Wrap A Smile Quilts

A small but mighty group of Rotarians and quilting friends met recently at the Rotary clubhouse in Boothbay Harbor to sew for Wrap-A-Smile.  Thank you quilters who brought finished quilts as well as starting new ones.  I predict lots of happy faces as these quilts do their duty hugging children (and sometimes adults) on their way into surgery. Over the next 6 months, Rotaplast will be taking medical teams to India, Nepal, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Liberia.  I will be watching their mission blogs hoping to see glimpses of these quilts. Thank you Sandi C, Kaleidoscope Guild Thank you Jackie M, Kaleidoscope Guild Another from Jackie M, thank you! The following 8 were made by Ann H (painter, potter, quilter...)  And last, but not least, the front and back of an Ann H creation Thanks everyone, it was a fun day!

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/

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, &

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: This l