"And The Greatest of These is Love" - AAQI Quilt #15,000

I am so honored that my quilt "And The Greatest of These is Love" is the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative's quilt #15,000.

And to know that my quilt is #15,000 and that it is my own #75th quilt that I have donated, marks such a monumental milestone for AAQI and for me and truly means so very much in so many different ways.

I began making and donating my small format art quilts in 2007. I was in Alaska, in my childhood home, on my beloved little Douglas Island across the Gastineau Channel from the capital city of Juneau.  I had been up to Alaska for the past several years in a row, helping my mother and father. But we all knew that I needed to help more and more often, as by then, my mom, my dad, and I all knew that my mother had Alzheimer's Disease.

I knew, that this would be a long and challenging disease progress, and I knew that it was crucial that I keep my own strength and spirits up in order to deal with the challenges. So, with only a small amount of fabric and some basic sewing supplies, I made 6 little fabric postcards and mailed them from Douglas, Ak. to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

Once I began making and donating my little art quilts, a whole new outlook, a whole new creative world of a different kind of quilting opportunity was opened up. By New Years Day of 2010, I had created and started my own Liberated Quilting Challenge for AAQI and had coerced cajoled a few other liberated quilts into joining the group.

Each year, I have made at least 12 quilts as part of the Quilt a Month Challenge, and when I could make more, I made more. This year, 2013, the last year of AAQI, I poured it on and donated 26 quilts to AAQI meeting my personal goal for a total of 75.  And best of all...my little Liberated Quilting Challenge group has now contributed over 600 quilts to AAQI. For such a small group of quilters, with only about two dozen making the majority of quilts for my group, I am so thrilled and so proud of ALL of us, and so super, super proud of AAQI for all it has accomplished!

AAQI will have earned $1,000,000 by the end of this our final year with this wonderful, wonderful organization.

I am so thrilled, and so honored to have contributed quilt #15,000 to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI)  because in my heart of hearts, I do feel like we have made a difference. We have funded Alzheimer's research grants at major institutions..over and over and they have made inroads in so many different and varying ways.

Please, continue to support us by buying quilts from our sale page, and bidding on our monthly auctions. This quilt...#15,000 will be available at auction at a later date. And of course, Ami Simms and her beautiful bevy of volunteers will be bringing thousands of quilts to the Houston International Quilt Festival in November!


See more about the quilt, AAQI, and how you can help fund Alzheimer's research at:

AAQI Update Blog: #15,000th Quilt

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI)

 My AAQI Liberated Quilting Challenge


Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska. Sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting, with small format art quilts, prayer flags, and comfort quilts for a variety of charitable programs. And best of all, sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in her Liberated Quilting Challenge and make and donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!