Six Tops for QBB

I now have six quilt tops ready to send to Quilts Beyond Borders. I am so thankful that they will accept tops, as finishing a quilt is what takes me for.ev.er and is stressful. I'm pretty sure you've seen all the quilts, except this one you only saw as a top-in-progress. Here it is, a completed top:

and here are all six, almost ready to go. Now I need to find the perfect box for shipping.

Today I started some volunteer work at my favorite non-profit, Ampersand Families. I have talked about them before. They help place older kids and teens in permanent adoptive homes. They are fabulous. I am doing simple office stuff to help out... scanning, and database updates. They're too busy to do it all themselves. Since I can't give them a gigantic financial contribution, at least I can help ease the paperwork burden a little bit.

I love being retired and having the freedom to do this. Have I mentioned that before? Retirement rocks!

Donation Sent Thanks to You

Thank you for your comments on my post entitled "I Won, I Won!" I promised to send one dollar per comment to my favorite charity. I had 28 comments here and 29 comments at Facebook, so I have sent $57 to Ampersand Families. Thanks for all your kind messages!

Ampersand Families has been very busy doing some great work. I love to support them as I can. Thanks for your help inspiring me to send a donation.

I Won! I Won!

I am so excited and amazed! My quilt won First Place in the Viewers' Choice vote at our recent quilt show!!! This is the first time I have ever won anything through my guild shows or challenges! It feels great!!! I won a $25 gift certificate at a local quilt shop. Fun, fun, fun!

Here's my winning quilt. The books are made from selvage edges with fabric titles that sound like book titles. The 2nd picture shows a close-up, sideways view of some of the "books."

Now that I have won a guild quilt prize, I can die happy!

Here is another thing that I am celebrating: it, too, is amazing! This post at my humble little blog is POST #1600! Can you believe it?? I have been posting my thoughts and ramblings about quilts, and even book reviews, since January 4, 2006. Who knew I'd still be happily posting away in 2014!?

To celebrate, I am going to do my usual Blog Celebration. Please leave a comment here. Answer this question: what do you enjoy about reading other people's blogs? For each blog comment, I plan to donate $1.00 to my favorite charity, Ampersand Families. Please make me donate a LOT to Ampersand Families! And thanks for reading.

50 Cents Per Follower

photo by Jen Braun, from the Ampersand Families website

My blog and I are up to 126 followers! I am going to do what I did a year ago when I celebrated achieving 100 followers: I will pay 50 cents per follower to my favorite charity.

Ampersand Families will get $63.00 from me! Thanks for following, reading my blog, and for writing your comments that inspire me.

Ampersand Families recruits and supports permanent families for older youth, and champions practices in adoption and permanency that restore belonging, dignity and hope.

Celebrating 100 Followers!

I recently acquired my 100th follower! Thanks, everyone! What a nice compliment! In celebration of you all, I am paying 50 cents per member to my favorite local charity, Ampersand Families. I will send them $50 today!

Ampersand Families recruits and supports permanent families for older youth, and champions practices in adoption and permanency that restore belonging, dignity and hope.

Thanks for reading my blog!