Results! 2025 Heart of the Isaiah 117 House Fundraiser

The third annual Heart of the Isaiah 117 House Quilt Fundraiser finished up, and I am so thankful for each of you! It takes a very long time to plan and execute...which I fully can't do any of without you all, though! The quilting community will always show up!

This year was our biggest year yet. 

When I wrote about this fundraiser back in October, I knew we were attempting something ambitious. We asked for 442 log cabin blocks to make 12 quilts for foster care children across the country, and the sign-up blocks filled up fast! By the time sign-ups closed, blocks were arriving from over 200 sewists across 5 countries...traveling through the mail, landing in the hands of volunteer longarmers, and eventually finding their way back to Houston to become finished quilts. By the end, 203 sewists had contributed to quilts collectively valued at nearly $11,000.

Right before we launched this fundraiser, I came across a dumb Dr. Phil quote--about how helping others is somehow "moral narcissism," that doing good is really just self-gratification dressed up as a virtue. 

But come on, if someone feels good after helping a child on their worst day, that does not negate the reality that the same child still gets fed, clothed, bathed, and comforted. The outcomes matter; these are real recipients. Real foster care children, removed from their homes, often with nothing but the clothes they're wearing. But with our funds and support, children who used to sit in a fluorescent-lit office, wondering what happens next, will now walk through a red door, greeted with love. 

Service that feels good can still be deeply, materially good.

The Funds!!

This year’s quilts were truly something special. Each one had its own personality:

• Pink Baby – $540

• Blue Baby – $445

• Pastel Throw – $820

• 70s Throw – $1,245

• Earthy Large Throw – $1,015

• Floral Large Throw – $2,005

• Holiday Twin – $1,090

• iSpy Twin – $1,575

• Rainbow Queen – $1,340

• Scrappy Queen – $2,285 (most popular this year!)

• Red King – $970

• Blue King – $1,515

From teddy-bear quilting on baby quilts, to Liberty florals, to barn-raising king layouts that may never exist in quite the same way again—these quilts were proof of what shared purpose can do!

Raffle by the Numbers

Here’s what you helped accomplish:

• 2,969 raffle tickets sold

• 477 donors

• Average donation: $31 (yes, $1 more than last year lol)

• 96% of donors came through word of mouth

• All 50 states + 5 countries represented

• Top donating state (for the 3rd year in a row): Tennessee – $2,225

• Followed by:

  • Utah – $2,170

  • Texas – $1,760

  • California – $885

• The top donor raised over $1,500

• Top 20 donors raised over $6,000

• First and last days of the fundraiser brought in the most, about $2,400 each

After accounting for transaction and online fees, the final donation total came to:

$15,362.00

Over fifteen thousand dollars will now go directly to Isaiah 117 Houses to help children with:

• New clothes and underwear

• Shoes and socks

• Hygiene items

• Formula and diapers

• Warm meals

• Comfort items

• Beds and supplies for foster families

That amount represents roughly 50 children whose worst day will now be gentler.

About 96% of donors found this fundraiser because someone shared it. Not ads, algorithms--just people. Guild group chats! Text messages! Emails copied and pasted at work! Stories reposted! Friends tagging friends! This is what our quilting and sewing community looks like when it's rooted in making good trouble. 

To Every Person Who Helped...

If you sewed blocks...longarmed...donated fabric, thread, or batting...donated shipping money...bought one ticket or twenty....shared a post even once....you helped us do this!

Never underestimate what a group of caring, stubborn, compassionate sewists can accomplish when they decide a problem is worth showing up for.