Hands2Help Grand Finale'!

 Hello everyone, and welcome to the final wrap-up for the Hands2Help Challenge for 2022!

 

 

There are a TON of "thank yous" in this post, but first, let's see how many quilts were donated through this year's Challenge:

 

562 quilts!!

 

Good golly! That's a lot of quilts and a lot of comfort! Friends, I think we did great! If you haven't filled out the form to count your quilts, you still can, just to get a final number. If you haven't finished up your quilt yet, please count it when you finish it.

 

Many, many quilts went to the organizations listed for the challenge, but some people opted to give closer to home. A lot of those quilts went to Project Linus, children's hospitals, local hospices, and foster care programs. It was heartening, too, to see some quilts go to women's shelters and other such organizations. Great job, everyone!

First, the thank yous:

 

There are so many thanks to go out! First, many thanks to our guest bloggers:

Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts

Sandra at mmmquilts!

Kat at Scrapbox Quilts

Alycia at Alycia Quilts

Cathy at Crazy by Design

Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts

 

Thanks so much, fellow bloggers! I couldn't have done it without you!

 

Next, thanks to the quilters and small business people who donated to the prize pool:

Kathleen McMusing

Christina Cameli

Vicki at Patterns by Vicki

Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts

Preeti at Sew Preeti Quilts

Kristy at St. Louis Folk Victorian

Elizabeth at Patterns by Elizabeth Hartmann

Susan at Stitched by Susan

Cindy at Stitchin' at Home

Jane and Beth at Plain Janes and Co. Quilt Shop

Emily at Aunt Em's Quilts

 

Every time a small business person donates, the prize is coming directly from their own income, so be sure to show these quilters some support whenever you can! 

 

Other single quilters donated prizes, both fabric and gift certificates, but wished to remain anonymous. Thank you! You are tremendously appreciated!

A huge thank you as well to all of the larger companies and shops who donated:

Fat Quarter Shop

 Northcott Fabrics

Quilter's Dream batting

Inspired LED

Warm and Natural quilt batting

A very, very large thanks to all! Be sure to remember these supportive companies whenever you are out shopping, and thank them for their support when appropriate!

Then the prizes:

 

Ah, the prizes! We all know the prizes aren't the point, but they are nice to have. Honestly, I was a little overwhelmed by the volume of the prizes and how to divide them up fairly. You know how some things can be so big in your head that you just dread them? Yeah, it was like that. Here's where a huge THANKS goes to Lisa, who came over and helped me turn this:

into this:

It was amazing and so, so helpful. Thanks Lisa! We used a random number generator to choose the recipients of the prizes, so everything was as random and as fair as we could make it. There were 102 prizes for nearly 200 quilters, so randomness and fairness were important to me. Each person only received one prize. A special note to our international participants-- the postage for physical prizes is overwhelming, so when your name was chosen, you received a digital prize instead. I know they're not fabric, but I hope you enjoy them!

Some of the prizes have been sent already, and I've sent out the emails for the digital prizes. The rest of the prizes will be mailed out this week. Some of you have offered to pay the postage for your prizes. After seeing the cost of the postage, and after a great deal of thought, I will reluctantly and gratefully accept. No obligation, but if you are so moved, please get in touch.

As for who actually got which prize, I've compiled a spreadsheet that you can find HERE. (You need to have the link to view the sheet, and it isn't editable.) I've listed the prizes by first name and last initial plus your city. You can find yourself on the list, or just wait and see what shows up in the mailbox!  And as promised, as soon as the rest of the prizes are sent out, the sign-up forms with your information will be deleted.

Finally. . .

The biggest thanks of all goes to all of you who made quilts and donated them to others. Thanks so much to all of you for coming on this adventure and doing some good this spring. I've gotten a lot of emails thanking me for taking on the challenge this year, and really, it was my pleasure to do so. This been a great experience, and I hope it has been for you, too. 

 

Now that our challenge is finished, if you are up for another to take on this summer, jump over to Preeti's blog and join in on the Positivity Quilt Along. The schedule is very relaxed, and you'll really like it. 

 

All best wishes to our friend Sarah, the original mastermind of this challenge, and many prayers for her good health. Happy summer, everyone, and happy stitching!

Hands2Help final link party!

 Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Hands2Help Challenge! 

 

 

As we all know, all good things must end, but with quilters, they usually end in a flurry of color, pattern, and fuzzy batting. Which is what today is for-- it's time to show off what you've made throughout the challenge! Link up below and let us all share in the quilty goodness.

Two small things before we start the party-- first, please don't forget to fill out the Count the Quilts form so we can get a final count of the quilts. We have more than 400 counted right now! The form is right HERE.

Second, some of you may have already received your prizes from the challenge, while others haven't. Don't worry! I've had to spread the postage out a bit, so I've sent some out early. All will be explained next week in the thank you post!

A few people sent their photos a bit too late for last week's post, so let's have a look at their beautiful quilts before we get to the link party. Photo collages created in Google Photos, but no other alterations to the quilty goodness!

Jannette sent these tops to Victoria's Quilts Canada:

 

And these as well:

All beauties, and much appreciated, I'm sure.  Kathie L. from Pennsylvania made these three:

 

Gorgeous! These went to Quilty Hugs, Little Lambs, and a local shelter.

Kathy Weed donated these quilts:

 

I love that beautiful blue applique!. She donated these as well--

Her quilts went to Covered in Love and to Little Lambs, along with some receiving blankets and burp cloths made from extra flannel. Beautiful donations!

Finally, but not last or least, Liz W. quilted and donated the four quilts in this collage:

 

And then she made and donated this quilt from scratch, too: 

 

Beauties! These all went to a local organization with the same mission as Little Lambs. 

And that wraps up the non-bloggers quilts for this year! Now for the linkup! You know how to do this:

*Link to your post, not to your blog in general.

*Visit other bloggers, leave comments, and share the love!

*Be nice!

Post your links here, and come back next week for the grand finale'!

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Hands2Help Quilt Parade Part 2

 Hello everyone, and welcome to the second part of our quilt parade for Hands2Help!

 

We have more eye candy this week, but just a reminder that next week, May 29, is the final link party for you all to show off your fun donation quilts. We have more than 300 quilts counted already, so I'm expecting some really pretty things to look at next week. 

While we're at it, don't forget to fill out the form so we can get a good count of all the quilts made for our challenge. The form is right HERE and has no hard questions, so you should be able to fill it out in just a minute.

Okay, on to the quilts made by non-bloggers! All of the photos were submitted by the makers, and some photos have been cropped (without cutting out any quilty goodness) and others have been made into collages using Google Photos. You should be able to click to enlarge any of these.

First up is this pretty one made by Heidee Lindsey:

 

 

So much color! Sherry Book sent this photo of three quilts:

 

I love those bees! These beauties went to Little Lambs.

 

Another beauty came from Ila:

 

 

Such beautiful colors!

 

Linda M. in St. Louis made 8 quilts! These went to Little Lambs:

 

 

And so did these:

 

 

And these three beauties went to Quilty Hugs:

 

 

Gorgeous, all of them!

Kat Slaby sent pictures of her three quilts:

 

These quilts went to an organization called Nurturing Newborns, which sounds wonderful.

Diane sent photos of ten child's quilts she created. Here are three collages:

 

Nice use of panels!

 

 

Adorable! And finally:

 

These are all really cute, and sure to be loved!

And that wraps up today's quilt parade! Thanks to all who sent pictures, and everyone who is finishing up their donation quilts. See you next week for the linkup!

Happy stitching!

Hands2Help Quilt Parade Part 1

 Hi everyone, and welcome to a parade of pretty H2H quilts from non-bloggers! 

We have some really pretty things to look at today, but first an important update: I have heard from Sarah, and she is doing well and following along with our progress. I'm sure you join me in sending all our best wishes and thoughts her way. This is all of us waving wildly, Sarah, and sending you all the best!

So, now to some quilts! These are in no particular order, and are as they were sent to me, except that I did make some collages in Google Photos just to make things easier for myself when people had multiple quilts.

First up is this beauty from Barb Tazelaar. This one went to Quilty Hugs:

 

 Next, Pat Kattner sent a picture of several quilts that were donated to her local Meals on Wheels program:

Beauties! Next is a lovely patriotic-colored quilt from Carol Westover. The collage shows the pretty piecing and quilting, with a second shot of her cute label. It went off to Mercyful Quilts:

Mary Oliver made two beauties for her local Comfort Stitchers:

 

Marsha Parkhill created these three lovelies for Quilty Hugs:

 

Stephanie Driel created these three beauties for her local foster kids support program:

 

Susan Salo sent along a picture of the front of her quilt and the creative back:

 

No, I don't know why Google Photos stacks some of the pictures and not others. It was free, and it did a good job, and that's all I asked it to do!

 

Sue Trzcinski donated these three adorable quilts to Little Lambs:

 

 

 

Melody Ballenberg donated seven lovely quilts to Little Lambs. Here are the first four:

 

And the final three beauties:

 

I apologize that the collage creator does weird things! But they are still adorable quilts!

 

Juanita sent her six tops to Victoria's Quilts Canada. Here are the three collages of her tops:

 

 A Saguaro top! I love it! 

And the third set:

And finally for today, Kelley Stover sent along pictures of nine beauties. All of these went to a charity for Ukraine. Here are the first four:

 

And the next four:

 

And the final quilt:

That winds us up for today! Thanks to all who made these gorgeous quilts and sent in their pictures. If you sent a quilt picture and didn't see it here, it will appear in next week's parade. There is still time to send in yours as well, so get them to me this week and I'll put them into next week's post. Meanwhile, everyone show some love for these makers in the comments!

REMINDER: don't forget to add your quilts to the count using the form right HERE. We are over 150 quilts so far!

Also, don't forget that there is a linkup coming on May 29, and our challenge ends on June 5 with the prize announcements.

Happy stitching, everyone!

Hands2Help Guest Blogger Preeti!

 Hi everyone, and welcome back to Hands2Help 2022!

 

Today we are very lucky to have my good friend Preeti as our last guest blogger for 2022. Here is her fun project:

Many of you know Preeti from her blog Sew Preeti Quilts and her new pattern business. For those of you who really enjoy making and donating quilts, Preeti has a new quilt along starting on Memorial Day weekend, just as our challenge is ending. I'll let her tell you the details, but you will enjoy it. For now, hop on over to Preeti's to check out this fast project, and be sure to leave a note of thanks on her post, right HERE. (No, I did not know she was calling it that!)

REMINDERS!

Preeti is our last guest blogger, and the next two weeks, May 15 and May 22, will be for people who don't have blogs or IG but want to show off their quilts. If this is you, send your pictures to me so I can post them!

The linkup for everyone else to show off their quilts is coming on May 29, so get those photos ready!

Finally, when you have finished your quilts, please fill out the Count the Quilts form, right HERE! There are 38 quilts already counted, and we want to be sure to get yours counted, too!

Thanks again to Preeti, and happy stitching everyone!

Hands2Help Guest Blogger Cathy!

 Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge!

 

 

Today we are lucky to have Cathy from Crazy by Design as our guest blogger. Here is her project:

 

 

Super cute and way easy! You may know Cathy from her really cute blog, and if you don't recognize the name, I know you will recognize the projects. She makes lots of quilts for donation, many of them through Quilts For Kids, and they are always darling. Hop on over to her post, right HERE, and be sure to leave a nice note of thanks on her post!

It's time to count the quilts!

So, it's now May, and our challenge ends Memorial Day weekend with our final linkup for everyone to show off their quilts. Just so everyone can be ready, I've made up the "count the quilts" form for you to fill out once you send your quilts off. I've asked for your name, but you can just use your first name or your nickname, whatever you are comfortable with. I just want to know about the quilts and be able to keep everything straight!

Find the form HERE. There is also a link on the H2H tab at the top of the page, and I'll keep posting it each week until we finish.

No hurry to fill this out! I'll close the form and get the final count on June 4, so you still have plenty of time! 

Also, a REMINDER: today is the last day to sign up. I'm closing the form in the morning, and then I'll be organizing our prizes.

 

One more REMINDER: if you don't have a blog or IG and want to show off your quilt, send me a picture and I'll include it in the quilt parade on May 15 and May 22. Final linkup party for everyone to show off begins May 29.

Thanks again to Cathy, and thanks everyone! Happy stitching!

Hands2Help Guest Blogger Alycia!

 Hi everyone, and welcome back to another exciting episode of Hands2Help, the Guest Blogger Edition!

 

Today we are lucky to have Alycia, of Alycia Quilts, as our guest blogger.  Here is a quick look at her project:

Classic and cute! Hop on over to her post, right HERE, to get more fun pictures and a tutorial for this easy project. Be sure to leave her a nice note while you are there!

Announcements, reminders, and questions

 

Okay, a small announcement: I am closing the sign-ups for this year on May 1. This will let me have a good count for allocating prizes and make my life much easier. Thanks for understanding!

Also on May 1, I'll open up the form for counting the quilts from this year. You don't need to be done by then, of course! But when you do finish, you'll have the form all ready to be filled out. This is only for counting how many quilts we've donated through the Challenge. No hard questions!

Reminder: the quilt sizes requested by our primary organizations are all found on the tab at the top of the blog, along with tons of other information and links to all the H2H posts. Click right HERE or look for the Hands2Help tab at the top. 

Another reminder: I am happy to answer your questions, but please, please leave an email address so I can get in touch with you. I feel awful when people have questions and I have no way to contact them.

A couple of questions:

Can I just send my quilts to you? Oh, no. Not only would I have to send them out again to our organizations, but here's what would likely happen: my hubby would open the box, think one of the donation quilts looked cozy, and curl up on the sofa with it for a nice nap. And then what would we do? Poke the sleeping bear? So save us all the trouble and send it directly to one of our very deserving organizations.

Can I get a tax receipt? A very common question! No, I don't give those receipts. Some organizations will do it upon request, but your best bet is to ask a tax advisor how to document your charitable donations. Having just finished my own taxes a few weeks ago, I can promise that you'll want to talk to someone other than me about it!

Can I have some fabric so I can make a donation quilt? Sorry, any fabric I would send would have to come from my own stash, and you know I have plans for every bit, right? 😊 The fabrics donated for prizes will be distributed randomly, and I'm committed to fairness in this, so I can't send them to people who just request them. Thanks for understanding.

That's all for now! Hope you are all having fun making your donations, and that you will give some of the patterns from our guest bloggers a try. Happy spring, and happy stitching!