Press Release Summary = Quilters from around the country are filling the mailbox of How-to-Quilt.com with fabric greetings for soldiers abroad in the second Postcard Posse Roundup.
Press Release Body = October 20, 2006
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, quilters have dropped everything to create tiny quilts. These pocket-size greetings, made from bits and pieces of fabric, will be sent to the troops in the remote parts of the Middle East to let them know that folks here in the States are thinking about them and praying for their safe return.
Target date for arrival - Thanksgiving, November 23, 2006
"Quilters have a history of sending quilts to soldiers," observed Penny Halgren, initiator of Penny\'s Postcard Posse. "Generally, though, quilts go to wounded soldiers and the families of fallen soldiers. We wanted to do something special for the soldiers who are out there still fighting the fight for freedom. Full size quilts didn\'t seem too practical, so we decided to make tiny quilts that the soldiers could carry with them."
Quilters plan to collect more than 400 fabric postcards by November 7. That\'s a only slight stretch considering that the 4th of July Postcard Posse Roundup gathered more than 215 fabric postcards to send to the troops in Iraq.
"Quilters are amazing," Halgren continued. "And quite responsive. I suspected that many would enjoy participating in this project again, since it was something anybody could do and so many requested that the project be repeated from the 4th of July Roundup. For this Roundup, quilters from the UK are sending in cards, and a quilter from Texas has rounded up a group of non-quilters to send a box stuffed with fabric postcards."
How-to-Quilt.com has created a packet of turkey patterns for the postcards, and is providing them free for everyone. Posse Participants can use these patterns or create one of their own. The patterns and all of the details are posted at: www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Pictures of completed postcards are posted on the site. Visits to the page have already reached more than 1600, and it\'s only been up a week. New pictures are posted daily as the cards arrive, and www.How-to-Quilt.com newsletter subscribers are updated on quilting topics relating to making the fabric postcards as well as progress toward the goal.
Brand new quilters are getting their feet wet with this project, and getting a good sense of what quilting is all about. Based on hundreds of years of tradition, quilting is not only about making something warm either to cuddle up with or wear, but it\'s about taking the scraps of a project and creating a beautiful fabric connection between people.
Penny\'s Postcard Posse gives quilters an opportunity to take bits and pieces of fabric and transform them into a message of love for someone 7000 miles away who may be wondering whether anybody cares. Many quilters have included their name and address with their message, possibly hoping to establish an ongoing communication with a soldier far away from home. Everyone is invited to participate. No quilting experience is required or needed to make one of these tiny quilts. It takes just some scraps of fabric, a way to stick them together, and an address of where to send the completed fabric postcard.