Hands2Help - Learn More About the Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project

Hi, all!

Well, Friday has come, and today we will learn more about our final Hands2Help 2019 charity.  Already this week, we've been educated about Jack's Basket, Mercyful Quilts, Victoria Quilts Canada, and Quilty Hugs.  Today, Carole will be sharing with us about the Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project, a massive undertaking that she is coordinating.   Let's see what she has to say!

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Thank you Sarah, for allowing this project to be a part of Hands2Help.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to reach more quilters.  The scope of the need is immense, so let me tell you about our efforts.

On September 12, 2018, Hurricane Florence slammed into the North Carolina coast bringing 100+ miles per hour winds and historic rainfall causing catastrophic flooding that lasted for days.  Florence moved inland and stalled for three days, continuing to dump rain on the disaster area of up to 30 inches.  Three days after that, on the 18th, the Cape Fear river crested at 62 feet above flood stage, contributing to more rising water downstream in already flooded areas.  It took weeks for the flooded areas to recede.  Then just about the time that things were finally drying out, on October 10, a second hurricane, Michael, made it to the NC coast, devastating those same areas again with water and wind damage, massive power outages and more destruction.  The latest reports are that over 4500 homes have been totally destroyed and more than 700,000 homes have sustained damage mainly by flooding.  Much of the damage is in areas where people had no flood insurance.

The Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project was born from the reports of all the damage, and a desire to do something meaningful for my home state.  The project is focusing on larger size quilts because each household can only receive one.  The need is so great that I fear most of the households will not get a quilt at all.  So, if you already have a completed new oversized throw you want to donate, please do.  But if you are making one new specifically for this project, please go for a larger size of twin, full or queen.

I know it is difficult to quilt the larger sizes for some, so I have arranged some help, in the hope that you will choose this charity event to help.  If you are working on a bed size quilt top that you cannot finish, I am compiling a list of longarm quilters all over the United States willing to quilt, bind and ship finished quilts to Wilmington.  Quilters willing to provide sewn tops in any design, twin size or larger and a backing 8-inches longer and wider will be matched with a longarm quilter.  Longarm quilters need to be willing to provide batting, quilting and binding, then ship to Wilmington.  Donations of money are accepted to assist with batting and shipping costs, as many longarmers are doing multiple quilts.  See my page Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project on my blog for forms, shipping addresses, drop off points for North Carolina residents, and more details.

Whether you are making a quilt specifically for this drive, or you have one finished and sitting on a shelf in your home, all quilts welcome, in any design, quilted or tied, preferably twin size or larger up to king.  Partnering with the Catholic Charities organization for distribution ensures our quilts get to the people who need them most.   Do you have a bed size quilt just sitting in a closet that you could part with for someone who lost everything?  Can you help with the Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project?

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As a Carolina girl myself, this one tugs at my heartstrings.  My summers growing up were spent all over the state of North Carolina, visiting the coastal areas with my grandparents from their home in central NC, and visiting the mountains with my parents.  It is a place with such natural beauty, it hurt my heart to see all the damage from these two hurricanes.  But I can only imagine the devastation of those most personally affected by the storm's ravages.  I hope those of you who feel similarly will consider making a quilt or top for this worthy project!

And if you want to know how to sign up for this year's Challenge, go to this post - the sign-up is about halfway down the post!  We've already got a massive number of people signed up - about fifty more than last year this time (WOW!!!) but there's plenty of room for more!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can You Help? The Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project

Hi, all!

Recently I was asked by Carole of From My Carolina Home to help spread the word about her current project, collecting quilts for the many families affected by Hurricanes Florence and Michael on the North Carolina coast.  They are hoping to collect more than 4500 quilts for those whose homes were completely destroyed!  That's a lot of quilts, but definitely not too many for this fabulous quilting community to help meet.  

This project is going to go on through Summer 2019, so there's plenty of time to make one or more quilts, or participate in other ways.  You can find more information on Carole's post, which is chock-full of ideas, suggestions, and ways you can help.  She's even connecting piecers up with quilters if you don't have a way to quilt your own work.  She'll be putting updates for the project on that post, too, so you might want to bookmark it.

She is asking that completed quilts be bed sized - twin, full or queen - since they are only able to provide one quilt per household. The need is so great, they will only be able to provide one per household if this project really takes off, so I hope you'll be able to join in.

And here's an added incentive - the Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project will be one of the charities for Hands2Help 2019.  So you can help Carole and join in the festivities for H2H this year at the same time!

So - do you need a great idea for a quick twin-size quilt?  How about a giant disappearing nine-patch?   This is a super simple quilt (you can find the tutorial here) that's easy to adapt to make twin size.  The one pictured above requires 45 10" squares, and measures 57" x 71".  To make it twin size, you simply need to add nine more 10" squares so you can make one more 9-patch block, which turns into one more row in the layout.  That will yield a quilt that measures approximately 57" x 84".

Here's a very bad picture of one I made last summer using 54 totally different 10" squares.  It is totally scrappy.  If you want one more controlled, or with a more eye-catching pattern, you can use the same print or color for all the centers as I did in the smaller one.

This is a very fast quilt to make - I have literally made one in less than three hours.  Plus it has the added advantage of being able to make from scraps or those random fat quarters you have hanging around!  

So let's get to work and spread some quilt-y love in North Carolina!!

Hugs!

Sarah