Beginning in January 2022, AccuQuilt partnered up with Moda Fabrics and Baby Lock in a year-long, pay-it-forward charity campaign called, Covering the World: One Quilt at a Time. Entrants in the campaign include all levels of skill, from top designers at AccuQuilt and Moda, to beginner quilters who are just starting out. No matter the experience level, participating quilters all share a common goal – to contribute their time, skill, and hard work by making and donating finished quilts to well-deserving charities in need.

I knew I wanted to participate in this generous quilting event as soon as I heard about it. Since I obviously love to quilt, I thought this would be another great way to help support my favorite veteran’s charity! I’m sure most of you know that we are partnered with the organization, Hogs for Heroes as a fun and creative way to give back to our WI veterans. I am so proud of the fact that currently we have raised over $43,000 between our 2021 “American Quilter’s Stitch-Along“ fundraiser, private donations, and our most recent online auction event this last spring! That’s over $43K that will go toward healing the mental and physical wounds suffered by Wisconsin Veterans through the therapeutic benefits of owning and riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. All funds raised goes toward the purchase of a motorcycle which will then be gifted to a Wisconsin Veteran Hero. If you would like to know more about Hogs for Heroes and what they’re all about, click the button below for more information!

The amount we’ve already raised in honor of Hogs for Heroes is truly amazing. Your generous donations and hard work continues to inspire me every day. I am constantly brainstorming about new ways to support our veterans, so I was excited to learn about the Covering the World: One Quilt at a Time campaign. Let me tell you how it works! Participants select or design a quilt pattern to make, and then donate it to a charity they choose. Once the quilt is completed, it is photographed and then presented to their chosen recipient. After submitted quilts are photographed, they are posted to social media outlets with the hashtag #QuiltTheWorld2022. For donating their quilts, participants are eligible to win some cool prizes. Pretty simple!

I chose to donate my “American Quilter’s Quilt“ to Hogs for Heroes because it’s a perfect representation of my patriotism and love for our great country. It features 20 unique red, white, and blue flag blocks, proudly showing off my quilter’s spin on our nation’s flag and colors. Nick and I were absolutely thrilled to be able to present this glorious quilt to Hogs for Heroes, along with a check for $43,462.31 a few weeks ago. Needless to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!

#QuiltTheWorld2022

This all just goes to show you how easy it is to make a positive impact on someone’s life. Would you like to join us in the #QuiltTheWorld2022 challenge? It’s easy to participate! You can find more information on #QuiltTheWorld2022 by clicking the link below!

As I mentioned, after experiencing such great success resulting from our previous efforts I just want to do more! That’s why I also came up with what I’ve been calling my, “Mystery Mission.” My goal was to produce and collect as many red, white, and blue Flag Blocks as possible, which are now (thanks to all of you) currently being used to create quilts of valor for injured and recovering veterans around WI.

We are well on our way to the finish line for this mission but still have a ways to go. Just like with the flag blocks, this next goal of mine is a big one and I’m going to need your help! If you are local and have some time to spare please join us this Monday, June 27th, 2022 from 9:00AM until 4:00PM at The Gathering for a special stitching event. We need volunteers to help turn over 600 donated flag blocks into finished projects. Bring your machine, we’ll provide the rest – even lunch! No machine? No problem. We need help with pressing and cutting too!

Thanks again to all of you who have already contributed to the “Mystery Mission” both near and far. This is proof yet again that when we work together, we can really make things happen! I mentioned in an earlier post that I was excited to see who would make the most blocks, and that I would reward with them with a prize. We’re in the process of notifying our top three entrants and will announce the official winners soon!

Jess and I are packing up and getting ready to leave Chicago after being at the h+h Americas event for the last couple of days. I do have to say, I apologize for our technical difficulties on Thursday –  I know many of you were excited to see us LIVE on location with “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ but the wifi gods were just not having it due to the building we were in. It happens! No worries, we’ll be back LIVE from home ground next week starting on Tuesday at 9:00AM CST for “Shop Talk with Shelley“ where she’ll be talking about her favorite must-have’s from around the shop, along with some specially selected sale items we think you should know about. Then catch me on “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ Thursday at 1:00PM CST. Don’t miss us – and don’t be shy! Give us a shout out here on the blog or during our LIVE shows for a chance to win a nice little prize. I love sending them out, just give me a reason to! Have a great weekend! ~Lisa