SheronJ wrote:

Thank you, Sheron, for helping and for driving such a long way!

Ladies and Gents,

I imagine you've all figured out by now that Sorting Day was yesterday, Monday, April 11!

Another point to Clara's post about asking if your package has been mailed yet...I promise, we will mail them out as they are completed, but we WILL NOT be keeping track of the packages that have been returned. If you sent HSTs and a return envelope (with sufficent postage) or charged on Paypal, you will get it back eventually. The sorting process was absolutely unbelievable and monumental, even getting everything unloaded out of our vans and into the church hall, as all theTQS helpers who were there can attest to. My main focus, other than my day job which I still have to do, for the next few weeks, yes probably weeks, will be getting them mailed back to you. Probably no quilting projects in my future for a while .

Also, because of the massive numbers of HSTs, you may be short a few or may have a few extras. If you do come up a little short, we apologize, but we will not have any extras to send to you as replacements. If you're over, consider yourself lucky and enjoy the extras. There was absolutely no way to make this a fool-proof operation.

Most assuredly you will receive duplicate HSTs from one or more members or even some of your own, you had to have been there to understand why that would happen. It was absolutely impossible to handle each HST as its own individual unit and make sure that on one received more than one from each member.

My incredible Bee (most of whom are NOT TQS members) will be helping me with more sorting tomorrow and we should be able to get quite a few more packages in the mail after that, but not ALL of them. It's not just a matter of counting the correct numbers of HSTs, it's also a matter of putting them back into the return evelopes (many of which were too actually small for the return quantities), getting them taped, and then taking them to the post office to mail. I was hoping to get the larger counts finished first, but that was not to be, so the majority of the packages left to distribute are the large counts, 700, 616, even 300s, etc. which will obviously take the most time and manpower.

Several members sent in packages for multiple members together on one envelope that were were all to be returned in one envelope. That only worked to confuse the sorting process so we had to adjust. When you get those back, it will be a total of the HSTs you sent and they will not be packaged individually, so you can have fun going through them with each other and taking turns picking out the ones you want.

There are also quite a few that were pressed open...those were equally distributed amongst all the others, so you'll have those in your mix too. I believe we successfully fumigated the 'smoker' HSTs, so hopefully you won't even notice if you receive one of those. TQS member DebbieK, who came to help me a couple of weeks before the sorting took those 'smoker' HSTs home and pressed them (because of using the Febreze and putting them in the dryer with dryer sheets, they did tend to curl up). There are also quite a few members who didn't write anything on there HSTs so you'd know where they came from...so you can be creative in your own mind and imagine they came from some far away exotic location !

Since Clara has all the Paypal funds, she will be taking the International packages back home with her to finish sorting and mailing.

It was a fun ride, but it's not over yet..in fact, it's probably only about half-way there. Your patience and understanding will be greatly appreciated. Please remember that everything that was done for this exchange was on a volunteer basis including all of our wonderful helpers on sorting day.

To All of our TQS Helpers: A great big thank you and huge hugs to the TQS members for helping yesterday, and especially for those who drove from as far as San Antonio, Fredericksburg, Vernon, Spring...did I miss any other cities?? We couldn't have done it without you and I hope everyone else will appreciate you as much as we did. I was hoping to have the chance to visit with each of you more than I did yesterday, but there was just too much on our plates to make that happen. I am hopeful that we will all get to see each other again at Quilt Festival in the fall....if we can get a reunion together at the TQS booth. Keep the cute namebadges that DebbieK made for you and wear them for the reunion so everyone else who is there can also say thanks.

TQS member, NancyW, made 30 wonderful tissues holders so I could hand them out to all of our helpers yesterday. Everyone was thrilled with them and so appreciative of the time you spent on them. Nancy even overnighted them through UPS so they would get here in time for Sorting Day.

And to all of you who sent CHOCOLATES...you can bet your bottom dollar that every bit of chocolate was thoroughly enjoyed!


And, Rosemary, what can we say but 'WOW' for the job you did on our Sorting Hats. Clara and my DH both took pictures, so we'll be posting more soon.

Thanks to all of you sorters for the work you put in. Know it is a big job. I did not think you would get it all done in one day. My Hat is off to you Debbie and Clara for taking on this project. This is what makes it a surprise, the not knowing when you will get your HSTs. You are doing a good job.

If they/you managed to sort about half of them that is still about 100,000 :shock: (or my maths is up the creek)

I wonder if you could swim in that many? I have visions of a swimming pool full - though hopefully not a full sized olympic one.

I guess that we should carry on talking amongst ourselves, re-writing songs etc, etc, etc, and wait for them to come up for air when they are ready.

Rosemary

Hello, My name is Sheron.
I was one of the volunteers at the long awaited sorting yesterday. Let's see... enormous... gigantic... No there are no words to describe this task. Can you imagine one quarter of a million tiny HSTs ? We got allot done yesterday but Debbie and Clara still have miles to go before it is finished. I know they up to the task before them, they are two super ladies. We can all help them by being patient. Please, no emails. It will only delay the process. We all know Quilters are special people and we are always willing to help. We can help Debbie and Clara best by waiting patiently.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Whenever the HSTs arrive will be a wonderful day - worth waiting for!

Wendy

A recent sighting at Hogsmeade Station (not too far from me, least wise in the same county )



Rosemary

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU
once again for the huge task you have undertaken on our behalf
promise to wait patiently and happily anticipating the packages from you
whatever we receive and whenever we receive them - it will be well worth the wait i am sure
get some rest - and RELAX

Thank you, Clara and Debbie, and all your dear volunteer helpers! We appreciate all that you have done, are doing now, and will continue to do until this unbelievable project is finished. BTW, in your absence, while you were getting ready for the big sorting day, I had a vision of you two turning into adorable Easter Bunnies sending us our Easter baskets in 1 gallon ziplock bags! Josew's following comment was primo! "Debbie and Clara in Bunny Ears with cottontails on their next adventure! " Then Margo chimed in with "Careful what you mention around here! I thought a sorting hat would be a good idea and look what happened! Surely Hugh Hefner isn't gonna show up too!! "

Just watch your back and be careful wearing that magical hat!

Hope you all get a good night's rest....for 10 hours!

Shirley
Gresham, OR

Woof! Yes, we had a big sorting today. Hold on. Don't start jumping up and down. I need to tell you a few things. We had a huge hall set up for us. Over 12 large tables to use, stairs, tons of chairs and over 30 quilters for this huge undertaking. We got about half done. Before you say only half. Let me put that in perspective. We put all the envelopes into trash bags and put them in my van. It filled up one entire row of seats, on the floor seat and stacked on top of each other. Debbie took about 2/3s for her quilting bee to continue the sort and I took the remainder home. This is going to take us a while to finish. Please be patient and know we are doing our best. I will post some pictures when I get home. Debbie and I hope to get them all in the mail in about a month. Some right now and they will trickle out until they are complete. I repeat this was a big project and I thank each and every quilter that helped us out with this process. Clara :shock: :shock: :shock:

P.S. Debbie asks if you could be patient and not start sending emails on whether we got to your package for a little while (a few weeks). I think we would like to be further along.

Hi, everyone. My name is Diana and my screen name is deafgirl (will explain more about that in a moment). I live in Michigan, a truly beautiful place. I am married to the most wonderful husband who supports my quilting. When I turned 40, he moved out of the home office and created a quilting room just for me. I am the mother of three kind and beautiful children, two daughters and a son. I actually am quite new to TQS -- somehow I happened onto the forum. When prompted to create a screen name and password (at the end of a long work day), I grabbed the first idea that came to mind (deafgirl) and the rest is history. When my daughters learned I had chosen that as my screen name they were quite upset -- probably because, while I am hearing impaired, I do not make a big deal about it and I never like to stand out. I guess with a screen name of "deafgirl" I sort of stand out. Anyways . . . I logged on on Jan 26 (the last day to join the SoTTTs) and joined, and I am so glad I did. This is my first ever block exchange and I have never been a part of an online group like this. It has been a joy, in large part because the timing of all this has coincided with the one year anniversary of my Mom's death; she was a quilter as well. In the coldness of January, I found something that gave me comfort and joy and that helped to carry me through her birthday month and then the anniversary of her passing. It's funny how things just work out. I want to comment that Nancy's prayer shawl is absolutely beautiful, and the prayers she stitched in will provide her friend a source of comfort and strength, I'm sure.

I must confess that Simply Quilts was the most influential to me. I can still recall the instant I was on vacation and my husband, waiting for me to finish dressing for the day, found Alex's show and said, "Honey, I think you should come watch this quilt show. It's actually well done." I was hooked. I learned alot from seeing things done by Alex and her guests. Second most influential has been Marianne Fons and Liz Porter, for like Alex, they try to simplify the process and tease out the joy of quilting in all instances.

This has been a fun exchange for me. I have been reading and following the comments. And, like everyone else, I thank Debbie and Clara for all their hard work in organizing it all. I look forward to what we all will do with the gifts we receive, both those that come in the mail and those that come from this friendship exchange.

Good Golly! I MUST stop skipping days reading this forum! things had slowed down a bit before the introductions started, so I pop in for a quick look and spend nearly an hour reading!!
Now, lots of things to reply to... Nancy, what a beautiful prayer shawl, and how the symbolism works is beautiful too. The timing was right for you to be able to do that for your friend, best wishes all around.
And Dawn, cute poem! there are so many clever folks participating here!
And of course to our sorters... Whew! wish I could join you...

Ok, my bio: (or are these confessions?? lol !) I'm Florence Barnick, from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and I'm a quilter. I almost thought I'd found a sister in my own back yard, but turns out she's from Fredericksburg, TX. My Fredericksburg is 1/2-way between Richmond, Va. & Washington, DC, surrounded by history. I'm married nearly 24 years and have 3 sons, twins who are 20 and in college, and a 13-yr-old. (who is also a member of TQS and is one of Ricky's youngest, if not biggest fans!) I grew up knowing my way around a sewing machine but never did much with it, and no one I've ever known in my family was a quilter. I've done & enjoyed other needlework along the way, but nothing makes my blood flow like fabric!!
I think I've been a quilter all my life, I've always loved geometry & quilt patterns, etc., but I didn't make one until the late 90's, when I started by making t-shirt quilts for my twins, then several other family members, then in 2001 I took some time off from work & found myself watching Simply Quilts, and soon was hooked! I looked on my bookshelf & found a quilting book I had bought in the mid-80's, there was a quilt shop not too far from my home (then in Richmond) and I had picked up the book & templates, but never did anything... I've now made a full-size quilt for each of my nieces, nephews and the twins as they graduated from High School, as well as several others along the way. (and since folks have pointed out some of their work for friends with cancer, I will point out my "1000 cranes" quilt on my profile which was done with the help of "sisters" from the former AAQ Forum, for my Mom when she was going thru treatment for Lymphoma) Now one Nephew is married and he got a wedding quilt, and a niece is engaged, so there's always more to be done!!! DH got me a Bernina 440 QE for Mother's Day about 5 years back, it was the best gift I've ever gotten! Now if I only had more time to use it...

Shirley35 wrote:

Thanks! I get a little carried away at times, but life is so short that we must enjoy every moment that we can! I must say, Rosemary is having WAY too much fun! I think she has a secret! And, you say you hear music? Are you sure?

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

Dawn, I like your poem. I made a copy of it, am thinking about making a notebook of comments and thoughts. I wonder what the sorting queens and their courts are doing now. Oh, listen! I think I heard some music coming from the South of Iowa, sounded like Dancing Queen to me.

I was thinking if some of us can't make it to Texas for the international show and are closer to Des Moines, Iowa, maybe we could plan to meet there sometime during their show September 28-30. Let me know. I would love to meet some of my sisters. We could bring pictures to share and softly sing Dancing Queen.

Shirley35