Tag Archives: quilt donations

Smokey Skies

I write a post something along these lines annually. That is because out here in dry, dry California we have fire season every year now. This year it started terribly early, back in June. A few weeks ago, for the first time, we had a fire happen very close to our property and it was scary. Fortunately the River Fire was contained in time but my husband did have the car packed and ready to evacuate as we were in the group that would be called next, if the fire spread. That was far too close for comfort.

Smokey skies

Right now the Dixie fire burning in the north eastern part of the state. It is the worst fire in California history and is currently consuming well over 700,000 acres. For perspective, this is more than 1,000 square miles which is basically the size of Rhode Island or 1/2 the size of Delaware. This fire is only 33% contained and has been burning for over one month. Allocated to this fire are 5,696 personnel (divided into 88 crews), 183 water trucks, 205 bull dozers, 463 fire engines, and 19 helicopters. It is a huge process to fight something like this.

The loss is devastating. Greenville, a small town of 1,000 residents, was wiped out. The whole town is gone. Because there is a lot of mountain terrain involved in this fire, the loss of homes isn’t as bad as with some fires. So far, 652 homes and 130 commercial structures have burned. This count will increase after the fire is contained and it becomes safe for the fire fighters to actually assess the true damages.

All in all, this makes me sad. Think of the wildlife that has perished. These mountains are home to deer, bear, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, bob cats and more. It will be years before the forests are re-established. We all watch the weather hoping for calm skies. The wind is the biggest factor other than the very dry land causing the fire to continue to spread. Smoke is all over California. This morning there was quite a bit of ash on my car and I am more than one hundred miles from the fire. I cannot even imagine the horrible air quality for the people living closer in.

OK – knowing all of you, those quilting minds are wondering how to help. If you are wanting to send quilt(s) for the victims, I have information for you. There is an organization called We Care which is headed up by Kathy Biggi, a quilter in my local guild (Pine Tree Quilt Guild). Kathy is devoted to providing quilts for those who have lost their homes to fire. There are numerous other fires burning where homes have been lost and Kathy is working with various groups to understand what the need is. If you would like to send a quilt to her, please let me know in the comments or by email, and I will send you her mailing information.

At the moment, she is collecting quilts. They should be lap size at smallest (so about 45 x 55″). If you can, a matching pillowcase in a great idea. All sorts of quilts are needed, juvenile themes, gender neutral, or quilts a man or woman might enjoy.

Kathy won’t distribute right away as it takes some time for a person who has lost their home to get settled again. But your quilt will definitely be given to a family who is rebuilding and it will being comfort.

Thanks for reading all of this. Not exactly a fun, upbeat post but this is what is happening here. I appreciate all of you and if anyone has a way to send some rain our way, it would be hugely appreciated.

On Sunday we will have the final link up for The Positivity QAL. Please come on back and take a look at the gorgeous quilts made for Mercy Hospital!!

Mercyful Quilts

The quilts are arriving and I am overjoyed!!!  I want to share the stack that have accumulated thus far.  They will be picked up by my friend Patty in a few days to bring to Mercy Hospital and I want to journal this event on the blog before the quilts are gone.  So far I have received thirteen quilts!!  Amazing, right?  Patty has been sharing the progress of this quilt drive with her co-workers at the hospital and they are stunned by the generosity of our community.  It is very satisfying to call myself a part of this on-line quilting tribe. I couldn’t ask for a sweeter group of people to inspire me to be a kinder person and better quilter!

Axel’s Quilt, Pieced & Quilted by Preeti Harris

The quilt above was the very first quilt to arrive.  This is Axel’s Quilt from Preeti who blogs at Sew Preeti Quilts and lives in Washington DC.  Thank you Preeti!! Fantastic color, I love the combination of gray and yellow.  This is a gorgeous quilt.

Three beauties, pieced and quilted by Shirley Bruner.

Above you see three gorgeous quilts.  Each one was sent to me by my friend Shirley Bruner from Missouri. Her blog is called The World According to Me and she pieced and quilted each of these.   The blue and green quilt in the middle is flannel backed making it extra cozy.

A few things of note – I love the outlined hummingbirds, they appear to be in flight and did you notice she constructed the flower baskets with selvages? Very creative!! Thank you so much Shirley!

Two colorful quilts, pieced and quilted by Adele, @bayougirlquilts

These two quilts came all the way from Metairie, Louisiana!  Adele D. sent them to me.  I don’t know Adele very well (yet!) but I did peek at her Flickr account, @bayougirlquilts and she is very talented!! There is so much color and lots of fun patterns to be seen on her page!! Both of these color combinations are wonderful.  I love red with aqua and the green with cheddar yellow is so pretty!

Black, White & Brights, Pieced & Quilted by Sophia Day.

This bright, cheerful quilt was made by my friend Sophia.  She used a black, white and brights combination to make this wonky triangle quilt.  I love that she echo quilted some straight lines within each of the triangles.  Sophia and I have been friends for over twenty years and belong to the same guild, of which she is president this year.  Thank you Sophia!!

Jelly Roll Quilt Top, Pieced by Jill M.

Here is a quilt top that arrived from Jill M, a blog reader who splits her year between Canada and Arizona each year.  She was about to leave on a month long trip and wanted to contribute so I told her I would finish the quilt for her.  I will keep you posted on this one.  It is a lovely jelly roll race quilt using stunning fabrics in jewel tones.  I look forward to working on it!  She even made a scrappy binding for it which is wonderful.

Blue Rain, Fletched, and You & Me; designed, pieced and quilted by Yvonne Fuch.

Finally, there are six quilts donated by Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl  This clean, modern style is uniquely her own.  I posted a video yesterday on Facebook taken of me while I unboxed these beauties.  If you missed it, click here!  I was thrilled to see these in person after having read about many of them on her blog.

Pulsing Plus, Layered Diamonds; designed, pieced and quilted by Yvonne Fuch.

One of the quilts above was made by another quilter.  Yvonne won it at a silent auction in support of a fundraiser that happened on Instagram last summer. This is the quilt is on the far right. (If one of Yvonne’s quilts intrigues you, I just want to let you know that the patterns for several of them are available in her shop.)

All of these quilts are spectacular and I know the nurses and patients at Mercy Hospital will be comforted by these gifts. These quilts will be taken to the hospital on Monday.  Thank you so much for all who donated or are in the process of making a Mercyful Quilt.  You are bringing comfort to a family when they need it most. When I talked with my friend Patty she estimated that they use 8 – 10 quilts each month.  At this time, I have about 35 quilts promised for this drive so that means we are fulfilling the need for three to four months.  Amazing!!!  There are a few quilters who have said they would like to contribute more over time which is awesome.

I will share more of the Mercyful Quilts as they arrive.  There is quite a bit of sharing going on over on Instagram.  If you share your donations or your work in process for Mercy, please tag it #mercyfulquilts and tag me @needleandfoot so I can find it!  Thanks everyone!  Have a wonderful day and be sure to find time to enjoy a bit of stitching.

Last but not least, have you entered the giveaway that is happening for the November Blogger Bundle?  If you are in the US, please click here to enter.  For international readers, head on over to Sandra’s blog to enter!

 

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