Wrap A Smile Quilts

This link to Rotaplast shows only a couple of quilts but the story of Shathi will warm you. This is just one of many stories showing why Wrap-A-Smile is committed to supplying quilts for these life-changing missions.  Thank you to ALL the quilters who continue to give us beautiful quilts to share.

https://rotaplast.org/2019/01/day-6-keep-you-forever/

Over one thousand one hundredcotton quilts were gifted to Wrap-A-Smile this past year,  sewn and donated by generous quilters from all over our country.  The quilts were labeled, bundled and sent off to both Rotaplast and Alliance for Smiles, with most of those quilts already being at work somewhere in the world.  (See earlier posts on this site for pictures of "quilts in action").

It takes a whole network of caring people to keep this project going: the quilters, the gatherers, the packers, and those who donate funds for shipping expenses.  Without each and every one of you who helped we couldn't have accomplished what we did.  Congratulations and my heartfelt thanks to all of you!

By the numbers, the grand total of WAS quilts since 2001 is now 25, 172!  But remember we are not just counting quilts, we are counting lives changed.  Every quilt shared is now part of a bigger story - the story of the child whose repaired cleft lip will allow them to come out of the shado…

I recently had the opportunity to attend a community quilting workshop in Lexington, MA, hosted by the Northeast region of Quilters Connection.  The venue was the auditorium at Brookhaven Retirement Community.  My friend Jane Norberg of QC frequently gives me quilts for Wrap-A-Smile and I knew it would be fun to see her group in action. What I didn't anticipate was a group of 65 (!) busily cutting, sewing, quilting and binding quilts, not to mention the teddy bears being stuffed and the pillowcases being assembled.  It was a real beehive of activity.

A bonus was running into several of my former patients from the days when I was a dentist in Lexington. The part I miss most about my former life is the contact with my patients, so the hugs with Ann H, Mary P, Bernice M, Selma E, Sylvia F and Kathy P were extra special.  It was definitely more fun to connect through sewing than with a dental drill in my hand!

Through my engagement with Wrap-A-Smile and the larger universe of charity …

Here's another wonderful posting from the Rotaplast team in India.  Amar in his quilt truly affirms why we do what we do.  I hope the creator of this quilt will get to see this picture.  For those of you who haven't seen one of your quilts in action yet, I can assure you that every quilt given to WAS will be wrapping someone, somewhere.  Enjoy this post!

https://rotaplast.org/2018/12/day-5-saying-goodbye-strengthening-our-ties-and-meeting-new-families/

I hope you enjoy this link to the current Rotaplast team activity in Narnaul, India.  The blog postings by Pam Meehan-Moulton are beautifully written and full of emotion.  You will feel like you are right there with the team, along with our Wrap-A-Smile quilts, as lives are transformed. Thank you to all our quilters who add this special comforting touch to the surgical missions.

https://rotaplast.org/2018/12/day-4-waiting-and-anticipating/

Our quilt ministry began in 2004 when I read an article in Family Circle magazine about babies being wrapped in paper and plastic during cleft palate surgeries because of a shortage of blankets.  Wrap-A-Smile was asking for baby quilts and I felt called to help.  While I knew how to sew, I had never made a quilt before.  I enlisted the help of my friend Linda Saxton who had made two quilts.  We had enthusiastic members of church join us who learned to quilt along with us. Over the last 14 years many community members have joined us as well:  friends, people we met while selling items, etc.  We have taught teenagers how to use a sewing machine, and many adults have made their first quilts as part of our ministry.  A Girl Scout even used our group to inspire her Gold Project where she and her friends made baby quilts for Wrap-A-Smile.

For our first year, we received donations from local businesses.  Since then, to raise funds, we have sold table runners, hot pads, tree skirts, and other …

As someone who was raised to not waste, and as a committed recycler today, I have a particular fondness for scrappy quilts.

My friend Rebecca from Edgecomb, Maine, made this tumbler quilt for Wrap-A-Smile using a variety of fabrics that might otherwise have been tossed. She claimed it didn’t take long as she used an Accuquilt cutter, but I see many hours of generous labor to create a gift of love for a child she will never meet. And yes, she has made multiples of these! Thank you Rebecca for being part of our Wrap-A-Smile community.
And string quilts can be endlessly creative. Here is one gifted to Wrap-A-Smile from Calico Quilt Guild in Yarmouth, Maine. Another bright and cheerful creation that will wrap a child in comfort both before and after their surgery. I’m so glad all these little “leftovers” found their way into a quilt.