I have tried several times to start writing this week’s letter, trying to find the words after such a devastating hurricane and flood hit Houston and the gulf coast. Most of you know what is going on – now there is a massive search and rescue going on as some of the flood waters recede.
In the Midweek Creative newsletter, I included a link to a list of organizations who we trust to take donated funds and put them to work immediately for those most in need. You can find that list here.
Quilts Inc has posted a letter saying that the show will go on – that Quilt Market and the Quilt Festival are going to happen. This week 10,000 flood evacuees were camping in the George Brown Convention Center, so there is a lot of work to be done before the show is set up late October. We know that all the quilts were evacuated to a safe dry place, and that the Quilts Inc staff is safe.
We are working on setting up one or two weekends where we will provide fabrics and our classroom, and a BERNINA dealer will provide machines, to come make quilt tops for a future quilt drive for flood victims. As I have said before, this is going to be a long recovery, so for now we are supporting organizations helping with the initial urgent needs of flood victims.
If your guild or quilt group in our area would like to book our 2000 sq ft space to come make flood quilts, let us know and we will provide the fabric. The dates would have to be set up around my travel. (see below) Sept 9, 20, 21, 27, 28 & 30 are possibilities.
This afternoon I spoke to Kathy Price at Mission of Love (MOL), and we are also planning a disaster relief project after the waters recede and long-term needs become more clear. You may recall after Katrina, MOL identified a small community on the Louisiana coast that had received ZERO aid from FEMA, Red Cross, or any other relief organization. We will pursue a similar project with a focus on helping children and families. I will keep you posted.
In case you missed last week’s newsletter, BERNINA has generously donated a new model machine as first prize for the ‘Love Your Mother’ Quilt Challenge.
To participate in this challenge you must use 1 of the 3 versions of the challenge panel:
North/South Americas
Australia/New Zealand
Arriving in September – AFRICA!
Thank you for supporting our charity program, which has raised over $1.4 million for those in need.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
