Money where my mouth is

As you know, a few weeks back I was encouraging you all to do whatever you can to give Alison a wee hand with her Soy Amado quilt project.  To prove that I'm prepared to do the very thing I was encouraging you all to do, I decided to take my pile of Bee blocks and turn them into a finished quilt for a child from the kids' home in Mexico City.

My second set of hipBees blocks are bright, fun and fresh and hopefully now they'll show a little bit of thoughtfulness from me and the bees and keep a child warm at night.

I'm pleased with the backing too, and all our Bee siggies are on there as a reminder of everyone who contributed to the quilt.  My thanks to my hipBee friends for their lovely blocks and for being supportive of my decision to donate this quilt to the Soy Amado project.

Now I just need to get it to the Post Office!

Oh, and I do believe it constitutes another FAL finish too!

Soy Amado

So excited to see the first of Little Island Quilting's Soy Amado quilts being put on a bed at the home for former street kids in Mexico City. Excited too because I see my red and blue log cabin blocks in there. Keep an eye on Alison's blog for more pics soon. The first delivery has been made and she is just waiting on more photos coming through.
As a long term project there is plenty of time for you to get involved and send a quilt or a few QAYG blocks for this lovely cause. Read here for more of my thoughts and the links to all the details if you are interested.

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Shouting Out!

Hi Folks! Today I'm doing a big shout out for Little Island Quilting Alison's brilliant quilt drive and block drive for the former street kids of Mexico City.  I mentioned this briefly during the week but today I want to really encourage you to help Alison out.

Please, please hear me out, give it a think over and then stop thinking and stitch - pretty please!!

QAYG blocks for the Soy Amado quilts.

On Christmas Day, Alison and her family visited a home for former Street Kids in Mexico City.  Their stories and the efforts of the home to feed and educate and to provide a place of safety away from the things none of us would ever want our children to encounter, never mind become involved in, tugged at her heart strings.  Her thoughts about her visit are more eloquently explained on her original post here.

The upshot is that she has a vision to provide quilts to this home for former street kids as a reminder that there is love for them in a world where they mightn't always know it.

So, here's the really good news!  YOU CAN HELP.  YES, YOU CAN BE PART OF THESE AMAZING QUILTS.

There are two ways to help:

1.  If you would like to make a finished quilt to send on, you can contact Alison through her blogpost (just leave a comment) and she will give you an address in the Netherlands where it can be posted for onwards transmission to Mexico City.

2.  If you don't have time for a quilt, you can send pre-quilted 12.5" blocks - any kind of block, any colours, just make sure it's 12.5" and already quilted with a backing.  Alison is collecting these herself and doing a sterling job of joining them into cosy covers for the kids.  Again leave her a comment on her blog.


Now, I challenge you all to think laterally about how you can help out in either of these ways:

• Start from scratch if you like.  
• Pull three or four handfuls of scraps out of your pile and make up a scrappy logcabin or two (just go for it) - or any other 12.5" block that takes your fancy.
• Root through your WIPs pile and finish off that quilt you no longer love.  
• Got a jelly roll or layer cake hanging around that you don't know what to do with? Stitch it together in simple squares or strips and quilt and bind it.
• Scrounge up the orphan blocks you have at the bottom of your drawers or hiding in bags somewhere and add wadding and a backing and quilt them up.
• Got a bag full of bee blocks waiting to become a quilt, but you joined so many Bees that you know you should share those potential quilts around before the next set of fun Bee blocks arrive on your doorstep?  Make it up and send it on!
• Found a pile of fabric and thought - 'what possessed me to buy that?'  Wonder no more, cut it up, stitch it up and let it keep a child warm at night.

Okay, so I don't often do the hard sell here, but I do know that Alison's heart for this project is BIG.  I also know that you are a generous and talented bunch who like a good reason to put needle to fabric, and I know what it is to be blessed on the receiving end of that generous spirit when I posted about the Siblings Together Block Drive last year and when we post Bee Blessed blocks each month. 

So please, please folks, let's show Alison that we support her as she does all this hard work for something close to her heart.  Read her posts and leave her a message so she knows help is coming her way. She'll give you the addresses you need.  

Now I need to stop rambling and give you time to pop over there and to get stitching.

Thank you lovelies!!

Alison's original post is here.

Her post about the QAYG block quilts is here.

For a fab cause

I'm sure you've been reading around Blogland about Little Island Quilting's appeal for quilts for the street children of Mexico City.  While finished quilts are still very much desired for this great cause, there is another way to contribute if you don't have the time for a whole quilt.

When I spotted Leanne's blocks I was delighted to know that quilted blocks are also now being accepted - all the details are here.  Please, if you have an overflowing scrap bin and half an hour to spare or some orphan blocks that you could quilt up, check out this post and get on it.  There are street children in Mexico who need a little comfort and who need a little reminder that there is love for them in a harsh world.

It's Valentine's week people, let's share the love a little!!