My Quilts are Everywhere

My post title is not me attempting to brag. It's just a fact. After all these years of making and giving away quilts, there are now kids in many, many countries who own quilts made by me. The most recent is this one which was made by Tammy of Sunshine, but four of the blocks were made by me (the top row: middle and right, the second row: middle, the third row: left). So I am counting it among "my" quilts. This one went to a kid named Sayed in Egypt. He had cleft lip repair surgery and got this quilt to warm up in and recover. Of course, he gets to keep the quilt and take it home.

Here is another one I made for Jack's Basket. It will go to a child with Down's Syndrome. I'm sending them two. The other one is in yesterday's post. The drop-off address is here in Minnesota, but I assume the quilts get sent all over. I will probably never know where these quilts end up. (I frequently don't know where my quilts go, and I rarely learn the child's name, as I did of the quilt above. Finding out its destination and seeing a photo of the kid with the quilt is always a THRILL.)

Just for fun, I'm going to try to name the countries where I have sent quilts. This is what I can remember as I sit here today and dig into my fuzzy memories: USA, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, England, France, Czech Republic, Estonia, Armenia, at least one of the former Yugoslav countries, Russia, China, Liberia, Australia, East Timor, Israel, Japan, Germany, Philippines, Haiti, Ethiopia, Jordan (for Syria). I'm sure there are a few more in South America and in Africa, but I can't remember them all. It's just fun to try to keep the list in my brain. I like to think the quilts are spreading warmth and love wherever they go.

My Quilts Ready to Serve

I donate quilts to a number of places, and sometimes I send in tops-only, and the receiving program is nice enough to finish quilting the tops for me. Recently I had fun looking at some pictures from the beginning of 2018, at the Quilts Beyond Borders site, and noticing my quilts that were done and ready to go off and serve some people around the world. Here is how they look when being processed and ready to go:

The little white board tells where they are headed. Some went to Navajo people in Arizona, I believe it is. And some say Syrian Refugees and others SCM -- those both mean to Syrian refugees via a couple different routes. And one grouping says Mary's Place which is.. I don't know. I can't remember their description, but I'm sure it was a worthy recipient. I'm happy to know my quilts are going to a wide variety of places and people, and keeping them all warm and snuggly. (In that last photo you may notice that the quilt is attributed to Catherine E., but that's a mistake. It is a quilt I made from blocks that were some of the very first blocks I ever created back in late 1999 or early 2000. After 17 years, I finally put them to good use.)

Here is a quilt I donated to Covered in Love. Well, I donated the blocks and someone made the quilt and quilted it. How nice of them!

Who Made My Barbie Doll Clothes?

I am wondering if you smart readers have answers for my question.

Am I buying the services of slaves?

About a week ago, more or less, I caught an episode of Katie Couric's talk show. Her guests were discussing the problem of trafficking of girls and women (and sometimes boys). Often they are forced into a sex slave nightmare. Sometimes it is a work slave situation. For example, girls are removed from home, passports and IDs are taken, they are locked up with no access to and no contact with the outside world, and they are forced to do whatever the prisoner dictates.

I know this goes on. Sadly, the trafficking happens even in my own state. One thing the show talked about was the consumption we do and whether it encourages the existence of work slaves. Children are often forced to do labor in fields or mines, for example, and not allowed to go to school. If we buy the products of that field or mine, we are economically supporting slavery. Sadly, they said that the cosmetic industry is a big culprit.. some of the chemicals used in cosmetics are typically produced by child slaves. (There's another topic -- how to make purchases wisely so that we don't support slave labor. Where is the transparency?)

Now here is my question. Recently I started buying home-made Barbie doll clothes on e-Bay. One of the vendors I have purchased from sends me the doll clothes from China. At first I thought, "oh, how nice. I'm helping a fledgling entrepreneur in China make a cottage industry for herself." Then I began to wonder -- do these products come from a child labor/slave situation where the kids are made to work for pennies so that I can buy Barbie doll clothes on the cheap?

Some of these nice dresses go for as cheap as 99 cents. The exchange has gone very smoothly. I have purchased several of these fancy doll dresses (for various kids I know or as gifts for other kids). They come in the mail promptly and are well made and look cute on the Barbie dolls.

Is there a way I can find out -- reliably -- who is making these dresses? I don't want to support slave labor, but I do want to support someone trying to make an honest living and finding an easy way to work from home.

What do you think? What would you guess, when buying a dress for 99 cents from China? Remember it's on e-Bay where sometimes it has to go cheap so it'll sell, because of the glut of sellers... how can I research this to put my mind at ease?

Hello, World!

I just spent some time looking at the little map that shows where my blog visitors come from. I am amazed at how many people read my blog, and from all over the world! Thank you so much! It humbles me to think people from so far away would find my little blog worth visiting.

In recent days I have had visitors from:
Canada, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Czech Republic, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Russia

and from these states in the USA:
Washington, California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut! *Whew!* Let me just catch my breath.

I wish I could say I had been to all those places. Of the countries, I've only been to USA and Canada. Of the 28 states, I have been to 21 of them.

This is what I do know about all these places and people: we all want happiness, health, and peace. We all want our children to do well and find happiness in their adult lives. We all struggle with bad weather (tornadoes, floods, hurricanes/cyclones, drought, extreme hot and cold temperatures.) We have to be tough to survive on this earth!

Some of us have man-made challenges such as war, the aftermath of war, the threat of war, unrest, revolution, or neighbors we feel we can't trust. It really all comes down to the same thing: we are all searching for peace and happiness and to survive through the challenging times.

Most of us do what we can to help each other. Many are receiving help right now after devastating tornadoes or floods destroyed your area. And you who are being helped, have helped others after similar catastrophes.

Of the 15 countries in the above list, at least 8 of those countries have received quilts made by me. Also some of those countries have received help indirectly from me, through my church connections, for example (supporting hospitals and sending school supplies and sending people to help and support). In some of the countries and some of the states I have had relatives living (or still do), have had pen pals (or still do), have sent quilts to a handful of the states, I personally visited there to help clean up after a storm, or I am just interested in what happens there because I have visited the state for pleasure, or I think it's interesting, friends live there, or the state is on my list of places I hope to visit some day. Some of the countries and states are familiar to me because I have had students from that place, or in some other way I casually met someone from that place.

It's really just a small world, full of interesting, beautiful, fascinating people and places. Things like blogs and social media have helped connect us in new ways. Isn't it fun?

Tonight I am going to pray for all of my blog visitors, and pray for peace for all of you, wherever you may be. We are all equals in creation! (Thanks again for visiting. I appreciate it.)