From the Northwest and Beyond – Quilts for El Cajon Refugees

We were so delighted to provide these 150 quilts to the Refugees from Syria and Afghanistan that have settled in El Cajon California. These quilts were a part of 500 that were donated by many volunteers in Quilts Beyond Borders to bring joy to children after the theft of gifts intended for them to celebrate Eid. Please see the post on July 10, 2018 for the full details and information about this delivery. You can click on each picture to see who made and quilted each quilt.

As always I am grateful for the support by the many quilters that make up our Northwest Regional group. Their time, gifts and talents are evident in the beautiful quilts you will see below.

Susan Schmidt  – Northwest Regional Coordinator

 

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Quilts for Giles County

Since moving to SW Virginia in lovely Giles County in 2016, I looked for opportunities for Quilts Beyond Borders to provide quilts to children in the area.  I was lucky to find a very active group called Giles Early Education Project (GEEP).   “This group began in 2012 spurred on by the grim statistics of poverty, teenage pregnancy and child abuse and neglect that was reported in the Giles County Health Assessment Survey.”  Through GEEP, we contacted the Foster Children Program in the county.

Last year we provided 11 quilts to foster children.  The foster program was thrilled to have these quilts and told me that the children really appreciated and loved them.  It was nice to bring some warmth and comfort to these children.

The following quilts were from Donna Sciandra, Vicki Waller, Becky Beckenbach, Dede Cranford, Pat Laney, Ronnie (?), Joy McAuley, Kathleen Rountree, Shirley Sellers, and Ann D.  I apologize for not having everyone’s name, but during my unpacking from our move, I misplaced the full list of names, but did find a jotted note I had made.  If one of these quilts has been misidentified, please let us know and we will correct it.  If you click on the thumbnail you can see the quilters names and if two names, then the second name is the longarmer.

Finally, we don’t post pictures of the children, but I did receive this thank you note that has adorned my desk all year.  Please know that these children do love these quilts.

Regards, Tina

August Fat Quarter Challenge

The weather for the past 10 days here in SW Virginia has been more like July weather, so I’m hoping for a reprieve in temperature in a few days.  However, it has been a great time to stay in and sew as our two quilters perhaps did who submitted FQ challenge quilts in August.   The quilts came from Becky Beckenbach of Sugar Land, TX (first quilt) and Trudy Pickle of Austin, TX (second quilt).  You can see their quilts below.

Our winner, Donna Dellacamera (Unionville, CT) is from a quilt submitted in April that you can see here.  Donna is another of our prolific quilters and volunteers.  Enjoy your $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop, our long time sponsor for our monthly prize.  Please visit them because they have some awesome deals.

This year because the Houston International Quilt Show is later (November 8-11), we are extending our FQ Challenge thru the end of October this year.  If you picked up a FQ from us at Houston, you have time yet to turn in a quilt.  Also, if you would like to participate you still have time.  You can read how to participate on the right hand side bar of our blog.  We will have a booth again this year at Houston, so stop by and see us and pick  up another fat quarter.

Cheers, Tina

 

From the Northwest and Beyond – Quilts for Guatemala

An additional 30 quilts were needed to take to a village near Chichicastanago, Guatemala in June that were provided by the Northwest and Beyond Regional volunteer network of quilters. They were hand delivered by people involved with The Guatemala Project that install safer stoves for families in their homes. You can read more about this project by going to our June 18, 2018 post. Click on the pictures below to see who made and quilted the quilts.

Thank you to each quilter who provided the beautiful quilts so that we could send to children in need.

Susan Schmidt –  Northwest Regional Coordinator

More Beautiful Quilts from Midwestern Quilters

The quilts I’m showing today are all from quilters here in the Midwest.  Most of the quilts in the first group were received very recently and are now waiting to be distributed as part of an upcoming QBB delivery.   The quilts created by Mary Benz and by NILAG members were received within the last year, were distributed as part of several QBB deliveries around the world in 2018, and are currently being enjoyed by needy children and families.

Those who pieced and quilted these quilts are Dianne Combs (Crawfordsville, IN), Doris Goins (Kendallville, IN), Connie Zwego (Kansas City, MO), and Mary Benz (Algonquin, IL).  To see which quilts were made by which quilters, hover over the image and look down at the left corner of your screen.

The following quilts were quilted by the Northern Illinois Longarm Guild (NILAG).

• Quilted by Marilyn Miller, the first two were pieced by the Quilters of St. James the Less Episcopal Church in Northfield, IL.  The third quilt was pieced by Tiffany Anzaloa.

• These quilts were quilted by Debby Connor.  All were pieced by the Quilters of St. James the Less.

 

• The next quilts were quilted by Nancy Sturgeon and pieced by the Quilters of St. James the Less:

        

• The following quilts were made by Debbie Weber, Judith White, Nancy P, Rose S, and Sally Schlatter and pieced by the Quilters of St. James the Less:

    

The thumbnails don’t do these cute quilts justice, so please click on them and you will be able to see a close-up.  Great thanks to all of the wonderful Midwest quilters and piecers for making these beautiful quilts for needy children and orphans throughout the world!

Regards,

Carla

 

From the Northwest and Beyond – Quilts for Texas

We had a number of quilters interested in sending quilts to Texas after Hurricane Harvey. At the time we asked some of our team members who live in Texas to see if it made sense to send Quilts for those living in shelters because of the affects of the hurricane.  We were advised that it wasn’t a good time to do it.  The temperatures in Texas were in the 90’s so the quilts weren’t needed at night, and those living in shelters were doing their best to keep their families and precious possessions together without having the added burden of worrying about a quilt that wasn’t even going to be needed in the heat.  We made a decision to defer the distribution of quilts until a time when victims of the hurricane could use them without them being a burden.  For additional information about our decisions and the recommendations we made, please see our September 1, 2017 blogpost at this URL:  https://quiltsbeyondborders.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/comfort-for-many-needy-people-from-many-generous-quilters/ 

Below are pictures of the quilts we sent more recently to 2 different groups outside of the Houston area, which had some families affected by the hurricane.

The first 16 quilts went to the Head Start Program in Leander TX.  You can go to our May 1st post “Quilts for Head Start Program in Texas” to read a full description of the program.

The next 50 quilts went to The Door in Humble TX. The Door provides emergency shelter to abused mothers and children. Families stay for a month and receive safe shelter and intervention services so they can transition to new housing and a stable and nonviolent environment. They serve over 400 victims of domestic violence each year. For the safety of the children there are no pictures of them receiving their quilts but I know they are grateful and love the quilts that have been sent. If you would like more information about their program you can go to their website:  familytimeccc.org/the-door.

You can click on each picture to see who made and quilted the quilts. Thank you for helping provide quilts to families in such need, I know they are appreciated and a comfort to them during the difficult times they have gone through.

Susan Schmidt  – Northwest Regional Coordinator

July Fat Quarter Challenge

This month Susan Trzcinski of Anacortes, WA won the July FQ Challenge random drawing.  Susan also won in April for a quilt that she turned in during the month of December.  Congratulations Susan!  Enjoy your $25 gift certificate from our wonderful sponsor the Fat Quarter Shop.   If you haven’t visited their site lately, please do so, there are so many wonderful items to tempt you.

During the month of July, we received two beautiful FQ Challenge quilts from Diane Hamm (Ellington, CT) and Delleen Kompkoff (Gresham, OR).  Their beautiful quilts are shown below.

Remember that you have the rest of the month of August and all of September to turn in a FQ Challenge quilt to be included in the monthly drawing and also the year end drawing for $100 cash.

Cheers, Tina

Many Beautiful Quilts from Midwestern Quilters

I’ve received many beautiful quilts over the last couple of months, and I’m a bit behind in blogging them, so be prepared for a veritable feast of eye candy here!  Enjoy!

 

These beautiful quilts were made by Helen Baczynski (ND), Kathy Scheidt (MO), LouAnn Englehardt (WI) and Lorie Riopel (KS).  The thumbnails don’t do them justice, so for a closer view, click on the picture.  And to find out which quilter made which quilt, hover your cursor over the thumbnail, and look at the lower left corner of your screen.

Some of these quilts were part of our El Cajon Refugees initiative in June.  Others will likely be going to programs for abused and orphaned children in Israel, and a few have been selected to be fundraisers (with their creators’ permission) in our booth at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November.  For every quilt we sell in the booth we can pay postage to send about 80 tops to longarmers or pay baggage fees to get 20 -50 quilts overseas to orphans in Ethiopia.

Great thanks to all the wonderful quilters who have made these beautiful quilts!

Regards,

Carla

From Texas and the Northwest and Beyond – More Mayan Midwifery Quilts

These final quilts are part of the set of 100 that were sent to the Maya Midwifery International program in Guatemala earlier this year.  There are 40 midwives that deliver 80% of babies in indigenous towns and also provide maternal child health care. The quilts are given by the midwives to mothers and their new infants. The April 2nd post on our website shows what other quilts were sent and more information about this initiative.  

You can go to www.mayamidwifery.org to learn more about the organization and their blog has current information about their services. We are so happy to provide quilts for them and appreciate everyone’s help by providing such beautiful quilts. You can click on the pictures below to see who made and quilted the quilts.

Susan Schmidt – Northwest Regional Coordinator

1. Gail Hardy & Doris M – Sunshine Quilters 2. Merry Manci​ 3. Marsha White & Hollie McNeely 4. Sharon L & Hollie McNeely 5. Southside Community Church & Hollie McNeely

1. Sunshine Quilters & Doris M. 2. Marsha White & Jean Clarkson 3. Carol Oglesby 4. Peggy Corbello 5. Merridy

Both by Tammy S & Doris M.-Sunshine Quilters

Royal Family Kids Camp

Early this year Quilts Beyond Borders received a request for 42 quilts to share with some campers attending a Royal Family KIDS Camp this summer in central Iowa.  The primary purpose of Royal Family KIDS camps is to give foster children ages 6-12 a week of positive memories and royal treatment in a Christian camp environment.

When a kid goes to Royal Family KIDS Camp they receive attention and encouragement from an adult camp counselor and his/her “buddy camper”. In addition, each camper is also exposed to a variety of fun activities, designed for their success and to build self-esteem. For most of these children, it’s the best week of the year – a special time when they can focus on having fun and enjoy being a kid.

The counselors met and chose a quilt specifically for their campers and presented them to the children in a special ceremony.  The campers were thrilled when they learned they could take the quilts home when camp was over with their name added to the label! Here are some photos of campers with the quilts and one photo of a camper and buddy admiring the intricate piecing and quilting in her quilt.

Sherree Newhouse – Regional Coordinator