Shoeboxes for Texas

Here is a direct request list from Texas. Please, even if you can only send in a shoe box full of things, lets do this!

Additional items being requested:
Mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss

Multi purpose contact cleaner

Shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, mouse, styling gell

Razors, shaving cream, feminine hygiene stuff

Deodorant, hand sanitizer, bug spray

Sleeping bags (I only found 3)

ChapStick and toilet wipes

Water and water bottles

Bath towels and wash clothes

Body Wash and wash sponges

Allergy and pain medicines

Combs and brushes

Just an update from our area. A great deal of the region is still
without power. 68% of Centerpoint power customers are without
power, 95% of Entergy power customers are without power. They're
saying it could be anywhere between Sept 25 - Oct 5 before all power
is restored. ALOT of the area is being told to boil water, some
areas do not have water.

There is a possibility that a bank account will be set up for money
donations. We'll post more on that if it happens.

If anyone has any questions about shipping items or anything else, I
have a line set up at my office with my admin staff that can take
calls. 713-755-2204.

Thanks everyone!

Lisa Dodson
Harris County Sheriff's Office
Houston, TX

Lets Help TEXAS...911 ACTIVATION

Calling all quilters, all seamstresses, knitters, crocheters, churches, family and friends lets reach out and help and get a box or 2 or 5 or 10 to these people in Texas. They need our help!

Hurricane Ike Activation!

Dear friends. We need your help! We have received e-mails from a number of individuals and agencies. There is an immediate need for supplies, clothing and toiletries. Now that the storm has passed, we have networked with the Texas TERT Team Coordinator, Texas NENA and National NENA to confirm the need and start this very important activation.

Galveston, Orange and Beaumont areas have an intense need. This is for the many dispatchers that have been working since the hurricane. They are running out of fresh clothes and daily needs. We are only beginning to see what the losses are for these many 9-1-1 heroes since most have been working for days and have been unable to check their homes. Some are "waterlocked" and can't leave their centers until roads and utilities are safe.

Here is the plan! Please collect the following items:

Clothes of any sizes (read important note below)

New shoes and boots (no used please)

Socks (new)

Toiletries (soaps, lotion, shampoo, combs, baby powder)

Towels

Feminine Products

Baby Wipes (used for quick cleaning since showers and baths are impossible)

Paper products ( toilet paper, tissues, paper towels)

Purel or other sanitizing hand cleaner

Food items (things that can be easily heated or microwaved)

Snack/Candy (anything that won't melt in hot/humid temps)

Things to help time pass (magazines, puzzles, cards)

Imagine your own dispatch center. After three days of eating everything in the cabinets, what's left? Get things like ice tea mix, coffee, sugar, creamer, snack stuff, etc.

These dispatch centers are in evacuated areas of Texas but they have stayed behind for rescue and security of their communities. They can't just send someone to a FEMA shelter to get stuff, those shelters are hours away. If you are in driving distance from Houston , there is a need for cases of bottled water also. Contact us offline and we'll coordinate your offers for help.

At this time, we are not asking for money or gift cards. There isn't a mechanism to shop locally yet (everything is closed or damaged) and we don't have a list of specific needs other than what is listed above.

CLOTHING NOTE. We're all adults, so please take this in the spirit intended. During our Katrina Activation, we had amazing stuff donated. That being said, some people just sent whatever was in the musty attic. These agencies have NO fresh water, no washing machines, no dryers, etc. PLEASE wash EVERYTHING you send! Let them open a " Downey fresh" box from you, not a nightmare :)

PROCESS:

Put everything in the box.

Write the contents on one side. You don't have to be specific. Just write clothes, snacks, magazines or whatever you send.

Address it. Thanks to Lisa Dodson at Harris County 9-1-1 we have a secure location to send it to! Add Harris to your hero list, they have stepped up to be the base camp for donations that will be distributed to all affected areas. Mail or UPS to:
Harris County Communications Division

Attn; 911 CARES

1301 Franklin Street

Houston, TX 77002

If you have questions, Houston has agreed to be the Texas contact point. PLEASE call only if you need to. They are still very busy and we don't want to overwhelm them with calls.

UPS,FedEx and US Postal are all working to get boxes where they need to go. There are shiping updates daily as trucks can get there. We will post daily updates this week at www.911cares. com (scroll below the yellow ACTIVATION STRIPE for the most current info)

Still Waiting...

We are still waiting to hear from my in-laws as to how their home faired during Ike. The didn't live in Galveston, but they lived between Galveston and Louisiana and right now all they know is they have walls.

Last time Rita/Katrina hit they lost my sister-in-laws business and their home, so they moved from their home into her grandmothers old home. I do not know how they faired, but I cannot absolutely cannot imagine the devastation happening twice.

Look at Galveston. I saw the beach front with only one home standing. How on earth can people pick up their lives from such total devastation? How many years has it been and residents of New Orleans are still trying to pick themselves up and get back to the everyday.

Here I complain that the bill collectors are calling, but what happens when you no longer have a job because the business was obliterated off the earth? No home, no job, no place to go. Will FEMA step in and help more than previous times? I don't know!

I know we had a devastating storm last December and flooding was unreal in places, it still haunts me when I drive to Olympia and see how many trees are gone, the BBQ joint that was crushed in a landslide, homes with water lines to their roofs! What did FEMA do for these people?

About as little as they did for us. You see, if you have homeowners insurance, FEMA tells you they can't help you. When your homeowners insurance doesn't pay, FEMA won't help you and neither will anyone else. You have to document dates, times, names just to get things done and then you have the wonderful insurance adjustor that ranks right up their with ambulance chasing attorney's in my book.

My in-laws last time were told it would take over six months just to get an adjuster to their home. When we lost our roof, it was evident the adjuster hadn't done their job. They took the tarp off and left it to my husband to put back on in the pouring rain and then they low balled the job for a complete tear off and re-roof at less than $3000.

When we complained, we were told we were being (excuse the word, but it is the word that was used)screwed by the contractors in our area when we got our bids. EXCUSE ME!! I thought that was a pretty inflammatory and broad statement. We had 4 bids and all ranged between $9000-$12000 and the difference was a 20 or 30 year roof shingle.

We fought from January until April to get the money that was due us, but not until my husband and I finally got tired and wrote a letter to our insurance companies CEO. Whoa, you should have heard the calls we got of apologies.

So, how will these poor people in Texas get treated any better?

The only thing I can say is that after years and years of paying insurance premiums and all of us being at the mercy of the insurance companies, I guess Mother Nature got even & I do not by any means in any way shape or form, mean that to take away this tragedy, I just mean they finally have to sow what they have reaped all these years.

Beating the Band Wagon Drum...

Okay, I wanted to share with you an old quick and simple quilt pattern. Even if you have never quilted before, this one should be simple and if you work with 1 or 2 others helping you out it will be a breeze.

I think it is called a Biscuit Quilt or Puff Quilt, but they are pretty simple to make. Here is some instructions I found in the January 1981 Quilting Newsletter. I am adding quotes since these are not my instructions.

'Quilt Size should be 63" x 90" & you will need to cut 54 12" squares of fabric for the top and 54 9" squares of muslin or your chose fabric for bottom. You need 3 1/2 yards of fabric remnants, 3 1/2 yards of muslin or your backing fabric and 5 1/2 yards for lining and border, 10 # of polyester batting.'

How many of us have over that much laying around in scraps & piles?

Wash, iron muslin to shrink, or all your fabrics to shrink if you want to. I say this because there are those who do not pre-wash and those that are staunch pre-washers. Cut out your fabric squares as directed above.

'Pin the corners of one 12" square to the corners of a 9" square & fold excess top fabric into 2 pleats each side. Sew upper square to lower square along 3 sides, you will need 1 side open to stuff. Insert stuffing/batting into open side of square (aprx. 2-3 ounces per square). Cotton batting is NOT acceptable for this quilt! Once square is stuffed, stitch the opening closed.

With rights sides together, join six of the puffs side by side to make a row the width of your quilt, joining them in a 1/4" seam by hand or machine (your choice). Divide the lining fabric into two 2 1/4 yard pieces. Seam these pieces together lengthwise making a lining 72" x 99". Put this seam side up on table or floor & center the stuffed top of the lining right side up. Cut long strips of polyester batting about 4" wide to stuff the border and put them along the edges.

Fold the remaining lining up and over the batting, turn under the edge and pin to the top. Cut off excess fabric at each corner and miter the corner. Finished the edges of the border to the top of the quilt.

Tie through the center of the each puff using 2 strands of nylon thread and tie on the underside of each puff for a fuller quilt.'

Good Luck Ladies & Gents, Boys & Girls!

Texas needs quilts...lets get them out there!

My brother-in-law notified my husband that they are safe, however they are not sure how much damage their home sustained & won't until they can return. Galveston is a complete mess, Houston has flooding, businesses and homes are gone. Even one of the bloggers who live in LA was able to get news out that they lost everything!

I cannot begin to think of how that must feel. I worried about my mom over the summer when the huge Butte fire was so close, but they had packed all they could possibly pack and were ready to evacuate at any minute! They didn't loose anything, but many families in the area did.

How can we as quilters help? What can we do? We can do what we do best, make quilts & start right away. Make them simple, make them complex, make them small or large, but lets get them made and get them out there to those who have nothing! Lets give them something to hold onto during the days and nights they are facing.

911 Cares can and will help. If I know them, they are already working with police and fire departments to start getting stuff to these victims. Toiletries, toothbrushes, deodorant, bandages, neosporin, rubber boots, hair brushes, etc. Shoes? Go out and if you can afford it, buy shoes in several different sizes and socks!

There are so many quilters and craft people and generous people out there that read this blog and others, spread the word. These people don't need cute bags to carry around, they need things they can use. They will need masks, gloves, etc.

Back up a box and hang onto it or send it to Kevin Willet at 911 cares.

I prefer reaching out on my own as opposed to sending my money to Red Cross or other agencies that start asking for money, but many people never see that money!

Have a few quilts sitting around on shelves? Donate them. Be compassionate and reach out to those less fortunate that all of us right now!

Anticipating the Finished Product

Everyone should be so lucky to have these two little cuties helping in the kitchen and the look on their faces lets everyone know they are having fun & they did have fun!

My mother-in-law years ago gave me the best recipe in the world for pumpkin bread & I love it any time of the year. I used to give it as gifts to the police officers years ago that I worked with, but those little booger's would eat theirs and then filch someone else's out of their message box!

This one can be made with raisins and I love the white raisins the best and it can be made with or without nuts. If you are making it for someone who is allergic to nuts, make the batter, spoon it into a loaf pan and cook it away from the rest of the batter!

This recipe can make 3-4 large loaves or several of the little ones and it stays so yummy and moist!

Here they all are waiting for these to go into the oven and bake!

I know that many of you who have been reading my blog are quilters yourselves and may have entered one of your summer projects into the Lazy Days of Summer Quilting Contest. However, if you feel so inclined, I am asking you to follow the link I will provide and vote for my quilt that is pictured above.

http://quiltinggallery.com/tag/lazy-days-of-summer-photo-contest/
Click on the link above and look for the voting bubble next to Sunbonnet Couple. I quilt from the heart & I am self taught, so there are many other beautiful quilts as well that you can look at and also vote for.

Yes, I would love to win one of the two prizes being offered, but I also realize there is some tough competition that have probably won many contests, while I still have problems piecing hexagons together!

Another Quilt at Home

For those of you who read this blog and occasionally see that I am asking for donations to help me help others in the way of asking for quilt batting, accessories or even postage, I would like to show you what was printed by 911 Cares when a dispatch center received the quilt I sent them:

'It never ceases to amaze me how caring and giving the emergency services groups are! Our center has been overwhelmed by the amount of well wishes and caring emails and gifts and cards in the mail. Special thanks to the retired quilting dispatcher from Aberdeen Washington, the warmth of Kaseys memory will be with us all each time we look at the lovely quilt. And of course it wouldn’t be possible without the 911 cares group. I can’t count the times I have dropped an email to someone from one of the activations I have read on 911 cares page thinking, this is not much and won’t help a bit. Man was I wrong!!!! When you are on the receiving end, you understand what a note from “someone who walks a mile in your shoes” can mean to you. ' (911 Cares website, 9/5/2008).

I printed this in case any of you have doubts as to whether or not I am genuine or if I actually do make quilts and send them to where I say I will.

Once again, let me urge you to help me reach out to those dispatchers in need. While they help the rest of us during our darkest hours, they suffer the same things we do...loss of homes due to fire and storms, loss of family members, loss of life, vehicle accidents, etc. , and it seems to me this field has been hit exceptionally hard the past year.

If you don't want to reach out and help me, at least make some contact with your 911 center on September 11th & let them know you appreciate them and the job they do. It is a tough job and the people that do it wouldn't have it any other way!