California quilts

These first 7 are from Freda in Elk Grove, Ca. She has been busy working for the kids in Japan and I know they are going to love these quilts!

The warm and cuddly fleece blankets are from Connie in Calabasas, Ca and are so snuggly.

And finally, three boxes of quilt tops, backing fabric and more fabric from Meredith in Corona, Ca.

There was even a finished quilt hiden in the box of quilt tops. I still have to dig through all of the treasures and count all of the gorgeous tops! These will keep our quilting machines humming! I called one of my quilting friends and told her to oil her machine and get ready to work this weekend. She said to bring some over...she was ready for them. I love my quilting friends!

Photographs of the Quilts for Japan

Here's a link to a photo album of the Quilts for Japan that I have photographed so far. There will be more photos added as I keep taking pictures. I'm still unloading the van! Enjoy. And please let me know if you aren't able to view them. I am not sure if you have to have a snapfish account or not. I hope that everyone can see the pictures without having to sign up.

Enjoying some tennis

My husband is in So. Cal. enjoying some tennis with our daughter. He got to watch her play yesterday and again today. Don't they look cute?

unloading the car

One of the best parts of my 'job' as area coordinator, is that I get to see ALL of the gorgeous quilts that come through here on their way to the various destinations for the projects we work on. Hurricane Katrina, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, Returning Americans from Japan, our local hospital, CPS and now Japan. As the kids and I unload the van, I am having them help me take pictures of ALL of the quilts. That's over 200 pictures of more than 200 quilts. It is taking quite a while and the wind was not cooperating yesterday. I had to bring a bunch inside. I'm wondering what my neighbors were thinking. I don't talk to my neighbors much. We say hi when we pass, but I'm wondering if they were wondering what this crazy lady was doing in the driveway holding up and taking pictures of all of these quilts. I wonder if they saw the story in the paper yesterday and knew that it was me and could put two and two together?

Are you wondering where I am putting these quilts once they get in the house? I have about 300 quilts collected so far. I made a stop at my local quilt shop yesterday to pick up some and my friend Carla dropped some off and they are coming every day in the mail.

I will show you later this week once I have these photographed and put away.

I am going to figure out how to do a slideshow somewhere so you too can see all of the gorgeous quilts that are headed to Japan soon.

You can never go home again

When I was in So. Cal. I decided to go 'home' and visit the house I grew up in. My parents moved about 6 years ago, so it hasn't been home for a long time. The old saying is true. You can never really go home again. While the house is still there, the new owners really let it go. The front yard is all weeds and the nicely pruned rose bushes aren't nice any more. The flower beds in the front aren't there anymore and it just doesn't look like my old house.

This is the corner candy store we used to go to when I was a kid. We had to cross 4 lanes to get to it with no light. What were we thinking? There used to be new owners about once a month. We never questioned why...

This was my high school. I had the hardest time finding it. GPS wasn't any help, until I actually remembered the street address. From over 25 years ago! Hey, I'm not that forgetful I guess :)

The neighborhood sure has changed a lot from what I remember.

pure joy

What could be more joyful than a boy and a giant stick on the beach? We just had to go back on our last day Tuesday for one more hour at the beach to chase the waves, build sandcastles and throw sticks in the ocean. We even saw three dolphins swimming off shore just a little where the surfers were. Oh, what fun!

got her 100th win

http://goyeo.com/news/2011/3/29/WTEN_0329113832.aspx

Are you in Southern California and want to help?

http://www.calicohousequilting.com/contact_us.html

Here's where you can drop off quilts. They are accepting kid size quilts, crochet or knit afghans or handmade fleece blankets until April 15. They are planning a trip up to Northern California to meet me and drop them off.

This is where I picked up the more then 200 quilts that filled my car.

our efforts made the paper

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_17723771?IADID=Search-www.thereporter.com-www.thereporter.com Good article about our efforts. But, they left off any contact information. Oh, well...just a little frustrating. I hope that people who want to help are thoughtful enough to look up a phone number and give a call to the quilt shop.

I'm back :)

Had a very eventful trip! If you commented, or emailed me and haven't heard back from me, please email me again. I have 27 zillion emails to go through and I think I answered everyone, but may have missed you, so please forgive me and email me again if I missed your question. I have so much to talk about, but first a shower is in order...hotel shampoo/conditioner just doesn't cut it!

Follow Me...

Are you a follower of my blog yet? Trying to get businesses to sponsor our Japan project hasn't been very successful. They might be more likely to donate to our cause if they realized just how many people are helping out with the project.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, could you click the follow button? Thanks

Got a minute to vote?

My daughter is up for a vote again and I am not around to vote :)

www.goyeo.com

on the right side of the page, scroll down just a little bit and you will see three names, hers is the middle one in the poll

Ariel Lewis

She is losing by a lot.

It just takes a second. Only if you want to.
and thanks

Rhode Island quilts

These quilts came from Zanni in Johnston RI and they are so cuddly. The green one is backed with froggy fabric. Whenever I see frog fabric it reminds me of my oldest daughter who I get to go see today! She is coming 'home' to California. For those of you in states like Rhode Island that you can drive the entire state in a couple of hours you might not understand that I have to drive 8 hours today from Northern California to Southern California just to go see her. Her tennis coach didn't understand that when he planned the trip either. He thought that coming to California meant coming out to visit us! Well, not really. They are closer than Ohio, but not close enough.

I will be gone until Tuesday night and I'm so excited. I had better finish packing and wake the little one. He gets to come with me. The middle two kids have to stay home and go to school. Hubby is going down on Wed and Thursday to watch those two matches.

"see" you when I get back! Unless my daughter lets me borrow her computer :)

Texas quilt

A warm, snuggly flannel raggy quilt came from Jerre Rae in San Antonio came my way. This one is so soft and cuddly I had to give it a little snuggle to test it out :) Yep, it passed the snuggle test and is ready to warm a little one in Japan! Thanks Jerre!

Ohio quilt tops

Two beautiful quilt tops and backings ready to be quilted. I'm getting spoiled looking at the fancy quilt patterns here. I am usually in such a hurry to get my quilts made that I never make anything so special. These kids sure are lucky people to have so many quilters who care so much about them. These were sent by Karen Green in Sedney Oh. My daughter goes to college in Oberlin, Oh. Thanks for not sending any snow with the quilt tops :) My daughter said she has had plenty of snow this winter to last her a lifetime!

Returning Americans need quilts too

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_17679453?IADID=Search-www.thereporter.com-www.thereporter.com

My friend, whose husband is the pilot that was going to be taking the quilts to Japan for us, texted me this morning and asked if I had any quilts she could take to the base. I had read this story in the newspaper the other day.

With the radiation in Japan threatening the lives of the people there, our military is evacuating all nonessential Americans from the military bases in Japan. They are coming through Travis Air Force base right next to where I work.

I looked at the quilts I had on hand from before the project started and I was able to pick out 31 quilts from my own stash. I put them in a big garbage bag and loaded it into the car.

She was able to take it on base this morning and said the people working there were so happy to receive it. She says the women and children are sitting on the floor of the airport because there aren't enough places to put them until they can find housing for them.

If you sent quilts or quilt tops for the Japan project, they will be going to Japan. Don't worry :) These quilts were ones my group had been working on before the tragedy started. But it was nice to have some ready to go and be able to help out on a moment's notice and not have to worry that we wouldn't have enough to meet the needs of both projects.

My friend says there are about 500 people here at Travis. I can't meet all of the needs, but I could meet some.

I'm headed to Southern California this weekend and will be back next week with plans to work overtime to get more things done in a shorter amount of time. So many needs...so little time.

Soroptomist

My daughter was honored with a $500 award on Wednesday night by the Soroptomist club of Vacaville for her work with the Binky patrol. She wants to spend the money on new clothes :) Silly girl :) We told her she has to save the money for college. She asked, "well, what if I get a full ride scholarship to college, then can I spend it on money for new clothes?" That girl is always thinking! We had so much fun at the dinner and at my table sat down TWO quilting ladies. My daughter laughed at me for finding quilting people wherever we go. Hey, they must have smelled the quilting in me, or maybe it was the loose thread sticking to my clothes. What can I say? Do I look like a quilter? They laughed at me when I said I wasn't in a guild...yet! And all of the ladies in the room laughed when the president of the Soroptomist club read my daughter's essay about how I do not have an eye for color and how my daughter has to pick out the colors for the quilt. It's true! My daughter has threatened to nominate me for What Not to Wear. The problem with that is, if they gave me a $5000 Visa card, they would have to pull me out of the fabric shops in New York City. I would not give up my t shirt collection and they would kick me off the show. My daughter would love to be on the show and spend $5000 on new clothes. I would just die!

more quilt tops from Washington--UPS??

Someone in Washington state sent me 10 quilt tops and the only return address is a UPS store in Washington. The city is cut off so I can't send a thank you! But, thank you to whomever you are. They are gorgeous. So, if you read my blog and you recognize these quilts, could you email me your address so I can send you a thank you card? These are gorgeous! Thanks

quilted last night

I quilted this star quilt last night right before bed. I'm trying to squeeze in quilting whenever I can. I work full time as a high school science teacher, come home to run the kids all over the world to their 47 different after school activities :) then make dinner, do dishes, laundry and everything else that it takes to keep the house running and if there is time before bed, I try and squeeze a little time for quilting in. I've never seen this pattern before, but look how cute it is! One giant star makes a really cute kid size quilt and it worked up really fast. Off to my binding buddy and it will be ready for Japan.

Interesting Blog from Japan

http://tttl1998.blogspot.com/

Want to see what is going on in Japan from the eyes of a quilter? I found this blog a few days ago and have loved reading it almost every day. If you go back through the posts to March 11, you can read the events of the earthquake and see how life has changed in Japan since.

This is what we are working for...

Quilts from Washington

These came from Maggie Weyers in Ferndale Washington. Two, gorgeous quilts ready to wrap around children in need of hugs! Thanks Maggie, these are perfect! I love getting quilts and am inspired by the new patterns. I just wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow.

quilt update

Thanks to Barb Sisoler from Oakland Mi for these gorgeous quilt tops. The one with the applique flowers is inspiring me to try my hand at applique. I have a lot of Go! dies for applique and have cut out a lot of shapes, but am afraid to try it out. This quilt is so pretty I really want to take a break and give it a try.

I got a whole bunch of finished quilts from Joanne Curae in Glendale Ca and her Binky Patrol group and these two really cute handmade bears.

Thanks! Off to work :)

Fresh and Easy store opening

Wow, what a fun day last week. Here are the pictures of the store opening. You can see all of my friends and helpers who came out and some of the kids who have received quilts from Binky Patrol. That was the best part! I love it when kids get quilts :)

my daughter makes history

http://goyeo.com/news/2011/3/21/WTEN_0321112110.aspx?tab=

can I take a little break to be a proud mama? I hope that I get to watch her get her 100th college win on Monday. She only needs 2 more wins and she plays 2 times on Monday during Spring Break :) I remember her high school 100th win. I barely made it to the end of that match. In high school I used to ask her to slow down her matches so I could at least watch the last few points. She used to beat her opponents in about 30 minutes and I barely had time to make it to her matches before she was done. She has a little more competition now in college :)

more quilts

These came in yesterday. The first is from a 9 year old local girl named Lena. She made 5 quilts for us to send to the children of Japan. I love it. Kids making quilts for kids!

These other four (double image of one--why does blogger do that?) are from Janet Shupe in Fort Worth, Tx and her group Stitches of Love. They also sent the 14 quilt tops. What a busy group! Thank you to everyone. I'm so overwhelmed and feel like such a small part of such a big thing that is happening.

I got a letter yesterday from a woman who is living in Sendai, the closest city to the epicenter and where the most damage from the earthquake and tsunami. I'm going to ask permission to post it here for you to read. What an inspiration to keep going. The people of Japan are so gracious and are just pulling together to help each other out during this time where many people in the area have lost all physical items, but have not lost their spirit of love and compassion. Makes me want to work round the clock to do more, help more, give more! Thank you for making this all possible!