I am changing up how I do mail. If you missed my update on mail and quilt donations, PLEASE follow the link and read THIS BLOG POST.
I spent the entire weekend and much of the week working through the mail that was here.
With the new way I’m doing the mail, I won’t be taking pictures of everything that is sent. I’m asking that people try to send donations directly to someone on the donation list and bypass me. Click THIS LINK to go to the donation page. If I do get mail, I will only be doing a very short segment. I am hoping this cuts down on shipping and receiving on my end and that I can spend more time actually making quilts.
Frances sent some goodies…
The cutest card and quilt tops came from Leona. These are nice tops and they would love to find a home with a finisher. Is anyone interested in finishing these?
They are all bright colored and I’m sure kids would love them.
I couldn’t find a name with the next package…
Karen sent some goodies.
Another Karen sent goodies too. This one was from Rochester, MN.
I rarely keep anything that comes if from blog readers. I have so much already. I did keep some of these fabrics though. I got a new quilt book, and I thought the fabrics would be perfect for quilts from this book, Striking Strip Quilts by Kate Henderson.
This is one of the quilts I thought to make. I think it would be a perfect charity quilt.
or this quilt…
The fabrics were great for that. Thanks so much Karen.
The nest package made it here from Corona, CA.
The next package is going to make Jazz happy. I always send her the embroidery things. Jazz and her partner are both into embroidery and finish many embroidered quilts and donated them. What a labor of love. If you have embroidery-related things you want to pass on, please find Jazz on the donation page HERE. She is #20.
Patti sent a pretty quilt top. This one is a perfect scrap buster!!
The next box had lots of goodies including quilt tops.
The next box came from New York. It was chuck full.
One day the UPS truck backed up to my house, rolled up the back end door, and… unloaded 18 boxes of quilting goodies into the extra garage bay.
YES, all of the Chick-Fil-A boxes were filled with quilting things. All of them were from Dianne. She said she was downsizing and sent me 95% of her stash. WOW!!
I got the boxes opened and started sorting.
It just so happened that Sandra and Donna from the Cresco ladies were stopping by. I let them pick out a few boxes of goodies that they thought could be put to good use.
That helped lighten the load quickly. There were MANY charm packs, jelly rolls and layer cakes included. I saved them out and some will go on the Good Deeds auction. Our daughter Kayla is teaching sewing classes and said if the charm packs didn’t have a home she’d love them.
This quilt made its way to me from Texas…
Debra sent these goodies…
Cindy sent these…There were lots of quilt tops and orphan blocks.
Nancy sent the next box. There were lots of batiks and these along with ones from Dianne were sent to the Cresco Ladies.
Leigh sent a package of vintage quilt blocks. These will be auctioned off for the good deeds fund.
I got several cards and letters. Several had money in them for the Good Deeds fund. I thank you so much for this. Monies will still be needed for batting and mailings. Hopefully not be as many mailings but there will be some. I am still going to be working with the Cresco ladies and they will continue to make quilt tops…maybe not as many…but I’m sure plenty.
Check out all the stickers. The kiddos have been having so much fun with them. Virginia sent them for the kiddos.
Erin sent some goodies…sadly, I don’t know if this is what she sent or if the pictures got lost. I was writing this and the grandkids stopped over. I left the computer with the pictures up and when I came back, a couple of the pictures seemed to be gone.
This is another picture I have no clue what it goes with…UGH.
and another…
I think the kids really screwed up the pictures as I went through cards and everything is a mess. I had three anonymous cards, also cards from 3 different Nancy’s, 2 boxes from Ellie, Julie, Deb, Darlynn, and Carolyn.
Oh my word. I don’t know what they did!! I’m so sorry for the mix-up.
I know Carolyn sent two big boxes of baby gowns and receiving blankets for the Baby Care Kits. Can you believe Carolyn made 100 gowns? YES, 100!! I’m so excited. Each kit needs 2 gowns so that will be the start of 50 more kits. I’m doing the happy dance about that!!
I think this concludes all the mail that was at my house that hadn’t been blogged about. There is a chance I missed something-there was so much mail here. I’m so sorry if I did. Please know your thoughtfulness was appreciated.
It took me a full weekend and much of last week but I have all of the mail sorted and distributed. I have some items saved back for a good deeds auction and I have lots of quilt tops here. If you are interested in finishing quilt tops, please speak up and let me know. I’d love to get them out to people willing to finish them. Please email me at rogjok@iowatelecom.net. I emailed before and I didn’t send any, please email me again.
Whew…that was a lot!! One last reminder. There are still people in need of donations. All of the people that I previously passed your gifts to, are still in need. Please find your favorite person/group on the donation page, and send your donations directly to them. Again, HERE is the link. It can always be found a the top of the page on the tab section. Again, I am requesting that the only things be sent to me be things for me personally, baby care kit items, or goodies for the childcare kids. I am still going to be very active in helping collect Baby Care kit items and I would love your help.
Thanks to the many-many who have donated in the past. Your support has been so appreciated.
Hey Jo. I like the idea of people sending directly to the people making quilts for charity. I’ve been watching your mail posts and been thinking all along that it was really too much for you to do all of that collecting, sorting and remailing to others. Didn’t see my name on the list though. We are making quilts for the “Singles Mothers Program” sponsored by the Baptist Children’s Home in Lakeland, Fl. Would love to get fabric and/or quilt tops for this project.
I’m slowly making my way to updating the list. I will be putting an announcement on the blog when I’m ready to do the overhaul of the donation page. Once I announced the change, I was flooded with people wanting things changed with listings. Right now, my focus is getting the items out of my home and getting the blog posts about the mail caught up. I’m hoping once November hits to redo the donations pages.
Wow!! How generous donors have been to the Community Quilts program! I’m looking forward to seeing how it will grow and bloom with the (much needed) changes you have put in place, Jo.
thanks so much.
I understand the need to send directly to fiishers. Such a lot of goodies to handle. Great idea to directly mail to the next to final destination. I would love tobe a quilt finisher but my machine’s are acting cranky
That is a full time job just opening all the boxes. So glad the Cresco ladies were there to help. I have received several items related to shirt collars and have made some already. I’ll be sending you cute pics of them in the near future. Dont send anymore collars! So appreciated but not enough time in the day.
Jo you are amazing! I will apologize if you have already been asked this but would it be possible to add the state in which the finishers who accept donations live. I make quilts for foster kids I have plenty of fabric myself to sew my lifetime even if I live to be 100.
But I think having a general idea where finishers live would be helpful.
Sincerely
Love2sewsue
Happy sewing in Fl
I will be updating the donations lists as time allows. Right now I am still working on getting the mail managed. It really hasn’t let up yet.
As a suggestion, in addition to state, how about zip code and/or major city within the state? My concern is that some states are large. If someone lives in California do they live in San Diego or San Francisco? If they live in Texas is it Houston or Dallas?
There will be a special mail box in heaven waiting for you as a thanks for all you have done these past years. It definitely is time for you to retake those hours and hours for yourself! You are a good lady, Jo.
I have shared your information with my online group Sunshine. We make quilts for various organizations including the Rotary Volunteers who give a blanket to an individual getting rhinoplasty in developing countries. Also Navajo Nation is another. Comfort Quilts is another. I hope we can help.
Here is a better description than I gave. The Sunshine group can be found on MEWE
About Us
Sunshine supports two programs:
(1) Wrap-a-Smile (WAS) – This was started by Terry H., a Rotarian who saw that babies in the Rotary program, Rotaplast, were coming out of surgery wrapped in paper blankets. Rotaplast does cleft lip and cleft palate surgery as well as others they can fit in such as burn reconstruction. Teams of volunteers provide this service free. The WAS goal is to give a home- made quilt to every patient who comes out of surgery. Since WAS started it has given away almost 25,000 quilts to kids/adults around the world! Rotaplast started its work in South America and has now spread to Asia and Africa as well. So our quilts go everywhere and are greatly cherished. At first Rotaplast operated mostly on babies and small children, but now they include all ages. Try to make the quilts about 40” x 60” (with a few smaller quilts at 40” x 50” for the young patients). Use good quality cotton. Please machine stitch the binding for durability. Quilts should be sent to Ann De… Sunshine Member Ann De… is the new WAS coordinator as of June 2018. You can post questions for her right on our list, and she will be keeping us abreast of the current needs.
Read more about WAS here: http://rotaplast.org/partners-2/wrap-a-smile/
(2) Quilts Beyond Borders (QBB) – This program sends and/or hand delivers quilts to under-served children and adults around the world, often in orphanages or in remote areas that don’t see much humanitarian aid. Their first deliveries were made in Ethiopia, and they have spread further around the world since then. They ask for quilts that are 40” x 60”, sometimes larger (but not smaller). Use good quality cotton. Binding must be machine stitched for durability. They also request that you attach a label. Quilts can be mailed to any of the QBB regional coordinators. The one nearest your home will probably mean the cheapest postal rates. Sunshine member Ann Dr… is a regional coordinator for QBB. Post questions at our list, and she will be happy to answer. Plus, you can read about QBB and see pictures at their blog: https://quiltsbeyondborders.wordpress.com
Jo, thank you for thinking of me with your embroidery kits. You’re right, I do love to do them and make baby quilts from them for the newborn nursery for Ben Taub Hospital in Houston. I especially enjoy stamped cross stitch ones. I finished the animals in the ark you recently sent and and am looking forward to doing the puppies next.
I have plenty of embroidery floss (and scraps and yardage, thank you everyone!) but could use regular sewing thread of all colors as well as crochet thread or yarn to tie some of my quilts with, if any of your donors have any to give.
I have several more quilts almost finished to send you pictures of. Thank you again.
jazzpaz@gmail.com
the small package-mailer with no name came from my friend. She forgot to put a note inside. :-) :-)
Happy Creating.
The fabrics and the book from Karin all look good. I went to check out the book and will order it on my Kindle. Thanks for sharing. They all look like they would be good patterns to sew to donate to those in need.
Thanks for sharing!
Dale
I love to finish quilts. Send any my way.