Oakshotts...and a little giveaway

Recently I have been focusing on the upcoming charity auction with all funds raised going to help those truly in need through MCC.

I have shared progress shots of Swooning with Oakshotts, now known as Amish Stars, both here and on Instagram.

As mentioned previously, Michael Oakshott offered a very generous discount for the fabric in this quilt. Today I would like to focus on the actual Oakshott fabric.

In case you are not familiar with what a shot cotton actually is, let's begin there. While shot cottons read as solids, they really are not solids.They are woven with two colors, a warp color and a weft color, meaning one color runs the length of the fabric, and the second color runs the width of the fabric. This means that the fabric often has a beautiful iridescent quality to it.

In the case of Oakshott cottons (and isn't it a lovely coincidence that this supplier of such beautiful shot cottons is named Oakshott!), the fabric is hand woven by "master weavers who have patiently taken two hours to prepare and weave each metre." The fabric is ethically sourced from master weavers along the Malabar coast of South West India.

You can read more about the company and fabric  here, but here is just a little synopsis: The yarn for the fabric is boiled for 12 hours, "...the fabrics are hand-dyed; the waste water is so pure that it is used on the vegetable beds."

Since some of the funds from this quilt will go toward clean water projects in Third World countries, I like knowing that the waste water from the dyeing of this fabric is clean enough to use to raise vegetables.

This is one of my favorite pictures, the face of MCC.

These women live in South Sudan, a country ravaged by unrest, and who are trying to rebuild their lives after decades of civil war. MCC is partnering with the Episcopal Church of Sudan Mother's Union Women's Empowerment Project to help women learn sewing, life skills and small business management. THIS is one of many places where funds from tomorrow's quilt auction will go. We will sit in a comfortable building, raising our bidding numbers, and it is easy to forget about the hardships endured by people in our local communities and worldwide.

Thank you, Michael, not only for your gorgeous fabric, but for your generosity in being a part of this good work.

So, hey, how about a giveaway? I will be putting together a little collection of Oakshott scraps to share with two of you. Just let me know if you have a favorite charity...or a favorite color.

I'll choose two winners on Sunday night, 6 p.m. PDT. Oakshott Fabrics is located in the UK so of course it would only be right to include everybody in the giveaway, right?

Have a lovely weekend.