Tag: #WIVeterans

The Mission Continues…

What a beautiful day it’s been so far! The sun is shining and there’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s the perfect day to take my little black convertible out for a spin – a sweet and sporty two-passenger roadster I have stashed away for just such occasions. Admittedly, I don’t bring it out much and think about selling it from time to time, but then I drive the darn thing and all the appeal comes rushing back! I have a feeling that if and when I do decide to re-home it, the space in the garage will quickly be filled with new and more appealing toys – like maybe another Harley Davidson??? Nick and I both already have one but as anyone who rides Harleys knows, once you get your first you just want to keep adding to your collection… Kind of like tattoos!

I love being part of the Harley family. It’s one of mine and Nick’s favorite things to do together in our free time. We are firm believers in the power of wind therapy! That’s why when I found out about the Hogs for Heroes Organization I knew I had to figure out a way to get on board and help. As most of you know we’ve been partnered with Hogs for Heroes for two summers in a row now, and have currently raised over $43,000 between private donations, our 2021 “American Quilter’s Stitch Along” fundraiser, and our recent online auction. Truly amazing! If you’re not familiar with the Hogs for Heroes Organization, let me tell you why I love them so much. This stellar group of people helps give back to injured WI veterans by raising funds, and using the proceeds to provide recipients with a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Seriously, this idea couldn’t be any more right up my alley! If you would like to learn more about Hogs for Heroes or want to make a donation directly, visit the Hogs for Heroes website by following the link below!

I’m proud to say that Primitive Gatherings continues to contribute toward Hogs for Heroes and their fundraising efforts by combining our love for stitching with an even greater love for these deserving heroes. Our current “Mystery Mission” is right on track, and quickly coming to fruition. With your help, we were able to collect enough donated red, white, and blue flag blocks to create over 30 quilts, which will be donated to Hogs for Heroes bike recipients in the near future. Last month, the amazing generosity of my quilting family continued as stitchers from near and far showed up to help at our volunteer assembly event.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to this mission. Whether you sent in blocks, or came in to help assemble the quilts – or both! –  we could never have achieved this massive goal without you! I can’t tell you how humbling it is to see these true works of art in their final stages on the longarms right now. If you tuned in to “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ on YouTube yesterday, we came to you LIVE from the quilting studio where you got a sneak peek of the progress the guys are making. Check it out!

Things are really coming along down there. In fact, Jake just told me that he suspects that they will be finished with all of the quilts by the end of the day today, which means we are that much closer to being ready to go when it comes time to present them to their new owners. While we don’t have the exact date of when that will be set in stone quite yet, you can catch the replay of yesterday’s episode of “Stitch with Lisa Bongean” for more details on when that miiiiight be by clicking the STITCH button below. Our plan for that day is to not only help Hogs for Heroes award this year’s chosen bike recipient with their new hog, but also to present each bike recipient – both past and present – with their own flag quilts as well. I can’t wait! It’s going to be an amazing day to say the least.

T.G.I.F.! I just about forgot it was Friday but don’t worry, Nick was quick to remind me with all of his fishing talk. As always, I hope you all have a great weekend and that the weather is a bit more cooperative than it has been. I know many of you have been dealing with some super hot temps lately, so I’m hoping we’ll see a little relief in that department by Sunday. In the mean time, if you’re stuck inside hiding from the fireball in the sky, now is the perfect time to do a little shopping both online and in our retail shop (we have great AC!). Don’t forget that we’ve extended our summer fabric SALE! Now through midnight this Sunday, July 24th, 2022 – take 25% OFF all fabric in stock (SALE includes pre-cuts and yardage – minimum of 1/2 yard cut. Sorry, offer does NOT include my Garden Gatherings line or any fabric that is already on sale).

Have you taken advantage of this great sale yet? If so, were you buying for a project already in the works or just for a bit of inspiration for your next one? Let me know in the comments! I’m always super curious about what everyone else is doing. I get a lot of comments thanking me for inspiring other people, but it really does go both ways! I find inspiration all around me, including from all of you! It’s one of my favorite things about being a stitcher – I couldn’t ask to rub elbows with a better group of people! Have a great weekend and I will see you all Tuesday during “Shop Talk with Shelley.” This week she’ll be talking all about wool! We might even get lucky enough to welcome a special guest…or two! So don’t miss it. See you soon! ~Lisa

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Hogs for Heroes – Official Check Presentation

Hey everyone! I hope the weekend treated you well. It was much sunnier around here than it was originally forecasted to be, but the air was chilly and the wind was strong, making being outside still not that great. I spent Saturday at The Gathering wrapping up the Tulip Festival Retreat which was a huge success! Everyone who attended left with some really neat projects and of course, more friends than they had when they arrived!

I did my best to stay home Sunday to catch up on a few random things around the house…and of course to get some much-needed rest. It’s always so nice to spend time at home – even if it’s just for a day! We all need time to recharge from time to time – even me… though my husband and my staff would tell you that I’m not great at “doing nothing” for very long. LOL!

As you all know we had another busy week last week here at Primitive Gatherings, and an especially exciting day on Thursday. If you were lucky enough to catch, “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ that day, you got to see Nick and I present Kevin and Audra from the Hogs for Heroes Organization with a check for over $43,000! You read that right. I am so proud of the fact that currently, we have raised now over $43,000 between private donations, our 2021 “American Quilter’s Stitch Along” fundraiser, and our latest online auction! This is truly an amazing accomplishment that would have been impossible to achieve without all of you. I know I’ve been saying it a lot but I simply can’t say thank you enough! …and to think – my original goal was only $25,000! I should have known we’d far surpass that. Like I told Kevin and Audra, there’s no better group of people to ask for help from when you want to get something done than my fellow quilters.

I was also hugely honored to give Kevin and Audra their own “American Quilter’s Quilt“ that I personally stitched, as a symbol and reminder of everything they do for WI veterans. These two wonderful people not only have impacted my life in a positive and inspiring way, but they have dedicated their lives to helping the people who deserve it the most – our veterans. Kevin and Audra continue to selflessly give on a daily basis to the men and women who sacrifice themselves in order for the rest of us to live our lives freely. They may not realize it and probably don’t agree,  but Kevin and Audra are heroes too! If you’d like to watch the replay of this well deserved check presentation, you can do so by clicking HERE!

I still get goose bumps when I look at these photos! Such a phenomenal number makes me so proud and happy, but mostly it makes me want to do more! As many of you already know I came up with another way to add to our efforts in helping raise funds for Hogs for Heroes. My goal is to produce and collect as many Flag blocks as possible by June 15th, 2022, which will then be used collectively to create a future project that will generate even more funds for Hogs for Heroes! If you would like to participate in raising funds for Hogs for Heroes by making and donating blocks to this charitable mission, click the link below for the pattern and instructions to get started! One is great but if you feel like making more we’d love it!!! We only have about half of what we need for this project so far, so don’t wait – we need you! Please send your finished piece(s) to us no later than June 15th, 2022. We’re super excited to get started on the final project, so if you can get your blocks to us earlier (June 1st, 2022 would be ideal) that would be even better!

Once you’re ready to submit your donated pieces, please package and send your blocks to:

Don’t forget tomorrow is Tuesday, which means “Shop Talk with Shelley“ will be LIVE at 9AM CST on my “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ YouTube Channel! Shelley will be talking about a few quilts she recommends for wall décor, hot tips on cleaning and organizing your sewing room, some of her favorite current wool projects, and Memorial Day hours (we will be CLOSED!), so set your reminder!

How are you liking “Shop Talk with Shelley?” What are some of the things you’d like her to cover in the future? Do you have a favorite segment? Let me know in the comments! As always, leaving a comment both here on my blog and during LIVE shows earns you a chance to win a prize! Lucky winners this time around are: Cynthia R. and Jeanne B.! As always, I am not posting last names or email addresses for everyone’s privacy, so if you think you’re one of these lucky winners please check your email! You can also contact Heidi at heidin@primitivegatherings.us if you have not already received an email from her. She will use your email address to confirm that you are in fact the winner (in the case that there is someone with the same initials, she will determine the correct person with matching email credentials)! If you’re not a winner this week, keep trying – you could be next and I sure hope you are! ~Lisa

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Hogs For Heroes Fundraiser – Auction Winners

Great news everyone! Our Hogs for Heroes online auction fundraiser event was a huge success! In only a few short days we were able to raise over $9,200 that will be going straight to benefit the Hogs for Heroes Organization! For those of you who don’t know, Primitive Gatherings is proudly partnered with 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 now over $37,000 between private donations, our 2021 “American Quilter’s Stitch Along” fundraiser, and our latest online auction! I want to say thank you to everyone who contributed so far, we could never have done it without you!

Below is the official list of all the items that were auctioned off along with the winner’s name, and the amount donated for each item. If you have any questions about the auction, please feel free to call the shop at 920-722-7233!

If you are one of the lucky winners of an auction item and still have not made arrangements for payment and shipping, please call 920-722-7233 by May 19th, 2022 to confirm your item!

All I can say is WOW! Looking at that grand total gives me the goosies! If we were able to achieve that in less than two weeks, I can only imagine what we we’ll do with more time in the future! I am very humbled by our veteran’s service to us and our great country, and feel honored to be a part of this mission. The individuals who receive these gifted Harley’s are so deserving of our gratitude, that I feel like helping them heal with a little wind therapy is the least we could do. I want to give a special thanks to each and every one of you who participated. I know that if I need to accomplish something greater than I can achieve on my own, all I have to do is reach out to my fellow stitchers and we will get it will get done! You should all be super proud of yourselves – I couldn’t ask for a better bunch to have my back.

Speaking of great friends and teamwork, I also want to give a big shout-out to those of you who have mailed in Flag blocks for our Hogs for Heroes secret mission project! They all look beautiful! They are steadily coming in but we still need more! If you missed my original call-out for the blocks, let me explain the details. I came up with this idea to add to our efforts in helping Hogs for Heroes. My goal is to produce and collect as many Flag blocks as possible by June 15th, 2022, which will then be used collectively to create a future project that will generate even more funds for Hogs for Heroes! I am calling it my, “Mystery Mission” because the final purpose for the Flag blocks is a secret that I will reveal once we’re all finished. If you would like to participate by making and donating blocks to this mystery mission, please send your finished piece(s) to us no later than June 15th, 2022. We’re super excited to get started on this, so if you can get your blocks to us earlier (June 1st, 2022 would be ideal) that would be even better!

Once you’re ready to submit your donated pieces, please package and send your blocks to:

I really hope you all have a great weekend. Nick and I are traveling home to WI and will be back to work at Primitive Gatherings by Monday. It’s always bitter-sweet to say goodbye to Val, being at her place is kind of like being at my second home! We had a great time as we always do, catching up and getting lots of stitching done. Even though it was more of a working vacation, we always manage to have a lot of fun while cranking out some serious production. Val’s new pool is up and running so of course we had to make use of that as well – you know, for work purposes. It’s a rough life… We even ended up doing an impromptu Trunk Show of Val’s book, Fun, Friends & Fat Quarters via livestream on my “Stitch with Lisa Bongean“ YouTube channel. If you didn’t already get to see it you can always catch the replay by hitting the “STITCH“ button below. Remember to like and comment on both my blog and YouTube shows for a chance to win a prize! Tell me what you’re up to this weekend. All work and no play, or is there stitching on the horizon? Whatever it might be, enjoy yourself! I will see you all next week. Take care everyone. ~Lisa

 

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