Photos from the St Peter's Love Quilt Exhibition

The St Peter's Love Quilt Exhibition at Fish Hoek Civic Center 12 -13 January, 2013

In the photograph above, Gretchen Ginnerty, the co-ordinator of the project speaks about the making of the exhibited quilts.  The quilts are gifts,  bearing messages of love from American children to South African children orphaned through the Aids pandemic.   The quilts are designed using a modified Log Cabin pattern.  The design has a central square in each block and within each quilt twenty hand-drawn children's squares make up the integral design.  Light and dark strips of fabric are used to symbolise the counterbalance of life: sad times / happy times, hardship /bountiful with the central square representing a core of universal love.

St Peter's Love Quilt Exhibition at Fish Hoek Civic Center

The St Peter's Love Quilt Project will exhibit thirty-six quilts and two large wall hangings at the Fish Hoek Civic Centre Minor Hall this coming weekend 12 - 13 January from 9am till 3pm.

Come and be inspired!  The co-ordinator Gretchen Ginnerty will be talking about the project at 13h30 on each of the days.  It's an extraordinary story of a committed community who hope to bridge divides and drive forward a worthy cause.   For each quilt is not only a marvel in design, but also has it's own unique message.  American quilt making has a long proud heritage and these traditions are shown anew with the spirit and generosity of these works. 

Members of the St Peter's Episcopal church in Arlington,Virginia partner in a venture with the St Francis Outreach Trust (of the Anglican Parish in Simon's Town) in their "Home to Grow" foster home in Masiphumelele. The original vision for the quilts was spurred by a visit to the home in July 2011 when seven quilts were given as gifts to the foster children and house mother. The idea was that the quilts would wrap the children with warmth and carry messages of love from the children of the St Peter's parish.  

The quilt project expanded as a result of this mission and the very positive response. The thirty-six quilts exhibited here will be distributed to various foster homes identified by SFOT and the "Home from Home" organisation caring for orphaned or fostered children.  These superb works of art are the result of many hours  given by teams of talented quilters and by the incorporation of the fabric squares hand drawn by American children with their message of love for the orphaned South African children, who have been affected by the scourge of the HIV/Aids pandemic.  

Raffle tickets for the two wall hangings are being sold to raise funds.  Come along and take a punt, who knows you may be a lucky winner!

Further background information on the St Francis Outreach Trust:

-The trust was launched in May 2009 by members of the Anglican congregation of Simon's Town, with the goal of fulfilling a need to support disadvantaged children through the Hiv/AIDS pandemic.

 -Through the endeavours of the trustees and the local community funds were raised for the purchase of a plot in Masiphumelele and in June 2010 the patron of the trust, the retired Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane blessed the foundations for the first "Home to Grow" in Kanana Road, Masiphumelele. 

- Shortly after the foundations were laid, an additional boost was received through the support and the partnering in the project by the St Peter's Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia.  It paved the way in getting the building work complete and by October 2010, the housemother and first of the fostered children took up residence.

-With the continued support of St Peter's, the "Home to Grow" project flourishes. In late July 2011, a group from the church arrived to further their mission and cement their links with the project.  Their hands on approach, and magnanimous gift of 7 quilts to the housemother and children were gratefully received.   

- St Francis Trust arrange for the two Exhibitions for the quilts, at Pretoria 6 January and Fish Hoek12 - 13 January.

Further links:

http:// www.stfrancistrust.org

http://www.saint-peters.org/wp/ministries/mission-commission/st-peter%E2%80%99s-love-quilt-project/