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Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July - Patriotic Insights & winners

I want to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July.  Even if you don't celebrate this holiday, I hope you have a happy 4th.  

I have a variety of items to share today, but most have a Patriotic flavor.



First, Thank You to everyone that took in the Charity Quilt Block Challenge, to benefit QOV.  There were many blocks, quilt tops and a few completed quilts that created as a result of this challenge and they are all beautiful.    I also want to Thank AccuQuilt, Quilt in a Day, and Martingale & Company for being a sponsor of this event and donating three wonderful prizes.


I also want to thank Dick & Tink Linhart for volunteering their QOV program to be a recipient of my first Charity Quilt Block Challenge and working with me to coordinate this challenge.  

You may recall that months back I published an post announcing my interest in periodically holding such Charity Quilt Block Challenges, to benefit a variety of programs, and was looking for non-profit charity quilting groups that would be willing to finish blocks or tops.  


Dick & Tink were the first to respond to my request to find a non-profit program that could quickly turn blocks and quilt tops into finished quilts and find good homes for such quilty hugs.  They both dedicate many hours every week for QOV activities, and have a great group of volunteers who help with this worthy cause.  Thus, their QOV program was selected as the first recipient of SewCalGal's Charity Quilt Block Challenge. Depending on interest, other non-profit quilt projects will benefit from similar challenges in the future.



Tink did a great job calculating all the entries, as a single 12.5" block = 1 entry and quilt tops of various sizes were given a formula, as well as finished quilt tops, thus those that donated tops or finished quilts received more entries.  But everyone that entered also did a great job helping to make beautiful quilts. 

{above:   
Tink's bowl full of 633 entries, 
of which she randomly selected the winners}


Ok, time to now announce the winners of this challenge.

The winner of the GO! Baby donated by AccuQuilt is Pam Wilson in North Carolina.
The winner of the "Radiant Star Quilt Book, 2nd Edition", donated by Quilt in a Day is Cheryl  (So Many Quilts, So Little Time).
The winner of the book "Simple Graces: Charming Quilts and Companion Projects", donated by Martingale & Company is Anita Haskin of Alaska.



{above}  Quilt blocks submitted by Anita Haskins.

Thank you to Linda Gilli, Carol Crago, Irene Vigil, Sue Weisshaupt, Linda Thielfoldt, Cherl Miller, Pat West, Laurie Becker, Linda Brock, Mary Grubbs, Thearica Burroughs, Pam Wilson, Sharon Parcel, Marjorie Coler, Anita Haskin, Joanna Perry, Bonnie Stapleton, Deb Donovan, Jocelyn Pleus, MJ Baker, Pauline Francis, Marjorie Busby, Maryellen McAuliffe, and Linda Thiefoldt for taking on this challenge and helping to make QOV quilts.  If I've overlooked anyone that has helped, my sincere apologies and I hope you will email me to let me know and I can update this post to recognize everyone that has helped.  Big hug to all of you and to all the wounded soldiers and Veterans who will appreciate the quilty hug you gave them!



SewCalGal also had a patriotic giveaway sponsored by Judy Howard, for a copy of her book "Thanking our Troops".  The winner of this giveaway is:  Nini Frank


Other insights you may want to check out:
And here is a tip shared by Barbara Winkler, SoCal Quilts of Valor 

For those who have family or friends serving overseas...
Now friends and family can create a 20-page personal photo book and ship it to any APO, FPO, or MPO address for free. These full-color, 5x7 softcover books fit perfectly in a soldier's cargo pocket, yet hold over 60 photos. RocketLife prints the books for free, and the USO pays for shipping
http://uso.rocketlifeproduction.com/

Barbara Winkler
www.socalQOV.org www.qovf.org
2005 Palo Verde Ave #257
Long Beach, CA 90815-3322
562.925.7673

Lastly, here are a few insights on some Patriotic sales for quilters:

AccuQuilt has a great sale that runs thru July 5th

Eleanor Burns is celebrating her birthday and to help celebrate, 
Quilt in a Day has a 30% off sale of everything (fabric, patterns, books, AccuQuilt, etc.). 
This sale runs thru July 10th.

Martingale & Company has a "Weekly Wow" sale with new products on sale every week. 

10 comments:

Pat said...

Thanks to you, Dick and Tink for the challenge. Looking forward to the next one.

Cheryl said...

I enjoyed the challenge and I am thrilled to be a winner! Looking forward to the next one.

Jocelyn said...

Thanks Darlene for sponsoring such a patriotic challenge. Congratulations to the winners, although the recipients of the quilts are the real winners.

Katie M. said...

Congratulations to all the winners.

Joanna said...

Congrats to the winners, and thank you, Darlene, Dick and Tink for making it possible for me to contribute in this way. It was fun:)

Glenna @ Hollyhock Quilts said...

Great post, Darlene! Have a Happy 4th!!

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

It was fun making blocks for such a worthy cause. Congrats to all of the winners.
Happy 4th of July to you and your family :)

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

I love quilts in red white and blues, those are the colours of our flag as well. Well done on raising so many blocks and quilts for charity!

Janet said...

Hey congratulations to my friend Anita! Lovely blocks she made.

Heirlooms by Ashton House said...

How wonderful you had such a great response to your block exchange! Being a "star" person, I especially loved the top one but they are wonderfully done.