It is time to say goodbye to 2024. It was a crazy, unexpected year for me and I think I am ready for it to end. I am really looking forward to 2025. Many Hands and Many Hearts should be an official 501c3 in a couple months and I know that is going to be fun to see. I love my board members and all of them are enthusiastic and ready to see MHMH grow.
Here are a few more random finishes to close out the year. Janet played with some lime and turquoise blocks. Nann sent in this white and black print. Up close you don't really see the repeating pattern but it sure shows from a distance.
If you are curious, this is the 11th quilt made from this Jewel Box block drive.
What a fun little scrap quilt Denice made. I think it is based on the potato chip block. Denice also sent in the fabric for the backing. She might not have planned this backing for this top, but it fit so we went with it.
This fun little rail fence quilt top was sent in by Kristin. The top is made from 30"s prints. We didn't have any of those prints in our backing stash so we went with a fun flannel fabric. The little bunnies are super cute.
I have always loved this scrap quilt designs. I think it is called birch trees. I tried to track down a link to the pattern but I don't think it is available anymore. Elana made this quilt top. I love all those green shades for the background. Thanks to Elizabeth, we had this awesome turquoise backing.
We have our first delivery of 2025 due the first full week of January. We needed just one more veteran quilt to fulfil the order. Janet pulled some churn dash blocks out of our stash and came up with this fun design. Stephanie sent in the bright backing print for the back. This is the 13th quilt we have made from the Churn Dash block drive.
Here are some year-end numbers for you....
We delivered 265 quilts last year.
Not bad considering it was the first full year of operations. And that was all done with the help of volunteers and with no non-profit status. Toward the end of the year, our output was about 1 quilt/per day. I am hoping for some substantially bigger numbers next year!
We ended the year with 38 finished quilts ready for donation in our stash.
We have consistently been ending each month with a surplus. It is looking like we should be able to add another recipient organization to our list soon.
We received over 150 quilt tops and finished quilts last year.
We still have a LOT of unfinished quilt tops in our stash. My focus this year is to find more local longarm quilter to help get these done. With a board of directors now, a lot of work has been lifted off my shoulders - freeing up some time to accomplish this.
Last year we received over 4200 blocks in our block drives.
For each block drive we usually have about 45 to 65 people contributing blocks. It seems to really depend on the complexity of the block and who the quilts are going to. Kid blocks are definitely the favorite and we did not have a block drive for kids last year (Our last block drive for kids generated a whopping 3800 blocks! We are still working through some of them. The current block drive is also for kids so I am hoping to start 2025 out with a bang!)
I think I will end here saying I SO appreciate all the love and support I have received. I couldn't bring comfort to so many people without your help. 💞 Thank you so very much!
9 comments:
Not only are these quilts fantastic, the numbers are phenomenal! I am so happy to be a teeny, tiny part of this. The joy of making the blocks cannot be described, and seeing them as finished quilts is the cherry on top! Thank you for providing the quilts to those in need and as well as giving quilters an outlet for our creativity.
Happy New Year!
Kathy
Great post. Connecting Threads has the Birch Tree quilt pattern listed ono their website
Wow, I'm always so impressed by the numbers and excited to watch MHMH continue to grow. I look forward to seeing what 2025 has in store!
You have done amazing things with Many Hands and Many Hearts! I'm glad to be a part of it in a small way. Happy New Year, Cyndy!
Cynthia,
Kat did the birch tree blocks for her block drive back in Sept. 2020. She referenced someone else's blog post for directions and that person called it fiddlesticks. Kat's post is dated Sept. 2, 2020.
We should be thanking you (and I know many of us do), for giving us an outlet to help others. I'm happy to send blocks to you and Kat as it is a way for me to contribute. I seem to be one of those quilters who loves to make blocks and even sew them into tops, but rarely get them quilted unless I have a specific recipient. Three cheers for all you and your trusty band of volunteer quilters and, of course, Janet do to make the world a little kinder place.
Pat
I used that black/white print on a quilt and observed the same thing: the pattern is really obvious at a distance. Glad you could use it up! And -- wow, impressive statistics for year 1. I've got a box that I'm filling up . . .
Shew!!! That is crazy!!! What great numbers - happy new year!!!
I love these quilts to wrap up your year. Thanks for sharing these beauties. Thank you Elizabeth for the blue backing on my Birch tree donation. I love how it looks finished. The straight line quilting is a nice diversion from the vertical stripes. The Bright Birch Tree quilt pattern is the ultimate scrap buster! It's by Amanda Jean Nyberg and can still be found at https://www.connectingthreads.com/bright-birch-trees-quilt-pattern-download/p/10965D. You can also see her blog post about the pattern here: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/12/bright-birch-trees.html
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