Wood Hollow Quilts Delivered!

We've made our first delivery of quilts! I'm so excited!!! =D The Wood Hollow fire victims, near Fairview, Utah, now have their quilts! There was a local group of women who wanted to make quilts for this fire because it was their neighbors that were affected by it, so all they needed from us were three quilts!!! What AWESOME women they are!!! They worked so fast!!! =D I'm sure the recipients of these quilts will feel much comfort from this sweet gift of a quilt made with love!!!

As you can see, we've added a "Donate" button to our blog so you can donate directly to Phoenix Quilts through PayPal! This should make things much easier for everyone wanting to donate! Any amount you are willing to donate will certainly help us with reaching our goals!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU'RE DOING!!! =D

We have also set up an account at Wells Fargo Bank under the name "Phoenix Quilts." You can go into any Wells Fargo branch across the country to make a donation into the "Phoenix Quilts" account. Again, thank you for your support for these people who have lost a home to these terrible wildfires!

FYI: Any money donated to Phoenix Quilts will NOT be going directly to the people who have lost their homes. It will be used to buy quilt supplies (mostly batting and backs for quilts) and other expenses in making and distributing these quilts.

Our next group of quilts will be going to help those affected by the Charlotte fire near Pocatello, ID. We'll be going there August 8th and 9th. Then it's on to Colorado the following week!!! We, obviously, need a LOT more quilts to be able to deliver to those locations by then!!! I have had MANY people ask what size quilts we need most - we will still accept anything you are willing to donate, but we really need lap-sized quilts to be able to give one to each family!

Oh how grateful we are for your generosity! I wish I could personally give each one of you a hug! Please continue helping us spread the word! And keep on quiltin'!!! Things are getting so EXCITING around here!!! =D

Hugs!!!

I'm All Caught Up . . . Almost!

All the quilts received so far are sorted! Everything has been logged into the database! We're working on getting names and contact information for those who lost their homes in these fires! Everyone has finally been notified (thanks for your patience!) that I have received their package! Except for three - if your name is one of these please contact me! I can't find your e-mail address from the information I have on the box! *** Killefer, Sherri Raymos, and Carmen Wyant *** Thanks! :o)

I was going to tell you all about my exciting weekend, but I still have to take pics of the quilts we made. Oh yeah, plus get pictures of the other 143 quilts I've received so far! I've worked 14 hours on Phoenix Quilts stuff today so I'm going to go to bed now and be ready for a great post tomorrow and LOTS of picture taking! :o)

By the way, if you haven't checked out our other blog yet go to http://PhoenixQuilts.blogspot.com and see what's going on!  Become a follower and enter your e-mail to stay up-to-date on how things are progressing!  I'll only be posting information about the fires and quilt drive on my quilt blog for a little while longer so go sign up before you forget and it's too late!  :o) 

Thank you for all you're doing!  Please keep spreading the word!  We need a LOT more quilts to reach our goal!

Yawn . . .

New Name for Operation Wood Hollow

Thanks for being so patient with me while I've been gone!  It's been an AMAZING few days!!!  I'll write a post tomorrow about my exciting weekend, but in the meantime, please go HERE to see what our new name is!  Check out the new blog and please give me suggestions on changes or additions!  Just remember . . . it's a work in progress right now so please go easy on me!  :o)  Be sure you become a follower and enter your e-mail on the new blog to receive updates on all that we're doing with this project!  :o)  It's soooooo EXCITING!!!  =D

THANK YOU to all of you who have sent in donations!!!  Each box I opened and note I read got me teary-eyed because of your generosity!!!  You are all so INCREDIBLE!!! 

By the way, I'm still trying to catch up on all the e-mails I've received while I was gone!  Please give me a couple of days to let you know that your donation has arrived here safe and sound, and to answer the questions you've sent in!  :o)

Hugs!

I'll Be Back . . .

Hey everyone!  I'll be out of town until the beginning of next week.  For some reason I can read my e-mails but I can't reply to them! Ugh!!!  So I'll have to reply to your blog comments or e-mails Monday-ish of next week!  Sorry!   :/   Please don't give up on me!!!

I can't wait to tell you what we're doing this weekend concerning the quilts, but I don't want to until I have some pictures to go along with the story!  =D  More changes are coming Monday-ish . . . so stay tuned!!!

By the way, I have received 70 quilts so far!!!  YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!  Now we only have about 700-800 to go (depending on how much worse this fire season gets)!  =D  Please keep spreading the word and sending in those quilts!  Thank you so much for all you're doing!!! 

Hugs!

big . . . Big . . . BIG . . . Changes to Operation Wood Hollow

You are all so FANTABULOUS (yes, that's a word)!!!  :o)

Operation Wood Hollow has had so many quilts donated to it!!!  :o)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!  :o)

So, here are the BIG changes . . .

First of all, we're going to need to change the name from Operation Wood Hollow to something else (any suggestions???) and here's why . . . Because Operation Wood Hollow has had so many quilts donated to it, my husband and I have decided that we are going to go REALLY BIG with this and help people who have lost their homes to other fires as well -- especially the Waldo Canyon fire (Colorado Springs) and the High Park fire (Ft. Collins) -- and try to give them some comfort by giving them a quilt full of love, too!  I'm obviously going to need a LOT of quilts to do this, but I think it will be well worth the effort to help someone who has lost everything!  As long as I have quilts to give, I'll be spending this summer driving to those who have been affected by all the different fires in the Western United States to show them that people (especially TOTALLY AWESOME QUILTERS!) really care about what they're going through!  :o)

Large Incident: A wildfire of 100 acres or more occuring in timber, or a wildfire of 300 acres or more occuring in grass/sage. Wildland Fire: Any nonstructure fire, other than prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland Wildland Fire - IMT1: Wildland fire; Type 1 Incident Management Team Assigned. Wildland Fire - IMT2: Wildland fire; Type 2 Incident Management Team Assigned.

On this map, the red and blue dots are the fires that give me the most concern.  I just did some research (don't quote me on this!) and there have been approximately 656 homes burned so far!  So . . . if there are any of you out there that wanted to donate a quilt, but thought it wasn't needed any more, IT IS!!!  More than ever!!!

We are researching how to turn this idea into a non-profit organization so we can help people in this way every year, but we don't have time with this fire season to wait for that!  Will you help me by continuing to send in quilts while we get this officially set up??? 

Kayde Dexter wrote this on the My Lazy Daisy Blog:  "You have no idea how much that quilt will mean to them. My house burned four years ago, and while we sat there watching the firemen do their thing a good friend stopped by and gave me a little lap quilt. That quilt means the world to me and brought a lot of comfort in a time of need."

I am so grateful for each of you that have contributed to this cause!  I know the recipients of your kindness will be as well . . .

Hugs!

Operation Wood Hollow

Well it turns out we weren't needed to help any evacuees with housing or food.  They all had family or friends they could go to.  The last report we have is that the fire is now 39,000 acres, over 300 homes have been evacuated, and 29 homes have burned.  One of those homes belong to some dear friends of ours, Dave and Janice Taylor.  This is a picture of what is left of their home.

Dave is our city planner.  I worked countless hours with him when I was on the city council.  He and his wife were helping others evacuate to safety so they weren't able to get anything out of their own home.  All they have now are the clothes on their backs.

That's why I was up most of the night sewing.  I can't even begin to imagine the heartache they are feeling right now with having lost everything!  I decided the only way I can help them start to rebuild their lives is by giving them a quilt.  I know it's a little warm right now for a quilt, but it's the only way I know of to show them how much I love them and care about what they are going through right now.  So so sad.

While I was sewing I had a lot of time to think.  I know this may sound crazy, but I'm going to try I'm going to get 29 quilts for these families who have lost everything!  Will you help me???  I'm going to call this "Operation Wood Hollow" (that's the name of the fire)!  If there are any "Quilty Friends" out there who would be willing to donate fabric, extra quilt blocks, quilt tops, or completed quilts, I would LOVE it if you would be willing to help!  Maybe this is too much to ask . . . I don't even personally know you . . . but if you'd like to join with me in this cause I would be forever grateful!  What do you think???

Please let me know if you'd like to make any kind of a donation - no matter how big or small - it would all be appreciated so much!  If you would be willing to share this on your blogs or with your quilt groups that would be AWESOME!!!  Please help me spread the word about "Operation Wood Hollow!"  I know this can be done!!!  =D

Hugs!