Cranes for Hope

The president of my local quilt guild, Laurie Gustafson, is creating a quilt to raise funds for disaster relief in Japan. Late last week, she put out a call for help in creating blocks for the quilt. She got permission to use a paper pieced crane design by Margaret Rolfe and provided background fabric with the pattern. She asked volunteers to use those to create the blocks using Asian fabrics from their own stash.

Such a simple thing. I decided that I really wanted to be a part of it. Last night I made two blocks:


The blocks will be made into a quilt this weekend (at the guild's spring retreat). I think this quilt is going to be amazing!

And by donating to Red Cross or World Vision, you can earn a chance to win this quilt!!! Here's how (in Laurie's own words):

Now for the fundraising portion of the project, in lieu of selling actual tickets, people can either send me checks made out to the Red Cross, or World Vision (Laurie Gustafson c/o Stray Threads PO Box 881, Woodinville, WA 98072), I will forward them to the charities, and for every $5 donated their name will be added to the drawing. For those that would prefer to donate online, just forward the confirmation of the donation to this address lauriescranesforhope@gmail.com and again for every $5 their name will be added to the drawing.

I'm just in awe of how quickly she put all of this together. A project like this is no small thing.

Whether is it through this fundraiser or one of the myriad of other opportunities out there right now, I encourage you to help aid in Japan's recovery efforts. We really can make a difference!