A Few Examples

Here are a couple of examples of Hope Squared quilts that I have finished (or am close to finishing). The dog and baseball quilts were fun to make-and easy! The four patches are made from 4 inch squares and the larger square is 7.5 inches.

Thanks for all of the opinions on the quilt mentioned in the previous post. I am leaving it alone for another day but what I ended up doing was going back to the quilt shop and buying the rest of bolt of the green fabric and I will do two quilts-the one I started and a second using some of the ideas that were suggested!


Can you believe I received a phone call today from a woman named Rose who is donating 20 quilts?! Oh, and by the way, we received our first donation in the mail yesterday from Cathy-thanks Cathy!

It's not too late to join us! The deadline for quilts is NOVEMBER 15!


 
 

Are There a Few Opinions Out There?

I started this quilt last night when I should have been folding laundry :). Before I began it, I thought it would be nice for a teenage girl. Now that I have these 12 blocks made I am not so sure. The green print has Chinese good luck sayings on them-that's why I thought an older girl would appreciate it-maybe it is the primary colors that are bothering me...
So, I need a few opinions before I either continue or change. Do you like it how it is? Should I change the colors of the smaller blocks? Would a teenage girl like this concept?

 

Phone Calls

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood wrote a supurb article about MHC in the Grand Rapids Press yesterday. So good in fact, my phone has been ringing all day with offers of help. Fabric, a quilting frame, notions, quilt tops....and the best phone call was from a mother who read the article and asked if we might have a quilt for her daughter who is coming up on the 1 year anniversary of her partner's death. I believe we have just the quilt for her.

A Few Thoughts

*After church today I was chatting with a kindred quilter about the Hope Squared project. She asked me why quilting always makes her feel so good and I remembered a quote by Pablo Picasso, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Do you feel that way? Does the intensity of your family arguments, whining kids, and burned dinners fade a bit when you sit down to quilt? It does for me and I think that is why I crave at least a few minutes (or hours!) of quilting each day.

*Speaking of family arguments, I had one this week with a family member about Christmas plans. I was pretty riled up by the middle of the week and then, then I had a thought that drew me out of myself and into the world of a homeless family.
WHAT DOES A HOMELESS FAMILY DO FOR CHRISTMAS? All the things that I worry and fuss about for the month leading up to Christmas focus around my HOUSE or an event in my HOUSE or in a family member's HOUSE. What does a homeless child worry about around Christmas.....Just thinking about that this weekend.

I will leave you with a picture of 6 quilt tops numbered, stacked, and awaiting their time to become whole. Maybe today.

WELCOME FRIENDS OF CRAZY MOM QUILTS!!

A huge hello to those who followed the link from Crazy Mom Quilts! Amanda Jean is like the GOOGLE of online quilters and I'm like BING-the wannabe-so this is HUGE! We need a hideous amount of quilts to fulfill this need so please leave a comment letting us know you are IN!
***EDIT*** I have had these questions a few times now so I will address them here.
1. Do the quilts need to be made of squares? No, we will accept any quilts and share them with the kids-the square thing is a general theme for those who haven't started a quilt yet but I understand that many of you have quilts started or finished that you would like to donate.
2. Please send completed quilts to
Margaret's Hope Chest
630 Griswold SE
Grand Rapids, MI
49507

if you are Canadian you can send the quilts to
Margaret's Hope Chest
150A Finch Ave East
Toronto, Ontario CANADA
M2N 4R7
3. We will accept quilt tops if you are unable to finish them!

Some Hope Squared Tops

I love winning souls for quilting! I started working on my friend Jen last year when she stayed at my house for a few days. I knew she had an addictive personality so I figured she would be an easy convert-I was right. What I didn't expect was that she would turn around and instantly begin converting others.....she has her own Margaret's Hope Chest quilting group that has been meeting for about a year. They are about as excited about this project as I am and even though they are all beginner quilters they have completed these 3 tops in the past two weeks! They have a goal of 20 tops for Hope Squared! Awesome.

A Word about Craft Hope

While we have officially launched the Hope Squared project here on our blog and around the Grand Rapids area, you may have noticed that our partner Craft Hope has not. I just wanted to take a few sentences to assure you that they will be launching us as their 5th project in about 2 weeks. Craft Hope's founder, Jade, is delivering a new baby TODAY-enough said :).
We have a growing interest is what we are doing. There was a small annoucement made at the West Michigan Quilters Guild meeting last week. Charlotte heard the announcement and promptly got involved and donated 4 quilts-yahoo! Slowly, quilters are adding our button to their personal blogs. Some have even taken the time to write a short post about our project. Thanks so much. Each little bit helps get the word out. Do you have a quilt blog where you could add our button?
We will get a HUGE boost in publicity this weekend when Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood will write a article for the Grand Rapids Press and feature a podcast interview with yours truly (and my mom) on her Craft Sanity site. I believe that she will also do a quick quilt tutorial on Take Five and Company on Friday morning. Wow. Do you believe that we can collect 400 quilts in a month and a half?