Hands2Help - It's Time to Sign Up!!

"What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others.

It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like."

Hi, all!

Things are all falling into place for this year's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  I'm so excited to get this started!

This year we have two great charities to choose from.  You will be signing up to make a quilt or quilts for one or both of two charitable causes.

Our first charity this year is an ongoing project of Emily of Em's Scrapbag.  You can choose to make quilts for Happy Chemo, an organization that provides quilts and comfort for chemo patients.  They also collect up and provide information about freebies and discounts that may be of use to chemo patients.  Emily has been championing this cause for a while, and has set a goal of providing 1500 quilts to Happy Chemo.  She’s already donated nearly 600 quilts, and I’d like to see her numbers grow!  She has generously agreed to be part of this challenge, and is excited to see what comes of it.  Here's what Emily has to say about Happy Chemo...

"The first time I met Ginger Johnston, founder of Happy Chemo, it was my first visit to a chemo lab.  I was scared and unsure of what the future held for me.  In walked Ginger, bald and boobless but determined to bring a little sunshine into the chemo lab.  So before she started her treatment she took everyone’s name and drew prizes.  It so changed my experience that I knew I needed to help her in her quest.  I started making quilts for her to give.  Because I can’t sew as fast as cancer strikes I started asking for help.  I just want to bring a little comfort and joy to those who are facing the fear and uncertainty that trips to the chemo lab bring."  

Emily accepts quilts that are 45" square to 60" x 72". Any style of quilt is accepted as cancer affects men and women, children and adults.  Quilts made for this project will be sent to Emily to help her meet her goal of 1500 quilts donated to Happy Chemo!

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Quilts Beyond Borders

A charity providing quilts to children in underserved areas of the world

Our second charity is a new one this year, at least to me!  I read about Quilts Beyond Borders recently and was captivated by their mission.  Here’s some information from their website...

Quilts Beyond Borders reaches out to under-served children, mainly orphans, across the world to provide a handmade quilt and spread love and hope... We have focused on Ethiopia where in 5 years we have delivered over 1,000 quilts to orphans...  Since 2009 we have also provided quilts to people in need in Japan, Haiti, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Cameroon, Burundi, Uganda, Russia, Thailand and Mexico, and we plan additional distributions of quilts to those in need living in other places where the warmth of a quilt is needed at night.

They are currently in need of 500-600 quilts to distribute this fall to orphanages in Ethiopia and Romania.  I'm hoping we can make a significant dent in their need, and spread the word to others who many not know of this worthy cause as well!

For this charity, the finished quilts should be 40-45" wide by 48-60" long.  This size best fits the children's beds.  Quilts need to be quilted sufficiently to handle rugged conditions - used by children, and washed under rugged laundry conditions (unfortunately, tied quilts won't hold up to these conditions).  Fabric can be cotton or cotton/polyester. Batting can be cotton or polyester.  Please bind the quilts entirely by machine, so the binding will hold up longer.

Please include a label for each quilt you send for Quilts Beyond Borders.  The label should read:

Quilts Beyond Borders

Made for You with Love

By:  (quilter's name)

Belongs to (space for recipient's name)

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With two charities to pick from this year, you can choose a wide variety of sizes and styles of quilts - something for everyone!! And if you're torn between the two charities, feel free to make more than one quilt!  Just think how many wonderful designs you can try.... ;-)


Another change this year, to allow more international participants - if you live outside the United States and want to participate, you can send your quilt top and back to me and I will quilt it for you, to save you from having to pay huge international postage to ship a finished quilt.  Or in the alternative, you can choose a local charitable cause to give your quilt to.  So come on and join in, all you Aussies, Brits, Kiwis, and Canadians!  And anyone else who wants to join in!  

Here's the calendar for this year's Hands2Help Challenge:

Initial signups will be Sunday, March 24th through Saturday, March 30th.  You will receive one entry for signing up, and can get additional entries for putting the button on your blog sidebar, and/or posting about the challenge to encourage others to join in!  (You can sign up after this time, but this is the period to sign up to be part of the signup giveaway.)

Next Sunday, March 31st, we'll announce the winners of the signup giveaway.   I've got something very special planned for this giveaway - completely in keeping with the spirit of the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge! 

Sunday, April 7th, there will be a linky party where you can post links to your favorite on-line tutorials.  It could be a tutorial for a quilt pattern, or a technique like machine binding, or even a recipe for your favorite "while-I'm-quilting" snack!  You don't have to write the tutorial, you can link up to another blogger's tutorial.  If you love it, someone else might too!

In the following weeks, we'll have some special posts and possibly some guest bloggers!  (If you'd like to be a guest blogger, please email me at salliesue@clearwire.net!)  More information on this as details become available....

There will also be check-in dates like last year, when you can link up and show your progress....  April 21st and May 19th.

Quilts should be completed by Sunday, June 2nd.  There will be a linky party (June 2nd through June 8th) to link your finished quilt and show it off, and giveaways for people who link up their quilts.  I'll have more information about the giveaways next week, but let me tell you, we've got some great sponsors this year!  Winners will be announced on June 9th.

Quilts should be mailed to the appropriate place by Friday, June 14th.

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Whew!  That's a lot of information to digest - but the calendar will always be available to you on the Page at the top of my blog!  

So here's the short-and-sweet on how to sign up for the Challenge and be eligible for the giveaway next week:  

1)  Leave a comment telling me that you plan to participate in the Challenge.  If you have decided, tell who you want to make a quilt(s) for! 

2)  For an additional entry, grab the H2H button from the right sidebar and post it on your own blog, then come back and leave a comment telling me you did it!

3)  For more additional entries, post about the Challenge on your own blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, or pin the button image (from this blogpost) to Pinterest.  Leave a comment for each way you helped spread the word!

Woohoo!!  Let's get started!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Just a reminder - you don't have to have a blog to participate!  If you want info on how to join in without a blog, just let me know in your comment - and be sure I have a way to answer you!

If you sign up to participate in H2H and you don't hear back from me within a couple of days, you are probably a "no-reply" blogger!  Check here for instructions on how to correct this problem, or leave your e-mail address in your comment so that I can reach you!  If you don't feel comfortable leaving your e-mail address out in public, you can e-mail me directly at salliesue(at)clearwire(dot)net.