my shoulder rest. When the project was complete, my husband and I hosted a sending off party for the quilt and included $500 in donation which represented 10 percent of their original goal. The mailing weight of the quilt was 14 pounds! Ultimately, the food bank board raised a total of $2,000. I am so proud of the finished project and what it represents to the community who received the money. No one who wants to eat should ever go hungry.