Wrap A Smile Quilts

To all our generous quilting friends, we are happy to share updates from the Rotaplast medical teams. Recent missions have encountered fewer untreated simple clefts as there are more organizations traveling the world to provide this kind of treatment….AND because more local surgeons have been trained to treat their own.  This is GOOD NEWS for patients!! Future missions will treat the more complicated cases, with increased emphasis on training of their surgeon peers in other countries.  This will mean fewer patients treated per mission, with fewer quilts needed per mission.  Thanks to the amazing generosity of quilters from across the country Rotaplast is well-supplied with quilts for at least the next year. As a result Wrap-A-Smile will suspend collections until at least Spring 2027. I’m sure we all know of others right in our own communities who would benefit from a quilted hug.  And I know you can’t keep a good quilter out of action for long so please keep sew...

I had the most delightful day last week.  On a warm afternoon bursting with flowers and the potential of all the good things that come with spring, I received a visit from Kim Valone, one of the leaders of the quilting group from Zion United Methodist Church in New York State.  She and her husband were coming through Exeter on their way to a oceanside vacation and they stopped by with  83 quilts for Wrap-A-Smile.   Kim and Paige showing off three of the 83 beauties! 12 of the quilts by Zion United Methodist Kim's group, composed of 12 or so women, meets once a month for a pinning session and then get to work using fabrics from their significant stash, collected from craft thrift stores (I need to find one of those!), donations from quilters and some bargain shopping.  This small group of dedicated women has produced almost 2700 quilts in the 21 years they have been together and Wrap-A-Smile has been one of the lucky beneficiaries.   To f...

Days roll by and quilty surprises just keep arriving ~  We have such a wonderful network of quilters supporting  Wrap-A-Smile  that we barely need to ask for support….(but please don’t stop sewing for us!).  We are so thankful for all of you who continue to contribute your creations, month after month….year after year. It’s been 25 years since  WAS  was founded and we are proud to share that more than 30,000 patients have benefited from your generosity.  The most recent delivery came from Minnesota and I thought it was time for a quilt show.  Thanks to Mary T, Beth H, Karen O, and block makers of the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild. ENJOY The Show With heartfelt thanks 💞 ~Ann

Enjoy these great photos shared by the Rotaplast team currently in Nagamangala, India. While the medical teams are restoring smiles and changing lives, your quilts are truly part of the picture.  Having been on two Rotaplast missions, I can attest that our (your!) quilts do many things. They provide physical comfort to the patients. They provide emotional comfort to the parents who understand that the quilts are gifts from others who care about them.  They provide color in an otherwise sterile environment. Lastly, when taken home, the quilts become physical reminders of the day that medical miracles happened.    And the generosity of our network of quilters makes this all possible!!  You can read more about the medical missions at Rotaplast.org.   Keep checking the mission blogs for quilt sightings.  Maybe you will find one that YOU created! With gratitude, ~Ann

West coast coordinator Charlotte recently met up with Christine of Piece by Piece Quilters .  And look what she brought back for Wrap-A-Smile !  New to our network, these generous ladies have now shared 40 quilts with us for upcoming missions.  A silver lining to the work we do is the friendships that grow right along with the piles of quilts.  Giving a big welcome here to new friend Christine and her colleagues!   Christine is the donation coordinator for her guild located in Morgan Hill, CA, which quilts strictly for charity.  They live by the mantra “from patchwork to community”.  Isn’t that a great description?! More information about their guild can be found here:  https://piecebypiecequilters.com/ It’s always fun to pick up quilts in person, especially with groups, as it gives us an opportunity to share more about the life-changing work of Rotaplast.  And of course we love giving thanks in person.  Stories and hugs abound! If our...

 Our village grows! This week I received a surprise shipment of quilts from Cotton Rose Quilt Guild in Alabama.  After unpacking a fun variety of quilts I decided it would be fun to share the show.  Blocks are contributed by a variety of guild members, with Melodie doing much of the assembly and Liz finishing with her long arm. Thank you, ladies!  So glad you found us…. Collaborative efforts….teams of generous quilters….are the backbone of how we keep the Rotaplast medical missions supplied.  With help from so many, we continue to make sure that every patient is wrapped in a hand-made quilt at the time of their life-changing surgery.  And of course patients come in various sizes so we encourage quilts in a variety of sizes as well.  To review, Wrap-A-Smile can use quilts as small as 36” x 45” ,  up to 45” x 60” as comfort quilts for the older patients. ENJOY THE SHOW Thank you, ALL What a wonderful village we have!! Gratefully, ~Ann

 I had the pleasure of meeting Kim from New York who dropped off 80 quilts to me last week! She is part of the Zion Methodist Church quilting group, a prolific bunch of women who have been donating quilts to Wrap-A-Smile for many years now!  Thank you for the lovely summer surprise!  They are gorgeous and you all are wonderful.                                                                                                             -Paige