Another Completion

I just completed this quilt for little Kayla, a 7 year old whose mom was in a horrific accident. Her and her little 4 year old sister are staying with their aunt who is a 911 operator and was ready to retire.

Well, gotta run, time to finish the other 2 for this family!

All It Takes Is You Getting The Word Out!

This quilt was donated by Lynn R, and sent to a 911 operator who has recently had a stroke. What a blessing this will be to help keep her warm and let her know others are thinking of her.

Did I tell you Lynn also said she would donate another quilt on Monday?  That will catch us up for 2013 with the exception of the few I am adding finishing touches to.

Lynn told me she came to us the long way around, she had read or heard about it from someone over at another site and came to visit and ask if we could use her help.

This is how we get our quilts, when someone see's our Pinterest post and pictures or see's our button on another blog, hears about us from another quilter and passes the information on and that  is why we blessed so many people in 2013.

If you can't quilt or sew, crochet or knit and can't afford to help us, that is okay, because if you are reading this and you have a blog, grab our button, add it to your blog, let others know about us from your blogging friends, to local quilt shops, quilt guilds, yarn shops, etc.

GET THE WORD OUT for us because I am only one person and can only reach so many people per day, but all of you know someone that I don't know, so please reach out to them and also if you would be willing to help us in the future, please let me know so I can add you to our growing Rolodex list of helpers!

Our Motto and Our Mission

I feel the need to day to just reflect and revisit our motto and mission for Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 so those of you that may be new here or stumbled upon us, will see what our mission truly is.

Our Motto Is: Love For Our Unseen Heroes@

Mission Statement: 

 

Layers of Hope - Quilting 911's mission is to enhance the lives of 911 Telecommunications Operators (911 Dispatchers) and their families during times of illness, disaster, loss and tragedy by inspiring hope, faith and optimism with a quilt of warmth and comfort in order to make a positive influence in the lives of those who make a difference everyday, one quilt and one stitch at a time.@

Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 is a registered trademark and our motto and mission statement are copyrights that cannot be used without express written permission from the organization!

So Many Quilt Needs, I believe in Sharing

As you all know, I believe in Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 so much that I have registered it as a special charity in Washington state (meaning we raise less than $5000 per year) and recently had a new design for the blog and logo made and that logo is now a registered trademark in Washington state.

The next step is working on our dot.com/org pages and that is coming right around the corner but takes more money to get it up and running and right now I am working on that as well as with Becky to get our FB page, Etsy and Zibbet pages all to look the same.

We are still in need of quilts for 911 dispatchers and I need so many of you to put our button on your blog, to let other quilters know about us, to share with your quilt guilds, friends, bloggers, church members about us.

We need to fill the shelves with quilts and I need to be able to rent a storage facility or build a quilting shop where we can store them, but right now, it seems we are in the midst of a dry spell and while we still have needs, I have had no quilters step up to take them, so I prod along and get them out as quickly as a I can.

I just made a quilt for a family who is trying to finalize their adoption of a little girl in another country that froze adoptions after they started, it is not much but it is here:

Adoption Quilt

 I finished the little dress quilt below and have it listed in my Etsy and Zibbet shops and whatever monies I receive from those sales go directly into supporting the ministry of Layers of Hope - Quilting 911.

We are quilters, but unless you have been ill or lost everything you don't know how much a quilt will bless your spirit and make you feel special. I know, because Marilyn Lewis an amazing quilter and supporter of this blog made one for me when I was ill a month or so ago, I feel so humbled and special.

Marilyn runs a Binkie Patrol in Vacaville, CA, makes quilts for them, for us, for children of prisoners, for friends AND she has a full-time job. You can see her stuff and the articles about the Binkie Patrol at North Hills Quilter.

I believe we all do such wonderful work and we all have so much love and make so many quilts, that I want to let you know about one more event that will help others in need, it is the Hands to Help Charity Quilt Challenge which is going to be collecting quilts for three amazing charities (not this one) but three that need just as much help as we do.

Just head over to Sarah's blog at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and read all about the ministries collecting quilts and the fun time we will all have participating in this event.  

I have posted the button on the side of this blog because I feel it is extremely important to share with quilters everywhere about those that are reaching out to others.

I believe if we each made 2 quilts a month and sent them to 2 different charities a month, we could bless 24 quilt ministries a year.

Yes, Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 has immediate needs, yes, we could use more quilts, but I know somehow, we will make it!

Adoption Quilt

I read a blog posting the other day over at Julies blog on The Intrepid Thread blog about a friend who is doing her best to adopt a child from Krygyzstan and they have been waiting now for six long years as there was a moratorium on adoptions.

Now there is a short window opened and they are trying to bring their precious Diana home from earlier when they shut the window and they couldn't.

They have all the funds, but are raising money now for the family to travel and spend the last of the finalization weeks in Krygyzstan waiting for this child.

They are asking for donations of cash and quilts and have raised over $7000 of the estimated $10,000 they will need.  They are asking for quilt donations and will be raffling them off, so I made this one and put it in the mail today.

I had some left over fabric that I thought would work perfect for a little boy quilt and put it together.  I am hoping they raise some money with this quilt so they can bring that precious little girl home! 

We Did It! You Did it! Layers of Hope Quilting 911 & It's Logo Is Trademarked!

First of all, I cannot ever begin to thank all of you who have stepped up to make quilts, have donated quilt tops, batting, postage, fabric, thread and always encouragement for me to keep this going, it is because of you that we are one step closer to becoming a non-profit.

As stated early on, a non-profit charity, is NOT owned by anyone. I may be the founder, but all of you are the foundation that keeps this going, the momentum behind me that won't let me stop until this is what God means for it to be!

Today, in mail, I received from the State of Washington my certificate of trademark for the Layers of Hope Quilting 911 logo that was lovingly and wonderfully created by Becky at The Cutest Blog on The Block (go over and show Becky some love!) she is just the very best.

I can now begin ordering business cards, thank you notes, letterhead, etc. and know that it is okay. I truly hope and pray that someday this will be bigger than I have ever dreamed possible and that more quilters and people will come aboard and realize what these wonderful men and women due for us that we never see!

So, be it known from this day forward that Layers of Hope Quilting 911 and its logo is a registered trademark with the state of Washington and cannot be used without the express written permission from myself.

Of course it will probably always be given to all quilters, but I will not allow it to be used for anything but our unseen heroes. I will not be part of a mass calling scheme to collect funds and if you ever receive anything from Layers of Hope Quilting 911 that you are leary of, Email me or leave me a message to contact you!

How To Define Layers of Hope - Quilting 911

I was asked by my hubby a few days ago, 'Can you define your organization?' I am sure my facial expressions were, 'huh, what, confusion,' as he restated it this way:
'Are you a foundation, organization, non-profit, sole proprietor, ministry? How do you define what you do?'

First of all, Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 cannot really be defined as a sole proprietorship because I don't own it, it belongs to all quilters who want to reach out an help 911 operators, but on paper it might be considered that, but we don't have employee's, I don't paid or should I say, when money comes in I don't take it as payment but use it to further our purpose.

A Foundation is really just another term for non-profit organization however a foundation usually donates money to help support other organizations or causes such as in our area the Bishop Foundation which provides scholarships for students, provides for school aged children to go to Seattle to see the Nutcracker ballet, has a camp for children, etc.  In other words, a foundation takes in money to use for its own purposes and usually is set up by an individual or a family such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  So, no, we are not a foundation!

A non-profit is more like we are with the exception we haven't applied for non-profit status as of this writing, we do not have a board of directors (though I have people who have stepped up and say when the day comes, they would love to be on the first BOD), we do not have employee's, I do not get paid and everyone works on volunteering their time, their materials, their money, etc.

Wikipedia states this about a non-profit: ' Designation as a nonprofit does not mean that the organization does not intend to make a profit, but rather that the organization has no owners and that the funds realized in the operation of the organization will not be used to benefit any owners.' 

So maybe, technically, we can be defined as a non-profit since we have no owners and any monies that come in, go right back into more quilts, thread, postage, etc.

I think an organization truly in my opinion can be any group of people that are organized enough to come together for a purpose. There are government organizations, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, charitable organizations, etc. So loosely we might be considered an organization but since we are all scattered in the wind across the United States and the world, I will say, no to this.'

Ministry is really an organization who comes together to spread or preach their faith. While I am a believer in Jesus Christ and I believe He has His hand in getting me to do something for others, we are not going to preach or expound our beliefs on others. We can say we are praying, have prayed, hope they are blessed, but I do not allow religious tracts or anything else to be sent to our recipients, so no, we aren't a ministry.

Charity probably comes closest to defining Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 as it is the act of benevolent giving and caring and we give and we care as we reach out to others with our quilts, cards and love. It can also be defined as the unconditional act of love and kindness and what is more unconditional than making a quilt for people who are hurting that you have never met and probably never will meet?

So, if I were to define Layers of Hope - Quilting 911 I would say it is a Non-Profit Charitable Organization in its baby stage, just trying to learn to stand, a bit wobbly, falling down and getting back up and how far we walk depends on me, you, others you let know about us and truly, time.

Time will tell if we will be able to wobble walk or loose the wobblies and run like the wind. I personally am praying that we will be another one of those wonderful quilting charities where the sky is our limit!

Where one day I will look back at where we began and what we have become and say, 'Wow! We did it together! We made it!'

Blessings to all of you!