This Wednesday May 30 is my semi annual St Jude Children's Research hospital Stream on Twitch. So what does this mean?
First, who is St Jude?
The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay. Unlike other hospitals, the majority of funding comes from individual contributions. And thanks to generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude.There are a lot of charities out there, so why St Jude?
St Jude isn't the only charity I support. I work year round to raise money, volunteer time and bring awareness to many charities including animal rescues, Extra Life, Doctors without Borders and Child's Play among others. December and May are dedicated to just St Jude because they easily incorporate into my Twitch stream. Viewers are able to donate directly to the charity (I don't touch the money at all) and it appears on my stream as it happens. It is a great way to instantly recognize the generosity of people.
What is Twitch again?
Twitch is a live streaming platform that allows me to directly interact with people watching. Unlike Facebook live or You Tube it is a much longer format that is more real life than showing a specific skill or trick. I design and create my quilts as I normally do but have four cameras on me at all times and am able to answer questions as I create.
So what is this thing on Wednesday?
During St Jude time I do a marathon stream where I pick one quilt to create start to finish in a single stream. I cut fabric, piece, baste, quilt, and bind all while continuing to raise money and interact with those that are watching the stream. Starting May 1 and ending when I finish the quilt on May 30, every $5 someone donates earns them a ticket to win the quilt! As soon as the quilt is finished on Wednesday the drawing will immediately occur and a winner picked.There are also additional giveaways for the May fundraising. Every $100 raised, I stop what I am doing and immediately hold a special St Jude giveaway where the winner picks what they want from items and games donated.
There are three ways you can help!
First - Spread the Word! Consider sharing this post and telling people about St Jude and my special stream.
Second - Watch! Twitch ranks streams by the number of people watching the stream. The more people that are watching on Wednesday, the higher my ranking will be. A higher ranking will possibly bring more people to my stream (who may donate).
Third - Donate. If you are financially able to donate and help, please do! If you donate during a stream your donation will appear on my stream and could possibly trigger a giveaway.
Wait, so what is this quilt you are making?
I decided to work on our new pattern being released in August and do the initial testing on it. The pattern is based on Cthulhu, created by H P Lovecraft in 1928. It has turned into a Sci-fi Fantasy icon influencing games, music, film and TV.The quilt I will be making Wednesday will be my first test of the pattern to work out any bugs or problems. It will be a one of a kind with a special label commemorating the St Jude stream.
After the stream I plan on speeding up all 12+ hours of creating it and post it for all to enjoy.
So how do I watch and donate?
The special stream starts at 9am est Wednesday May 30 and goes until I finish the quilt (probably at least 12 hours).
You can watch it on my Twitch channel found here: https://www.twitch.tv/quiltoni
Donations can be made directly to St Jude using my campaign link: https://tiltify.com/@quiltoni/quiltonis-play-live/donate
