Please scroll down to view postings for the Thomas Fire. The following insert is regarding the Woolsey and Camp Fires, November 2018:
(Click here to see more quilts from this project: Gallery of Thomas For Relief Quilts)
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Dear Friends,
Thank you for your concern for our neighbors displaced by the Woolsey Fire in Malibu and the Camp Fire in northern CA. The Ventura MQG will not be spearheading a quilt relief project for the survivors of this fire, but individual members will be participating in two projects (and perhaps more to come) to bring some quilty comfort to our neighbors.
Please note I have copied the following from two Instagram/Facebook postings. Please DO NOT contact Ventura MQG regarding these projects, and DO NOT send quilts for this project to us.
Information on two current projects:
sewingarts
Today’s Daily Delivery….First and foremost our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the recent fires. We here at Sewing Arts would like to help those who have been affected and let them know that we as a community care and wish to help. If you would be willing to help, come to the store, pick out any precut (jelly roll or layer cake) buy it for 50% off. Then, go make a quilt top, the top must be a crib size or larger. Bring back the finished top back by December 31. We will finish the quilts (batting, backing and quilting) and donate them to the victims of the fires. You must use the precut that you purchased and we will have a stack of free patterns for inspiration.
As a thank you for your participation in this effort you can pick out ANY jelly roll or layer cake of your choice FREE when you bring the quilt top back for us to finish and donate. . www.SewingArts.com
If you are not local to Southern California and want to contribute, Robert Kaufman is running a quilt drive from now through the end of the year. If you send a finished quilt (baby/throw or larger) to:
Robert Kaufman, attn: Elisabeth Hardy, 129 W. 132nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90061 and include your name and address with the quilt, we will send you a thank you gift, and will make sure the quilts get into the hands of those who are affected by these fires. #quiltsforCA , @robertkaufmanfabrics
Regards,
Georganna Hawley
Ventura MQG Communications
thomasfirequilts@
The Ventura Modern Quilt Guild and superbuzzy have partnered to create quilts for those affected by the Thomas Fire. We have requested help from quilters all over the world and the response has been overwhelming! As of mid-November, 2018 we have given out over 1050 quilts to those left homeless by the Thomas Fire and mudslides in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Keep reading below to learn more about this wonderful project.
Dear Wonderful Donors to the Thomas Fire Relief Quilt Project:
We are nearing completion of the sewing portion of this project. Thank you for your amazing support for this monumental effort. PLEASE note we can no longer accept fabric, blocks or tops. We have no means to store these items. If you have FINISHED quilts, these are gratefully accepted and immediately distributed. Thank you again for your efforts.
NO DATE SET FOR THE PROJECT DEADLINE
Thank you so very much for you contributions to this enormous task. We could not have responded to this tragedy without you. Please send finished quilts as soon as you have them completed. We still have many unfulfilled requests, so we will be distributing them as soon as they are received. If you have not completed the quilt you intended to send to us for the Thomas Fire survivors, might we suggest contacting your local quilt guild’s philanthropy chair? Again, thank you for your generous and heartfelt efforts on behalf of our unfortunate neighbors.
Please ship finished quilts to Thomas Fire Project, c/o superbuzzy, 1794 E Main St., Ventura, CA 93001
PROJECT UPDATES
December 4, 2018-February 2019
The Museum of Ventura County Agriculture Museum https://venturamuseum.org/visit-agriculture-museum/ will curate an exhibit about the community response to the Thomas Fire, and Ventura MQG will be a featured part of the exhibit. We are very honored and proud to be asked to participate. Please come to Santa Paula to see us!
September 22
Although we have discontinued Pop Up distribution events, we are still finding folks who have not gotten quilts. We are now getting their quilts to them individually. Stacey is hard at work contacting those who have requested quilts, and making appointments to let them choose their beautiful quilts. Current total: 1057 quilts logged into our system!
Here are some of the recent happy recipients.
July 28
Sadly, we believe this was our last open Pop Up for the project. We are happy to log in quilt # 1001! That’s a lot of quilts… We had a great turnout of guild members to help and many, many folks came to choose a quilt. Our rough count on Saturday was 135 quilts, plus dozens of pillowcases (we had way too many to count). We are still getting requests for quilts and are fulfilling those individually. Please contact thomasfirequilts@venturamodernquiltguild.com or click on “contact us” and we will get back to you on where to come to pick yours up. If you have already gotten your quilts, please don’t ask for more as we still have outstanding original requests.
June 16
Another wonderful Pop Up distribution, this time at El Montecito Presbyterian Church in Montecito. Many of the people who came to choose a quilt were survivors of the January mudslides.
Thanks to El Montecito for hosting!
April 27
We joined a Pop Up hosted by Help of Ojai. We had a great time and gave out 169 beautiful quilts. The quilts go so fast we barely have time to open them up and show them off before they are hugged and loved and whisked home.
And we get lovely “thank yous” too:
Thank you so much for my beautiful quilts!! They make my little apartment feel like home!
You folks are so thoughtful to go to all this work – these quilts are all so wonderful. Especially the darling children’s quilts – I know some children are going to bed happy tonight!!
Thanks again!
Sharon
April 13-15
Camarillo Quilters Assn invited the Thomas Fire Relief Quilt Project to have a booth at their show, “Quilting By The Sea”, this weekend.
We had a great time and are so happy that donors came to drop off tops and finished quilts.
Thank you CQA and each of you that are working so hard to get these quilts to our Ventura and Santa Barbara neighbors.
Want to see more quilts? Click on Gallery of Thomas Fire Quilts
You can see dozens of Thomas Fire block layout variations designed by quilters from all over the world
On Sunday, April 15 we took quilts to a Thomas Fire Survivors BBQ at Summit School in Upper Ojai. We had scarcely unloaded the car before all the quilts were chosen!
Totally Local VC Pop Up Store at Ventura Mission
We distributed 194 quilts at this one event. Later, Girl Scout families came to pick put their quilts. We are stocking up for the next Pop Up, so we are having Saturday Sew Ins every week in March and April to get hundreds of requests filled.
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- Totally Local VC Pop Up event
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- Happy families choosing their quilts
Quilt Con 2018
What an extraordinary four days we had at Quilt Con. So many friends stopped by to leave blocks, tops and finished quilts. Thank you to all our generous donors and especially to Quilt Con 2018. Now we need to sit down at our machines and get these quilts ready to give to our neighbors in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
February Sew Ins
Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse’s Assn. was kind enough to give us Sew In space for the first three weekends in February. Feb 22-25 we are at Quilt Con to work in our Thomas Fire booth #923).
This block continues to surprise us with how many ways it can be arranged. We are going to have to publish a book! Hmmmm…….
January 28
Two more newbie long arm quilters rock the Thomas Fire Quilt Project!
January 27 Sew In
Very productive day. We got 78 more quilts ready to distribute. Wow! Two batches of quilts are to be distributed out to victims this week.
Happy Day!
The first batch of quilts delivered to the Children’s Auxiliary
January 7, Day Two Quilty Pleasures Sew In
The 40 tops from yesterday, plus 12 more got their backs, binding, and batting cut so they are now ready to quilt. We have about 100 more Thomas Fire Perkiomen blocks ready to be assembled into tops. Oh! And yet another wonderful quilter brought us three more FINISHED quilts. We a great time. Thank you Angie and your whole crew. You made it a wonderful two days.
January 6 Quilty Pleasures Sew In
We assembled 40 tops, collected 2 finished quilts, and completed 143 more Thomas Fire Perkiomen Valley blocks! We will keep going tomorrow 10 am to 5 pm
December 30 Cutting Party
Thomas Fire Relief Quilt Project Background
On December 4, 2017 the Thomas Fire began to devastate Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. As of January 8, 2018 it was still burning. On January 8 it also began to rain, and mudslides and debris flows began in Montecito, cutting it off from both north and south. As of January 18 more than 30 people have lost their lives, and hundreds more have lost their homes.
Soon after the Thomas Fire took over 750 homes in Ventura County, Scott Griffin, Ventura MQG VP, (https://keptinstitches.org) and Kelly Stevens,Ventura MQG founding member and owner of superbuzzy, each began projects to bring comfort and loving warmth to the fire victims. As the fire spread northwards, these efforts were coordinated to answer the quilty needs of victims in both Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
Scott designed a block based on the Perkiomen Valley block, Greg Palmer created the graphics (pattern, instructions and shipping info on our home page), and we published an appeal for help in making blocks for quilts for the fire victims. We were not prepared for tremendous the outpouring of love and support we have gotten. Quilt guilds and individuals from all over the US and 7 countries began making blocks, and sending us fabric, tops and finished quilts. To date, we have had more then 600 donations from individuals, businesses and guilds. We are truly blessed to have so many friends.
www.superbuzzy.com/help-the-thomas-fire-victims.htm
www.superbuzzy.com/quilts-from-the-ashes-thomas-fire-donors.htm