The Donkey Quilt
The progressive blogging community has produced four autographed quilts, three of them signed at Yearly Kos or Netroots Nation conferences. Some of the signatures on these quilts are from people who are considered famous, others are from bloggers. These quilts were always intended to raise money for progressive candidates. The idea is to generate lots of small donations, each with a chance to win a quilt in a drawing. And here it is, an election year, and a way to do this properly has not been established. That’s why I am asking for help.
The problem: a drawing is a raffle, considered gambling, an activity that is regulated differently in different States. Here, we are proposing an internet drawing, likely to involve people from many States. So, how to do this rightly? I suspect the answer is to separate the donation from the drawing, providing a way for people not donating to participate in the drawing. But I’m not a lawyer and am therefor not competent to say for sure – and, living frugally as I do, I do not have the funds to get a proper legal opinion on this. That being said, I did see that the Obama campaign did a drawing among its donors for a chance to have dinner with the candidate. Now that Obama is President, drawings are still being done with the prize of dinner with him. Even the Republican National Senatorial Campaign gave its donors (and others) a chance to win an Amazon Kindle. Can a drawing for a quilt would be that much different? It would be a novel way to raise money -- something unique to the netroots community and yet hearkening back to an old American tradition. Signature quilts have been used to raise money since the 19th Century.
This is an election year. I’ve got four quilts weighing heavily on my mind. Can we solve this problem, please -- maybe set up an organization to get creative about fundraising for different needs, not just elections? I’d like to prepare signature quilt blocks for Netroots Nation this year – this time to benefit Feeding America (I told Timroff I would – and I don’t want to disappoint him!) – but I am not sure that it makes sense to do so if this dilemma is not put to bed.
Let me tell you something about the four quilts.
The Donkey Quilt, pictured above, is intended to support a progressive candidate who is a veteran. It was made by a number of people on Street Prophets (principally Aunt Arctic who designed the quilt, hand-pieced the donkey, assembled the pieces and hand quilted the whole). The work was all organized by internet, phone, and the mail – none of the people who worked on this quilt had met when it was completed. It really is an artifact of the progressive blogosphere – and it brought people together from the get-go.
Some of the well known people who signed this quilt are:
Al Franken
Cindy Sheehan
Paul Hackett
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Gen. Wesley Clark
Kos
Rep. Danny K. Davis
Rep. Maxine Waters
Ann Wright
John Nichols
Atrios
Bill in Portland Maine
Common Sense Mainer
Rabbi Michael Lerner
Rep. Lynne Woolsey
From Red to Blue
Most of the signatures on From Red to Blue can be found here. Most of the signatures were gathered in Las Vegas at the first Yearly Kos – it therefor is an artifact of that first conference. The quilt was designed by Aunt Arctic, pieced by Aunt Arctic and by me, hand quilted by me. This one is intended to support a progressive candidate for the Senate.
All Buttoned Up
The All Buttoned Up signatures are here. This quilt was signed in Chicago, at the second Yearly Kos. I designed it, based on a design my quilt guild did (I tweaked it). Half the fabrics are pastel, 1930s reproduction fabrics, half are bright, contemporary prints. The contrast was meaningful to me, given the times we live in. The quilt is intended to raise money for a progressive PAC – BlogPAC perhaps?
All my Relations
All My Relations has 204 signatures – I promised navajo that I would make a quilt for our Native American relatives. She asked that it benefit INDNs List. The diamond shaped patches were signed at Netroots Nation in Austin, TX. I designed this quilt, pieced it with some help from my sister and hand quilted it. I also embellished it with beads and crystals. Ojibwa was kind enough to bless it. It’s one of the best things I have ever made and I hope it will do well by INDNs List.
I will put it up for auction if the way is not clear to do a drawing. But I hope someone here will have answers – or a way forward. These quilts represent us coming together with a common purpose and they do it in a way that people find both interesting and enjoyable. Please, together let us find a way to carry that purpose out. May we brainstorm?