UPDATE Oct 22
I received this in an email today. . .congratulations to all who contributed!
Ashes To Beauty Update
Kerrie’s Quilting
1853 N. High Street Lakeport, California 95453 707-263-8555
Hi to all my quilting friends,
What a whirlwind of goings on in the last few weeks. I thought it was necessary to give you an update on the heart blocks as well as quilt donations.
THANK YOU to everyone who made Ashes To Beauty heart blocks. We stopped counting at 500 and there are still many more. We have more than enough to make 9 quilts for ladies who lost everything in the fire.
We received blocks from all over the country and as far away as New York, Ontario, Canada, and Hawaii. Needless to say I am overwhelmed at your generosity, kind words for me and the ladies who will receive the quilts and
the obvious love and care that went into your blocks. Also for generous cash donations for battings and backings and supplies, etc. One gal who was evacuated but her home did not burn made lovely labels for each quilt.
Again- THANK YOU so much. God does truly console the hurting and turns ashes into beauty and many times uses us to accomplish it. We have begun sewing the blocks together and they are wonderful.
I’ll take some photos and send them along later.
THANK YOU, too, to the many guilds and gals who have sent me quilts to be given to families that lost everything in the fire that are not quilters. There are so many, but each one truly loves what we are doing for them.
We have given away over 50 quilts so far to very grateful and often teary eyed folks. Funny thing, the men are very chatty and while the wife is choosing a quilt, he tells their story of how they watched their home catch fire in the rear view mirror. The fire really did travel that fast. Single moms with children just love them and every day we are blessed with sharing the quilts with smiles, hugs and words of encouragement. My favorite story is about 3 ladies standing outside the shop door as I was closing assuming they had just come from the quilt show and wanted to shop. When I invited them in, they said no, they had just come from a meeting for families that lost their homes. Not knowing if they were fire survivors, volunteers or FEMA I asked if they had lost their homes. When they said yes, I said then they needed to come in and take home a quilt. Long story with more wonderful details but they were shocked, chose quilts and were happy campers, literally. They just “happened” to be standing out front waiting to walk over to the restaurant for dinner ! ! ! Providential comes to my mind. Anyway, we still have about 100 quilts to give and are still spreading the word.
Honestly, I cannot thank all of you enough and am blessed to have you be a part of this project. God multiplied my heart’s desire with your colorful hearts.
If you shared my original email with your friends, and I know many of you did, and some of you shared on quilt boards, etc., please share this update.
Sew warmly~~Kerrie