Quilts – Quilts – Quilts: Quilted Twins Quilt Drive Update by Rachael

One of the basic human needs that everyone has is to have food, water, and warmth in cold, and some cooling in the extreme heat.

Poland got snow over the weekend. Hard to imagine when it’s 80 degrees here in Florida!

When Becky showed me how it had snowed very recently in Poland, I couldn’t help but be reminded WHY we are trying to get quilts over to Poland, and thence, on into Ukraine, as quickly as possible.

It’s COLD out there! It’s almost impossible to rest when you’re super cold.

Our quilt drive is now almost 2 weeks in, and we have approximately 1500 to 2000 quilts gathered. Unfortunately, we did NOT count, so it’s really impossible for me to know. We have baby quilts, teenage quilts, lap quilts, full size, queen size, and I did discourage many king size quilts, but I know there’s at least one in the batch.

These quilts didn’t fit…

They are bagged in vacuum bags, but we are out of U-Haul boxes now.

People have brought quilts and brought quilts.

Becky brought a couple of arm loads of quilts! Grinning all the way, as she brought them in!


We put up a cart outside the door of the store upon which people could put their quilts. Then, we wheel them down to the Sewin’ Shop, where they are folded, bagged, and vacuum sealed into a smaller bundle. Then, they are put into large U-Haul boxes, where they are awaiting further instructions.

These ladies and gentlemen brought their quilts in by the car or van load or armloads! Some brought from their own homes, and others are bringing from guilds and groups! Some even popped in with quilts and ended up staying and bagging and sealing some quilts!

We are working on how to get these to Poland even now! While you’re reading this on Wednesday, we’re working on it.

People have given out of their own need to share. Some have brought quilts out of their abundance, cleaning out their closets and under the beds. Others have given out of guilt from excess, and still others just wanted to be a part of the big effort.

Whatever people’s reasons for sending or bringing quilts is, we certainly appreciate it. The best part is, we know that the people from Ukraine will appreciate it even more than we do!

We are going to attempt to get our first small batch out in the next couple of days. I’m incredibly curious to find out from Becky how long this batch will take.

Scott Fortunoff, President of Jaftex, has just agreed to cover 100% of the cost of the first 3 boxes. We’re going to test the system and see how this goes. If it all goes smoothly, we have 36 more boxes, ready to get on a plane!

Last Friday we had a packing party after a morning of bagging and “sucking the air out” of the quilts. It was hot, sweaty work since we were IN and OUT of the room, hauling finished boxes and putting into a trailer to make room for more boxes!

Each box had to be “stuffed” and then taped thoroughly and then weighed.

Here’s some pictures from that event!

You can’t even begin to imagine how much room these quilts are taking up! We’re so glad to have them shrink wrapped, and in boxes!

We’ll keep you posted on how long it’s going to take to get the first 3 boxes from Dade City to Warsaw!

Exciting times and a TON and I mean, literally TONS of work!

There’s no way we could have done this without the volunteers! If you’ve brought quilts, sewn quilts and/or helped stuff and tape and weigh boxes, pick up a virtual hug from us here, both Becky in Poland and me, here in Dade City!

We are planning to continue the quilt drive all the way through April !!

  • Thank you, Rachael, for the work you all have done!

Rachael Woodard15 Comments