Great Update from the Material Girls Guild

Wonderful update from Mary Jane Handy from the Material Girls Quilt Guild of Leominster. She presented Wrap Them In Roses at their guild meeting on Thursday and the response was fantastic, they've decided to use a larger hall for the event than they originally planned.  On January 25th, the guild is going to make quilts for Wrap Them in Roses, which is truly fantastic! I've sent her 50 labels, meaning she is expecting 50 people to make the quilts AND they've already received 50 yards of flannel fabric donated from Holice Turnbow, a national quilt teacher and judge! We are thrilled to be a part of this group's charity effort. Thank you Mary Jane Handy and the Material Girls Quilt Guild!

Drop off at Children's Hospital

The Children's Hospital Donation Trolley!

Child Life Services receives quilts

Arriving at Children's Hospital

Creative use of fabric

Thank you Bryn Wood for making two lovely quilts and for using the fabric so creatively!

A tribute to Zoe

Zoe Rose Sorrells

I wanted to make a tribute to Zoe Rose, the baby girl behind this charity effort. Zoe Rose was the daughter of Keira and Richard Sorrells and was one of three triplets. She lived for 14 months and touched the heart of everyone who knew her. I never got to meet her but from what I hear she was an amazingly sweet and strong little girl. She passed away in February, 2008 and is survived by her two sisters Avery and Lily. Her parents have dedicated their lives to helping others who have experienced a similar loss and others with young babies struggling in the NICU, all in the name and memory of their sweet Zoe Rose. They have formed the Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation, which funds Wrap Them in Roses and does SO MUCH to help others, from organizing remembrance events for families suffering from loss to fund raising festivals to help NICUs provide educational resources, to offering emotional support for families with pre-term babies and the list goes on and on. They are amazing people and have turned their loss into a source of strength for others.

If you would like some insight into the strength of this amazing woman, Keira Sorrells, read her letter of gratitude that was posted on a preemie blog recently. It is very moving and beautifully written.

Keira just told me of the meaning behind the name Wrap Them in Roses. They chose that name because Rose was their daughter Zoe's middle name and the rose symbolizes love, so when we give these quilts to these precious babies, we're "wrapping the babies in love." A gorgeous thought. I'm sure Zoe is looking down and is thrilled that so many people are making quilts in her name and that they will be used to wrap babies in love, just as she was, and still is, wrapped in love.

Avery and Lily Sorrells

First quilt drop off to Children's Hospital on Monday!

For the past three months, it's been full-on production time; working with all the fantastic volunteers (and donors) to get a collection of baby quilts made. On Monday, it's time to deliver the first batch of quilts over to Children's hospital. At the hospital, there are two super nice ladies, Debbie and Darlene, who will be there to greet us and take the 30+ quilts for the precious babies in the NICU. This is an exciting time and we hope that these quilts bring warmth and love to the babies and their families who receive them.

Ellen Buchmaier sewing away!

Here is a great picture of one of our volunteers finishing up her quilt. Thank you Ellen Buchmaier for being a part of this intiative. We can't wait to receive your quilt!

Beautiful quilt!

Look at this adorable quilt from Maryellen Carroll. Quilted around each fish! Wow, thank you.

100 quilt kits requested!

We just passed the 100 mark! We are at 110 kits that have been requested. Fantastic!

Two fabulous updates. I've just found out that two groups are going to make Wrap Them in Roses quilts as part of their organizations charity efforts. Those are: the very popular Material Girls Quilt Guild in Leominster, MA is having a charity work day at the end of January and one of the projects they will be working on is our quilts! A big thank you to Mary Jane Handy for initiating and organizing this. Also, the Catholic Daughters of America club will be doing a sew-a-thon in January and will be making approximately 15 quilts. Fantastic! For this one, a big thank you to Denise Botsolis, who herself has already made 3 quilts, for organizing this. Denise has been a treasure trove of great ideas for Wrap Them in Roses. Thank you to both groups for including us in your January charity plans.

Jake and Steffi - A big thank you to my brother and his wife for their donation. I've left a few voicemails but I want you to know how much we appreciate your contribution.  You are such generous people and I am thrilled that Wrap Them in Roses is a recipient of your kindness. Thank you!

And another donation! Also from a great friend from high school. LS - You really are a sweetheart and your donation will be used to fund many baby quilts. We'll try to make the quilts turn out as lovely as you are! Thank you so much, these donations give us the ability to move forward and grow! :)

Ok, we are back to accepting more kit requests! After receiving donations from my brother and his wife as well as a good friend from high school, and of course the ongoing support from the Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation, we can now continue to fulfill the kit requests through the end of the year.  So now we are excited to put together the kits for anyone who is up for making a quilt. Just fill in the request form on the right side and we'll send one to you.

Thank you DZ!

I just got a note from Keira letting me know that a friend of mine made a nice donation to Wrap Them in Roses. Someone I haven't been in touch with for many years and someone who is a very special person, full of love, life, and laughter with an emphasis on laughter. It always makes me smile to think of him and the funny times we all had in high school together. Thank you again DZ! Your donation will be used to fund many of these precious little quilts.

www.celebratecarter.com

Every year, Angela & Craig Bickford host a fundraiser in memory of their triplet son, Carter, who passed away after 49 days of life.  He and his brother and sister were born at 28 weeks gestation.  We were thrilled to learn that the Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation (Wrap Them in Roses parent organization) and our friends at Graham's Foundation would be the recipients of the funds they raise during this year's event. 

The best part about the fundraiser????  No matter where you live you can participate and you don't have to leave your home!  From November 15th - December 1st you'll get to shop a very special online holiday catalogue with items for everyone on your list!  Just visit www.celebratecarter.com and start shopping!

We are so thankful for Angela and Craig and all they do to turn their grief into hope for others.  A good portion of the funds raised through Celebrate Carter, will go towards Wrap Them In Roses! We are so grateful for this. Thanks to the support of all of our fabulous quilt making volunteers and our friends at Button Box, we have more quilt kit requests than we can provide kits for at the moment. Any funds raised will go directly toward kit supplies so we can continue to provide quilts to the very young babies in the NICU.  Thank you in advance for shopping at www.celebratecarter.com.

Susan receiving her 4 quilt kits

 

Today I dropped off four quilt kits to Susan's house in Needham. She is very excited about making the quilts and taught me some wonderful quilting techniques right there in the driveway. She is a dynamic lady who teaches quilting classes and who loves to sew in general. I can't wait to see what her quilts look like. Thanks Susan for helping!

The Quilts are coming in!

 

What a lovely message from a woman named Kate Wellen, who just sent in a beautifully done quilt. 

A new batch of kit requests is coming in over the past two days! A big shout out to Jane Evans, the quilt show chair and member Hillie Forsythe of the Quinobequin Quilters, who forwarded this blog and mention of the Button Box review to their members. We've already received 10 requests for 20 kits. Woo-hoo! Thank you Jane, Hillie, and the Quinobequin Quilters, what a Happy Halloween! FYI, the next Quinobequin Quilters quilt show is March 28th & 29th, 2014. Contact Jane Evans for more information :)

I want to reiterate our appreciation for the Button Box including us in their newsletter a few weeks ago. In the end, it generated 16 requests for a total of 25 kits. The last batch of kits will be mailed out tomorrow to that group. I've already heard from several quilters who are busy making the NICU quilts. Thank you again Button Box and thank you quilters! Fanstastic!

A big thank you to the Button Box Quilt Shop who posted this in their digital newsletter yesterday. From this post, we received 8 requests for a total of 13 kits. Woo-hoo. Thank you to everyone who has responded so far and thank you Button Box, an amazing quilting store off Route 9 in Wellesley, MA, for the write up!

Hillie's finished quilt

Here is Hillie holding up one of her two finished quilts. So nicely done. Terima Kasih Hillie :)

Hillie receiving her kit

Hillie runs the Wellesley Recreation Center's "Tot Time" program (and has been for more than a decade) She is an amazing quilter and is generously making two Wrap Them In Roses quilts. Thanks Hillie!

Getting the kits ready...

Thanks to Keira Sorrells, the president of the Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation, for posting this blog on her Facebook page on Saturday. We received requests for 25 kits! Fantastic news and we are excited to provide the finished quilts to the NICUs once they are complete. Thank you quilters!!!

Dear Friends,

We have a very important charity mission ahead of us and we need your help! We are asking for a couple hours of your time to sew isolette quilts for the micropreemies in the NICU.

The Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation provides emotional support, educational resources, and awareness focused events, which inspire hope in parents of preemies while in the NICU, post discharge and for those who have suffered a pregnancy or infant loss. Wrap Them In Roses is an initiative to provide home made isolette covers for the Level 3 NICU at various hospitals in Jackson MS and Boston Children's Hospital in Boston, MA.

For those who do not know what an isolette cover is, it is a blanket that is placed over the top of the incubator/isolette that acts as a buffer for noise and light. The isolette re-creates a womb-like environment for the babies to grow outside of their mother. These blankets stay with the babies as they grow and will leave with them when the baby is discharged. Sadly, in some situations, if the baby passes away, the blanket will be one of the few mementos the parents will have to remind them of their child.

If you are interested in receiving a kit that will contain all the materials you need to make one of these blankets please submit your mailing address through the form on the right and provide the number of kits you would like; we will have the kit(s) sent out to you right away. Likewise, if you think any of your friends or relatives, religious groups, or other organizations might be interested in helping us reach our goal please forward this on.

We thank you in advance for your gift of time.

Very best regards,

Elke Cardella
Director
Wrap Them In Roses

Keira Sorrells
President
Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation