Quilters raise money for Make-A-Wish

Helping kids one thread at a time

BUDA – When Kimberly and Kevin Jolly first started Fat Quarter Shop in 2003, it was out of their home. Kimberly was an avid quilter and started the business while she was still working in a corporate position and was cutting, packing and shipping out the patterns and fabrics needed to make quilts on evenings and weekends.

“Our company is really built on having the best customer service possible,” Kimberly said. “We provide fabric, patterns and anything you need to make a quilt or cross stitch.”

After the business experienced continued growth, Kimberly made it her full-time operation and because of this growth, she decided to help multiple charities through fundraising. One of those charities is Make-A-Wish of Central and South Texas.

“Ten years ago, we started raising money for Make-a-Wish. And it was [design manager Jocelyn Ueng's] idea. When we did it, I wanted it to always focus on children.” Kimberly said. “I have four children, and they luckily have all been healthy. I thought, what better way can we do something to give back to people who don't have the luck that Kevin and I have had?”

Wish kid Patton (her last name was not provided due to privacy) was a subscriber to Fat Quarter Shop’s online community and an avid crafter and quilter, so it was meaningful that they were the ones who got to help fundraise money to grant her wish to go to Hawaii.

“I remember especially one thing, she [Patton] was doing a lot of projects like making clothes for her hedgehog,” Kimberly said. “She dressed him up and she does a lot of purses. She does a lot of garments.”

One thing that has been special for Kimberly and Design Manager Jocelyn Ueng has been helping to grant wishes and meet kids over the past 10 years.

“I would say from Make-A-Wish, we got to meet six of the kids. And it's been awesome to talk to the kids,” Kimberly said. “One thing about making a wish that I didn't know before we got involved is, the parents cannot in any way tell the kid what their wish needs to be.”

Some kids have made wishes that have completely shocked their families.

“I think it's great that it's really in control of the kid— what the kid wants. It's very kid-centered,” Kimberly said. “One time we got to grant a wish for a girl named Cara, she's now actually legally blind. It was a playhouse, but it was textile, so she could have a place to play that was friendly to her needs.”

To help meet their fundraising goals for their wish kids, they are active in posting YouTube videos, live streaming and setting up GoFundMe pages.

“We have a lot of clubs; we have Facebook groups for these clubs, where people and members can talk to each other. We formed all these friendships, especially diving into the social media realm. That's where the concept of the blog came out,” Uneg said. “Because there's just so many quilters around the world and they don't always have a local shop or classes or retreats. Having an online place [is great], whether it's Facebook, and then it became Instagram, now it's YouTube and live stream.”

What sets Fat Quarter Shop apart from other quilt tutorials is that Kimberly posts videos of mistakes she has made while quilting and how to fix them and she provides checkpoints to make sure everyone is quilting with ease. Their tight-knit online community has been able to make their philanthropic goals happen.

“So, it has been just really beautiful to see,” Uneg said. “They made it their own experience and they've been super generous. I mean, we've raised over $650,000 for Make-A-Wish through fundraising.”

You can access Fat Quarter Shop’s social media profiles through its website www.fatquartershop.com.