Update: My apologies folks, seems I set the vote expiry date a day earlier than it should have been. Voting for this contest has been extended until Monday at midnight.

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s contest is Wall Hangings. There are many fabulous quilts to review. Grab yourself a cup of coffee or two and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for SIX favourites this weekend.

This week’s sponsor is Marie Bostwick and she has donated two copies of her latest novel Ties that Bind for the top two quilters this week. I’m also hosting a blog hop tour for Marie’s new book and everyone has a chance to win a copy. Enter here!

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to SIX quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos of all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes. Note: Due to the large number of quilts this week, the slider may not be working correctly. I’ll try to get it fixed soon.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

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Next Week’s Quilt Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is Appliqué. Any appliqué style is acceptable, e.g. fusible, raw edge, needleturn, etc. You can submit quilts, wall hangings, pillows, etc. as long as the item you enter is completely finished (i.e. bound and quilted). Get your cameras out!

To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EDT). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest – only a few dates left for 2012

Quilter’s Super Deal

This week’s Quilter’s Super Deal is from Fort Worth Fabric Studio. Save 40% OFF all Get Together by Free Spirit! No special code is required. The discount applies to all Get Together yardage! SALE runs through May 1st at midnight, CST.

Start shopping here!

The Learning Center

This week’s Learning Center post is about Quilting for Charity. I asked four organizations to share information about their charity: Bumble Beans BASICS, Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative, The Linus Connection and Quilts of Valor. I also asked Kristy from Hopeful Threads to share her story with us … I think you’ll be inspired.

Read the post a here!

Hi everyone! It’s Michele here for today’s Learning Center post on Charity Quilting. Quilters never cease to amaze me on their generosity and good will to help out others in need. When a natural disaster happens, quilters are first to step-up and help out in the best way they can by making quilts of comfort. Back in 2008, I ran a month-long series here on the Quilting Gallery about charity quilting. Since then I’ve continued to help promote various charity quilting events as they become known to me.

For today’s post, I asked four organizations/groups to share information about their charity: Bumble Beans BASICS, Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative, The Linus Connection and Quilts of Valor. Recently I came into contact with Kristy from Hopeful Threads and also asked her to share her story with us … I think you’ll be inspired. Thanks so much to today’s guests!

Bumble Beans BASICS

Victoria Findlay Wolfe owner of Bumblebeans, Inc. started an amazing quilt drive for BASICS, (Acacia Network) a non-profit organization in the Bronx, NYC that takes homeless families and gets them into transitional housing and back on track in their daily lives.

Her initial interest in finding a good home for a few of her extra quilts ultimately grew into a global effort when she asked the head of Basics (Acacia Network) if he could use a few quilts, and he responded, “Do you have 700?” one for each of the families on the waiting list for housing in the NYC area. Currently The South Bronx is the poorest congressional district in the U.S.

“When Mr. Russi asked for 700, I couldn’t ignore the fact that people needed quilts. Knowing my own quilt habits, I knew most quilters make more than they need so I put the call for help out on my blog and we are now reaching 600 quilts,” said Victoria Findlay Wolfe. “I won’t stop til everyone on that huge waiting list has a quilt. If you have a quilt on all of your own beds, it’s time to cover a stranger’s bed.”

“Every few months they put together Quilt Distribution Event where the quilts are handed out to the families or different building units, and the Quiltmaker’s name is read out loud. It’s a very personal and emotional day.” said Victoria, “We are VERY THANKFUL for all the quilts we have received. The families that receive these quilts are very THANKFUL for your generosity. We attempt to take pictures of all the quilts that get handed out, as long as the receiver is comfortable with that. It’s often a humbling experience to ask for help, so this is not always possible. But the words THANK YOU ring loud and clear in our ears.”

Pictures of the events are posted at the Bumble Beans BASICS Flickr group.

Bumble Beans BASICS accepts all sizes of quilts, from small baby quilts to larger than King size quilts! Big families need big quilts! Please send any size you can spare!
To get involved, Please visit: http://bumblebeansbasics.com/. Quilt questions can be sent to Victoria Findlay Wolfe at bumblebeansinc@gmail.com.

Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative

The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) has raised almost a quarter of a million dollars for Alzheimer’s research by selling small (9″ x 12″) donated quilts. It is a national charity, powered by quilters, founded by quilt teacher Ami Simms. Located in Burton, Michigan, it has been active since 2006 and has funded 11 research projects to date with grants ranging from $10,000 to $60,000.

Whirligig by Daphne Stewart

Your help is needed to buy and make small format art quilts to help the AAQI fund future research.

• Quilts For Sale
• Make A Donation Quilt

Dance to the Music by Judy Gray LaSalle

The AAQI also sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer’s called “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope”. It is comprised of 182 “Name Quilts” which hold the names of more than 10,000 individuals who have/had Alzheimer’s and represent the 5 million Americans who are suffering with this degenerative brain disease. Hanging among the names are small format art quilts which illustrate Alzheimer’s.

More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive and degenerative brain disease that kills brain cells. People with Alzheimer’s lose their memories, life skills, the ability to reason, to learn, and eventually to take care of themselves. It is always fatal unless another disease takes one’s life first.

Spring by Carol Leonard

Quilters across the United States are threading their needles and opening their wallets in the hopes of bringing a cure for Alzheimer’s disease one stitch closer. More than 10,000 quilts have been donated so far. All profits fund Alzheimer’s research.

The AAQI is a grassroots, Internet-driven, all-volunteer charity. In addition to monthly auctions and online quilts sales 24/7, each year it brings quilts more than 1,000 quilts to sell at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX.

To learn more please visit: Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative
Phone: (810) 637-5586
Email: Help@AlzQuilts.org

The Linus Connection

by: Jennifer Ofenstein, Current Board Member and Volunteer since 2002

Description of the organization

The Linus Connection is a Central Texas 501(c)(3) organization based out of Austin, Texas comprised entirely of volunteers whose mission is to make and deliver handmade security blankets for children in crisis situations in our area. Blankets can be quilted, crocheted, knitted or fleece as long as they are handmade with love. These blankets go to children in hospital emergency rooms, in crisis centers, in foster care, shelters, and grief camps. In other words, to children in need of a little extra security and comfort in their lives.

Goals and/or significant milestones

Each year, The Linus Connection and our volunteers pledge ourselves to creating and distributing 5,000 handmade blankets to children in need throughout Central Texas. In 2009, we celebrated our tenth anniversary of making and donating blankets. We have distributed approximately 45,000 handmade blankets since 1999.

How can quilters get involved?

If you want to help out, make and donate a blanket! The Linus Connection accepts completed quilts, quilt tops and yarn blankets. Before donating a blanket, please see the full list of blanket specifications. If you live locally, please consider joining us for our monthly meeting. The Linus Connection meets the third Saturday of each month at St. Phillips in Round Rock, Texas.

If you would like to help, but only have time to make a single block or two, please consider Stars For Linus, organized by my own blog, Sewhooked. I collect single 12 1/2″ star blocks with sashing that are pieced into quilts for The Linus Connection. Previous Stars For Linus quilts were donated to families affected by the Central Texas wildfires in 2011.

What other donations can you use?

Blanket supplies are always appreciated: 100% cotton quilting fabric, low-loft cotton batting and soft acrylic yarn are especially useful.

Also very much appreciated are gift cards to JoAnn’s, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, or other stores that sell fabric and yarn. We also accept monetary donations, which are spent exclusively on supplies, through Network For Good.

All donations can be sent to:

The Linus Connection
P.O. Box 29491
Austin, Texas 78755

For lots of photos of our volunteers in action, visit our web site and check out our monthly Show & Tell posts!

Still have questions? Please feel free to contact us for more information!

Quilts of Valor

The Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF) began in 2003 when quilter Catherine Roberts’ son was deployed in Iraq. Catherine, remembering the unwelcoming reception experienced by many Vietnam War veterans, wanted the next generation of returning warriors to be received differently. She envisioned a soldier awake in the night struggling with war demons, but surrounded by a comforting quilt.

Responding to her vision, Catherine made a quilt and gave it to a soldier. Soon, others were doing the same, and eventually a fully-functioning 501C-3 not-for-profit foundation was formed.

As of December 31, 2011, more than 60,000 Quilts of Valor (QOVs) have been awarded, not just to combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, but to service members from all branches and all US conflicts who have been touched by war.

When the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo invited the Quilts of Valor Foundation to supply a group of Quilts of Valor to travel to its 2012 events, QOVF Director June Moore sent an email blast to the nationwide Quilts of Valor community asking for submissions. Within a few days, June received over 100 replies.

In 2011, nine fabric companies participated in the American Valor Fabrics project, each creating a collection of patriotic fabrics designed specifically for QOVs. Each company designed a quilt to utilize their fabrics, and you will see several of these patterns represented. The participating companies are Andover, Clothworks, Marcus, Moda, P&B, Red Rooster, Quilting Treasures, Timeless Treasures, and Windham.

Also in 2011, Quilts of Valor Foundation launched a program called “Under Our Wings”, which invites capable quilters, “Coaches”, to take non-quilters, “Rookies”, under their wings. Quilt shops all over the US are Official Under Our Wings shops.

Moda Fabrics, one of the American Valor Fabrics project participants, invited quilters nationwide via an ad campaign to make “just one star”, a simple block for a Quilt of Valor. Hoping for 1800 so the Moda staff could make 100 quilts in 100 days, instead Moda received over 15,000 blocks. Many of the “extras” were donated to the QOVF community, and you’ll see several “Moda star” quilts in this show.

Original Sewing & Quilt Expo has underwritten all costs of this exhibit and has provided free booth space for use by local and regional Quilts of Valor Volunteers to educate show-goers about National Service via quilt making. At the conclusion of this tour these quilts will be awarded to combat veterans.

How you can help:

• Basic Requirements
• Find participating shops and groups in your state or internationally
• Volunteer as a Machine Quilter

For more information about Quilts of Valor, please visit http://www.qovf.org/index.html.

Hopeful Threads

Hi Quilting Gallery Friends! I’m Kristy from Hopeful Threads and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to share a little about myself and my love of sewing with you! Sewing isn’t “just” my craft or hobby, no, it’s as much a part of me as my blue eyes and turning white hair! And like both my eyes and hair, sewing has come to me from a long line of crafty genes. The women in my family create with their hands. Quilting, doll making, crocheting, sewing, art with needle and thread has always been a part of my life.

While I dabbled at times with different things, it wasn’t until I had little girls of my own that I became interested enough to want a sewing machine and really take the time to learn how to create with it. Since their first little matching outfits I have experienced great joy sitting at my machine and being amazed by the fact that I can send cut up pieces of fabric through one side and have them come out the other side something that can be worn or used! It’s absolute MAGIC!

While I’ve sewn for fun for years, it wasn’t until about 5 years ago that it really began to evolve into a significant part of my life. I was a stay-at-home mama who had just welcomed my 4th little bundle. I had decided to cloth diaper him and had gradually started buying some diapers, including some handmade by other mamas. I had the crazy thought…..come on, you’ve had it before too!…..that “I could make that!”….and so, I did. I began sewing diapers for my little man, my friends and a cloth diaper charity organization.

While doing so, I was also following the adoption process of a very close friend whose son was in China waiting for her. She would share stories of other traveling families and their visits to the orphanages, and one day, she shared about a particularly poor orphanage. She shared pictures that gripped my heart and were forever etched there. Moved, I prayed for a tangible way to help these children that were so far away, thinking to myself how could it ever be possible.

Very soon after my friend received a list of much needed items for one of the orphanages and guess what just happened to be one of the top items…..cloth diapers. I think my heart may have actually leaped that day! And so as the story goes, my first significant sewn donation was a massive box of cloth diapers and baby care accessories that traveled later that year with my sweet friend when she went to pick up her son. Our family was so inspired by the experience, that we continued to look for similar opportunities and have since sent countless handmade items to those in need in the US, China, Guatemala, Cambodia, Haiti, Ghana and more!

My first 70 diapers to China

Now, like many a lady in love with her sewing machine, I can get lost in my little thread covered haven and joyfully sew for hours. I love it! But what’s even more fun is having the opportunity to share that with others who are like minded. I started having occasional local sewing events to help fulfil larger donation requests, but in looking for a way to expand the outreach and community even more, I began my charity focused sewing blog, Hopeful Threads, in January 2011.

I can’t adequately express how blown away I have been by the generosity and desire to help within the online crafting community! It is an amazing and unique group of people, worldwide, that I am very blessed and humbled to be a part of! I have built some of the warmest and most meaningful friendships in the past year and together, we have made a beautiful contribution to the needs of others through using our love and skills of sewing! We have sewn and donated numerous pillowcases, soft toys, baby bibs, diaper covers, cloth pads and dresses for little girls just to name a few. To be able to do something you love doing and use it to help another…..well, there isn’t much better in my book!

Each month at Hopeful Threads we focus on a different project that we can sew to fulfil a specific need. Many times I will simply offer ideas and encouragement for you to donate your handmade items within your local communities, while other times we will collectively work as a group toward one goal. I have had a heart for children since I was a child myself my mama tells me, and being a mama to 5 littles of my own now, many of the projects lean in the direction of providing for children in need. I would love to invite each of you to stop by Hopeful Threads, take a little bit to look around and learn more about what we’re all about. And, if you feel like it’s something you’d like to be a part of too, we’d love to have you join us!

Next month’s theme will be “Care 4 Caregivers”….with Mother’s Day and all, I thought it would be appropriate for us to look for those who are providing care for others that often get overlooked. Information will be posted on the web site next week. I hope you’ll join us.

Every Stitch Matters,
Kristy

Hopeful Threads | Facebook | Pinterest | Flickr

What about you? Do you do any charity quilting?

If you’re a charity quilting group or organization and want to be featured on the Quilting Gallery, I encourage you to send me an email about being a guest blogger.

Welcome to Day 3 of the blog hop tour for Marie Bostwick’s latest book Ties that Bind. I hope you enjoyed visiting yesterday’s guests. Be sure to visit all the guests and leave comments on each site. We all have books to give away to our readers. I’m giving away two copies, so visit the Day 1 post and leave a comment there. I’m also giving away two copies of Garden Dance, a lovely appliqué pattern – Enter here!

Here’s the complete schedule:

Tuesday, April 24

• Michele – Quilting Gallery – you’re here!
• Jackie – Canton Village Quilt Works
• Wendy – Ivory Spring

Wednesday, April 25

• Jennifer – SewHooked
• Erin – One Piece at a Time

Thursday, April 26

• Victoria – Bumble Beans Inc.
• Sandi – A Legacy of Stitches

Friday, April 27

• Michele – With Heart and Hands
• Melissa - Lilac Lane

Saturday, April 28

• Melissa – Sew Bitter Sweet Designs
• Kim – Crafty Apple

Marie is also sponsoring this week’s Wall Hangings quilt contest. Submit your quilt by midnight tonight (Thursday) to enter.

Baby Quilts from Today’s Guests

In Ties that Bind Philippa decides she’d like to learn how to quilt and signs up for a baby quilt class. I asked our guest bloggers to share a baby quilt they’ve made with us.

Victoria – Bumble Beans Inc.

As I read Marie’s new Book Ties that Bind it made me recall the first quilt I made my daughter. When my husband and I made the decision to adopt, I was overwhelmed with ideas of what kind of quilts I would make her. I had made quilts in the past, but I’d never had formal training in “quilt making.” I learned from my mother and grandmother to quilt, in a very non traditional way. I was great with sewing squares together and set about making 9 patches for her. I remember going to City Quilter and picking out a setting and backing fabric for this first quilt nervously selecting what I thought to be sweet. I also picked out vintage squares of fabric that I had purchased off ebay to make those 9 patches.

I hand sewn my patches together and recall feeling stuck when I had to fit together because of the different size patches. Making it up as I went along, I managed to make it a complete top, and “pillowcased” the backing on it, as I didn’t know how to do a BINDING at that time. (I had always learned to roll the back forward for binding.) I then took the quilt with me as we traveled to China and hand quilted it on the way to bring Boo home with us. Excitedly, each stitch was leading me closer to becoming a mother.

I ended up making three more baby quilts for her, trying to make the PERFECT one for her…

My idea of perfect, and her idea of perfect, Well, Let’s just say, she picked her favorite quilt, and it’s the very first one I made her and still sleeps with it til this day.

Our first instincts are usually the best… and so is being a mother. Just the best.

Sandi – A Legacy of Stitches

Here are two photos of Jacob and the baby quilt that I made for him. He’s sleeping on it in the first photo (Summer, 1999) and then in the second photo …… the top half is ……”Where is Jacob?” and the bottom half is “Here he is!” and what a big smile I got!

I made the quilt from mostly remnants and even some bits left from pajamas that I made for his mommy, my daughter Collette. She knew just which ones were from her pj’s when she was a kid. I chose the “Trip Around the World” pattern because I like that look in a quilt. I machine quilted it and actually finished it before he was born! :-)

Jacob will be 13 this May and I can’t believe how fast the time has flown. We enjoy making crafty things together and have made more than one favorite football team pillow together!

Marie Mentions

Earlier this month, Marie was a guest on Pat Sloan’s Quilting Radio show.

This week, Marie is also a guest on Jackie’s Quilting Chronicle’s podcast.

In the recent issue of Quiltmaker, you’ll find Marie’s first published pattern Path to Cobbled Court. I just love this design.

More photos of the quilt on Jackie’s site.

Give-Aways

Visit today’s two guests, read the answers to the FUN questions, and enter the give-aways on their blogs too:

• Victoria – Bumble Beans Inc.
• Sandi – A Legacy of Stitches

Plus, I have two copies of Marie’s Ties that Bind novel to give-away to my blog readers. To enter, visit the Day 1 post and leave a comment there.

I’m also giving away two copies of the Garden Dance pattern from Studio 180 Designs. To enter this give-away, leave a comment on the Day 2 post.

P.S. If you’re looking for today’s Learning Center post on Charity Quilting, it will be available later this afternoon.