Wrap A Smile Quilts

Sending out a big welcome to the ladies of Scrap Baggers Quilt Guild in Unity/Troy, Maine.  Look at the BOUNTY OF COLOR that was just delivered!

I'm always interested in how people find out about Wrap-A-Smile. This connection came via Cathy L's blog from Iowa:
https://saneandcrazy.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-quilt-on-mission.html
Cathy is also a member of the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild and has shared many of her creations with Wrap-A-Smile.    Thank you Cathy!

Scrap Baggers member Polly C read Cathy's post about Rotaplast and knew she needed to get involved.  Polly and I eventually connected, finding out we live only an hour apart. Then fellow guild member Pat A drove to Boothbay to hand deliver a fabulous stack of scrappy quilts!  I can't wait to meet the rest of their guild some Saturday this winter.

As we continue to grow this network of generous, caring, talented quilters I give thanks to all who help me share stories of the miracles performed by the cleft lip/palate …

As we are approaching our nation's celebration of Veterans Day, this seemed a good time to thank my friend Val in California who gave my husband and me a very special surprise last week.

We had visited Val to finally meet face to face and to thank her for all she has done for Wrap-A-Smile over the years.  We met the crew who helps her, and also saw her sewing studio where she also proudly showed us quilts in progress for Veterans.  She is very active with the Elks and had made a quilt for each of the 5 branches of service, to be given to 5 lucky veterans at the upcoming Elks Veterans Luncheon. Val definitely keeps busy!

After we had headed off to Yosemite, I received a text message about how many nights we planned to be at our hotel there......"she might want to take a drive"...   I couldn't think of anything we had left behind but did offer to go back through Stockton on our return to the San Francisco airport.  I was told not to change any plans, and besides, &quo…

What a wonderful two weeks I had with my Wrap-A-Smile friends in California!  Starting in San Francisco I first visited Pete, Rotaplast Warehouse Manager, who so expertly manages equipment and supplies for Rotaplast missions, and Linda, their Director of Development.   It was great to get updated about their plans for the future which will enable Rotaplast to continue to provide surgeries at no cost for babies and children around the world.

Here is a photo of the tulip quilt which I gave to Pete.  Pete and Linda will make sure that this quilt gets packaged separately so that we can follow its journey. Stay tuned for the story of "The Life of a Quilt" as we document the story of this quilt from its origin to its eventual gifting to a patient.


Next was my visit to Alliance for Smiles.  Director of operations Paul Vazquez and Executive Director Alison Healy discussed their upcoming missions and shared photos of their recent mission to Guatemala:


With permission of its creator…

Last week Mr. Wrap-A-Smile and I visiting Friends and Stitches, the  Seacoast, NH, sewing group whom we met last spring. As mentioned in my April 14th post, they were committing an entire year of sewing to creating quilts for our project.  And quilt they did!!  After another wonderful luncheon they helped us load 55 more quilts into our car for the trip back to Maine.  That means 55 more children who will be wrapped in the comfort of a colorful quilt during a time that is both wonderful and life-changing,  but very stressful.  Those quilted hugs really make a difference! Thank you Susan and friends.





A huge surprise was learning that these wonderful ladies are committing to sewing AGAIN...all next year...just for us!  Knowing where these quilts are going, and feeling confident about our stewardship of their donations, inspired them to continue being part of the Wrap-A-Smile family.  This will be a huge help as we work towards our goal of gathering nearly 2000 quilts per year. I am grat…

I really have fun "going to the dentist"!

At least every 6 months I have the pleasure of revisiting my former dental practice and catching up with the goings on of my longtime co-workers.  Admittedly, I have no complains about retirement but I greatly miss the wonderful people with whom I worked.

A happy surprise yesterday after my cleaning appointment was being presented with a stack of quilts from my former dental assistant, a friend of nearly 30 years.  Sandy, along with one of her triplet sisters and other sewing friends have been creating quilts for Wrap-A-Smile.  I was told these were a first installment and that others are in the works.  Lucky me!  (Actually lucky children who will someday be comforted by these cuddly treasures.)  Many thanks to Sandy for so many years of teamwork and friendship, and for bringing her friends into the Wrap-A-Smile world.