I am a huge bookworm, but since I have things like a job and children, I don’t get to read as much as I used to. So I love me a good audiobook. I love me a good free audiobook even better. That’s where the website podiobooks.com comes in. This site provides audiobooks in a variety of genres written by a variety of authors (some published, some unpublished, and some unpublished that got published after getting a large fan base established through distributing their books for free as podcasts). You don’t need an iPod to listen since you can listen right from your computer.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because in January, Tee Morris, one of the founders of the site, and widely acknowledged co-founder of the whole “podcast your novel for free” movement, lost his wife to a sudden illness. He is now raising his five year old daughter (aka “Sonic Boom”) by himself. This touches me in ways you cannot imagine. Well, maybe you can since I have kids around that same age and have taken serious advantage of this “free literature” trend. To say I’m not a people person is an understatement, so the company of these many characters I’d not ever had known otherwise is truly a joy.

One of his friends and fellow-podcaster Phillipa Ballantine, who hails from New Zealand and writes fantasy works (with a seriously butter-melty voice), started a ChipIn fund to establish a trust fund for his daughter. This then evolved into an auction with some seriously awesome geeky loot. Well, since I quilt for a cause regularly through my quilt group, I felt compelled to donate a quilt to help Tee and his daughter. More specifically, a steampunk quilt.

Maybe two of you (and that’s being generous) know what “steampunk” is. But trust me, there are some wonderful costumers out there who have made some amazing garments and accessories in this theme. This particular quilt is in honor of “Books and Braun”, an as-yet unpublished book by Tee and Phillppa. If you’d like to read a fun steampunk adventure/romance, I heartily recommend Gail Carriger’s “Soulless“.

So here’s the quilt:

A ZEPPELIN! (I love an obscure reference to a classic Christmas movie for no particular reason other than sheer awesomeness)

You can see more pictures and my comments about the different quilt elements on it here. If you are interested, go check out the rest of the auction goodies on the website. The auction will be held February 27th.