Bee Blessed on Display

As many of you who read Judith's blog will know, Saturday was her big exhibition day.  To say that it was a success is an understatement.  She has been planning and organising for months, gathering a creative and practical team around her to help showcase the work made in her taught classes over the past two years.

Generous as she always is, Judith also offered space at her exhibition for two local charities to raise their profile and to raise funds for the stitching work that they do.  Bee Blessed was one of those groups, and on behalf of the Bee membership I'd like to publicly thank Judith for allowing us to be part of the fun and creative frisson of her exhibition day.

Here's our wee Bee Blessed table -

When you are a group that spends its time giving away the quilts you make there's not a lot to draw from when trying to be creative with your stall but, I think Barbara and I did a reasonable job.  We had a few quilts that have not yet been passed on to the recipients and a few cushions too.  We also showcased the most recent block and some of the lovely cards we receive as thank yous, as well as some of the cards our blog members send to encourage our efforts.  The amazing Pippi quilt was our backdrop for the day (and was then promptly gifted to a 17 year old young lady who is coming to terms with a newly diagnosed illness).

Here I am (wo)manning the stand (hubby dropped by at lunchtime and took a wee pic):

I am not as lopsided as this pic makes me look!!

As folks popped in to view the stunning displays of quilts (I won't show pics but I'm sure JustJude will have plenty of fabulous eye candy this week), sign up for one of Judith's classes, purchase a little make or two, nab a cake for Sunday afternoon tea or have a rest and a chat over complimentary tea/coffee and yummy bites, I had the amazing privilege to tell folks all about Bee Blessed and the work that we do.

I met folks who were curious about what a Bee is, wondering why we do what we do and indeed how we do what we do.  They were amazed to learn that our blogging friends generously contribute to all our efforts and that we have incorporated fabrics and blocks from elsewhere in the UK, Morocco, Canada, Finland and other corners of the world into our donated quilts.  I was greatly humbled by meeting the wife of a gentleman who received one of our quilts and much later in the morning by meeting the gentleman himself.  And, I struggled to hold back tears as I watched the donation of a quilt to a young girl in the presence of her mum whose face betrayed immense gratitude.

Folks, those of you who were not with me at the table yesterday, those of you busy at the exhibition event in another capacity or those of you who are part of our Bee through this wonderful on-line community should really know that your participation is helping to touch people's lives - I mean it really, really is!

So thank you again to Judith for allowing Bee Blessed to be a part of her big day, and a thank you to all of you who help Bee Blessed achieve our purposes.