‘A Gift of Quilts’ is the project being organised by Jenny Rundle and her team of quilters to encourage stitchers all over the UK to make and donate up to 500 patchwork quilts.  The object is to give a quilt to each country participating in the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 as a unique sign of friendship and peace. At the present time the number of countries entering is unknown.

Quilters in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, organised a similar event in 1996 and presented 397 quilts to the Olympic teams during the Centennial Games of that year.

This project was conceived early in 2008 by Jenny and it has taken till now to get support for the project and begin the process of asking for quilts to be made and donated. It is also envisaged that there will be an exhibition of the quilts prior to the Games and a book and DVD. We are also in the process of applying for the Olympic "Inspire" mark. When this is granted we will officially become part of the cultural Olympiad.

As you can imagine this sort of event does not happen over night or with only one person involved.  So we ask you, the quilters of the UK to help make this come true and spread the message of unity and friendship that a quilt can bring.  Cathy Miller, Canada’s singing quilter says in her talk that we “can heal the world one stitch at a time”. If we could bring a small amount of happiness and peace to the countries participating by our stitches just think what an achievement that would be.

The “Gift of a Quilt” is open to anyone, any age, any skills, it can be an individual, a group of friends, a village project, a school project, a community project involving care homes, day centre’s, all you need to be able to do is hold a needle.

A Gift of Quilts is  non-profit making and any excess balance after expenses will be given to a registered charity.

We are delighted that Coats Crafts UK have very generously sponsored A Gift of Quilts with a gift of fabric and threads!  So far thirteen boxes of fabrics have been received and it was really exciting opening them and thinking about how they could be used.  We have decided that fabric will be offered to those who register their intent to make a quilt for the Olympic project and packs of cut lengths, colour co-ordinated with matching threads, will be available at the Quilters Guild AGM at Southport in the first instance. We aim in this way to raise some of the much needed funding for this project. Read on for details of the Grand Raffle with will take place at the Guild AGM in March.

Do visit our gallery page to see pictures of us cutting and bagging the wonderful selection of fabric from Coats Crafts UK.

We are delighted that Kaffe has agreed to be our Patron for A Gift of Quilts.
Please go to the page dedicated to him for more information
about Kaffe Fassett and his work.                                 Brandon Mably, Kaffe's business manager and a designer in his own right, is supporting Kaffe Fasset in his Patronage of this project. There is a link to Brandon's web site on Kaffe Fassett's page

Where our funding comes from as a project.  As a project supported by the organising committee of the London Olympic Games we are not allowed to approach individuals or firms for financial help.

However, we will be at the Quilters Guild AGM in Southport on March 26,27 and 28th with our GRAND RAFFLE and Tombola.  The draw for the Grand Raffle prizes will take place on Saturday 27th March after the Gala Supper.  We will be there to promote the project and will  be able to answer questions and give information about A Gift of Quilts. Do come and say hello to us.

We will endeavour to keep the total updated as often as possible. It is not too late to make a quilt and register it with us.  In fact register before you finish it so we know how many we have got coming in.