Category: Uncategorized

Quilt 423

A few weeks ago, Uta Lenk, 70273 Project Ambassador for Germany, messaged me to see where we are and what’s going on with The 70273 Project now. She was putting together a presentation for the German Patchwork Guilde annual meeting (now online, of course), and she thought people would like an update. I thought y’all might like an update, too.

As you may remember from our fourth anniversary post, we exceeded our goal before our fourth year mark. Congratulations to us, and thank you to all!

However, we’re not done yet, and I need help., so perhaps you’d be willing to raise your hand to help in one of the following areas:

DATA ANGELS

Peggy Thomas, Fearless Leader of the Data Angels and Gladys Loewen, Amazing Wind Beneath her Wings have generously offered to head up the Data Angels, and they need volunteers to take information from the Provenance forms and enter it into Excel spreadsheets that will be sent back to them and merged into what will eventually be an online searchable database where Makers, Quilters, Piecers, Finishers, and  anybody else who’s interested can find which quilts their blocks are in and where in the world those quilts are on any given day. Dedications made will also be in this database, along with the dimensions and number of lives commemorated for each quilt. The only information you will not find in the database is anything about those who chose to remain anonymous, so if you ticked the anonymous box, don’t worry: you will not be spotted anywhere.

The work you do as a Data Angel makes it possible for exhibit curators to select the quilts they’d like to put on display (saving The Engineer and me an inordinate amount of time!), and we’ll have a complete catalogue of quilts to hand over with the quilts when a museum or other organization expresses interest in becoming the project’s permanent custodian/guardian.

So, if you’ve always dreamed of earning your angel wings; if you know your way around an Excel spreadsheet; if you have dependable teens or college students at home now who need something to do; and  if you can find some spare time under the seat cushions of your life, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Peggy and Gladys who will get you set up and going.

LABELETTES AND SLEEVERS PLUS A COORDINATOR OR TWO

I worked with a volunteer for a couple of months, trying to figure out a way to create a DIY fill-in-the-blanks label form that could be completed, emailed, printed on fabric for labels, and merged into a Quilt Database, but alas, we just couldn’t make it work. I do have, however, two wonderful volunteers who have agreed to take the information I send them and create the labels then email them back to me for printing on fabric. Once they’re up and running, they may want some help, so stay tuned for notices about that.

Once the labels are printed on fabric, I need people with feet-on-the-ground in the Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Newnan, Georgia area to take quilts and sew the labels on and amend or add sleeves as needed. I have figured out a no-contact hand-off system that keeps us 6-feet apart, and the hand-off takes place in a parking lot (yet to be determined).  Once the batch of quilts is completed, the batch will be returned on the appointed date and time and another batch of quilts in need of labels and sleeves can be picked up. You get the idea.

As quilts come in, I check them in and use the handy-dandy form I created to tag them with the quilt number and what special attention they need. Once this gets rolling, I will need 1 or 2 people who live in this area to agree to coordinate the effort to find volunteers to take quilts to sew on labels and sleeves. If you read this and are willing to coordinate or take quilts home to sew on labels and amend/add sleeves, let me know.

STILL NEED PIECERS AND QUILTERS

Yes, we really do! There are still bundles of blocks needing someone to turn them into quilt tops or finished quilts. If you’re willing, you can leave a comment at the bottom of this post or here’s how to let me know via email.

WHAT KEEPS ME BUSY

Lest you think I’m shirking my duties in favor of eating bonbons in front of the television, here’s what I’m working on:

~ Creating an online gallery for each exhibit, with photos of the exhibit; a list of quilts in the exhibit; general photos from the exhibit; scanned copies of exhibit signage and informational materials; pertinent information about the exhibit; etc.

~ A page for each quilt containing photos, a copy of the label, stories gathered, and a list of each exhibit the quilt has been displayed in with a link to that gallery section.

~ Scanning and filing mountains of paperwork related to The 70273 Project.

~ Preparing the information for Data Angel Coordinators and Labelette Leaders.

~ Checking in the quilts and tagging them with what needs to be done.

~ Answering emails, as eyes permit.

~ Talking to groups of quilters, disability special interest groups, students, and college classes in our zoom meeting room. I LOVE doing this. If you’re interested, let me know in the comments below or send me an email. All I ask is that your group make a donation to The 70273 Project to help cover costs of things like the special (and costly) fabric we print the labels on; postage; boxes and shipping tape; QR code’s that will be assigned and attached to each individual quilt, and other supplies.

~ I’m also gathering stories via written or online interviews. These interviews will go into the archive for each quilt, and I’m developing audio recordings of information for each quilt that can be used  at exhibits when the world does – and it will, eventually – open up. If you’re wiling to be interviewed, let me know. I can email you questions or we can chat. Your choice.

You get the idea – there’s still much to do before we sleep, and I’d sure like for us to get this done by our fifth anniversary on February 14, 2021. Or, said the European way: 14 February 2021. With your help, we can do it.

Thank you for making this amazing project happen in the first place, and for taking it to the next level by helping create the searchable database, attach the labels, and create the information and story archive for each quilt. For more info and to stay in touch, join us around the FAcebook group campfire or like our Facebook page.

We exceeded our goal  – THANK Y’ALL – and  there’s still much to do. Please read over our Help Needed opportunities, and let me know how you, your organization, your guild, your family, your friends are willing to help.

Piecers and Quilters

Peggy Thomas, Angel Leader,  has many bundles of blocks  ready to send to people willing to piece and/or quilt. If you’re willing to take one or more bundles, let me know 
~ how many bundles you’re willing to receive
~ whether you want to piece and quilt or just piece
and
~ where Peggy should send them (a.k.a. your mailing address).

Data Angels

Remember that online searchable database that will tell you where in the world your commemorations and quilts are on any given day? Well, it’s time to get it up and running, and step one is getting more Data Angels to enter the information in the database. If you know you way around a spreadsheet, are fluent in Excel (PC) or Numbers (Mac), and are willing to lend a hand entering the information from the comfort of your own space, let me know and send me:
~ your email address
~ what type of computer you use
~ whether or not you know how to use Dropbox.

L to R, Front to Back: Helper Angels Peggy Thomas, Kim Mashburn, Meera Sarin, and Patty Gullick at the Peachtree City, GA Library 20 Feb 2019

Hands-On Angels

If you live anywhere near Peachtree City, Georgia and are willing to spend some time at the Peachtree City Library every now and then doing non-sewing tasks like putting number tags on blocks or sorting the blocks into bundles, let me know, and I’ll pass your name along to Patty Gullick, our Helper Angels Leader so she can make sure you know next time she schedules a Project Work Day.

We will soon need volunteers to help Laurel Alford, Leader of Labels Angels to sew on the official project labels. If you’re willing to show up and spend some time at the Peachtree City Library sewing labels onto quilts and/or take some quilts and labels home to work on, let me know.

WIP Angels

If you are working on blocks or quilts made by you or your group and if you are Piecing and Quilting a bundle of blocks Peggy sent you before now, we need to get those back to Heartquarters so we can get them checked-in, create and attach the labels, and enter everything in the database. Here are the deadlines:
~ Blocks need to be received by July 31, 2019.
~ Tops from Bundles sent to you before now need to be received by July 31, 2019.
~ Quilts from Bundles sent to you before now need to be received by July 31, 2019.
~ Quilts made by you or your group need to be received by July 31, 2019.

Please be sure blocks and quilts follow the guidelines, as always.

If you volunteer to have Peggy send you some bundles and turn them into quilts,  those quilts need to be received by October 31, 2019.

If your organization, school, college, university, guild, or other group wants Jeanne to do a presentation and host a block drive on site, that is absolutely still possible. Just let me know.

Thank you for continuing to help make The 70273 Project happen. There’s much news to come, so be sure you don’t miss anything by getting blog posts and the newsletter emailed directly to you.