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Meet Quilt 423

May 2, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's is displayed beside a waterfall

Allow me to introduce Quilt 423 of The 70273 Project.

a box made from a carton of drinks sits atop a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

As one who once taught book and box making workshops, I chortled gleefully when Miss 423 arrived in her own handmade chariot, complete with a (still-uncompleted) subtraction worksheet turned protection flap! The box is made by the same creative hands that picked up the quilt top last year at the Minnesota Quilt Show and finished it into this quilt: Rhende Hagemeister, a woman who’s as much fun as she is talented.

“The tears flowed most of the time. I thought about each pair of red XX’s and vowed to honor each one – their names, their families, their lives – blowing in the wind for us to remember and honor. They spoke to me.” ~ Rhende Hagemeister

a white quilt coverd with a varity of pairs of red X's

The knowledgeable and talented one named Teddy Pruett pieced #423 who measures 38.75” wide by 60” high and commemorates 47 souls. Data Angels from around the world are busy entering information on each block and quilt, and as soon as they’re done (and there are several backups of the . . . landscape-oriented table cause the word “spreadsheet” sends me into a fetal position in a dark room!), I’ll be back to tell you who all has a block in this beauty. For now, enjoy the photos (especially the one of the front that’s being held up by The Engineer in what I’ve come to call The Steve Maneuver, named after Kim Monins’ husband who held up many, many quilts throughout Jersey, Channel Islands (U.K.) and help me thank Teddy, Rhende, and all the as yet unidentified Makers for their contribution to The 70273 Project. And hey, if you’re willing to become a Data Angel, let me know. It’s something you can do from the comfort of your own computer anywhere in the world.

If you live in the Minnesota vicinity, mark your calendars ’cause The 70273 Project, The Engineer, and I will be back at the Minnesota Quilt Show in Rochester this year. See the calendar for details. There will be many quilts that were touched by hands from Minnesota on display for the first time this year, so be sure to stop by and see them and let me call you “Sugar” to your face.

~~~~~~~

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The 70273 Project on Exhibit at the University of Central Missouri till August 2019

April 23, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

two men and a woman stand in front of a projected image

University of Central Missouri President Roger Best, Ph.D. and Provost, Mike Godard, Ph.D. welcome Jeanne to campus

4/25/2019 GOOD NEWS UPDATE: The response to the exhibit in the McClure Archives and University Library on the Campus of the University of Central Missouri has been so successful, the exhibit has been extended through December 31, 2019! If you’d like to take your group (think class, guild, organization, family), let me know or contact Dr. Clifford-Napoleone at the museum directly. And now we return to our blog post, currently in progress . . .

One month and 27 days after being sworn in as the 16th President of University of Central Missouri, Roger Best, Ph.D. appeared before me during mic check, introduced himself, and when I thanked him for stopping by to introduce himself, assured me he was staying for my presentation. And he did. The theme of Best’s inaugural address was “milestones” (something the University of Central Missouri enjoys a lot of). Important note and hint: His wife is a quilter. I look forward to meeting her when I’m back on campus in August.

two women stand in front of a glass display case filled with white quilts covered with pairs of red X's

Jeanne and Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone, Ph.D., Director of McClure Archives and University Museum in front of a large display case filled with quilts of The 70273 Project

Thanks to the efforts of Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone, Ph.D., the Mules (I LOVE their mascot) of Central Missouri have yet another milestone for their history book. More than a year ago, Dr. Clifford-Napoleone, Quilter and Director of The McClure Archives and University Museum, asked to host an exhibit of The 70273 Project quilts, and so, as of March 29, 2019, The McClure Archives and University Museum is home to the first exhibit of The 70273 Project on a college campus as well as the largest (more than 100 quilts on display) and longest-running (March to August 2019) exhibit of The 70273 Project to date.

Jeanne with The 70273 Projecteteers Anne Bolin Street, Shari Gilliam, Veronica Johnson, Becky Collis, Becky’s grandchildren Averi and Cassia, and Denniele Bohannon

Jeanne and Becky Collis with her granddaughters, Averi and Cassia. The girls are ticklish. Ask me how I know.

Besides President Best, Godard, and Clifford-Napoleone, the Dean, various organizational chairs, students, professors, citizens who work with Veterans, local quilters, and community leaders filled the room. Aaaannnnddd, some 70273 Projecteteers came and sat on the front row! It was great fun to call these Tribe members “Sugar” to their face.

My presentation kicked off Politics and Social Justice Week and the opening of The 70273 Project Exhibit. Due to my eye problems (that have since been diagnosed), my daughter Alison went with me to be my eyes. She recorded this video of my presentation with no tripod! It’s been almost a month, and her arms are still shaking, so yes, I’m getting a tripod before my next presentation.

Alison won bonus points with the rest of the family for catching me in this visual short joke.

Fantastic questions followed my presentation, and after 25 minutes, the Q and A session had to be cut off because (a) I’d assigned homework to a lot of people that was due immediately following the presentation and (b) there were refreshments waiting down the hall.

6 when line the stairs. Painted on the riser to each step is the word "welcome" in different languages.

Y’all know I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to capture a photo with my new friends on the stairs bidding visitors welcome in a variety of different languages.

After enjoying refreshments and good conversations, we walked back to The McClure for what we all came to see: the quilts on exhibit. Dr. Clifford-Napolone’s students did an outstanding job of hanging the exhibit.

open door covered with signage about the Archives and Museum and the exhibit

quilts on display, white covered with pairs of red X's

3 rows of white quilts covered with pairs of red X's

quilts on display in a glass-from display case

Minis of The 70273 Project were displayed in glass cases. Mirrors were used so that both sides of the Minis could be seen by visitors.

The exhibit is open Monday to Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm, and it’s up through the end of August, so be sure to get by there and prepare to be mesmerized.

It was an honor and a thrill to be on this beautiful campus, and I look forward to being back there in August of this year for block drives, chats, and story swapping with students, classes, and community organizations. Amber and I are doing some calendar coordinating now, so check the calendar or subscribe to the newsletterand/or the blog for details.

Thank you for having me in Missouri, y’all. It was SO much fun.

If your campus or class or organization would like to have me visit to hold a block drive, speak to classes, do a presentation, just holler.

The Eyes Have It . . . For Now

April 7, 2019 / jeanne / 1 Comment

shades used after eye dilation sewn to strips of green fabric woven together adorned with multi-colored stitches

I begin to need more light, more contrast. Then there is not enough light or contrast or magnification. I cannot read emails, magazines, menus, road signs. I notice that things seem to bend. Hard, immovable things like trees and boards on the back of trucks. Initially blaming windshields, I flick that excuse aside when realizing that every windshield in every car, truck, even the rental car I rode in at the University of Central Missouri could not be made of defective wavy glass.

Big gray shapes begin hogging the view from my left eye, making it impossible to see anything smaller than the sky. True, the shapes are interesting in form, true, I sketch them out with thoughts of stitching them One Day, but mostly they are annoying. I can’t see through or around them.

At the 6-week mark with no improvement, things become alarming.

Monday, 4/1/2019

With whispers of “in sickness and in health” tickling my ears, I celebrate the 46th anniversary of the day The Engineer and I became engaged by moving “get eyes checked” to the pole position on my substantial to do list. I begin our rare ten consecutive days at home by calling a nearby ophthalmologist I find online. As the scheduler searches for an open widow, she says, “Oh, we’ve just had a cancellation for tomorrow morning at 10:30.” I take it.

Tuesday, 4/2/2019

This morning I draw the Destroyer Oracle Card: “Releasing what is potentially destructive. Preparing for new life.”

Prepared for a diagnosis of cataracts and actually looking forward to being treated because to a person, everybody who’s had cataract surgery tells me they’ve never been able to see better. They even get to design their own vision, most choosing a lens for distance and inexpensive, over-the-counter reader glasses for reading, computer, and hobby work. I have a plan. All will be well.

Not being able to see is exhausting.

Not to mention frustrating.

The ophthalmologist doesn’t follow my script. Scans of my left eye show a lot of blood, so I am met not with a choice of replacement lenses, but with a referral to a retinal specialist. As the opthamologist’s scheduler searches for the next available appointment, she says, “Huh. There’s just been a cancellation tomorrow at 1:30.”

Shaken, I take the cancellations as a sign. The retinal specialist will scratch his head and wonder how this ophthalmologist managed to get my test results mixed up with someone else’s or come up with such a creative diagnosis.

Wednesday, 4/3/2019

This morning I draw the Beggar oracle card: “Confronts empowerment at the level of physical survival. Awakens the spiritual authority of humility, compassion, and self-esteem.”

Two years ago, I presented my daughter with a quilt top and a promise to finish it asap. Ever since, she chides me lovingly, wondering where she finds “asap” on the calendar and wondering when will she enjoy sleeping under it. Before presenting myself at the retinal specialist’s office, we purchase threads for that very quilt. I’m not being morbid, I simply resolve to amp up and bring to cloth all the images I carry around on the inside.

I go through a repeat of all the tests from the day before and some new ones at the retinal specialist’s office, and while my visual acuity is much improved in the past 24 hours. there is more blood. In the next 12 minutes, we move quickly from tests to the dreaded “wet macular degeneration” to talk of me being in a clinical trial to actually meeting with the clinical trial manager.

Unsure if the rush is because of my vision, the progression of the disease, or of getting me in the clinical trial. I leave the office with my head spinning and my heart reeling.

Thursday morning, 4/4/2019: The Day After

I wake and am able to see better than I have been in over a month. Ignoring the images I was shown yesterday, I think thoughts from the denial column like “Maybe they’re wrong” and “Maybe my eyes were just tired”. I give myself a day of slow ease, a day that quickly becomes filled with emails, phone calls, text messages. Thanks to the efforts of my brother-in-law, I get a second opinion and decided to go ahead and apply to be in the clinical trial. The screening will the place Tuesday morning, 4/9/2019.

“Your imagination is your super power.”

My friend Joyce texts me this reminder, and as we both know and have talked about before, there’s a flip side to imagination: fear. “Fear comes with imagination,” Thomas Harris writes in Red Dragon. “It’s the price of imagination.” Imagination is not entirely a benevolent creative tool. Imagination has a torturous side, cluing us into the worst that could happen. “Fear is often just the imagination taking a wrong turn,” writes Mary Ruefle in her chapbook, On Imagination. True to form, my imagination glides from denial into fearful overdrive, flapping around unchecked, frantically shouting “Sure, you can write without seeing, but how will you live if you can’t stitch?”

Cue my internal chorus

With denial and fear beginning to fade, my internal chorus warms up and begins chanting their ever-familiar refrains of “You ought to be ashamed of yourself because you know good and well that people are dealing with much worse” and admonitions to “stop that pity party right this minute.” Continuing my plan to honor what comes, I listen to the chorus then bid it shush, pointing out that I have never and will not start now using other people’s circumstances as comparisons to shore myself up and feel better about my situation. My diagnosis doesn’t diminish their pain, and I refuse to use their pain in an attempt to diminish mine.

Having ridden this beautiful rock around the sun quite a few times, I don’t throw myself a pity party, I simply take the emotions as they come. Fear. Sorrow. Embarrassment. A pinch of Pity. They come, we talk, they leave. No angst, no wallowing, and fortunately, no overstaying their welcome.

Without apology, I delve into my secret stash of chocolate. More than once.

Friday, 4/5/2019: The Day After The Day After

Knowing that things are piling up in my absence from the computer, we go into town and buy me a pair of reader glasses that I wear behind my prescription reading glasses, and while I can see somewhat better, I still struggle to make out even the enlarged words on the screen, tire quickly, and take frequent eye rest breaks. And so it continues for now.

Note: “I’m going to rest my eyes a bit,” my grandparents used to tell me. Silly me, I thought they were using code for “I’m gonna’ take a nap.”

Onward

If you are part of or wanting to become part of The 70273 Project Tribe and are waiting on quilt labels, bundles, a reply to your email, or something else, please accept my apologies for my tardiness. It’s now Sunday, 07 April 2019, and I’ve been working on this post for several days. Taking the aforementioned eye rest breaks take time, Reading a screen filled with words in 40-60 point fonts takes time, too, as there’s room for no more than 5 words on the screen at a time. That one caught me by surprise. I will get my daughter Alison to proof this (she surprised me by coming up to spend several days with me!), mash the publish button, rest my eyes, then move into the studio to begin checking in blocks and quilts. Replies to emails may have to wait till tomorrow. We’ll see.

The 70273 Project is an international endeavor, amazing in the magnitude of geography, numbers of people, and kindness. With my whole heart, I thank y’all for using your imagination as a force of good – for showing me the patience, understanding, kindness, and compassion you continue to show those we commemorate. Your good wishes comfort me, your continued petitions for healing encourage me, and stories from your personal experience fortify me.

Updates to follow, I promise.

~~~~~~~

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University of Central Missouri, Here I (Um . . . We) Come

March 21, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

woman with pewter colored hair and red heart-shaped glasses stands in front of a white quilt covered in pairs of red X's

The largest exhibit to date of The 70273 Project quilts will be on display at The McClure Archives and University Museum on the campus of University of Central Missouri from March 28 to August 24, 2019. More than 100 quilts of all sizes will be on exhibit at The McClure – including lots and lots of blocks and quilts made by residents of Missouri – making this the largest exhibit since the International Quilt Festival in November 2017. Thank you, Amber Clifford-Napoleone, Ph.D., Director of The McClure and Associate Professor of Anthropology (and she’s a quilter, too, me thinks) for making this happen.

Jeanne to Deliver Opening Lecture

On March 28 2019, I’ll deliver the opening lecture at 11 a.m. in Elliott Union 240 with a reception following at The McClure. Both are free and open to the public. If you can be there on 3/28, promise you’ll come be in the audience for the lecture and stay for the reception so I can call you “Sugar” and thank you to your face.

Hours, Directions, and Parking

The McClure is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Thursday. You can find more info on the calendar.

Elliott Union is located on the northeast corner of Holden and Clark streets, on the campus of the University of Central Missouri, approximately 50 miles east of Kansas City.

Free visitor parking is available in visitor parking lots. HERE is the link to the campus map.

Sacred Threads or Bust

March 20, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

little girl's white dress with sash sewn over a black quilt filled with colorful stitched scribbles

closeup of the white dress sewn onto a black quilt covered with colorful stitched scribbles

As many of you know, I stitch the marks of my sister-in-law Nancy in my spare time. I’m tickled to tell you that Playground of Her Soul, stitched selections from Nancy’s first five sets of drawings,was recently juried into the Sacred Threads exhibit (don’t you love the name?) and will be headed to Herndon, VA where it will be on exhibit from July 11 – 28, 2019. Do make plans to visit because it promises to be be an amazing exhibit. And let me know when you’re going ’cause if we’re there at the same time, I sure would love to call you “Sugar” to your face.

The 70273 Project Special Exhibit at Sacred Threads

There will also be a Special Exhibit of a few quilts from The 70273 Project on display there, and since it’s within spittin’ distance to Washington, D. C., please let me know if you know anybody who’s connected with the U. S. Holocaust Museum. Barbara Hollinger, Curator of Sacred Threads, had the good idea for me to invite people from the U.S. Holocaust Museum to see The 70273 Project quilts on display there and to hopefully get the ball rolling towards an exhibit at the Holocaust Museum.

Visit the calendar for more information about the Sacred Threads exhibit and more. Hint: if you click in the upper right hand corner of the page where it says “view as” and select the option for a “list view”, it makes it easier to find things. At least for me it does.

Eye Contact: Making a Connection

If you’d like to be a part of Sacred Threads, there’s still time. When The 70273 Project was a Special Exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in November 2017, Barbara Hollinger had a Special Exhibit of the most exquisite wind chimes right next door to us. We met, Barbara and I did, and as we talked about the importance of meaningful conversations, we both had a flash image of eyes. You know how it goes, we shared goosebumps and descriptions of what we were seeing in our mind’s eyes, and Barbara took that exchange home with her and made it part of this year’s Sacred Threads exhibit. If you’d like to make and send some cloth eyes, here’s how.

Help Needed

March 3, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

We exceeded our goal – THANK Y’ALL!!!

Celebrating Our Third Birthday With a Block Count Update

February 14, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

Where it all started: Block 1

Three years ago, I had a big, fat, crazy idea to commemorate the 70,273 disabled people murdered between January 1940 and August 1941 under a program called Aktion T4, Knowing I’d think myself out of it if I didn’t move quickly, I got a few things done then mashed the send button on a blog post. Here we are, three years later, with a shiny new block count update that I think is gonna’ make y’all smile real big.

When people ask me how this all got started, I tell them the truth: I planted a field of digital dreams . . . a.k.a. wrote a blog post, sent it out, and y’all came, your arms filled with love, compassion, kindness, and pairs of red X’s.

For the past three years, tens of thousands of us from 140 or more countries have come together, sharing the stories from our lives and the tears of our hearts. We have forged deep, lasting friendships that transcend cultural, geographical, and language differences and distances. We find that we have much more in common than what separates us, and we now know with absolute certainty that there is more goodness, more kindness, more compassion in every corner of the world than there is hate. We have proven that love and respect makes it possible to love and learn from those whose lives are not the same as ours. This is big, y’all. This is big.

So is our new block count.

Drum roll please . . .

I am honored to know y’all and tickled beyond words to tell you that as of today, the block count for The 70273 Project stands at . . .

72,055

You read that right: in just three years, The 70273 Project has commemorated 72,055 people. I hope you’ll take a minute to let this seep in, get your heart around it, then share your responses and reactions. I also hope you’ll know how hugely grateful I am to each and every one of you. Like I said in my first blog post about this big, fat, crazy idea: I could never do it by myself.

Here are a few pictures of the quilt that took us across the goal line:

A Middling by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers commemorating 5500 people (Better pictures to come)

Closeup of the Middling by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers

I know y’all like the back of my hand by now, and I can hear you asking these good questions:

But we’ve commemorated more than 70,273 people . . .?

I know, I know. It’s rather stunning right now, isn’t it? Here’s my answer to the question that will eventually form into coherent words: Though we don’t have a firm count, we know that there were far more than 70,273 disabled people murdered during World War II. Some estimations as high as 300,000. The reality is that I cannot store an infinite number of quilts, but for now, it’s as simple as this: we keep stitching; we keep sharing; we keep honoring.

What if I still have blocks to send? What if I haven’t finished my quilt? What if our group is planning to make a quilt?

You keep stitching and send them to me just like always. (Note: I will soon be adding a Checklist for Sending Quilts to the web site, so stay tuned for that.)

Will you continue to hold Block Drives, do presentations, attend Special Exhibits?

Oh you bet I will. I have been asked to take The 70273 Project to college campuses, museums, quilt shows, and all sorts of gatherings this year and beyond, and I continue to say “Yes!” So if your group, church, school, scout troop, organization, college or university, or most any other kind of gathering would like me to visit with quilts in hand and stories in the heart, let me know. i’m delighted to be asked and welcome the opportunity. And I’ll continue showing up with block making materials at every presentation so folks can stitch while I talk and to host block drives before and after my presentation. We’ll do just like we’ve always done: turn the blocks into a quilt bearing the name of your organization on the label.

What now? What’s next?

We’re not done yet, but today we celebrate each other, the people we commemorate, and what can happen when good people join together for a good reason. More to come, so keep your eye here on the blog so you don’t miss a thing.

Um, you promised party favors?

I sure did, and here they are. These ready-to-share-in-social-media badges were created by 70273 Project Ambassador Sarah Jespersen Lauzon, so help yourself. We have them in English, French, and German.

(On a Mac, command key, click on image, select desired destination. On a pc, right click on the image and select your desired destination.)

Here they are in English:

In French:

And in German:

Thank y’all again for rising to this monumental challenge. On we go to the next chapter.

~~~~~~~

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Shattered

January 26, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

orderly black and white blocks become black and white lines skewed and scattered. pink collar from a little girl's dress adorned with pink ribbon roses lays on black and white blocks.

Shattered / 24″ w by 27″ h / January 2019

Artist Statement

Nancy was born into a family of engineers. It was a world of perfect order, straight lines, black and white. If you followed the formulas, the blueprints, the textbooks, you got to where you wanted to go. There was safety, predictability, and the future was bright.

When teenagers hung three year old Nancy by the neck from the swing set, the world went sideways. Lives were shattered. Order became chaos. Black and white grids became shards. The formulas led to nowhere familiar or comfortable.

It was a fissure of stability and security.

Nancy is my sister-in-law. Today she is in reasonably good health, content with whatever she has, and smiles more than she frowns. She has a vocabulary of about 12 words, and 6 of them are the word “love”.

In June 2012, Nancy began making marks, and since June 2012, I stitch her marks.* Though she gives no indication that she understands our collaboration, it has deepened our relationship in ways I never dreamed possible and opened my life in ways I never dreamed imaginable. Nancy is my Wise Woman, and I am a better woman because she is in my life.

*The drawings you see on the shards are some of her first drawings.

A closeup of Shattered

Another closeup of Shattered

Personal Note and The Particulars

I love emails that begin with “Congratulation,” like the one I received a week or so ago telling me that Shattered was juried into the Fissures Exhibit at the Emerald Art Center / 500 Main Street / Springfield, Oregon. The exhibit opens on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 and closes on Saturday, March 30, 2019. From 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. On Friday, March 8, there’s the Artist’s Awards Presentation and reception that’s part of the 2nd Friday Art Walk. If you can attend, let me know ’cause I just might be cooking up a road trip and would love to meet you there.

Interview: Shirley, Wes, and Nealy Wesselhoeft

January 7, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

book cover bearing an image of a young boy standing on a bech wearing a sailor's suit

When he was six years old, Wes Wesselhoeft and his parents were unceremoniously snatched from their peaceful life in Chicago, Illinois and taken by train and truck to Crystal City, Texas where they were interned with other Japanese and Italians being held hostage in the hysteria of World War II. Hear Wes and Shirley tell the story – or parts of the story ’cause I want you to read the book and join us in The 70273 Project Book Chat in The 70273 Project Facebook Group (date and time to be announced) – in their own words. It is a story of resilience and generosity of spirit if ever I’ve heard one.

Join The 70273 Project Campfire (a.k.a. Facebook group) so you don’t miss this book chat where you can ask Shirley, Wes, and even Nealy the Service Dog questions and make comments on the book.

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A Happy New Year Block Count Update

January 1, 2019 / jeanne / 0 Comments

a box filled with bundles of fabric, letters, and notes

In this neck of the woods, superstition holds that how you spend New Year’s Day is how you’ll spend the year. If that holds true, I’ll be opening mail most of this year! Over the course of New Year’s Eve and New year’s Day, I spent more than 20 hours checking in blocks and quilts for T he 70273 Project. Yes, I got a little behind because The Engineer and I have been home only four non-consecutive weeks this year, and checking in blocks and quilts is one of the few things I have to physically be here to do. Thank y’all for your patience, and for continuing to make and send.

I checked in and registered 4391 commemorations from these good people . . .

QUILTS

197, a bundle Long Skinny quilt Pieced and Quilted by Laura Brainard (FL, US)
227, a Middling made by Beth Schmidt (FL, US)
228, a Middling made by Beth Schmidt (FL, US)
275, a block quilt made by Kate Elliott (FL, US)
415, a bundle quilt Pieced and Quilted by Elaine Smith (TX, US)
416, a bundle quilt Pieced and Quilted by Elaine Smith (TX, US)
417, a bundle quilt Pieced and Quilted by Elaine Smith (TX, US)
481, a Middling made by Elaine Smith (TX, US)
525, a group quilt Pieced and Quilted by Laurie Dunn and her Grandchildren
Jerrod, Ariana, Gracie, Steven, Colton, William, and Jillian and her Daughter-in-Law Marlesa. (PA, US)
554, a Middling made by Pam Patterson (TN, US)
578, a bundle quilt top Pieced by Edna Jamandre (MD, US)
582, a bundle quilt Pieced and Quilted by Kathleen Kashmir
596, a bundle quilt Pieced and Quilted by Elaine Smith (TX, US)
598, a bundle quilt Pieced and Quilted by Elaine Smith (TX, US)
604, a bundle quilt Pieced and Quilted by Karen Swiech
605, a bundle quilt Pieced by Karen Swiech
606, a bundle quilt top Pieced by Edna Jamandre (MD, US)
607, a bundle quilt top Pieced by Edna jamandre (MD, US)
627, a block quilt made by Elaine Smith (TX, US)
628, a group quilt made by members of the Town and Country Quilt Guild:
Peggy DeLaVergne (Piecer); Elaine Smith (Finisher); Mary Phail Boyd;
Kathie Cherry; Carol Srajer (TX, US)
652, a group quilt made by members of the Sandstone Piecemakers (MI, US)
655, a Middling made by Sarah J. Lauzon and a friend (FL, US)
656, another Middling made by Sarah J. Lauzon (FL, US)
657, a Mini made by Shawn Taylor
658, a Middling made by Shawn Taylor
659, a Middling made by Aradria Csercsevits (FL, US)
660, a Mini made by Debra Jalbert (FL, US)
661, a Long Skinny quilt made by Beth Schmidt (FL, US)
662, a Middling made by Beth Schmidt (FL, US)
663, a Middling made by Pam Patterson (TN, US)
664, a Middling made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
665, a Middling made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
666, a Middling made by Jennifer Lario- Moya (AUSTRALIA)
667, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
668, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
669, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
670, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
671, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
672, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
673, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
674, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
675, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
676, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
677, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
678, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
679, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
680, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
681, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
682, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
683, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
684, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
685, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
686, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
687, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
688, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
689, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
690, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
691, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
692, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
693, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)
694, a Mini made by Jennifer Lario-Moya (AUSTRALIA)

BLOCKS

Amy Chambers (GA, US)
Angie Cullett (LA, US)
Ann Burnett (MN, US)
Anonymous
Betsey Chambers (CO, US)
Breanna Crassno (MO, US)
Deb Cashatt (CA, US)
Drew Chambers (US)
Edna Jamandre (MD, US)
Elaine Pfeiffer (MO, US)
Glenda Scott (MO, US)
Janet Olsen (UT, US)
Jeanne Hewell-Chambers (NC and GA, US)
Joy Avery (FL, US)
Joyce Graff (MA, US)
Joyce Mullis (NC, US)
Katia Johnstone (ME, US)
Laurie Dunn (PA, US)
Linda Williard (MO, US)
Mary Belcourt (ND, US)
Muriel Richardson (ND, US)
Pam Patterson (TN, US)
Penny B. Holland (NC, US)
Rachel Williams (LA, US)
Rosalyn R. Buck (ND, US)
Rosemary Sevigny (ND, US)
Shirley R. Boyd (MO, US)
Susanne R. Silbernagel (ND, US)
Shelley Folkedahl (ND, US)
Silvia Conte (ITALY)
the Walsh Quilters (ND, US)
Wendy Forsyth (MO, US)

Added together, our current block count is . . . are you sitting down . . .

60851!

A few notes:
~ The graph we used since the beginning of the project went kaput, so I’ve installed a new one. To view it, scroll down to the bottom of the page. It’s on the right side.
~ A bundle quilt is one made from an assortment of blocks from around the world. Blocks arrive, are checked in, then bundled with other blocks from around the world, and are sent to volunteers who Piece and/or Quilt them. For a long time, I did all this by myself, but now, I’m tickled and grateful to tell you that thanks to a group of Helper Angels, I now receive, register, then pass along to the Helper Angels. Be watching for interviews with them soon. And if you are a Helper Angel, thank you. If you live in the vicinity of Fayette County, Georgia and would be willing to pitch in every now and then, let me know.
~ The monthly 70273 Project XXtra comes out around the 14th of every month, so subscribe if you haven’t already cause there’s precious little duplication of information.
~ I am behind in my Thank You notes, so until you get yours, please know that I am incredibly grateful to be on this beautiful rock with each of you.