Weeks 52-59 (2/13/2017 – 4/2/2017) Recap

My constant companion during The Great Reconstruction, my Scratch Pad – receptacle for all notes about what I’ve done and what I need to do and what I might try next and other assorted detritus.

After spending many, many 14-16 hour days (and a few 24 hour days) reconstructing the information that was lost in the computer meltdown by sifting through emails, backed up files, paper files, handwritten notes, memory, blog posts, other people’s blog posts, and anywhere else I can think of to look for information, I’m ready to begin bringing us up to date . . . with emphasis on the word begin. There is still much to do, and I thank you for your continued patience. You may have assumed that I have grown tired of the project and had begun drifting away, but let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. My passion remains high and intact for The 70273
Project, and my gratitude continues to run deep and wide.

Like Janus, I look back with one eye and ahead with the other – and while I could do without the sometimes overwhelming stress of the to do list that tucks me in bed every night and greets me every morning, I am delighted beyond description that so many people have been commemorated and so many people are being commemorated. And shoot, I actually kinda’ enjoy the problem solving.

I do feel compelled to say, though, that there might very well be some adjustments made as Operation: Reconstruct continues and new old information is discovered. So now, without further ado, let’s see what happened in The 70273 Project between April 2 and the last time we recapped together on 2/12/2017 . . .

TRAVEL (in chronological order)

• Denver, CO
• Cashiers, NC
• Fayetteville, GA
• Berea, KY
• Findlay, OH
• Lebanon, KY
• Fayetteville, GA
• Cashiers, NC
• Amicalola Falls, GA
• Cashiers, NC
• Peachtree City, GA
• Cashiers, NC
• Peachtree City, GA
• Denver, CO

SPECIAL EVENTS

• babysitting
• The Best Birthday Party EVAH- Thank you, Chloe Grice and members of The 70273 Project Tribe! I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was wonderful, marvelous, humbling, and very much appreciated.
• the flu that laid me flat and would not end
• spent many days and weeks moving our daughter
• coughed our way into Berea, KY where we spent the night and had breakfast at Boone Tavern and Inn
• enjoyed Findlay, Ohio, thanks to our personal guide, Tanya Weising-Pike, Director of Education at Blanchard Valley Center
• delivered Quilt #5 to Blanchard Valley Center
• met and fell in love with the wonderful teachers, parents, and staff at Blanchard Valley; the Mayor of Findlay; and Randy Roberts of The Findlay Courier who let me use his photo, saying “I’ve got to tell you: I am very impressed with the heart of this project.”
• coughed our way back to Fayetteville, rested for a day, then enjoyed a day of making blocks with my Tiger Girls (women I graduated from high school with). I’m gonna’ introduce you in a blog post coming soon.
• joined Peggy Thomas and Patty Guillick at The 70273 Project booth at Joyce Beverly’s Fayette Woman LIVE where many, many, many blocks were made. I can’t wait to tell you about it, and I will . . . in a blog post coming soon.
• made blocks with the Friendship Circle at the Fayetteville First United Methodist Church. You guessed it – there’s a post coming soon to a blog near you.
• spoke to The Writer’s High Retreat, kicking things off on Friday night, where I met some marvelously interesting  and interested folks.
• answered the good questions of Elodie Redoulèz for an article she was writing about The 70273 Project for the Bailiwick Express in the Jersey, Channel Islands, UK.
• closed this time period out the way it began: babysitting in Denver.

QUILT NUMBERS ASSIGNED

• 6 quilt numbers to Katell Renon in France (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78)

BUNDLES SENT

• Kitty Sorgen (Quilt #31). It’s now being quilted by Janet Eidem.
• Jackie Batman (Quilt #56)
• Kellye Rose ( #62, #63, and #64)
• Sharleen Jespersen (Quilt #103)
• Sarah Jespersen Lauzon (Quilt #104)
• Alejandrina Pattin (Quilt #105)
• Sandy Martin and the Caribou Quilters (Quilt #65)

QUILTS RECEIVED

The 70273 Project Quilt 102, a Middling made by Debra Steinmann.

#102, a Middling created by Debra Steinmann (GA/USA) that’s now on display at Intown Quilters in Decatur, GA. I also designed materials for the shop to hand out. If you need me to design materials for you to give others, let me know. Once upon a life chapter, I was a freelance graphic designer. It’s something I enjoy doing.

The 70273 Project Quilt 138. Pieced by Kathleen Carfagno, Quilted by Jessica Skultey.

and the beautiful quilt top now known as Quilt #138 made by Kathleen K Carfagno (NJ/USA) and currently being quilted by Jessica Skultey (NJ/USA).

BLOCKS RECEIVED

• Beth Brennan (IL/USA)
• Debra Woods (MO/USA)
• Betty Jo Oliver (KY/USA)
• Kayos Huff (aged 5, MO/USA)
• Market Dwyer (MN/USA)
• Celine Henries (France)
• Jane Cunningham (New Zealand)
• Peggy Lowrie (TX/USA)
• Jane Riddell (GA/USA)
• Jean Fischer (GA/USA)
• Dianna Moore (GA/USA)
• Linda King Smith (GA/USA)
• Jeanne Hewell Chambers (GA,NC/USA)
• Joan Dumas Hughey (GA/USA)
• Elender Ballard (GA/USA)
• Joan McKnight (Canada)
• Faye Cook (AUS)
• Kevin Thomas (GA/USA)
• Olivia Ries (GA/USA)
• Peggy Thomas (GA/USA)
• Bisa Batten Lewis (GA/USA
• Connie Fox (GA/USA)
• FeFe Handy (GA/USA)
• Nicole Simmons (GA/USA)
• Nancy Jaworski (GA/USA)
• Jennifer Harper (GA/USA)
• Maggie Laton (GA/USA)
• Jill Prouty (GA/USA)
• Ellie White-Stevens (GA/USA)
• Stephanie Washington (GA/USA)
• Carla Wong McMillian (GA/USA)
• Jamie Smith (GA/USA)
• Carmen Johnson (GA/USA)
• Diana M Lovell (GA/USA)
• Julie Irby/Camryn Johnson (GA/USA)
• Cathy Jackson (GA/USA)
• Paulette Bass (GA/USA)
• Kathy Bohannon (GA/USA)
• Shelly Gable (GA/USA)
• Delores Epps (GA/USA)
• Jean Peck (GA/USA)
• Jennifer Harper (GA/USA)
• Elisa Marcus Price (GA/USA)
• Melodie Parks (GA/USA)
• Fairy L. Wortham (GA/USA)
• Jackie Pope (GA/USA)
• Carrie Franklin (WA/USA)
• Melodie Parks (GA/USA)
• Jackie Pope (GA/USA)
• Loose Threads (MN.USA)
• Deborah L. J. McKinnon and members of the Kingston/North Kitsap Rotary Club (WA/USA)
• Wendy Caton Reed (ME/USA)
• Diane Dresden (VA/USA)
• Gail Georgia (ID/USA)
• Polly Davis (USA)
• Dottie Gray (GA/USA)
• Bonnie Giglio (GA/USA)
• Carly Burch (GA/USA)
• Janet Baileys (GA/USA)
• Charlotte McAdams (GA/USA)
• Marilyn Harris (GA/USA)
• Amanda (Nikki) Neal (GA/USA)
• Tami Kemberling (GA/USA)
• Susan Burch (GA/USA)
• Roselyn Roberts (GA/USA)
• Clara Martin (GA/USA)
• Carolyn McKinley (GA/USA)
• Alida Palmisano (MD/USA)
• Brigid Martin (GA/USA)
• Jean Foglein (Canada)
• Marlies (Belgium)
• Karlijn Lecluyse (Belgium)
• the 99 commemorations in Quilt 102
• the 62 commemorations in Quilt 138

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for: the block count as of 4/2/2017: 9099 (and growing)!

(Bear with me as I makeover the web site in the background of the reconstruction . . . which means that some things – oh, like the block counter chart, for example –  might not be where you remember them or where they’re supposed to be or where you will find them next week.)