I was having trouble doing some paper piecing blocks (2 of them) and after seeing a paper piecing block from Old Man-New Quilter, I pm'd him and asked if he would do my 2 blocks for me and he agreed!! I sent him the patterns and my fabric and I've already gotten them back, they are beautiful.

--Pay It Forward

A lady on the board asked for someone to make her a antique block quilt-I agreed to do this for her, at no charge of course. I should be receiving her material before the weekend. I am so excited to do this for her.

***Always been interested in a Pay It Forward project. Who will join in the fun? Do you already have a story to share and inspire others? It's aa great and wonderful feeling--let's all give this a try.

P.S.

This doesn't have to be related to quilting in any way. just post some way that you have paid it forward recently. Get to thinking!!!

Since DH is unemployed I didn't want to spend a lot of money on Christmas gifts for co-workers. My friend makes beautiful jeweled suncatchers. I made a long table runner for her daughter and she made me 10 suncatchers for co-workers. Everyone was happy with their gifts. I've also traded quilted items for lawn care.

I'm game to do a project. If anyone has something they need done, paper piecing, block piecing, etc., I am willing to barter in some way. Maybe we could start a section on the Sale page. What do you think?

I guess no question is a dumb question, I never heard PAY IT FORWARD what does it mean??????????

Hey that's a great idea!! i'll post it there also!!

I never heard the phrase before I saw a movie a few years ago about a young boy who would help people out or do things for them then, instead of having them pay him back, he'd ask them to "pay it forward" to someone else. There is actually an informal organization of people in our society who encourage this through bumper stickers, etc....random acts of kindness, I think is the phrase they use..It's all about doing things for other without expecting thanks or a good deed in return...you just want to encourage folks to "pay it forward" by doing something good for someone else.

Pay it forward--based on the movie. You do something nice and unexpected for someone that needs it and they in turn have to do something for someone else when they can. Doesn't have to be money or material things. Just do nice, unexpected things for people-make them feel good and you also!!

Example: Go to a neighbor's house mow their lawn. They appreciate it. The neighbor sees someone that is need of food. They go into the store, buy a bag of groceries and gives it to them. Maybe years down the road that hungry person that was given the groceries remembers their kindness when he was in need. He then, is in a position to do something for someone else. "Pay It Forward"!!!

Yes the true definition of Pay it Forward means the giver gets nothing in return from the receiver, but the idea is for the receiver to pay it to someone else in need. Your story is a great example of this. Imagine if we all did this a little more, they say your own kindness comes back to you tenfold, so even though the receiver isn't paying you back directly, the universe will find a way to smile on you. I absolutely love the idea of pay if forward. I have done something like pay for the car behind me at Dunkin Donuts, small things like that. It's fun to do nice things without expecting something back for it!

Cheers!
Rachel

easy ways to "pay it forward" is to pay for the car behind you when going through a toll booth, or pay for someones coffee who is inline. There are lots of small ways to pay it forward. it doesn't have to be anything big.

One morning the person in front of me paid for my order at McDonald's, so I paid for the order behind me. When I went the next time, the girl working the window was the same one as that other morning and she said it was a 10 order run until it got to a man who only bought coffee and wasn't all about paying for a big order that was next in line. I thought it was awesome that it went that long.

bj-that's an awesome story! i'm surprised that it went that long!!

I do what I can all the time, adopt families for Christmas etc I never wanted or expected anything in return. I never knew it was called Pay it forward

I am a firm believer in PAY IT FORWARD and WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.

It was raining very hard one day. I saw a woman and child walking down the road. I stopped and asked if she needed a ride. She got in with her daughter and was told she was going to the Woman's shelter. She really did look worse for the wear and the daughter wasn't much better.

When we arrived, I could almost hear her relief. Before she got out I gave her $100 bill. She asked me for my name so she could pay me back. I said, "No, just don't let this be in vain. If ever you find someone else that needs help, please, do what you can." The woman smiled and said "Pay it forward"

Just a week ago, I stopped at the bank to make a deposit. (yahoo) I put my deposit in the canister and sent it on it's way. The canister came back with a two photos. One was the woman and her daughter taken about the time I had picked them up. The other was a photo of them today! I looked back at the bank and there she was waving wildly at me.

I went into the bank, she came running out, gave me a huge hug while she was crying. She said to another girl, "THIS IS THE LADY I WAS TELLING YOU ABOUT!" She told me that day was a turning point for her. She said, "If someone thinks enough of me to give me this money, I'm not such a bad person afterall."

She got her GED, got a BS in Business, and is buying a small home for she and her daughter. Her daughter is doing very well in school and every night she prays "Bless the lady that has the white car." Needless to say, THAT has truly MADE MY YEAR!

For PAY IT FORWARD, she volunteers at the Woman's Shelter and helps other women get education and work to better themselves. BUT, she is still a single mother and loves it.

It can happen in many ways. This was before the movie. I had a bunch of business stuff one time that I sent off into the Universe like that. The stuff was worth a several hundred dollars and the information was very current but I was done with it. The only thing I asked was that they forward it to somebody was starting out and who needed it.

Because my name was on the some of the stuff, I found out how it went because occasionally people would email me to thank me in addition to the person who gave them the stuff. In one year, it was passed by 8 people and went coast to coast. After that the information was getting irrelevent. Three of those people still keep in contact with me and keep me up to date on their progress.

A very very successful woman spoke at my women's group this month. At one point she was destitute with four little children and a sick husband who could not work. ONE woman, who wasnt rich herself, bought her a car and loaned her some money to get a business started. Through this woman and several others that "paid it forward", she got started. She now runs an enormous company that employs hundreds maybe a thousand people which is great but not the moral of the story. The most interesting thing is this woman who could do anything has FOSTERED 26 girls through the years. Somebody took her under their wing and now she has the wingspan to take 26 girls under hers.

I have what I think is a sweet story. I have inherited contents from the sewing rooms of 3 loved ones. One was my friends Mothers. My friend asked that I finish crocheting a bedspread her mother had started and I did.
I have made quilts and quilts and quilts and more quilts. I give away everything I make from their fabric.
My mother-in-law (Mom) crocheted afghans. She probably made 200 to 400 before alzheimers took hold. Because crocheting was automatic for her she was able to crochet as the disease progressed. Everyone in her family has an afghan she made them. Everyone gave her crochet thread for special occasions. When she passed she had enough unused thread to fill the crochet shelves at Walmart. She had afghans in various stages of assembly (as she forgot more and more). She had blocks she made and couldn't remember how to put together. I inherited 90% of it.. (The bulk would fill the bed of a regular size pickup.) I used some of her thread to assemble some of her blocks into bedspreads and had Dad give them to one of her sisters and a niece. (He was so proud!).
I used some of her thread to assemble some of her blocks into lap afghans. A friend ministers to a group of ladies in assisted living at a nearby nursing home. I asked her if I assembled the lap afghans would she give them to her (15) ladies for Dad as a Christmas gift. My father-in-law (Dad) was so proud to see those blocks in afghans and in the hands of someone who would love them. His eyes glowed as he watched me crochet. (He was married to my Mother-in-law 58 years. He is 92 now and in excellent health.) The ladies were thrilled to have their afghans and Dad was thrilled that Mom's squares and thread were not put away and forgotten. I still have 4 totes of squares and maybe 20 skiens of thread. I will do them another day and pass them on.
This is one way of 'passing it on'. 'Paying it forward'. Gosh, it makes me feel so good!

God knows. You are blessed.

I have goosebumps! What a wonderful thing you did and how gracious is God to show you how their lives turned out. I know you cried when you saw the photos from the cannister. Wow!
Such a blessing!

Oh my gosh I'm in such tears ... this is the most awesome story ... thank God for you ... thank God for folks like you ... who truly "Pay It Forward" and expect nothing in return! May God bless you always!

Wow, what a story! Isnt it odd how a small thing that you do can make such a difference in someone's life.

I had something similar happen to me. When I was young, I lived on the wrong side of the tracks, we were on food stamps. I ran with a pretty nasty crowd...I was the only one not to be PG before we got out of HS and one of my friends became a hooker with the motorcycle gang The Outlaws.

I was in 7th grade when a teacher pulled me aside and told me that I was the smartest kid in the class and that I could go to college to become a doctor IF I wanted but I would have to quit running with the crowd I was running with. I went home and told my mother that I was going to college to become a Doctor. She told me "I cant even feed you what makes you think I can pay for college. Get that stupid idea out of your head and tell that batty teacher to mind her own business." (Dont think badly of my mother she was just relating her experience.)

Well I thought about what that teacher said late into the night. I know my mother meant well that I shouldnt get my hopes up and I should look at the reality of the situation. My mother was one of twelve and the only one to graduate from HS. NOBODY on my mother's side or in my father's family had ever even attended college no matter received an advanced degree.

Fifteen years later, when I graduated from chiropractic school with my Doctorate, my mother cried and said, You said you were going to do this when you were just a kid. I cant believe you could make it happen by sheer willpower but you did.

Three of my four brothers and sisters have college degrees.

I still volunteer for programming to provide educational resources to disadvantaged women. I will pay this back until the day I die because that one woman took fifteen minutes to talk to some lost kid and that changed my life forever.

What a blessing to me to read these stories. We are blessed and need to pass it on in whatever way we can.

I like the idea of Random acts of Kindness, as Oprah often calls it.

I go to ALDI grocery store where we need to put 25C in to get the cart for shopping. When I come out of the store, I always look for someone to give my cart on to and refuse their quarter. I suggest that they pass on a random act of kindness and give the cart to someone else - without accepting a quarter for it.

In over 5 years of doing this, I have yet to have someone return the act of kindness, so I am assuming quarters are hard to part with. But it makes me feel good, just as much as donating a quilt to a charity.

Kindness never hurts us! We are blessed!
June

You will get your reward ... and it will be much greater than you can ever imagine ...

God bless you honey!

Wow, such awesome stories everyone, it just goes to show you how one little act really can quite literally change someone's life. This just makes me want to do even more of this. Thank you so much for the inspiration!!!

Rachel

I absolutely love that movie. I watch it every time it's on.

RAK = Random Act of Kindness

OMG!!!!!!

What an absolutely wonderful, beautiful thing to have happen!!!

When we do something for a stranger, we never really expect to ever see them again. I would have loved to been a little mouse in the corner watching such an awesome event take place.

This isn't nearly as touching as some of these stories, but I want to share anyway.
I went into Hardee's one day and the girl waiting on me was new. She was slow, had to ask a lot of questions of her co-workers, etc, and kept apologizing to me. I told her several times not to worry about it....that we all had to learn new things all the time. I was very patient with her and kept telling her it was ok.
Several months later, I was at Hardee's again and was waited on by another new person (I assumed). I guess I wasn't in such a generous mood that day and was getting visibly irritated at the young person waiting on me.
Out of the sidelines came a young lady that touched my arm and said...."you were so nice to me when I first started. Don't get upset, she's new too."
It made me feel good that the way I treated her was appreciated by her, but it also knocked me down a peg that I was so visibly irritated and impatient.
Carol B

Thank God for folks like you folks i nearly cried reading all of these a little act of kindness never hurts no one you all have made my evening no matter how great or how small he knows. Blessings(:)

I live in the Kansas City Area and on Fox 4 t.v. they have a spot on pay it forward and they give $300.00 dollars to some deserving person that a friend nominates. It is very touching to see the reaction on the persons face when they are rewarded for good deeds they have done for other people

i just love everyone's stories. it is great to hear all of these inspirational stories from around the country!! keep em coming!! i also love that even patience is being paid forward!!

"Pay it Forward" is one of my favorite movies! I try to do at least one random act of kindness each day.Sometimes, it is as simple as holding a door for a person with their hands full or returning a cart in the parking for someone along with my own.
I have rewired my brain to look for little opportunities.

Another little fun thing to do is just smile at everyone you see for one day! It is interesting to see the reactions of others. This made an interesting college paper.

Go rent this movie....You won't regret it!

Just thought of another one I do. I drive on a very, very busy one lane road on the way home, so people on the side streets always have a hard time turning left because the direction I am going is always packed, even if the other direction is not. As I am driving I specifically look for people waiting to turn and I will stop and let them go. Sometimes I let 5-6 different people go (in different spots along the road) in one drive! I know it may tick off the guy behind me, but I feel like if I do it for one person, they may then go and do it for someone else if they are driving on a busy road.

Rachel

right

There are big and small ways to "Pay it Forward."

I try to make conversation with people who work in stores. A small conversation that humanizes the person taking my money may make their day easier and may put a smile on the face of the next person to come through their lane. Easy for me to do.

I make it a practice to let people go before me if they're trying to get out on a busy road. A small courtesy they may pass on.

I always say thank you when someone does something nice for me, perhaps holding a door open for me. That thank you can be encouraging so they continue to do nice things for others.

My large "Pay it forward" is raising and training service dog puppies. My Rocco is ready to leave me and go to his forever home as a companion to a young man who is pretty much homebound due to cerebral palsy. Rocco will learn to bond with him like he does with me and want to be right there, touching him if possible. I'll cry when he leaves because I love him, but this young man needs him, and I just want him. And I'll eventually raise another puppy for someone else. It will be a good life for Rocco because he'll have a person focused on him, someone worthy of his unconditional love.

I MAKE CROCHETED DOILIES AND SEND THEM TO PEOPLE IN OUR TOWN WITH A NOTE WISHING THEM A GOOD DAY AND ASKING GOD TO BLESS THEM. PEOPLE ARE VERY SURPRISED THAT I WOULD THINK OF THEM AS THEY ARE NOT CLOSE FRIENDS OF MINE, JUST PEOPLE I PICK AT RANDOM TO TOUCH THEIR LIVES IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

One year, I paid a friend to make those crocheted doilies that have someone's name in them... Like "SMITH" in crocheted thread. I asked for 2, but for some reason the wires got crossed and she made three. I didn't know anyone else that had that last name (except the people I had ordered them for), so I randomly choose someone from the phone book with the same last name and mailed it to them with a note, that it was an extra and Merry Christmas. I didn't put my name or return address on it. But I would have loved to have seen their faces when they opened it.

Others have been so kind to me during my lifetime....too many ways to mention all of them.

We've done it several times, but the one that stands out most in my mind is when we went to a local dinner that advertises that kids under 12 eat for free with an adult meal purchase. I'm one of those crotchety old women that groans when we go to restaurants and they seat people with children next to me. Seems that most people these days think it's cute when their children run wild and are smart mouthed and loud. So I groaned when they seated a woman and her three girls at the table next to us. To my surprise, they were awesome! The woman helped her children color the placemats...talked quietly with them. We couldn't help but to over hear the oldest girl say, "This is fun Mommy! Can we do it again next week?" and the mom quietly replied, "No honey, I'm sorry...this is a special treat, and we won't be able to do it again for quite awhile". The little girl accepted that with no comment...and William and I just looked at each other...he raised an eyebrow, and I nodded. When we finished our meal and went to pay, he paid their tab at the same time, and added a piece of pie for each of them.
I guess in a way, it was paying her back for doing such a good job of raising her children and doing her best to make them respect the others that were close by. :) We left the place before mom knew we had done it.

That's wonderful Charlee ... :)

Imagine how sweet the world would be if we were all recipients of Random Acts of Kindness. Another thought I've had over and over: When you are driving in your car use your blinker, it can be contagious (remember I live in SoCal ! ;-)