Raffle tickets for a stunning French-themed quilt will be on sale outside Gerringong IGA on Thursday (8 May) from 10am to 5pm, with all proceeds supporting the Children’s Medical Research Institute.

The quilt, stitched from fabrics collected during a Paris quilting tour, will be raffled as part of the CMRI’s sold-out Mother’s Day High Tea at Gerringong Town Hall.

With event tickets already snapped up, the raffle offers the wider community a chance to take home a truly unique piece while supporting children’s health research at the same time.

When local quilter Annette Hoskins first chose the textiles in Paris, she had no idea they would end up at the centre of a local fundraising campaign.

“I’d been holding on to the materials for years,” Annette said. “They were too special to use just anywhere. When I heard the CMRI team needed a raffle prize to lift their fundraising this year, I knew it was time.”

The quilt was coordinated and joined together by Annette using mostly her own material, but the hexagon patches that form the design were contributed by many members of the Kiama Quilters.

“It was a true group effort,” she said. “But the inspiration came from those beautiful Parisian fabrics.”

Annette’s passion for creating with heart is well known across the region.

A retired nurse and university lecturer, she is a long-time volunteer for CMRI and coordinates charity quilts exclusively with the Kiama Quilters group.

Whether it ends up as a keepsake, a gift or an heirloom, this quilt tells a bigger story. One of community, compassion and creative generosity.