The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Update

Special Sales

AAQI Volunteer — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:12:46 +0000

Award-winning quilter and teacher Sue Nickels is a huge supporter of the AAQI. She has participated in our celebrity quilt auctions for three years running, created a quilt for our first traveling exhibit (and then donated it to the AAQI), and stitched a Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts too. Her efforts have raised almost $5,000 for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative.

Sue has donated 12 copies of her Successful Machine Quilting on the Home Sewing Machine DVD for us to sell. This is a one-time event. The DVDs are offered at the suggested retail price. Because Sue has donated these DVDs to us, the entire price of $29.95 will go to our mission of raising awareness and funding research.

Sue’s new DVD is a comprehensive guide her method’s for successful machine quilting on the home sewing machine. Sue will take you step by step through her techniques, starting with a discussion on supplies, then moving on to straight line quilting, free motion quilting, and quilting a real sized quilt! Remember, there are only 12. Don’t delay.

We will try to monitor the orders, but our web page is not set up to show quantity on hand. That is done manually, between our other AAQI work, eating, and sleeping.

Purchase your Sue Nickels DVD from the AAQI here.

AAQI Receives 9,000th Donated Quilt

AAQI Volunteer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:14:35 +0000

When Nancy Keuss Cable made the pledge to raise to join the $1,000 Promise, she had no idea that her commitment would place her in the position of donating the 9,000^th quilt to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative.

How does a quilter find the courage to say, ‘YES, I’ll pledge to raise $1,000.00 for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative by creating little art quilts?’ According to Nancy, it was by giving herself permission to approach the task much as the legendary tortoise approached his race against the hare. “When I realized that I didn’t have to do it all immediately, but could enjoy the process, there was little pressure.”

Even without pressure, self-imposed or otherwise, Nancy has managed to raise $618.65 toward her thousand dollar goal. So far, 13 of her 20 donated quilts have sold. Check out the rest on Nancy’s $1,000 page or on the Quilts for Sale page (hint, hint).

The magic number 9,000 quilt is still in the Quilts Waiting for Assignment section until it is auctioned in the February online auction. Thirteen tiny pieced bright batik crosses are set against a black background and sport a bright red border and red piping, “Beautiful Batiks” is certain to be a crowd pleaser!

Nancy is a native of St Louis, but has lived many places while raising her three sons and one daughter. Even though she had tried quilting in the late 70’s, it was while her family was living in Chicago in the 90’s that the quilting bug really bit her. Nancy laughs when she remembers taking a class, “when the children were very young and I needed a night out and we badly needed quilts to keep us warm. One of the patterns that we made in class was a sailboat, and I decided to make my sons matching twin quilts using various bright colors to make each quilt different. Then I hand quilted them. It was a very long process, but I didn’t know about machine quilting.”

Fast forward to today and we find Nancy thoroughly hooked on using her imagination to create quilts for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. This is thanks in part to a speaker at her quilt guild who sparked her interest. Currently she is working on a series of 4 season quilts. She initially began with the idea for a “Spring” quilt when the Chapel Hill weather was unseasonably warm in December. Before she could finish putting eggs in the birds’ nest, she was already picturing what would happen in a Summer quilt. Then her mind was racing ahead to the other two seasons.

With that kind of inspiration and enthusiasm, AAQI can look forward to many more creative quilts and many more dollars being raised for research. Meanwhile, Nancy enjoys time spent with five friends every other week. They comprise a group of people with varied creative interests, where each person encourages the efforts of, and takes inspiration from the others. She credits her husband with being very supportive of her passion for making Alzheimer’s Priority Quilts.

Amid the active life that is part of having teenagers in the house, Nancy manages to find time to raise lovely flowers to add beauty to their home and further inspiration to her quilts.

Written by Sherry Whitford
Toano, VA

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The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (www.alzquilts.org) is a national, grassroots organization whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research through art. It auctions and sells donated quilts through the Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilt project and sponsors a touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer’s called “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope.” The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative has raised more than $690,000 since January 2006.

February Quilt-A-Month Club Challenges

AAQI Volunteer — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:45:27 +0000

Here are the February 2012 Quilt-A-Month Club challenges! Embrace them, or ignore them, it’s up to you.

Sign up information, complete explanation, and important dates are all on the Quilt-A-Month Club page. We always have room for more club members!

Theme Challenge
Birds

Color/Fabric Challenge
Wool

Design/Technique Challenge
Applique

Future club members, here’s that page again: Quilt-A-Month Club!

10 Easy Ways You Can Use FaceBook To Help The AAQI

AAQI Volunteer — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:25 +0000

1. Like our page. http://www.facebook.com/AAQI.News That means our updates will wind up on your wall. Friends who visit your wall will see that you support us.

2. Share AAQI status updates. That sends our message to your friends. (They don’t have to visit the AAQI FaceBook page.

3. Every time you make a Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilt, update your status with a picture and a statement like this: “I’m making this quilt to donate to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative.” As the quilt grows, share pictures.

4. Update your status when your quilt is assigned a number, when it
moves from the Waiting For Assignment to the auction page, or to the Quilts For Sale page. (Hint, hint!) Include a link to your quilt in every update. Here’s the formula; XXXX is your quilt’s four-digit number:

http://www.AlzQuilts.org/XXXX.html

5. Every time you BUY a Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilt, update your status. Include a picture, a link, and a thank you to the maker.

6. Are you a member of the $1,000 Promise? Are you a Quilt-A-Month Club member? Every time your dollar amount changes or you earn another badge, update your status on FaceBook. Tell why you are passionate about our cause.

7. Pick the quilt you think will earn the most money during AAQI monthly auctions. Include a link to that quilt so your friends can bid and prove you right. At the end of the auction share the total amount raised for the AAQI.

8. If you have lost someone to Alzheimer’s remember them on their birthday (or any day you want) with a photograph. Link to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative home page so your friends will know you support us: www.AlzQuilts.org

9. ”Like” AAQI status updates.

10. Comment on AAQI status updates.

BONUS: Include the link to this blog post on your status update.

Love Endures All Things: A Journey with Alzheimer’s

AAQI Volunteer — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:59:20 +0000

Love Endures All Things: A Journey with Alzheimer’s is a small book that will fill your heart. It is beautifully written and illustrated by Ginda Ayd Simpson. She writes about her father and his struggles with Alzheimer’s. It is a book every caregiver will appreciate.

“I learned to cherish the memories of the man that Dad was and to respect and love the man he had become. I learned that no matter how much we may want to do so, we cannot pull an Alzheimer’s patient back into our world. We must hold their hand and enter into their new reality…”

Ginda has graciously given the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative 13 copies of Love Endures All Things. They are available for purchase on our website while they last. The entire purchase price of $16 will go to our mission of raising awareness and funding research.

Thank you, Ginda!

January Quilt-A-Month Club Challenges

AAQI Volunteer — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:16:18 +0000

Here are the January 2012 Quilt-A-Month Club challenges! Embrace them, or ignore them, it’s up to you.

Sign up information, complete explanation, and important dates are all on the Quilt-A-Month Club page. We always have room for more club members!

Theme Challenge
Liquid

Color/Fabric Challenge
Vintage fabric

Design/Technique Challenge
Variegated thread

Future club members, here’s that page again: Quilt-A-Month Club!

AAQI Awards $30,000 Research Grant

AAQI Volunteer — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:05:10 +0000

On Monday volunteers from the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) presented a check for $30,000 to Dr. Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova at the Life Sciences Institute of the University of Michigan. Dr. Garneau-Tsodikova and her research team will be using the money raised predominantly through the sale of donated quilts to develop multifunctional drugs for Alzheimer’s disease.

Pictured above (from left to right) are: Jacob L. Houghton, Todd J. Eckroat, Wenjing Chen, Keith D. Green, Rebecca A. Reed (kneeling), Joshua J. Bornstein, Dr. Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova, Ami Simms, Pat Holly (kneeling), Sue Nickels, Debbie Chenail, and Ruth Langdon.

It is unusual for researchers and those who fund them to ever meet. AAQI volunteers have had this opportunity three times. It is an extremely rewarding experience.

We bring quilts to explain our mission of raising awareness and funding research through art. Dr Garneau-Tsodikova’s grandmother and aunt have Alzheimer’s. She is motivated by their struggles with AD to work towards a cure.

We also bring Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts to sell. They become tangible reminders of the hope we all share that some day there will be a cure for this horrible disease.

It was truly amazing how science and art came together as Dr. Garneau-Tsodikova explained the work of her research team to quilters Pat Holly and Sue Nickels using a quilt from the AAQI traveling exhibit (“Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope”) made by Mary Andrews. In the background are exhibit quilts by Mona Fallis and Gay Young Ousley.

For everyone who sews for the AAQI, I know you do so because you care deeply about finding a cure for Alzheimer’s. Let me assure you that what you do matters. Every single stitch counts. Your art touches people in a most special way. Just look at the faces of the people below holding the quilts you made!

Together we CAN make a difference.

To everyone who supports the AAQI by making quilts, buying quilts, and through financial contributions to our nonprofit, please accept my personal and heartfelt thanks for the work you do to make the AAQI a reality.

Together we have raised more than $679,000 since the AAQI began in 2006. This is the 10th research project we have funded.

Thank you!

Ami Simms
Founder & Executive Director
Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative

Disclosures

AAQI Raised $62,000 in Houston

AAQI Volunteer — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:11:58 +0000

The numbers are in!

The AAQI sold 1,141 Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts during International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, raising the most money ever during the four and a half day quilt show.

This was the sixth year the AAQI was invited to display and sell Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts by IQF founder and director Karey Bresenhan. Brooke and John Flynn, from Billings, Montana, again sponsored the booth.

Thank you, quilt makers, quilt buyers, sponsors, and volunteers.

Click here to see a list of all the quilts that sold at IQF Houston.

Click here to see more than 500 quilts for sale. They make great gifts.

AAQI quilt exhibit visits Eternity Springs by Emily March

Hollis Chatelain Gets Hat Trick

AAQI Volunteer — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:16:01 +0000

Hollis Chatelain Gets Hat Trick — AAQI Gets $17,327.26

Hollis Chatelain earned a “hat trick” and the coveted MVP award for “Hollow,” a 16″ x 16″ thread-painted, machine quilted image of a woman’s face. Chatelain’ss quilt raised $2,570 for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) in the “Stanley Cup Quilt-Off” online auction which ended November 10th. This is the third year in a row her quilt earned top dollar in the charity auction.

Twelve quilters in two teams competed for bragging rights, the highest selling quilt earning its maker the MVP award in this spirited competition between The Feed Dogs (Alex Anderson, Hollis Chatelain, John Flynn, Becky Goldsmith, Renae Haddadin, and Sue Nickels) and The Rotary Blades (Caryl Bryer Fallert, Pat Holly, Libby Lehman, Judy Mathieson, Mary Sorensen, and Ricky Tims.

The annual celebrity quilt auction was the most successful online auction in AAQI history raising $14,025 for the nonprofit. A Viewer’s Choice component to the “Stanley Cup Quilt-Off” was also offered at the International Quilt Festival in Houston and online. Each $1 donation to the AAQI was counted as one vote, raising an additional $2,277.26 overall. Profits from sales of earrings made with images of each of the 12 auction quilts, brought in $1,025 for a grand total of $17,327.26.

Thank you!

December Quilt-A-Month Club Challenges

AAQI Volunteer — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:13:03 +0000

Here are the December 2011 Quilt-A-Month Club challenges! Embrace them, or ignore them, it’s up to you.

Sign up information, complete explanation, and important dates are all on the Quilt-A-Month Club page. We always have room for more club members!

Theme Challenge
Grocery Store

Color/Fabric Challenge
Batik

Design/Technique Challenge
Blanket Stitch

Future club members, here’s that page again: Quilt-A-Month Club!