Sending quilts to ALS patients around the country.

One of the many rewarding parts of the Hopes & Dreams Challenge is sending quilts so generously donated to ALS Association chapters across the country. From there, those chapters will hand deliver the quilts to ALS patients (PALS).  Yesterday, we shipped 617 quilts totaling 67 boxes!! There are still a few more ALS chapters we are waiting to hear back from so that technically isn't the grand total. But who is really counting, right? The fact that one single quilt can bring joy and comfort to someone battling such a terrible disease is more than just numbers. 


Prior to shipping, one of our #battgirls here in the office, Neva, spent the day touching base with the ALS Association chapters to get an idea of how many quilts they needed. The response was great. Take a look at the warehouse with boxes of quilts piled up before and after!  Although we sent out 617 quilts, we could have used at least 500 more to cover all the requests we had from the ALS Association chapters! 

Ivanka and Kathy double checking each box before giving the "go" to ship.

Almost finished! Just keep sorting. Just keep sorting. 

Included in the boxes, was a letter from Kathy Thompson to each ALS chapter: 

On behalf of Quilters Dream Batting and the Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS, we are pleased to send you these quilts to share with your PALS. Each quilt was handcrafted with love from quilters across the country who have given their time and talents to bring warmth to the laps and lives of individuals diagnosed with ALS.

As the co-founder and owner of Quilters Dream Batting, a Virginia Beach based business that manufactures high quality quilt batting, I knew just how generous and caring the quilt community would be. What I didn't know was how willing these quilters were to embrace the challenge and not only touch my life, but those living with ALS, including my son.

The Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS was created in 2009, when I decided to raise awareness and research funds to help find a cure for ALS. In 2007, my now 40 year old son Josh, was diagnosed with ALS. The disease has taken Josh from a strong, happy, athletic young husband and father to being completely paralyzed. He is currently on life support.

This annual challenge has been an incredible success over the years and has received thousands of quilts! More than 4000 quilts have been given to PALS through ALS chapters across the U.S. More than $80,000 has been raised through the sale of select quilts donated to the challenge and 100% of the proceeds have been given in the form of grants to support ALS research.

We appreciate your chapter distributing these quilts to your PALS. Many quilters have attached stories with their quilts- others did not. We encourage you or your PALS to contact the quilter as most are anxious to learn who received their quilt.

We are hopeful that the gift of these quilts will let PALS know that there are many people who care and they are surrounded by love and concern.

Thank you for all that you do.

 Sincerely,

 Kathy Thompson (mother of Josh Thompson)



With the holidays just around the corner, consider the gift of a quilt to a family member or friend and help find a cure for ALS. 

Select donated quilts can be purchased by visiting our Storenvy shop and stopping into Richard Stravitz's art gallery located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Because Quilters Dream Batting takes care of all Hopes & Dreams expenses, 100% of the money received from quilt sales will go towards ALS research.

Are you a quilter and wish to donate a quilt? Head over to the Hopes & Dreams website for more information. There are plenty of categories you can enter and chances to win fabulous prizes from our generous sponsors. Click HERE to see what 2015 prizes have already been sent in!

A big thanks to the staff at Quilters Dream Batting, who worked hard moving and shipping all those boxes yesterday! It was an exhausting effort, but filled with great joy and excitement for those patients who will receive a quilt.

We'd also like to say thank you to EVERYONE who participated in the 2013-2014 challenge! Without your quilt donations and our generous sponsors, we wouldn't have had such a rewarding day! 

End of year 2014 Challenge update

First and foremost, we would like to thank EVERYONE who participated in the 2014 Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS! We are currently still in the process of wrapping up the 2014 challenge.

We received SO many quilts this year and hope you will be patience with us as we continue to log them in. Once that's complete, we will be able to post our "Sew Popular" contest on our Facebook page for you all to vote! We will also be announcing the category winners shortly after that. 

August 1st marked the 2015 challenge year and we have already been getting in tons of new quilts and prize donations from many new sponsors! We sincerely appreciate your time and efforts and hope you will continue to join us in raising awareness and much needed funds to help find a cure for this disease. Stay tuned...

Quilters Dream takes the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS!

Why is everyone dumping buckets of ice water over their heads you ask?

If you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, lets catch you up to speed on the latest viral sensation that's getting out of hand...in the very BEST way!

It all began when Massachusetts resident Pete Frates, 29,  who's been living with ALS since 2012 and his family  came up with the idea. The challenge involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness. Those who refuse to take the challenge are asked to make a donation of at least $100 to the ALS charity of their choice.

People all over, even celebrities such as the Kennedy's, Justin Timberlake, and NFL football teams have accepted the #icebucketchallenge. And since we are determined to find a cure and raise awareness for this awful disease, of course we took the challenge as well!

Those brave enough to get drenched on this sunny warm Friday (thank goodness, could you imagine this during the winter?) came prepared with bags of towels and extra clothes to change into afterwards. I even think I saw a hairdryer in the bathroom haha.

Buckets of all sizes, NONE too small were filled with ice and water to the rim! They were placed under the trees out front of Quilters Dream Batting Headquarters as 7 thrill seekers waited for a chill. Kathy Thompson, owner of QDB, decided it would be fun to "nominate/challenge" other batting companies. You will have to watch the video to see who she will choose.

Soooooo COLD!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharon

Jane

Jason

Kathy K.

Gina

Neva

How could we leave out the boss?? Kathy Thompson

We couldn't be happier to be soaking wet amongst many others in the hopes to find a cure and raise awareness for ALS! 

We hope to come across your video in the social media world. 

Ice Bucket Challenge

Why is everyone dumping buckets of ice water over their heads you ask?

If you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, lets catch you up to speed on the latest viral sensation that's getting out of hand...in the very BEST way!

It all began when Massachusetts resident Pete Frates, 29,  who's been living with ALS since 2012 and his family  came up with the idea. The challenge involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness. Those who refuse to take the challenge are asked to make a donation of at least $100 to the ALS charity of their choice.

People all over, even celebrities such as the Kennedy's, Justin Timberlake, and NFL football teams have accepted the #icebucketchallenge. And since we are determined to find a cure and raise awareness for this awful disease, of course we took the challenge as well!

Those brave enough to get drenched on this sunny warm Friday (thank goodness, could you imagine this during the winter?) came prepared with bags of towels and extra clothes to change into afterwards. I even think I saw a hairdryer in the bathroom haha.

Buckets of all sizes, NONE too small were filled with ice and water to the rim! They were placed under the trees out front of Quilters Dream Batting Headquarters as 7 thrill seekers waited for a chill. Kathy Thompson, owner of QDB, decided it would be fun to "nominate/challenge" other batting companies. You will have to watch the video to see who she will choose.

Soooooo COLD!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharon

Jane

Jason

Kathy K.

Gina

Neva

How could we leave out the boss?? Kathy Thompson

We couldn't be happier to be soaking wet amongst many others in the hopes to find a cure and raise awareness for ALS! 

We hope to come across your video in the social media world. 

Featured #battgirls (August): Judy Martin & Lana Corcoran

Meet our August #battgirls 

Quilt designer/author:

Judy Martin

Judy began making quilts in 1969 when she was a college student. After that first quilt, she couldn't go into a fabric store without coming home with an armful of fabric for another of her quilt ideas. She jokes that she had to become a professional quilt maker in order to justify her fabric stash. In 1980, Judy wrote her first quilting book as an editor of Quilter's Newsletter. Since 1988, Judy and her husband, Steve Bennett, have been self publishing Judy's books. To date, Judy has designed and published 996 original block and quilt patterns, many of them in her 22 quilting books.  

In November, Steve and Judy published Judy's latest book, Extraordinary Log Cabin Quilts. The book has comprehensive information and helpful tips for making Log Cabin quilts, as well as patterns for 15 stunning new variations of this timeless favorite. 

Main Street Log Cabin
Designed & pieced by Judy Martin
Quilted by Lana Corcoran

See if you have what it takes to
become a Master Quilt Maker
Game available soon.

This summer, Steve and Judy's  quilting game was published by Rio Grande Games. The game, Quilt Show, was a winner of the Rio Grande Games Design Contest. Game play is intuitive for quilters, who will love it whether or not they consider themselves gamers. 

Over the years, Judy has made more than 250 quilts; designed several fabric lines and rotary cutting tools; written scores of magazine articles; released several Electric Quilt pattern software products; recorded quilting videos for YouTube and Quilter's Newsletter TV and an episode of Simply Quilts on HGTV; and had a one-woman show of 30 of her quilts at The National Quilt Museum, where one of her quilts is in the museum's permanent collection. Judy Martin Books is active on Pinterest and Facebook, and Judy offers a free newsletter and Block of the Moment patterns on her web site: http://www.judymartin.com. 

Judy does a little hand quilting for gifts, and she likes using Quilters Dream Cotton (Request loft) because it allows her to make small, even stitches. In order to complete quilts in a timely fashion for her books, Judy has them professionally quilted. Because Judy designs and pieces the quilts as well as writing, typesetting, and illustrating her books, time constraints do not allow her to quilt the projects in her books. Instead, she entrusts the quilting to talented longarm quilter, Lana Corcoran. 

Lakeshore Log Cabin.
Designed & pieced by Judy Martin.
Quilted by Lana Corcoran

For years, Judy has specified Dream Cotton (Select) Loft as her batting of choice in her quilts that are finished with machine quilting. Judy usually discusses her vision for the quilting with Lana, but she trusts Lana, listens to her ideas and suggestions, and is comfortable scrapping the original plan if Lana comes up with something better. 

Meet longarm quilter:

Lana Corcoran

It’s hard to believe that I started quilting for others more than 11 years ago. The time has flown by and I’ve enjoyed every minute.

Like many long arm quilters, this is not my first career. My first was as a photojournalist; my last years as a photographer were spent in Washington, D.C., covering the President as a White House Press Photographer with a major wire service. I changed careers after earning an MBA, working with Fortune 500 companies doing business process engineering. Both of those careers have helped me as a quilter. From photography, I learned creativity, artistic composition, balance, and patience. From the business world, I know that successful businesses provide excellent products, services, and value to their customers. I've tried to apply lessons from both careers to my long arm business.

Aspen Log Cabin
Designed & pieced by Judy Martin
Quilted by Lana Corcoran

About 10 years ago, one of my customers brought me a package of Quilters Dream batting to use in her quilt and I've been a big fan ever since. Quilters Dream products are my favorites for my own quilts as well as my recommendation for my customers. It is important that batting is high quality, which means that it is consistent in thickness, is “clean” with no specks of cotton seeds that can leach oil onto the quilt fabric, and doesn't beard. My experience is that Quilters Dream meets all those criteria.

It’s important to me to have options to offer my customers to meet the intended uses of their quilts. For most quilts, customers choose Cotton Select, in either white or natural. It drapes beautifully, no matter how densely it is quilted. 

Those who like a loftier look and want a quilt that “breathes” love, I recommend the Dream Wool. For baby quilts, Dream Angel is the choice for its flame retardant qualities. For show quilts, a combination of Dream Wool on top of Dream Blend gives a look of trapunto without the intense labor of stuffing or cutting batts.

Dream Wool layered over Dream Blend
Designed by Nancy Sullivan Jacobs
Quilted by Lana Corcoran

Whichever one I choose, the quality is always consistent.

There are so many talented quilters. It is a pleasure and an honor when one of them trusts me to quilt their quilts. Over the years I have developed special relationships with many of them, both personally and professionally. Judy Martin, for example, has had me quilt the quilts in her last three books, including 12 for her last book, Extraordinary Log Cabins. I have quilted thousands of quilts for customers, and have won dozens of ribbons, including Paducah and MQX. I’m also very proud of the fact that I still quilt for my very first customer, despite the fact that we are over 1000 miles apart!











You too can get Lana's digitized longarm patterns available for download on Intelligent Quilting's website!

We hope you enjoyed reading about our August #battgirls and feel inspired to try some of their work. We will even send you some 10 X 10 size samples of your batting choice for you to play with. Just give us a shout! Until then, we are always on the hunt for the next Featured #battgirls....will it be you?


Happy Quilting,
The original

888.268.8664
quiltersdreambatting@juno.com