From the Northwest and Beyond – Navajo Nation Holiday Delivery

We were so excited to be a part of the annual 2019 Navajo Nation’s Holiday Delivery. Quilters from the Northwest and Beyond provided 305 quilts for children and the elderly. You can see below pictures of the beautiful and colorful quilts that were sent. Click on each picture to see the names of the piecers and quilters.

For more information about the delivery see our February 8th post and pictures of the event posted on March 4th.

Thank you so much to all the quilters who shared their time and talents to provide such needed quilts!

My sincere apologies for the late posts due to a loss of pictures and computer troubles, thankfully all is corrected.

Susan Schmidt  – Northwest Regional Coordinator

The River of Quilts

Quilts keep flowing in and out of my house.  What a wonderful routine I have of receiving beautiful quilts from many people and passing them on to those in need.  I am very thankful to be able to process these lovely quilts.  Thank you to all of you who produce them and generously give them to fill our requests.

Since I last posted, quilts have been sent to Syrian refugees, foster children, and homeless shelters.  I am preparing to send another shipment to the Salaam Cultural Museum for their shipment to Syrians.  They are waiting for things to open up, but are collecting quilts so they are ready to go.

I hope folks will enjoy the “virtual quilt show” below of quilts that have flowed through my home in recent months, and be inspired by the giving spirit of so many quilters. You can click on each image to see it larger and see the names of the makers.

Ann Drake

Southern California Regional Coordinator

April Challenge Quilts and a Winner

In April we received two quilts for the Fat Quarter Challenge. This one is from Julie S. of Minnesota:

This is from Crystal F. of Arizona:

Both are so pretty and full of love. Two kids will be happy to cuddle in these lovely quilts. Thanks, generous quilters!

Our winner of the April FQC drawing is Beth H. of Minnesota! Beth will receive a $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop. Here is Beth’s winning quilt:

As you can see, we are still collecting quilts for this challenge. You have until October 15, 2020 to submit your quilt. If you have questions about how to participate, see here or send an email to QuiltsBeyondBorders@gmail.com.

Thanks for keeping children warm and cuddled!

Carol Egan

Fat Quarter Challenge Coordinator

Travels of the Lost Quilts

In Mid-April, Heidi K, a wonderful volunteer who longarm quilts for QBB in Central Texas, completed a set of 6 quilts and her husband then dropped these quilts off at their local shipping store for shipment. They had a large label taped on the top of the box with their local QBB Regional Coordinator, Kim Bell’s name and address.  When we say taped, we mean lots and lots and lots of tape.  The store even texted them a copy of the shipping label to confirm it was underway.  

The box was later found in a parking lot, with no shipping labels.

The young man who found the box gave it to his friend to open, and when she saw the beautiful quilts inside she showed them to her mother, Glenna Y. Glenna noticed that each quilt had a label attached reading Quilts Beyond Borders, so she looked in the Yellow Pages for Quilts.  Yes that is correct, the “Yellow Pages”.  How sweet!

She had no luck there, so she called a quilt place in New Braunfels, TX and asked them if they were familiar with Quilts Beyond Borders.  They were not, but they were sweet and looked up QBB online for her and gave her the website to go to.  She then contacted us! Amazing!

We don’t know for sure how this box ended up in a parking lot, but are just so Thankful for people like Glenna that took the time to try to find the owners of the quilts.

Both Glenna and her friend Lilly were so sweet and so excited to figure out the mystery behind the quilts.  We are grateful that they did and happy these quilts will get to their intended recipients safe and sound.

Attached is a picture of Glenna and her friend Lilly who helped with the detective work, with a few of the quilts.  We hope you enjoy this good news story!

Lilly is on the Left and Glenna is on the Right.

Quilts for Heartland Alliance

The very lovely quilts pictured below have been delivered to our contact in Chicago for a new initiative for QBB – Heartland Alliance Health. You can go online to learn more about HAH, an organization that works with the chronically homeless, providing, among other necessities, medical and counseling assistance. We learned that the organization is currently housing 69 unaccompanied minors from the border, at least 37 of whom have tested positive for COVID-19. These larger quilts will be given to adults being served by HAH while we keep the young immigrants in our prayers. 

 

I really wish you could see these quilts up close! There is some amazing quilting going on here! Talent just bursting from the seams!  

 

The first group of quilts are thanks to: Linda C, from Rhode Island; Randee M from Massachusetts and Linda W from Connecticut; Barbara F from New Hampshire; and Pam B from Massachusetts.

 

 

 

The next group includes 7 beautiful quilts received from the Sunshine Quilt Group in Minnesota. The Sunshine group did not identify individual makers.

 

 

 

 

 

The following quilts were made by friends in Florida, and given to Debbie Brinley and Kathy R.  Several of Kathy’s were pieced by others, including Becky M., Daphne H., Susan H, and Nevyn.  Click on each photo to see the names of the makers.  

Great thanks to all the wonderful quilters who made these beautiful quilts.  Nights are still in the thirties and forties in Chicago, so the warmth of these quilts will be very much appreciated!  

March Winner of FQC Drawing

The name of the March Fat Quarter Challenge winner has been drawn and notified. The lucky winner is Patty C. of Oregon.  She submitted this beautiful “out of this world” quilt by giving it to one of the regional coordinators. Then the coordinator sent me a picture of it along with the info I needed about Patty C. (name, address, email) to get her entered into the FQC list of donors. You can join the Challenge too, just as easily – click here for more info.

Patty has won a $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop which has generously supported our FQC project for several years.

Congratulations on the win, Patty! The child who receives your lovely quilt will be a big winner, too.

Carol – Fat Quarter Challenge Coordinator

Marching Right Along

The Fat Quarter Challenge has been March-ing right along, with 11 beautiful quilts arriving during the month of March. Feast your eyes on the pictures below and you can click on each to see it larger..

We received one quilt from Zenia L. of MO, eight quilts from Deb W. of MI, one quilt from Karisa H. of CA, and one quilt from Debra T. of PA.  Also we would like to correct our previous blog post (posted March 17)  about the quilt that was labeled “Anon” for Anonymous. We now know that the maker of that quilt is Norma M. of Minnesota. Thank you, Norma! And thanks again to all the makers of the quilts that marched in during March.

Eleven more children will be blessed with these warm and lovely quilts. Our total for just Fat Quarter Challenge quilts so far this season is 49 quilts! Thanks to all our generous quilters!

Carol Egan

FQC Coordinator

April Flowers

Happy spring! We hope this post finds all of our quilting friends healthy and staying put. Although it’s not quite feeling like spring in some areas of the country, flowers are sprouting in Texas and in sewing rooms everywhere!

We encourage quilting as a way to pass the time enjoyably. Click here for more information about making a quilt for Quilts Beyond Borders. While our international deliveries have slowed because overseas travel is severely limited at this point in time, the economic ramifications for many families and the inevitable stress-related family and foster care issues mean that the warmth and comfort of our quilts will be badly needed in the US in the near future.

More FQC Quilts and February Winner

Quilts Beyond Borders is so thankful for all the people who have participated in the Fat Quarter Challenge and sent in beautiful quilts. Anyone can still join in the fun.. just make a quilt using a FQ of your own, or I can send you one. Add more cotton/poly fabrics to make a QBB-sized quilt, machine finish and bind the quilt, and send it in. You will help a child, and you might win a prize.

Here are the quilts that have come in recently. Enjoy the eye candy!

This pretty one is from Jeanne A. of California. It is the second quilt she has sent in so far:

Helen S. of Colorado sent two lovelies:

This fun, scrappy quilt is from Donna S. of New York:

This cuddly quilt was made by a Minnesota quilter whose name we will receive soon. It was hand-delivered by her friend, but missing the identifying information:

Diane H. of Connecticut picked up two FQs in Houston last fall and ended up making these three eye-catching quilts:

Charlotte M. of California made this happy quilt full of butterflies:

The winner of the February FQC drawing is Sharon E. of Minnesota! Sharon has sent in three quilts, so her name goes in the prize drawing three times each month! For winning in February, Sharon receives a $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop which has generously supported our FQC project for several years. Here is a picture of one of Sharon’s quilts:

We are so thankful for all 38 beautiful quilts we have received so far for this year’s Fat Quarter Challenge. As we always say, it’s the children who are the real winners! If you have any questions about how to participate or need the address to send in a quilt, send an email to quiltsbeyondborders@gmail.com

Carol Egan

FQC Coordinator

Special Delivery of Quilts in Panama

FQC Coordinator, Carol Egan, recently traveled to Panama with her sisters. They took along five quilts which they delivered to people of the Embera tribe. What a fun adventure!

First they rode in a dug-out style canoe to reach the Embera village. Then the people served them a lunch of fresh fried fish and fried plantain served in a banana leaf.

After a short talk and then some dance demonstrations, Carol and her sisters gave quilts to a family group who had some small children.

You can see the joy on the beautiful faces!

As the last photo was snapped, that little munchkin on the right walked over to see what was going on. Sadly, they had run out of quilts by then.

These five quilts were the first QBB quilts to be donated in the country of Panama.