Hello. I'm Deanna Springer live at the Great Wisconsin Quilt
Show with insights to this year's event. I'm joined by Jen
from PBS education. Welcome Jen. Thank you so much. We are
standing in the Quilt To Give area. It's 9 a.m. we are just
getting started today. It's Thursday, the first day of the
show, and we are doing our Quilt To Give community service
project all week long. Thursday or excuse me, Thursday, Friday
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. so you can sit and sew and join us
and make bed size quilts for families and individuals in
need. And Nancy started this project in 2011, and I know your
team was watching and paying attention, and it was really two
makers like to make and creative kindness. Quilters like to make
and give. So Nancy knew that we would be able to do this
community service project to help others that really need
help and keep people warm in their beautiful quilts. They're
not ugly quilts. Absolutely. So we started this in 2011 and this
is your third year with us. >> Yeah, yeah. And boy, what a
joy. Deanna to work alongside the quilters. So PBS Wisconsin
Education has a project called Welcome Neighbor where we offer
a welcome package to resettling refugee families and children
that are coming into our state, following along the legacy of
Nancy and her giving, as well as the generosity of folks like
Fred Rogers that encourage us to welcome our neighbors. We want
to say welcome. We're glad you're here and encourage folks
to explore PBS Wisconsin and PBS kids, all the wonderful
educational resources, and provide a gorgeous, colorful,
handmade bed size quilt. What a warm welcome to welcome them
into their new home. So it's really just tremendous. Last
year we had people either donate or make 200 quilts, and we were
able to give those to homes of our new neighbors throughout.
Thank you for doing that. >> Yes, we appreciate all the
efforts that you're doing. And I know you sat and sewed last
year. have to say, if you've never
sewed before, you don't have to worry. You can come and be a
part of this project. Number one, you can cut the fabric, you
can iron. There are things that you can do that aren't cutting,
sewing, pressing. But the Bernina and Burnett sewing
machines that we have, they are so easy to use. I almost wanted
to buy one at the end and it was inspired me to make my own
thing. This is your year. Yeah, it's really fun and being around
quilters is just it fills my heart. They're so joyful, so
giving, so sharing. if you've never stitched a
stitch, you can sit down and help. And so if you can't join
us here, we take collections all year long. We need donations of
fabric. made quilt. You can donate. You
can donate colorful fabric that kids would like to see in their
room to make them feel happy and welcome. And you can come and
give your time right. >> And you can find that
information if you'd like to, to use Nancy's original pattern for
Quilt To Give, just go to Quilt To Give. Org and you'll see the
tutorial and how we build the quilts. And you can stop in at
the Nancy Zieman Sewing Studio in downtown Beaver Dam. Donate
your fabrics. We always need backing batting fabrics and
donate your your full fully made quilts. And we appreciate it.
Every every little piece of fabric is appreciated.
>> We appreciate it. And the agencies that we work with
appreciate it. So we work with eight different licensed
state to give out these quilts. And I have a letter here from
one of them from last year. Read this. This is from World Relief
Wisconsin. And they say on to express our deepest gratitude
for your generous donations of quilts and backpacks. Your
support means a lot to us and the new families in our
communities. It is through the kindness and generosity of
organizations like yours that we're able to continue our
mission and make a difference in the lives of those that we
serve. So thank you for helping us make a difference. And this
really does impact so many wonderful new neighbors in our
state, right? We're in eight years in on Nancy's Quilt To
Give, and it's the 20th year of the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show.
>> So to learn more about Quilt To Give and the Great Wisconsin
Quilt Show, head over to Quilt show.com.