Tag: 70273 recap (Page 6 of 7)

Here are the highlights of the 12th week of The 70273 Project:

Because I was away the week before,
last week found me with a backlog of scanning.
Milestone blocks scanned this week include:

Block 600, a 3.5″ x 6.5″ (9 cm x 16.5 cm) beauty made by Laurie Dunn

Block 700, a 9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.2 cm x 31.8 cm) made by 5 year old Chloe Nycz
a student at Blanchard Valley School

Block 800, a 9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.2 cm x 31.8 cm) beauty made by Brenda Shimshick

Block 900, a 3.5″ x 6.5″ 9 cm x 16.5 cm) beauty made by Janet Hartje

Block 1000, a 3.5″ x 6.5″ (9 cm x 16.8 cm) beauty made by Glenda Williams

Because it occurs to me that maybe I ought to be
counting each 100th block ending with #73, here’s
Block 1073, a 9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.2 cm x 31.9 cm) beauty made by Glenda Williams.

And because my head kinda hurts to think in terms of anything
but hundreds, here’s Block #1100,
a 9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.2 cm x 31.8 cm) beauty made by
– wait for it –
Glenda Williams.
(She sent me a box filled with 160 blocks.
so of course she hit several milestones.
I’ll tell you more about her soon.)

Total blocks in hand as of this post:
Drum Roll, please:
1170

Give yourselves a big, fat standing ovation, y’all.
You’ve certainly earned it.

~~~~~~~

Chloe Grice continues to help me
make The 70273 Project more
internationally friendly.
This week, she translated the block sizes
into cm’s for me, and I’m busy
adding it everywhere block sizes are mentioned.
3.5″x 6.5″ = 9 cm x 16.5 cm
6.5″ x 9.5″ = 16.5 cm x 24.2 cm
9.5″ x 12.5″ = 24.2 cm x 31.8 cm
Thank you, Chloe!

~~~~~~~

Several weeks ago, I received a private message
from Beth Thrift, an artist I had the pleasure of meeting in the waiting room
at a local hospital as I sat with my friend, April Harrison.
Beth sent an email to a local magazine, The Laurel Asheville,
and Leah, one of the writers on staff, emailed me by email.
The article came out last week with the release of
the May issue. Note: it’s on page 111.
Thank you Beth, and thank you Leah.

~~~~~~~

I have been contacted by people in 63 different countries.

~~~~~~~

Last but not least,
a Major Happening of last week:
Let’s all give a rousing exclamation of glee to say Thank you to
the talented one called Kitty Sorgen who received
the bundles of blocks

then promptly (and very quickly) pieced
The First Quilt Top for The 70273 Project!
And that’s not all.
This week finds Kitty delivering the quilt top
and backing fabric to MJ Kinman
who will quilt it.
This quilt top is exactly what I envisioned
since that night in late January
when the idea came and whispered in my ear.
Can you imagine standing in the presence of 800+ of these quilts?
Thank you Kitty and MJ.
Thank you big.
I think this calls for cupcakes, y’all.
With sprinkles.

~~~~~~~

So keep making those blocks
and visiting the Facebook Page for updates
and posting in the Facebook Group to let us know what you’re doing
and reading the blog to seep up with all that’s happening
with The 70273 Project.

This is what last week looked like.
It’s everything we needed to take down the mountain
to tend to everything that needing tending.
There was real estate stuff, yard work,
business calls, family get-togethers,
eye exams, meetings, and much, much more.
Because we weren’t home to receive mail for The 70273 Project,
I have no new block count for you,
but don’t think that because this cat was away,
The 70273 Project sat languishing
and watching the mice play.
Several days were devoted to getting the word out,
and I pulled a couple of all-nighters
to get caught up with processing the blocks
I have in hand.
Plus – drum roll, please – I sent the first bundle
of blocks to the kind and talented one called Kitty Sorgen
who offered to piece our first quilt top.

The day before we headed down the mountain,
The Engineer and I got our grandparents’ shot.
Got it right there in the middle of aisle 6
with the paper towels, dog food,
and bathroom cleaning supplies.
It was a week filled with hugging, patting, and lugging,
and I want y’all to know that my arm still hurts
over a week later,
and the knot is now kinda’ spreading across my arm.

Monday found me at my friend Mari Ann’s house,
sitting on her beautiful back porch

with a fantastic group of crazy creative women,

listening to a funny, personable Southern man
named Clifford Brooks III read his poems to us.
I haven’t showered since this hug.
And he promised to put an ad for The 70273 Project in his little magazine.

Wednesday found me lunching with
my Tiger Girls, the gals I
graduated from high school with.
(And I’ll have you know that not a one of them
was social promoted.)
Dianna (first one on the right)
is gonna’ host a block-making party in June.
You can bet your sweet patootey that not a one of these gals
will be set loose with a pair of scissors.

On Thursday morning, I told the members of
Mother’s church circle group about The 70273 Project. They’re going to spend their last meeting of the year making blocks.
This is some of the gals, and we’re holding
In Our Own Language 1:1, the first
of Nancy’s drawings I ever stitched.
That’s my mother there on the far right, holding the book.
Just to her left is Carol, who’s 95 years young.
Yes, really.

Saturday found us up early to go get cat food for Mother’s boys
then heading over to the World War II Heritage Days
where we had a table set up for The 70273 Project.
We had a fantastic location, a fabulous day, and
made lots of new friends. Here are a few of them . . .

This is Marissa Shenkle. She trains service dogs.

Barbara-Jean Buckley

Emma Banze made her block in honor of her Uncle Mark.

L to R: Chase Hughes, Adalee Beasley, and Michelle Hughes
Michelle once taught special ed . . . until she was
required to teach a curriculum based on the
chronological age of her students instead of their abilities.

Michelle Thaxton

Karissa McCoy

Meet Dan Klein. He was serving his country  in Europe in 1940.

Joanna Griffin

Ross Greene, who recently finished writing a book
called A Fortress and a Legacy.
Ross spent 6.5 years researching this book, crafted around
a bundle of letters his uncle wrote home in World War II.
I hope you get a chance to meet Ross and read his book.
He’s a man who isn’t afraid to dream big.
I like that.

Brittany Rutledge

Steve Ulman

Thomas Eastin

Kevin Barton

and

Zachary Freeman,
a most delightful young man
who happened by the table on his own
and said, “Tell me about The 70273 Project.)
I tell y’all what: our future is in good hands
with Zach. Real good hands.

Saturday culminated in a dinner dance
where we were lucky enough to hear
The Freedom Belles perform.
Our daughter, Alison, formed The Freedom Belles
several years ago, and she says they have the best job in the world:
entertaining veterans.
Their motto? Let freedom sing.
going L to R that’s
Missy Gossett, Renee Cooper, and Alison Chambers.
If y’all need some entertainment for a special event,
hire them cause they’ll make you look good,
Real good.
I promise.

All in all it was a good week, a fine week, an exhilarating week
(though this introvert needed a little quiet time for a couple of days).
We met a lot of people and introduced them to The 70273 Project,
and I want y’all to know that not a single person we met
had ever heard of the T4 Program.

After the dinner dance, The Engineer and I
exited stage left, took my mother home,
loaded the truck, then drove on back up the mountain.
We came close to being seriously injured or killed
by some crazy driver who careened back and forth
across multiple lanes of traffic on I-85 in Atlanta.
It happened in maybe 3 seconds (though while it was happening,
time slowed down to a crawl),
and for the next hour or so, two thoughts and a question
kept running through my head:
Thank you to The Engineer for skills maneuvering us
so that the crazy driver missed us by the 3″ necessary
to keep us out of harm’s way
and
Thank you to whichever angel was riding shotgun that night
and
If I’d’ve died, who would take over The 70273 Project
and see it through?

We landed back atop the mountain around 2 a.m.,
slept till 5:30, then got up and headed over to Hendersonville
to fetch our new bees.
We hope they’ll be happy here.

And that, y’all, is how we spent week 11 of The 70273 Project.

Week 10 comes to a close. Can you believe it? Here’s what marks this week:

~ It was unusually fun opening the mail this week, as I  received an  envelope decorated with fun stickers and great stamps (I’ve been a stamp collector since 1st grade) that made smile. Thank you Margaret Blank.

~ I also received a heavily decorated envelope – and look! a dahlia – won’t be too long till I’m posting The Daily Dahlia for the third year! – from Susan Getchell, Eleanor Macmillan, and Anonymous 6.

~ In the envelope with her yummy blocks, Chloe Grice stuck a handmade envelope, a handwritten letter, and a sea glass heart.

~ Author extraordinaire Susan Clotfelter Jimison stuck a book and handwritten note in with her beautiful blocks.

~ My wonderful attorney crafted a shiny, new Provenance Form that should help us sail through with any book publisher or venue without interruption. Thank you, Chris Arena.

~ I continue to hone and streamline my systems. This week I decided to scan blocks instead of going through the rigamarole of using my phone to take pictures of each block; bought a basting gun that allows me to attach the number in one fell swoop instead of having to stitch the numbers onto each block; and just last night I decided to print the numbers onto a sheet of yardstick paper instead of handwriting each number on a scrap of fabric.

~ Even though we don’t have the first of what will likely be 800+ quilts made, I can’t help myself: I’m already laying down plans for The 70273 Project Bon Voyage Gathering. We are going to have so much fun!

~ I’ve heard from people in 60 countries.

~ And last but not least, drum roll, please: as of tonight, 892 blocks have arrived in 50 envelopes/boxes.

Thank y’all for all you do to move The 70273 Project along. On we Grow!

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Exciting things happened during Week 8 of The 70273 Project:

~ Alana Sheeren’s podcast aired. Give a listen here.

~ I was interviewed for a magazine article. Details when it comes out

~ Blog readers can now translate into 91+ different languages

~  Block  #200 made by Michelle Banton was catalogued.

~ Block #273 made by MJ Kinman was catalogued.

~ Block #300 by Lee Durbin was catalogued.

~ Block #400 made by Denniele Bohannon was catalogued.

~ The 70273 Project was featured in a blog post penned by Margaret Blank

Week #9 has been pretty exciting, too:

~ Meredith Shadwill asked me to contribute a writing prompt for the writing group she facilitates called Cultivate. My prompt is titled “Commemorate” (surprised?), and it goes live May 6. If you are interested in receiving Meredith’s prompts, head this way. Meredith also facilitated my guest appearance in the #StoryDam twitter chat.

~ I have 639 blocks in hand.

~ Block #500 made by Margaret Williams was catalogued.

~ Block #600 made by Laurie Dunn was catalogued.

~ I’ve been contacted by people in 58 countries.

Kitty Sorgen has become our coxswain, breaking our big goal of 70,273 blocks into breadcrumbs, giving us goals that step us on up to 70,273, and she encourages us all the way. Kitty has now said we need to collect 1000 blocks by June 1. (I think we can beat that.)

And on we grow, y’all.

First there is Block #200
made by Michelle Tade Banton
who has also offered to piece and/or quilt
when the time comes
(and at the rate blocks are flowing in,
I don’t think it will be all that long
before I’m knocking on her door with a bundle of blocks.)

Then there is Block #273
a 3.5″ x 6.5″ (9 cm x 16.5 cm) beauty
made by MJ Kinman,
(our little energizer bunny,
has also volunteered to help
piece and quilt and catalogue and
apply for grants and a host of other things
that will need to be done as we grow along).
Now why do we celebrate Block #273?
Because, as Sarah Meredith so beautifully says
in The 70273 Project Facebook Group:
“273 is a special number. It represents the specifics of the people we mourn and celebrate here. It represents the refusal to round out the numbers for expediency, or to leave any One out. Beautiful #273, may you rest in peace.”

Block #300 is a 6.5 x 9.5″ (9 cm x 16.5 cm) beauty
made by Lee Durbin
who sends along a note
promising more blocks to come.

And we round out the week with Block #400
made by Denniele Bohannon.
Denniele also got her 6 year old granddaughter
involved, so stay tuned for more about that.

Thank you
Michelle, MJ, Lee, Denniele
and all the rest of you who are
making blocks
and offering to do more
to see this project through
to completion.

All these milestones –
and I was only home for two days.
I can scarce imagine what is waiting for me
when I get home and open the mail next week.

Not only has she become one of my favorite people in the world,
Kitty Sorgen has also become the official coxswain
for The 70273 Project,
and she’s set another goal for us:
1000 blocks by June 1.
And there you have it –
something to work towards.
So, as Kitty says,
Ready . . . set . . . SEW!
(or paint or stamp or draw).

Help us meet (or beat) Kitty’s goal
by continuing to make blocks, of course,
and get your friends and family involved, too . . .
If you’ve subscribed to the blog posts,
forward them to others when they land in your inbox
and encourage them to become involved.
Share photos and posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest.
Tell folks in your clubs and at family reunions and
at church about The 70273 Project.
The more people we get involved,
the quicker we can stand together
in the presence of these quilts,
commemorating the 70273 people we mourn
and meeting each other in person.

That’s gonna’ be One Memorable Day, y’all.

Another week spent out of town dealing with family stuff, but still The 70273 Project rocks and rolls.

~ I now have in my possession 246 blocks.

~ Alana Sheeren interviewed me for her podcast. I’ll post the link when it goes up.

~ I have heard from people in 55 countries.

~ Writers keep mentioning The 70273 Project (I’m compiling a list – stay tuned).

~ Readers keep subscribing.

~ Makers keep joining and making.

Thank y’all for being a part of this project and for keeping it rolling even when I’m tending to family fires.

Forward we go.

In some ways it seems like I launched The 70273 Project  more than six weeks ago, in other ways, it seems like six minutes or six hours since I launched. From the very start, the response has been phenomenal. So much love has been stitched into the 83 blocks have I’ve received so far. I can feel it when I open the envelopes. I can feel it when I hold the blocks in my hands. I can scarce imagine how it will feel standing in the presence of these quilts.

Not too much to report this week because I’ve been out of pocket the entire week, staying at the side of Nancy, my disabled sister-in-law who’s been in the hospital. I can, however, tell you that I’ve added a translator to the blog – something I hadn’t thought of until a conversation with Chloe Grice who’d translated something into French to help get the word out in her neck of the world.

Terri Belford interviewed me for her Inspired Entrepreneurs series.  (Thank you for having me, Terri.)

I continue to catalogue the blocks and keep meticulous records.

Several more people have offered to piece and/or quilt. (Thank you.)

There are now 51 countries registered.

And there are all sorts of good things stirring behind the scenes.

To keep your finger on the pulse:

Make blocks.

Subscribe to the blog.

Join the Facebook group.

Like the Facebook page.

Spread the word by telling people, posting on social media, writing blog posts. Here’s a link to the introductory post, which is a good thing to include (just copy and paste) when posting about The 70273 Project: http://thebarefootheart.com/introducing-the-70273-project/

Thank y’all for being a part of the project and helping others become a part, too.

We’re finishing our fifth week of The 70273  Project – can you believe it?

I’ve heard from 45 different countries.

I have 83 blocks in my hands, and we’ve been out of town for a week, so that number will change tomorrow when we go to the post office, and there are I don’t know how many people making 31 blocks in the 31 days of March.

We have a new Facebook Group that will serve as a campfire for The 70273 Project Tribe to gather round for show and tell, chat and cheer. And what’s to become of the Facebook Page, you ask? It will remain and serve as a bulletin board for folks who just want to drive by every now and then and see what’s happening.

I’m beginning to think about our first quilt, so if you or your quilt guild are interested in piecing the blocks into a quilt top and/or quilting, please let me know.

Last Monday I was downright tickled to tell Kimberly Brock’s Tinderbox Writers about The 70273 Project. What a dynamic group they are, and they didn’t just spout off people I need to talk to, they’re pushing up their sleeves and spreading the word.

I reserved a table for The 70273 Project at the upcoming World War II Heritage Days in Peachtree City, GA. Do you know of any other events coming up this spring and summer I should attend?

I’ve also emailed to ask if the local American Legion group would let me come tell them about The 70273 Project. Know any other groups that might be interested in hearing about The 70273 Project and making some blocks?

Case Hale had an open house block-making party scheduled for yesterday, 3/19/2016. I’ll share bits and photos as soon s I hear from her.

People continue to email and message and post good questions and ideas, and even though I can’t use every single one to them, I beg you: please don’t stop. The idea was pretty complete when it landed on my shoulder, but I’m always open.

Chloe Grice from Normandie, France, wrote me this morning that she’d translated something into French, and that’s when a lightbulb (finally) went off – the blog is in English. So I’m busy researching translation plug-ins and apps and will install something tomorrow. Why I didn’t think of that before, I can’t tell you. Thank goodness for Chloe!

She also asked where to send folks who are interested in The 70273 Project, as in what would be a good starting point. I told her to send them to the blog because that’s The Hub.

Sharon Huisingh Smith asked if it would save me some time if she sewed her blocks together before sending them to me. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Sharon, but I’d rather receive the loose blocks. Why? Because I’m cataloguing each block, one at a time, and because I want to spread the blocks out among several quilts. My plan is that when the quilts are complete, Makers can go to the web site, look up their name, find their block numbers, find what quilts their blocks are in, and see where in the world those quilts are. It’s a good thing my brain considers record keeping, documentation, and organizing as a playground. And yes, I’m busy researching and figuring out how to make that happen now so I don’t have to re-enter all the data a second time. Good idea, huh?

Speaking of spreading the blocks out among several quilts, my Good Idea of the Day (I seem to get them on Sundays, have you noticed?)  is that I’d like to have a block in each and every quilt – and since we anticipate more than 700 quilts,  my hands will be getting (and staying) busy. Soon.

That’s all I can think of right now. The Engineer and I got home this afternoon after a week away spent helping my daughter with some things, and on the way back up the mountain, we received notice that Nancy is in the hospital. No firm diagnosis yet, but they’re thinking pneumonia. That’s where my heart and head are right now, so if I’ve forgotten anything, I’ll let you know in a future post.

Have you liked the Facebook page?

Have you joined the Facebook group?

Have you followed the Pinterest board?

Have you subscribed to the blog?

Have you told 3 people about The 70273 Project?

Have I told y’all “Thank you” for being a part of The 70273 Project? I have now, and just so you know: I don’t plan to stop any time soon.

Blocks made by Barbara Atwell

Week 4. Can you believe it?

We’re still at 41 countries, and we’ve had many more people from those countries become a part of The 70273 Project.

I have 76 blocks in my hand, and I don’t know how many people are in the 31 Blocks in 31 Days Event, so at the beginning of next month when the mail starts coming in, we should see a significant climb on our goal graph.

The 70273 Project Facebook page is currently at 339 likes, so if everybody would invite 1-3  friends every day (or just go through your Facebook friends list and invite everybody at once), that number will climb at a nice clip.

Four women have raised their hand to quilt, when we get to that point.

Three women have raised their hands to piece tops together.

We continue to grow in participants, in blocks, in worldwide enthusiasm.

I spend tomorrow morning with Kimberly Brock, author of The River Witch,  and her Tinderbox Writers Workshop. We’ll talk about The 70273 Project, and I’m taking everything we need to make some blocks.

I reworked the “elevator speech” for The 70273 Project last week: The 70273 Project commemorates the 70273 physically and mentally disabled people murdered by the German Nazis and celebrates the physically and mentally challenge people who live among us today.

Oh, and I had another idea: I think that when the quilts are all finished, we need to hold The 70273 Project Bon Voyage Gathering. We’ll huddle up at the same time in the same place to have the first look at the quilts, meet each other, take a lot of photos, and spend some quiet time to remember the souls we commemorate and celebrate the souls we know and love today.

Thank y’all for being a part of The 70273 Project.

And on we grow . . .

Life being what it is and all, we left town on day 8 of The 70273 Project to tend to family issues and stuff, and got back in town almost two weeks later, just before company arrived for a long weekend. It was all good and fun and necessary travel, it just means that I couldn’t devote as much time to promoting The 70273 Project as I would’ve liked. But never fear, cause y’all stepped right up and did it your own selves. Thank you for that. I’ll be spending time on Monday catching up with emails and FB message and comments, so thanks for your patience with my tardy responses, and  thanks for bearing with me and understanding that there’s a life going out through, around, over, and under The 70273 Project.  Here are the highlights of last week:

~ 72 blocks received (note: This is how many blocks I hold in my hand, not how many blocks have been . . . are being . . . made.)

~ 41 countries have made contact.

~ Appeared in a guest blog post – thank you for having me, Lori East! And, as if all that’s not enough, she made The 70273 Project the cover photo on her Facebook page.

~ Beth Thrift shared The 70273 Project and my name with a magazine (Thank you, Beth!), and they want to interview me at the end of the month for an article that will appear in their May issue. More as it unfolds.

I spent a lot of time tinkering under the hood . . .

~ Added a block counter graphic to the blog sidebar.

~ People continue to subscribe to the blog, have you?

~ I created a Facebook page for The 70273 Project. Please “like” it and invite your Facebook friends to do the same.

~ Posted a directory for The 70273 Project in the sidebar to make it easier for people to find the most  requested pages.

~ Created a database for Blocks and Their Makers and am figuring out an efficient cataloguing system.

Looking forward . . .

~ I’ll be posting articles about the blocks and their makers – you’re just gonna’ be thrilled with these folks – their blocks and their stories..

~ I’d love to speak to your group – maybe take what we need to make some blocks – so let me know and I’ll see if I can’t make it happen.

~ Keep those blocks coming, please . . . and remember to download, print, complete, and attach The Provenance Form and email me a photo or 3 and your bio or story about why you’re involved. Why do I ask for photos and bios/stories to be emailed? Because it’s SO much easier and more efficient to copy and paste than for me to have to type everything out and take all the photos.

Well, I’ve just been notified that The Engineer’s stomach is growling, so you know what that means. Till next time, thank y’all for being a part of this crazy idea of mine and helping to commemorate these 70,273 people.

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