ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE DOG

Restore a quilt; Renew a dog

Over the past six months, thanks in part to this column, the Journal Gazette article, and the WBCL radio interview, I have been overwhelmed by the response. People call, email, invite me to speak and visit the studio often with a quilt in hand that they want to know more about. How old is it? How was it damaged? How much should I insure it for? How can I complete it? Of all the responses, the partnership formed with the Allen County SPCA really touches my heart.

Our family has supported the SPCA for years, monetarily and by adopting two fur children. (That’s another column!) Their photo graces a page of the BAQ Website. I wanted the SPCA to know I support their efforts by promoting them on the site. I email them a link through their Website and a few days later I receive a response. It seems from time to time people donate their handmade quilts to the SPCA for use as dog bedding. The staff looks at the donated quilts and often feels they are too good to be relegated to the dogs.

I ponder this conundrum for a couple of days before shooting back an email with a concept. I call it “One step ahead of the dog.” When someone donates a quilt the staff feels can be restored, it finds its way BAQ. There it is restored if possible, and if beyond restoration (also beyond dog use) it is used as “spare parts” to restore a more deserving quilt. The quilts are tagged so people know when it is purchased BAQ donates a percentage to the SPCA.

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I couldn’t do the concept without giving them an image for the tag. I find computer images and someone to combine them together. The SPCA staff is blessed with the talents of Marketing Coordinator Nena Brown. Nena takes the images and blends them perfectly. She even makes the words look like stitching for added effect.

Now I have the happy task of restoring several donated quilts. Along with the work I do for private clients, the One step ahead of the dog quilts are slowly being restored. If anyone is interested in seeing them in progress or have quilts they want to donate:

Quilts can be dropped off from noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday at the ACSPCA, 4914 Hanna St., and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at Born Again Quilts, 124 W. Wayne St. For information, call 515-9446 or go to www.bornagainquilts.com.