Fellow Quilters,
I am back at my desk after a week of skiing in Vail, CO to celebrate hubby’s 50th birthday.  How exciting and humbling it was to see that 2 boxes of quilts had arrived while I was away!  Thank you to Sew Creative in Strathroy , ON for these.  Thanks also goes to:
Laurentian Quilters Guild in St. Sauveur, QC
Leslie White of Deep River, ON
Companion Quilters
Robin Petty of Burlington, ON
Morag-Orr Stevens of Gabriola Island, BC
Quilters Dream in Burlington, ON
Helen Hubert and her guild in Caledonia, ON

There has been quite a bit of confusion in the past 2 weeks as to where these quilts are going, so here is the latest update.  Northcott is collecting and sending quilts to Patchwork Quilting Tsushin magazine in Japan, where editor Naomi Ichikawa is distributing them through Unicef and other organizations.  Northcott had also agreed to partner with Quilts for Japan, who is sending quilts to CRASH, however Quilts for Japan has decided that they no longer wish to partner with Northcott.   Quilters interested in sending quilts to CRASH through Quilts for Japan should visit www.quiltsforjapan.ca for size and shipping details.
Northcott is accepting NEW QUILTS OF ANY SIZE, though large lap/small twin is most needed.   Our initial deadline is end April to receive the quilts, and quilters are asked to forward their quilts to Northcott’s office in Vaughan, ON   (101 Courtland Ave.  Vaughan, ON   L4K 3T5) or to their local shop if the shop is collecting and forwarding the quilts to Northcott.  Canadian company Lapel Stick has posted a wonderful downloadable label that can be included on the quilts if desired (http://www.lapelstick.com/quilts-for-japan).  It is designed by Barb Round and includes inspiring words from one of Singing Quilter Cathy Miller’s songs.  Thank you to Barb, Cathy and Lapel Stick for providing this!  I will be putting the label on the 4 quilts that my little dynamo of a piecing assistant Susanne whipped up while I was on holidays.  Here is a picture of Susanne putting the borders on Quilt #3 made with the beautiful My Asian Garden collection.  And another picture of me basting Quilt #4 made with the brand spanking new Stonehenge Skins in the Colorado colourway – I love it!  I hope to quilt them this weekend if I get bored piecing another version of my king-size Stonehenge Beauty pattern for a show at the end of the month.
A final word of encouragement is from editor Naomi Ichikawa who reports “A family who escaped from the tsunami and is living temporarily at their relative’s house got a big size quilt to use as a big comforter because they want to sleep all together under the quilt.”  Please keep those quilts coming!

Tags: counter, japan, japan relief, northcott, patti carey, quilt counter, quilted, quilters, quilting, quilts