Celebration of Traveling House Block Quilt in United States

On Saturday, November 8, 2008, in Brooklyn Park (Minneapolis), Minnesota, we celebrated together what God has blessed us with and the challenge of taking care of our neighbor - be it in Minneapolis, in Minnesota, or all the way to Bangladesh!  It is exciting to see the results of one email requesting people to make and donate a quilt block with a heart on it.  Within weeks of that request, heart blocks appeared in my mail box.  The heart blocks came from around the United States, Canada and the to our surprise from Germany, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, and from Bolivia, high in the Andes Mountains.

With that momentum, we started a new project with "Houses".  In November of 2006, Colleen from the Children's Activities in Minneapolis asked if the children colored House Blocks, could a quilt be made and could it be a traveling quilt?  Yes, we could make the blocks into a quilt but I couldn't promise a traveling quilt.  In the summer of 2007, the colorful house blocks were delivered and the process continued of finding fabric for the sashings and boards to make the quilt.

Then, the day after Thanksgiving in 2007, the call came from MCC asking if we could use House Blocks from our collection to assist MCC Relief Sales around the United States and one for Canada to bring attention to the cyclone devastation that had just occurred in Bangladesh (which is now a year ago).  I was just speechless, the children's House Block Quilt was ready for quilting and the dream of a "Children's Traveling House Block Quilt" was going to be a reality!

The House Block Quilt traveled to Relief Sales across the United States in 2008 receiving donations for the Bangladesh Housing project and it sold in Minneapolis raising in excess of $71,000.  That is over 175 houses at $400 in Bangladesh!

The Minneapolis Relief Sale had children in a tent on the stage represented houses in Bangladesh and as $400 was raised, a child was to cross the stage to a House.  The auctioneers requested donations and the children had to run across the stage because the $400 donations were so plentiful.  It had been the goal to request $400, then $300, and if we had 20 people donating $20, we would have a house.  Having the Traveling House Block Quilt hang in front of them, they generously shared God's Blessings to them.

Earlier on Saturday, two young girls stopped by the quilt and suddenly found their names on the quilt blocks.  Looking at their parents, they both said "I made that block here last year!" The realization that they had made a difference in this world, was clear on their faces.  They had not realized that a quilt had been made, that it had traveled the United States and was providing so many people with a home in Bangladesh.  One of those girls left the auction a very happy girl as her father purchased the quilt.  She will have a "Show and Tell" she will never forget.

Minnesota Prepares for the Sale of the House Traveling Quilt Begin

The Traveling House Quilt has traveled the United States in 2008 and the Twin Cities Relief Sales is beginning the process to prepare and educate people on what this "Traveling House Quilt" has accomplished in it's life.  The quilt blocks were made by children at the Twin Cities Relief Sale in May of 2007 and as October 2008, it has generated $64,840. It's time to celebrate the theme of "One House Block, One Child's Art Work, One Quilt can make a difference in this world".  The purpose of the quilt was to assist in educating Relief Sales across the United States and Canada about the victims in Bangladesh who lost there homes in the cyclone in November of 2007. Donations to the "Traveling House Quilt" of $400 build a family in Bangladesh a home.  Today, this quilt is not sold and we have enough funds to build over 166 houses, enough to build several villages!

Sunday, the children listened intently to Greta at Emmanuel Mennonite Church as they realized their friends had drawn the blocks and that they, too, can make a difference in this world!  A number of other House block quilts and House Block art pieces will be sold at the Relief Sale.

The Intergenerational Sunday School was set up with 5 centers including:

1.  Rice Center with the computer game at www.freerice.com.  They had fun learning vocabulary, grammar, or geography while stocking the United Nations World Food Program with rice.

2. Food Center with Bangladesh food.

3. Tablecloth Center where they painted using wooden stamps to decorate a table.  The stamps are a product of Bangladesh and are sold at Ten Thousand Villages.

4. A Weather Center demonstrating a bit about Cyclone Sidr, the reason for the

 MCC house building project.

5. Video Center where they watch Akey and Showpawn from Bangladesh in a typical day.

On Saturday, November 8, at 1:00 the auction will focus on Bangledesh and ask for more dollars adding up to several $400 donations as children move across the stage from a plastic tent to a Banglesdesh house.  It's so exciting to have individuals with the creativity to try new ideas and the Twin Cities MCC

 Relief Sales says a special "Thank You" to Lily, who has been the heart beat of the auction since it's beginning in 2001.  If you haven't visited the Twin Cities Relief Sale, it does have it's own Urban personality and we invite you to join us.  If you are interested in donating to the Bangladesh Housing project or purchasing an item, you can contact lovejoypiece@gmail.com or connect through the mcc.org link attached to the blog.

Some of you may be asking, what does the "Traveling House Quilt" look like?  It is our goal to post it in the next day or two.   We look forward to your "Responses".