With the warmer weather we always see a decrease in square donations. To help offset this I am issuing a challenge to all of you. Help us reach our goal of 1000 squares by September 25, 2013. These 1000 squares will be used to make thirty-three afghans for our country’s homeless children and youth. I know we can do it. We already have 294 squares, 2 baby blankets and two full afghans donated this week.

SPREAD THE WORD, CHALLENGE YOURSELF, CHALLENGE YOUR FRIENDS

I would love to hear about your square goals and any square races or challenges you issue to your friends.

I’ll keep you updated with the numbers and photos of the squares!!!

Leah

Hello to all of you and HAPPY FRIDAY!

The latest donation was dropped off at Family House two weeks ago. There were a total of 22 afghans which turned out to be a great number. Not only does that mean you all have made and donated 660 squares, it was also the number of families currently residing at Family House. We were able to provide a bit of love and comfort to each family. While that is wonderful I am also working over time to get twelve more blankets done and to Family House as quickly as I can. There are 34 children, including two tiny newborns, living at Family House. I know we can make sure every child has their own blanket. In order to get twelve more blankets finished there was a lot of sorting needing to be done.

My earlier estimation of 600 squares waiting to be sorted was close. We actually had almost 800! Amazing work everyone!! I decided there wasn’t a better time to sort squares than when my husband was out of town. If any of you have seen the facebook page you already know what sorting looks like. My house may not be large, but the great amount of squares took up two rooms of my house. My four children jumped in and started separating the squares by color. My daughter even organized squares into an afghan. I will have to remember her skills in the future. She has an eye for these things. I spent two days fitting squares together for afghans. When my husband came home it still looked like a yarn store had exploded in my living room and dining room. Many photos were taken and posted to facebook for feedback. I had several people helping choose square combinations via internet. Then, the lovely Christie came to visit with coffee. She and I were able to knock out the rest of the squares in five hours. I will forever owe her caramel lattes from Chandler Cafe. Oliver thought the coffee was quite delicious. Enough so he poured her latte into a cup and drank it himself. Sorry, Christie! Christie saved the morning with coffee, but she also saved my sanity and a few afghans. After several days of staring at squares the colors and patterns were starting to blur. She put together a group of squares I would have never thought would work in an afghan. It took a while, and Christie sitting down to crochet a couple more squares to make it work, but in the end it was one of the more fun afghans. In all, Christie crocheted five squares that day to make sure an afghan was finished and looking it’s best. Thank you for that. That means two more blankets are ready to be made instead of going back into the pile to wait for the next sorting. At the end of the day we have 23 blankets needing to be seemed and a box of about 150 squares in reserve needing other squares to make them great.

Boxing them up

Today, I will be meeting a woman who found us via facebook. She is so excited to get involved with Love-Squared. In her words she is “crocheting squares like mad.” As a big bonus she also wants to learn how to seam them together. I am so grateful for people who want to help seam the squares. More hands make a huge job so much quicker.

I cannot thank any of you enough for the time you spend making squares, seaming, and spreading the word of LOVE-SQUARED. There are over 70 children with our blankets now and very soon another 23 will be donated. Please keep the squares coming! These blankets mean so much to the children who receive them.

Leah

Jennifer, the beautiful woman who owns the Dragonfly, is the person who told me I needed to run with the idea of Love-Squared. She embraced it and should be proud to know that close to half of all the donated squares to date came from her patrons.

Sylvania is losing a treasure. I am going to miss stopping in for lunch, knitting on the porch and the smile I got every time I drove past the cheery house on Main Street. Good luck with everything you do, Jennifer! You have touched so many lives through the Dragonfly.

Happy Sunday. I have been neglecting the blog for the past several months. I think I have just found it quicker to post of the facebook page. I believe I reach a much larger audience there too. Most of you have read the latest news, but I will do a quick recap here.

With the help of Katie, Love-Squared is taking the steps to become a legally recognized non-profit. I am finalizing the paperwork and sending it out this week. This is an exciting and important step. With the legal non-profit status Love-Squared will be able to receive cash donations as well as donations of supplies from yarn and craft stores.

The last donation of 2012: We donated ten afghans to The Neighborhood Church in Toledo, Ohio, in November. The Neighborhood Church serves the poorest neighborhood in Toledo. There was an urgent need for blankets when the weather tuned cold. Their blanket drive collected enough blankets to give ONE blanket to each family. That should never happen. When Jennifer, owner of The Dragonfly Tea Cottage posted the need for blankets we were able to step up.  Thanks to the generosity of the Love-Squared supporters  and Kathy’s quick seaming skills.

The first donation of 2013: On Tuesday I will be dropping off twenty-two afghans to Family House. Twenty-two afghans is 660 squares! You have all been so busy making squares and Kathy and I have been just as busy getting them put together. There are going to be some very happy children when they receive their blanket. They are all so cheerful and soft. I believe you have all out done yourselves! You should all be very proud of your work.

Enjoy the slideshow of 16 of the newest afghans being donated. As always, keep the squares coming and tell everyone you know. Word of mouth and social media keeps up going strong.

As you all know, Family House of Toledo receives our afghans. Due to funding cuts they have had to cut their food assistance programs.  Love-Squared and the Dragonfly Tea Cottage in Sylvania, OH, are sponsoring a food drive to help stock the Family House pantry. There will  be a drop off box at the Dragonfly for non-perishable food items from from Tuesday, September 18 – October 12, 2012. The beautiful owner of the Dragonfly is giving away a free cup of tea with your donation and purchased lunch. While you are there enjoying your free tea, check out the menu and please be sure to thank Jen for being such a HUGE supporter of Love-Squared.I am still working on other donation drop off sites and will post them here and on facebook.

Speaking of the Dragonfly support. My friend, Michelle, and I went in for lunch. The first thing Jen said was, “I have a bunch of squares and blankets for you.” I love hearing that. Wast I wasn’t expecting was a bunch of squares and FOUR full afghans. Tavia and her friends were busy while on their two week vacation. You ladies blow me away. I have posted the photos on facebook, but I am going to post them here too. I wish the camera could show how soft they are. I know the children who get their love-Squared blanket are going to hold onto them for years and years.

Until the next post, Happy Monday to all of you. Keep sending in those squares! There are lots of photos to post today and this week.

Who is Love-Squared? One of StickerGiant’s fantastic fans on Facebook! Who’s our latest Fan of the Week. You know, because what they do is INCREDIBLE! Check out their Sticker Story: http://www.stickergiant.com/blog/stickergiant-fan-of-the-week-love-squared/

What they did not mention was that they totally hooked us up in a major way, and become one of our biggest commercial supporters. We want to throw a huge thank you their way. Not only did they make our order effortless but they let us know what was going on every step of the way. Special thanks to John and Amy for their personal assistance.

L2 loves StickerGiant!

I have been receiving a steady stream of squares. In the past month Love-Squared has received and entire color coordinated afghan, plus a few squares from Linda; 77 squares from Conny and friends; and approximately 40-50 squares from the Dragonfly Tea Cottage family. I have to do an updated count, but I’m pretty sure we have squares for 30 afghans. My mom has been hard at work arranging squares and seaming them together. I need to spend a weekend of seaming with her to get them done and ready to donate.

Speaking of donating, I would like your opinion. Should we continue donating the afghans, no matter how many or few we have, every 3-4 months or save them up for a large donation every 6 months? Year? What do you think?

Renee from Family House

Leah

Lovely colors

14 beautiful afghans

We are happy to announce there are two more drop boxes for squares. The Michaels craft stores at Monroe/Talmedge and Airport/Reynolds have boxes located in the classrooms  at the back of the stores. As part of the “Warm Up America” campaign, the Yarn Council and Michaels are promoting squares for charity. Thanks to a couple of great knit/crochet instructors and supporters of Love-Squared, we have been chosen to receive those squares.

One more exciting bit of news before I sign off. I counted the squares donated since October 1, 2011. We have already received enough squares for EIGHT afghans! We are well on our way to reaching the goal of doubling our first donation! That is amazing. I wish I could thank you all individually, but there are so many of you. I always say it, but I could not do this without you. You have shown so much generosity in your squares, yarn donations and telling everyone you know about us. Thank you, thank you and thank you some more!!!

Leah