Liberated Quilting Challenge: December 2013

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative: Our Team

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative can only do what it does because of our volunteers and companies who give or discount their services. I know that before I began doing a little extra for Amie behind the scenes that I didn't fully appreciate just how much work so many of our voluteers actually do! Kudos to every one but especailly to our primary movers, shakers, and do'ers for the website and behind the scenes, everywhere!

Besides my rather extensive blogging, yes I know I used 4 separate blogs and an AAQI web page just to promote my #1 Charity! But this project has been THAT dear to my heart! And behind the scenes, I was secretly a member of the AAQI Quilt Police...Amie's words in an email to me ;-)

I scanned the web several times a day to find all of the current blog posts or website articles, or news reports for any mention of AAQI and if I found anything that contained any kind of major inaccuracy as to profit versus proceeds versus donation, for example...I was to write a nice little comment with a bit of a correction ;-) I didn't find many of those but my ongoing lists of who said what about our organization ran into lists as long as three pages single spaced on some months. I kept those board members reading, if they so choose to!

And as I did this, I also kept lists of email blogger's addresses for our email lists. Sometimes, bloggers don't use their real names, sometimes, they don't post an email address even on their blogs, and sometimes I really felt like a genuine history detective. I spend about 6 hrs a week doing all of this, but that was peanuts compared to what other volunteers did with all of the quilt scanning, web page creations, updating, etc. etc.

But nothing worth doing is ever easy! But between every one involved, especially our fabulous quilters...what a run!

More than 2000 quilters who have donated quilts. See our Honor Roll.
BenefitBidding.com, donates auction services for monthly online auctions!
Recycled Paper, MPI Research in Mattawan, Michigan
Diane Petersmarck
- Receives shipped quilts
- Emails donor acknowledgements
- Quilt Scanner
- Uploads images to web site
- Inserts BACK and NEXT buttons on auction quilt page
- Creates archival disks of images and HTML coding
- Updates auction page with buy buttons and price + insurance
- Uploads Quilt-A-Month Club data to web page
- Go-to person for all web page related emergencies
Beth Hartford
- Receives quilt registration data from quilt donors
- Builds web pages for donated quilts
- Emails donor with quilt numbers
- Archives HTML coding
- Printing Czar
- Houston Tag Builder, 2009-2010
Kathy Kennedy-Dennis
- Co-Curator, "Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope"
- Administrates Quilt-A-Month Club
- AAQI Answer Woman
- On-call quilter
- Houston Support Team
James Tyson, created and hosts quilt registration forms
Donna Moscinski and Eileen O'Regan, Quilt Scanners (2012-2013)

Robin Brooks :Quilt Scanner (2013) and Name Quilt Image Fixer

Barbara Miller
- Sold Quilt Mover
- $1,000 Promise Coordinator (2013)
- Name Quilt page creator and name checker
- Fannie Narte
  - Writes and posts FaceBook status updates
  - Comments on wall posts
- Naomi Adams
  - Creates monthly auction pages on BenefitBidding.com
  - Creates thumbnail for auction
  - Creates quilt collage for AAQI home page
- Daphne and Leon Stewart
  - Updates Honor Roll data
  - Notifies quilters in monthly auction
  - Transcribes comments from exhibit
- Michele Bilyeu
  - Google alerts monitor
  - Keeps master blogger list
- Robbi Eklow, CafePress.com product creator
- Peg Howard, "Get Ideas" comment moderator
- Ruth Langdon
  - Paper flipper
  - PQ Filing Goddess
  - Quilt check-in and price uploading
  - Houston Prep Team 2010, 2011, 2012
- Mary Lecea, Tag Builder 2011
  - Invoicing March 2012 to present
  - Houston Prep Team, 2012
- Anne Wolhfeil
  - Sewed quilts to mounting for AI:FHtH
  - Footie stitcher for AAQI booth in Houston
  - Invoicing 2011 to present
- Barb Newtown, very necessary things, 2011
- Houston Quilt Prep Team & Recovery 2012: Shelley Tuuri, Sharon Pelc, Emma Eaton, Marie Kudej and Ruth Murray.
- Martha Wolfersberger, Houston Prep Team 2012
- Jen Hinwood, Houston Prep Team 2012
- Susan Pain, Houston Support Team
- Karen Musgrave, press release writer, 2006-2012.
- Carol Kolf, scrapbook scanner
- Barbara Waxer
  - Copyright consultant
  - Word Wizard
- Kathie Veach, Research Protocol Advisor
- Sherry Whitford, blog interviewer
- Ruth Murray, Houston Prep Team 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
- Lee Kirchner, logo rendering
- Doug Tessler, audio recording for "Heartbreak to Hope" video
- Robin June, Accountant, offering discounted services, July 2007-present
- Karey Bresenhan (Quilts, Inc.) and Brooke & John Flynn - Exhibition space for Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts sale at International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011, and 2012.
- Rebekkah Tario
  - Invoicing 2010- February 2012
  - Houston Tag Builder, 2011
  - Keeper of Houston Master List, 2011
- EE Schenck, fabric to cover walls in exhibit space at Houston International Quilt Festival, used 2006-2011.
- Flyer-printers, Sticker-printers, Pipe Bootie Makers, Skrunchie Sewers, and quilters who roll up their sleeves to help.
- The White Glove Brigade & Quilt Police, giving hugs and keeping the quilts safe.
- Quilt Scanner (2013)
- Name Quilt Image Fixer

Sunday, December 15, 2013

AAQI: The End of a Wonderful Era

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) closes on December 31, 2013. Our volunteers have worked long and hard, but we have reached our goal and raised over $1,000,000 for Alzheimer's Disease research funding.

We started out with just our wonderful founder, Ami Simms and her vision of making a difference in the fight against Alzheimer's Disease. With an unimaginable amount of hard work, Ami formed an entire web of volunteers. She created a non-profit organization, a website, website developers and volunteers, a facebook account, an AAQI update blog, an advisory board for researching and delegating funding to research institutions and a handful of volunteers that grew into a virtual army.

A wonderful team that has worked endless to do what needed to be done to reach our goal...make a difference in the march against Alzheimer's Disease by raising money for research funding! And we have done this, and much, much more!

With her own love of quilting, and in honor of her own mother who suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, Ami created one of the most amazing grassroot organizations, ever! Our core group of volunteers grew, our core group of quilters grew, and best of all, the sheer number of quilters..well, we grew and grew and grew!

She/we raised awareness by making, donating, and selling small format art quilts. And best of all, we reached an amazing goal of having earned over ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

And what needed to be done, we raised awareness about Alzheimer's Disease, we secured additional funding for Alzheimer's Disease research, we delegated that funding to great research universities, and we have made some degree of progress in finding viable treatments on the way to a permanent cure for a disease that robs us not only of the use of our minds, but the use of our bodies.

Alzheimer's is a disease that destroys our loved one day by day by day over years, and often decades of care and increasing medical expense. A disease that literally exhausts those of us who care for our loved ones, either in their own homes, or in loving and responsible extended care homes.

None of it is easy, it is all so very challenging as it robs us, day by day, bit by bit, of our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers, our aunts and our uncles, our nieces, nephews, grandparents, co-workers, and friends.

Bit by bit they seem to disappear from the people we once knew them to be. But even more rapidly we disappear from, and to them.

Before the year ends, we still have quilts for sale. There are some yet to be purchased on all pages of the For Sale page at AAQI. And if you were one of our amazing quilters, be sure to check on your own quilts and see if any are still available for purchase. We need to MOVE these little darlings, and prices have been drastically reduced!

All Quilts
On Sale
40%-60% Off
Your quilt purchases help us buy more science!

Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts make perfect gifts for the holidays. This is our last year of fundraising and we would like each and every quilt to find a home before December 30th. Please take a few moments and look at our selection of beautiful quilts. Hurry and make your selection today. Shop now!

The December 2013 Quilt Auction
Raised $2,730.50 For The AAQI!

We have only a few short weeks left, and if you don't do it now..well, just like me, you might forget to do it!!!

And keep in mind that the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) is more than happy to accept monetary donations!

Buy quilts, donate money to this wonderful, charitable cause and keep up this good fight.

Buy a quilt and give it as gift to someone you love, and/or in memory of someone you have lost. It's a win-win, no matter what!

Once, December 2013 is over, the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) will just be a memory.

But it's a good memory, a grand memory, even a memorable memory for our times. Never ever doubt that a small band of dedicated people can make a difference, because we have. We have literally changed our world, one little quilt at a time.

http://www.with-heart-and-hands.com/2012/09/alzheimers-illustrated-my-own.html

Alzheimer's Illustrated: My Own Heartbreak to Hope

And speaking of win-win.........I am so incredibly, incredibly proud of this AAQI Liberated Quilting Challenge group!!!!

We have made and donated somewhere around 640 quilts. And at our peak that was only about 30 quilters so it is amazing that we have done this well!!! I am so incredibly proud of us, of you, and of all you have done.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love and thank all of you from the bottom of my heart!

Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska and all of her AAQI Quilting. Sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in the Liberated Quilting Challenge and make or donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

AAQI December Auction: What? You Won't Bid on This Quilt????

http://www.benefitbidding.com/auctions/listings/details.cfm?item_id=19234

Really? You won't bid on this quilt because of the word "prayer" in the title????

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative December( and very last and final quilt auction) ends today. I have two quilt at auction with all profits funding Alzheimer's research funding and frankly they are not moving at all. Please consider placing a bid and possibly even winning one of my two quilts. I have given to and lost so very much from this horrible disease that now is the 6th leading cause of death. My quilts are #6999..shown here...and #5211.

"Dedication: In honor and memory of my father, a loving care giver, and with the deepest love for my mother who is now in her fifth year of Alzheimer's. In spite of being blind, diabetic, and unable to walk, she still reaches out her heart to us with love." It is now 4 years later than when this was written and my mother and my father have both died but sadly...Alzheimer's Disease has not. Please help me help those who are trying so very hard to put an end to this horrible debilitating, life and family altering disease.

Quilt #6399 - The Alzheimer's Prayer

www.benefitbidding.com

Quilt #6399 - The Alzheimer's Prayer : Quilt #6399 - The Alzheimer's Prayer

http://www.benefitbidding.com/auctions/listings/details.cfm?item_id=19234

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Michele Bilyeu I suggested to someone I know that they place a bid on this quilt since they had a family member with one of the forms of dementia. Their answer? They didn't like my use of the word 'prayer' in the title or that intent in the anonymous poem I used which simply asks for compassion and understanding for those with Alzheimer's Disease. Really? That's the reason you won't raise a bid to $45 for such a good cause?

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Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska and all of her AAQI Quilting. Sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in the Liberated Quilting Challenge and make or donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

AAQI December Quilt Auction and Sales Pages

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI)

December 2013 Quilt Auction
Starts Sunday, December 1, 2013 and runs through December 10th, 2013

(This auction website has been hosted, free of charge by BenefitBidding)

This is the second and final set of quilts from our nationally touring exhibit:

Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope

This will be our last online auction... forever and ever. AAQI closes up and finishes up all loose ends by December 31, 2013.

Please support this wonderful, wonderful cause as this is our very last auction as we have begun the process to close up AAQI. Please, make at least an opening bid, today!, I have two quilts in this auction. Jumpstart the bidding and/ or up their bids during the course of the ten day auction period, or go for the goal by popcorn bidding and winning one of my two quilts up for auction during December 1-10, 2013.