Together We Can Make This Happen

I am so very grateful to the two people who reached out and have thus far donated to my Go Fund Me site that I have set up to help me get this blog turned into a professional looking website so we can reach out to more quilters and they can see this is legit!

Right now, I have raised $50 of the $172 needed to pay for the unique design and a year of website costs. I believe in this project, I know we, all of us, you and I and all those to come believe in this project, so I am asking each of you if you feel led to please help me reach this goal.

Perhaps you can't afford to donate a few dollars and if you can't that is okay, but would you be willing to post this need to your blog and let others know about it as well.

Please, I really believe in what I am doing and I have seen that each one of you believe in it or you would not have donated over 100 quilts in the past year.

If you can afford $1, $5, $10 or more any amount would truly help get this off the ground in a way it should be reaching so many people!

Bless You All!

Helping Others, Bid and Win at Sew Cal Gal's Charity Auction

If you have never visited the blog or Facebook page by the amazingly gifted Sew Cal Gal and wonderfully generous quilter and auctioneer, you must visit her today or tomorrow or anytime between now and December 2nd.

Last year she staged/promoted another auction for the wives of our military personnel for an amazing huge baby shower and I was the winning bidder for one of the items.

This year the auction she is holding is supporting three charities that support and help fight Childhood Cancer, A Charity that reaches out to the poorest of the poor in Romania, Hypothalamic Tumors and the Greenville Humane Society a no kill shelter.

If you don't want to bid, you can purchase raffle tickets for the items and take your chances that way for a $10 donation.

I have known Sew Cal Gal for several years now and I can assure you she is 100% above board and an amazing lady to take on these huge auctions each year.

This year the prizes are pretty amazing from: 

• Accuquilt Go Baby
• Aurifil Thread Set
• Gift Certificate ($50) from Fat Quarter Shop
• Gift Baskets she is still putting together

**Not all of it is open to residents outside of the United States, so please read the entire description prior to bidding on the items and happy bidding!**

I know you will find a new blog to follow and a new blog friend!

 

Quilters Newsletter Talks About My Quilting

I am occasionally approached by a company to test a new product or read a magazine and when I was attending Ottawa University in Phoenix, they did an article about my quilting in the Alumni paper, but never have I ever been mentioned in a national magazine.

Today, my ankle was throbbing, but I wanted to check the mail and I am so glad I did.  I received a copy of the Dec/Jan 2014 Quilters Newsletter magazine in the mail.

Quick check of my brain, did I win something from another quilter, did I order a new quilting magazine, am I supposed to do something with this?

Then, I remembered awhile back being asked if I would interview for an article Quilters Newsletter was doing on the effects of the economy on quilting.

I began reading their article about quilting during times of recession and looking at the pictures and thought how ingenious some quilters are.

Then, I turned to page 36 and there my name is in bold letters and a bit about my family, my disability and my quilting and what was even more amazing, was that hubby walked in the door for lunch just a few minutes later!

Oh, I am so excited about this and secretly so is my husband, who whilst he complains (mockingly) about my quilting, I know he is very proud of what I do and what I can accomplish through the grace of God and with all of your help!

Granite Mountain Hotshot Families

I am not big on receiving thanks from family members or those that we help. My prayer is that by blessing these people in need, they will in turn bless someone else and pay it forward down the road and I don't need to know about it.

But, I have to admit, it warms my heart beyond measure when they send me a picture of them with the quilt, or their family member and the Warneke family is doing that by reaching out with a scholarship fund set up in Billy's name and a soon to be up and running website/non-profit to help others.

I wanted to share with you a picture of the family for all of those who made quilts for one or more of them:

 Also, if you would like to check out what is going on and what the Sean Misner family is doing, please check it out at:
https://www.facebook.com/SeanMisnerMemorial

Through their pain and tragedy, these are just two of the families that have turned this into blessing others and I am proud to know that their sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, grandsons memories will live on to help others.

It is in my opinion when we do nothing with the sudden loss of a loved one, that it becomes tragic, but these families are not allowing the light to go out of their lives, but making that light shine brightly for others!

A Granite Mountain Hotshot's Wife

You have prayed for these family members, quilted for these family members, asked me to keep you updated if I heard anything, so I thought it would be wonderful to share with you a picture of Billy Warneke's wife Roxanne expecting their baby girl.

I can make quilts all day long and many of you do as well, but somewhere at times, I ask myself, 'Who is the person behind the name?' It helps me sometimes if I have a picture to be more creative.

As you can see, this is a very beautiful young mother-to-be who through all the pain, still has a beautiful smile.

You want to know why I set up this blog, the Facebook page, why it is so important for me to take it even further? It is for people like Roxanne who I will probably never meet, but whose life was changed in an instant.

I don't do it because someone expects me to, or told me to. I do it because for me, it is the right thing to do.

We are almost half way to goal!

To those of you who believe in this cause and reaching out and have donated, I want to say thank you so very much, we are at 41% of our goal for the new website and design and I am so excited about the changes.

If you cannot donate, perhaps you can post our donation drive on your twitter, facebook, blog accounts and help me get the word out.

I just really feel this is the most important thing I can be doing at the time and the great thing about it is with my health, I can take my time and get others to help!

Blessings!

Needing Everyone's Help To Reach A New Level

As I write this, I have people working on getting this site up and running with a new look and format and I am reaching out to all of you for assistance.

We are completely going to redesign this blog and turn it into a professional organization where you can come in, check out our Slogan, find our mission statement, click and find who is in need, what are our needs, etc..

I have been so humbled over the past few months when I set this blog up to reach out to the unseen heroes, 911 operators and their families, but also to those amazing families who lost their sons, brothers, dads in the Yarnell fire.

I have said this over and over again. This organization is NOT about me, it is NOT about you but rather, it is about US and how we come together and reach out and comfort those hurting.

I am merely the cog in the wheel, all of you are the spokes that get that tire on the ground and rolling! Yes, I make quilts like you do, but I am so amazed at those of you who donate one, two or even three or more quilts in lightening fast time. How do you all do it?

Each one of you working to get these quilts out have made an amazing contribution to families you have never met, may never meet and may never receive a thank you from, but I can tell you, these families feel that love and they will never forget your generosity.

I have to say thank you not only to all of you who donated and sent quilts out quicker than I could keep up at first, but to those who donated money so quilters who couldn't afford the postage could send their quilts out. 

To the many who sent me quilt tops, batting and backs so I could finish them and get them sent out in what I affectionately call 'Collaboration Quilts,' and your names are always on the quilt label.

The donations for fabric, the 6.5" blocks for the survivors quilt, the cards of encouragement, the request to add your name to the next round of quilts needed and so much more!

Now, I need to raise $184 to get this up and running at a level I want to bring this organization to and I need everyone's help in doing so.

The cost is $12 each for a dot org and dot com site and I would like to have both so others can find the site either way they enter it.
The rest of the cost goes to a blog designer who has given me a great discount in her design costs and they break down to:
$30 for two vector images for the logo
$130 for the design and set up (that is at a huge discount)

I am asking anyone who feels they want to see us move up to the next level, anyone who believes in this cause and what we are doing, to please click on the PayPal logo on the right side of this blog  or  the Go Fund Me link here.

Once I get this completed and up and running, once we are no longer a blog site, but a dot com/dot org, I will be reaching out to all of you to let you know the goals I have for our future.

Yes, I said our future, because this site could not be what it has become without all of you. The people who helped me come up with the name, the quilt donators, the amazing people who have more technology savvy than I do that have said, 'let me help you do this or that, or have you tried this or that.'

Thank you everyone for making me cry on a daily basis. Because those tears and your generosity show me, this is the right thing to do!

Blessings to you all!