Each year, I set goals to help me stay on track. When I began setting the goals I wanted to accomplish this year, I knew I wanted to celebrate my loyal customers. My overarching goal this year is to show gratitude through generosity. By giving away the Women of the Bible quilt pattern, I realized I had the perfect opportunity to honor my resolutions.
With such a large quilt, the logistics of the giveaway had to be carefully orchestrated. I wanted to make sure no one felt intimidated by the large project, so I chose to give away the patterns in small increments of two blocks at a time. I hoped having just two blocks (not a daunting 40 blocks!) would encourage folks to begin right away. It is a small challenge to complete two blocks every two weeks, and to my surprise and amazement, many of you instantly took advantage of this project and began making your blocks the very day they were released.
When I say many folks are doing this, I mean above and beyond any number I ever dreamed possible! Of the ones we know for certain, easily over 1,000 are taking up the challenge. Though we can’t be sure if each quiltnow.com visitor is actually completing the quilt, we do know that over 24,000 people have visited the Women of the Bible page on our website. In the Women of the Bible Facebook Group alone, we have over 900 members. I am absolutely blown away by the response to this project, and I am thrilled that so many people are working together on this beautiful quilt.
With so many people participating, I really enjoy seeing the unique personality each person puts into the blocks, and I love that we are able to offer an opportunity to see and to share on the Women of the Bible Facebook group. In this group, members share pictures of their finished blocks, ask and answer questions, receive and give encouragements, and generally, thrive in the online quilting community we’ve created. There are many in the group who have great skill piecing and showing their blocks, but there are also many who have mentioned this is their first quilt to work on in many years or is their first quilt ever! I have seen where groups are completing this quilt with their church, announcing it in their bulletins, and combining it with a Bible study, and I am reminded why I love this quilt so much. With a project like the Women of the Bible quilt, I can’t help but use a biblical comparison, so in the words of David in Psalm 23, “My cup runneth over.” I am overflowing with excitement and encouragement in hearing that young quilters and wise quilters, out-of-practice quilters and quilting addicts, experienced quilters and brand-new quilters have all taken up the challenge of learning about the inspirational women of the Bible as they work together on the Women of the Bible quilt.
The Prairie Quilt Women of the Bible Facebook group is classified as a closed group, so you will need to send us a request to join, and I highly encourage you to do so if you haven’t already. We are receiving requests daily, and they are coming, literally, from all over the world. We have members from Nigeria, Switzerland, and Belgium to name a few. Again, this turnout is above and beyond what I could’ve anticipated, and I am ecstatic about the results and the reach of the program!
Continuing the goals of celebration, gratitude and generosity, there will be even more goodies for our participants later in the year on the Facebook page. All of us at Prairie Quilt genuinely love seeing your blocks, whether they are from your scrap stash or thoughtfully coordinated. We ask you to generously share your finished works, because it may inspire another person to begin their blocks. Then, the generosity spreads like the ripple from a single drop of water, from each of us to another, and another, and yet another.
Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” I think that is how God would like us to be as well.
With such a large quilt, the logistics of the giveaway had to be carefully orchestrated. I wanted to make sure no one felt intimidated by the large project, so I chose to give away the patterns in small increments of two blocks at a time. I hoped having just two blocks (not a daunting 40 blocks!) would encourage folks to begin right away. It is a small challenge to complete two blocks every two weeks, and to my surprise and amazement, many of you instantly took advantage of this project and began making your blocks the very day they were released.
When I say many folks are doing this, I mean above and beyond any number I ever dreamed possible! Of the ones we know for certain, easily over 1,000 are taking up the challenge. Though we can’t be sure if each quiltnow.com visitor is actually completing the quilt, we do know that over 24,000 people have visited the Women of the Bible page on our website. In the Women of the Bible Facebook Group alone, we have over 900 members. I am absolutely blown away by the response to this project, and I am thrilled that so many people are working together on this beautiful quilt.
With so many people participating, I really enjoy seeing the unique personality each person puts into the blocks, and I love that we are able to offer an opportunity to see and to share on the Women of the Bible Facebook group. In this group, members share pictures of their finished blocks, ask and answer questions, receive and give encouragements, and generally, thrive in the online quilting community we’ve created. There are many in the group who have great skill piecing and showing their blocks, but there are also many who have mentioned this is their first quilt to work on in many years or is their first quilt ever! I have seen where groups are completing this quilt with their church, announcing it in their bulletins, and combining it with a Bible study, and I am reminded why I love this quilt so much. With a project like the Women of the Bible quilt, I can’t help but use a biblical comparison, so in the words of David in Psalm 23, “My cup runneth over.” I am overflowing with excitement and encouragement in hearing that young quilters and wise quilters, out-of-practice quilters and quilting addicts, experienced quilters and brand-new quilters have all taken up the challenge of learning about the inspirational women of the Bible as they work together on the Women of the Bible quilt.
The Prairie Quilt Women of the Bible Facebook group is classified as a closed group, so you will need to send us a request to join, and I highly encourage you to do so if you haven’t already. We are receiving requests daily, and they are coming, literally, from all over the world. We have members from Nigeria, Switzerland, and Belgium to name a few. Again, this turnout is above and beyond what I could’ve anticipated, and I am ecstatic about the results and the reach of the program!
Continuing the goals of celebration, gratitude and generosity, there will be even more goodies for our participants later in the year on the Facebook page. All of us at Prairie Quilt genuinely love seeing your blocks, whether they are from your scrap stash or thoughtfully coordinated. We ask you to generously share your finished works, because it may inspire another person to begin their blocks. Then, the generosity spreads like the ripple from a single drop of water, from each of us to another, and another, and yet another.
Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” I think that is how God would like us to be as well.
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