We received
two more wheelchair bags from Nancy Spatafora; merci, Nancy.
How about filling
our coffers before the holiday season rolls in? There is still
enough time to finish one quilt for a charitable organization.
And won't it feel good to have it off your mind and off your
to-do list before November?
We look forward
to collecting more quilts at our October meeting.
###
Quilters Comfort
America
A Cooperative
Project
To Comfort
Victims of Hurricane Katrina
To quilters
everywhere:
The devastation
caused by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast is beyond belief.
Here in Houston our hearts are heavy with sorrow for all the
horrible losses, and we are preparing to welcome the thousands
of refugees that are being bussed to us because they have
lost their homes or have no access to whatever is left of
their homes. Like so many other people, we want to help. Knowing
quilters, we think you want to help, too, because there are
no more generous, giving, open-hearted people than quilters.
Therefore,
we are launching a two-part drive for Hurricane Katrina relief,
and we urge you to join us in this project. We're calling
it QUILTERS COMFORT AMERICA.
PART 1: Urgent
Donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
We will match
EVERY donation made by quilters to the American Red Cross,
up to a maximum of $10,000, on a dollar for dollar basis.
In other words, if you make a $25 donation, we'll match that
with another $25 donation. If you make a $100 donation, we'll
match that with another $100 donation, right up to the maximum.
To avoid delays in your donations reaching the Red Cross,
and because we have trusted quilters for more than 30 years
now, just email us with the amount of your donation that you
sent to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Every
penny of every donation--up to $10,000--will be matched by
International Quilt Festival. You have my word on that. Please
use this email address: exec5@quilts.com and use the subject
line: RED CROSS DONATION.
PART 2: QUILTS
FOR COMFORT
Many thousands
of the Katrina refugees are being sent to Houston RIGHT NOW,
and no one knows how long they will have to be here. Most
of them escaped the hurricane's fury with only the clothes
on their backs--nothing more--and they may have absolutely
nothing to go home to. They don't even know. The Astrodome
is ready as temporary housing, but there is a serious shortage
of bedding.
Part 2 of QUILTERS
COMFORT AMERICA is the collection of quilts of all kinds to
be distributed to the refugees here in Houston so that they
have something soft to sleep on instead of the hard concrete
floors of the temporary shelters and something warm to cover
up with against the chill of otherwise welcome air-conditioning
(we've been in the 90s and 100s for weeks now).
Many of us
have unfinished projects filling our closets and cupboards.
Get out one of those projects--twin size preferred but no
smaller than baby quilt size, please--and finish it up for
this. Use lightweight batting--do whatever binding is the
quickest, even a close zigzag stitch. You don't have to quilt
it--tie it! If you have only small projects, add borders.
Think about a mother lying on the floor cradling her baby--that's
the size quilt we need to provide. These quilts are not meant
to be heirlooms, although they will probably be treasured
for many years as a symbol of the caring of strangers. Tie
them, machine quilt them, work in a group with your friends
and finish several on an assembly line, do whatever it takes
to get these finished quickly.
THE NEED FOR
THESE QUILTS IS RIGHT NOW! If you already have some finished
pieces that you don't have plans for, send them too, as long
as they are no smaller than baby quilt size. If you are a
professional, you may have sample quilts that have become
shop-worn or faded but are still clean and very usable in
an emergency--send them!--we are IN an emergency! Be sure
to put a label on the back of your quilt or sign it with a
kind thought and your name and date. Every piece will go to
a refugee family driven from their homes by the hurricane.
To participate
in QUILTERS COMFORT AMERICA, send an email to exec5@quilts.com
(subject line: COMFORT AMERICA) to let us know how many quilts
you are sending. That will help us help the Red Cross in its
planning. Please do not expect a confirmation that your quilt
has been received or any kind of nice thank-you. Sometimes
we just have to do things because they are the RIGHT things
to do--this is one of those times. People need help...the
kind of help WE can give.
Use
this address to send your quilt/s:
COMFORT
AMERICA PROJECT
c/o
International Festival
7660
Woodway, Suite 550
Houston,
TX 77063
Please note:
for security, do NOT use the word 'quilt' ANYWHERE in your
address label!
Many of us
have also amassed linen closets full of old but completely
usable sheets--perhaps a size you no longer use, or juvenile
prints that your college age kids don't like anymore.
Clean sheets
and blankets are also most welcome to QUILTERS COMFORT AMERICA.
Naturally, everything should be clean and fresh. These folks
have lived with enough mud and dirt to last them the rest
of their lives--let's give them a clean bed to rest in.
Please note
that we cannot use fabric, patterns, scraps, etc. Quilt Festival
will serve as the collection point for these quilts, and we
will deliver them DAILY to the American Red Cross staffing
the refugee centers in Houston, where they will be distributed
by the Red Cross volunteers. Because we are right here in
Houston where more than 25,000 of the refugees will be, we
can make a difference RIGHT NOW...if you'll help.
Time is critical--the
need is NOW! People are arriving by the hour, children are
bedding down on the cold concrete, bedding is needed by people
of all ages who have lost everything in this horrible storm.
Please help if you can. If you live in or around Houston,
you are welcome to hand deliver your donations to us.
Our address
is 7660 Woodway, Suite 550, Houston 77063. You can find it
on Mapquest. Please note that this is one block of Woodway
that runs perpendicular to all the rest of Woodway.
Thanks
to everyone!
QUILTERS
COMFORT AMERICA
Karey
Patterson Bresenhan
Director,
International Quilt Festival Houston and Chicago
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
OCTOBER 2005-
BARBARA ARNOLD, What Went Wrong. Since the age of nine Barbara
Arnold has had a needle of some kind in her hand. Quilting
took over about 19 years ago and hasn't let up yet! Like many
of us she started out slow but what began as something to
do with her Mom and sisters has become a very rewarding profession.
Barbara has been teaching quilt making since 1996 and is currently
Long Island's only certified teacher through the National
Quilting Association. She has taught many classes, lectured
and judged here on Long Island and in New England. As a teacher,
Barbara hopes to inspire your creativity and encourage you
to have fun along your quilting journeys. Barbara will be
our judge at the show this year.
