Prison Giveaway!

I am so happy to report that 46 quilts found new homes this weekend!!  They were given to precious boys and girls who have a father in Pugsley Correctional Facility in Michigan.  I will write a more complete post about my day with these children and their fathers when I don't have a pot of chili on the stove and 4 kids running around!  Until then, below are pictures of some of the quilts we have received/finished over the past two weeks.  Thank you-thank you-thank you!! 

You can never make too many John Deere Quilts!

This quilt arrived just in time to go to the prison with us!

I absolutely LOVE this quilt that Pat made for our prison giveaway!  There was a 14 year old boy who loved it!!!

A fire truck 'Fair and Square' quilt completed by Kate!

Getting Dressed

Ephesians 6:11 (New International Version): "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
On Saturday, for the second time in a little less than a month, I will enter a prison armed with 63 quilts. Does 'armed' seem like a odd word to use when talking about warm and cozy children's quilts? Perhaps...but let me explain. I have had a doozy of a week--each new day brought a fresh load of emotional weight-conflicts at the kid's school, conflicts with my husband and other family members, financial stress, untrue accusations, sick and crabby kids etc. and by early today I could hardly stand up under the pressure...and then it struck me--I was under attack by one of the devil's schemes. His scheme was going to leave me so weary and frustrated that I might not choose to go to the prison on Saturday and spread HOPE--in the name of Jesus Christ.
Well, I am here to say that I have put on the whole armor of God over the course of today--
the buckle of TRUTH
the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS
the feet of READINESS
the shield of FAITH
the helmet of SALVATION
and the sword of the SPIRIT
I am STANDING against the devil's scheme and I am marching into that prison ARMED with QUILTS OF HOPE, my friends! I can hardly wait to testify to the HOPE and STRENGTH I have in Jesus Christ. Will you pray for these quilts as they enter their new homes this weekend? Will you pray for the 27 precious girls and 19 amazing boys who will have a whole day to spend with their Daddy?
Thanks to those who donated these quilts--YOU are part of the story that we get to tell these families!

Wrapped in Hope Update

This is Alexis and she received her 'Wrapped in Hope' Birthday quilt last week--can you tell she loves it? Here is what her mother writes "This quilt is so very beautiful. Bless you all! Here are a couple of photos. Allie saw the package arrive yesterday so I let her open it. She was over the moon! Immediately went in and spread it out on her bed. She keeps looking at each square and finding new details, even in the stitching! She found a star and thought that was so neat. Thank you again."




"Wrapped in Hope" is our birthday quilt giving program. We match up a volunteer quilter with a child who has at least one parent in prison--the quilter makes a quilt as a birthday gift from the incarcerated parent.
Since January we have given over 80 birthday quilts to children all over the United States. On the side bar you will see the list of kids who will receive them in October, November and December. We are looking forward to doing it again in 2011--in fact I already have a growing list of precious children who need the HOPE and love these quilts bring.
If you are interested in being a volunteer quilter for next year send me an e-mail at margaretshopechest@yahoo.com.

A Productive Week

With 2 kids in school all day, 1 kid in school 2 days a week, and one little peanut who still takes a long afternoon nap it's been a good week for my productivity (unless you are talking about house work of course).


These 9-patches will be sashed today--the result should be bright and beautiful



A few new fabric purchases arrived in the mail yesterday.....






Two tops were finished....



And two dinosaur quilts are ready to be quilted.

Depends On How You Look At It

I see a quilt block--he sees a race track--it's all depends on how you look at it.

I am creating these bright blocks out of the boy-themed squares that I received recently from an I-Spy 4 inch block swap hosted by Katie. 200 went out and 200 came in. I am always surprised and delighted to see the variety of prints ladies send.

Grandpa Herrema--1924-2010

It wouldn't feel right not to share with the Margaret's Hope Chest blogging community the death of Margaret's husband--my grandpa--Harv Herrema. As you can imagine, he was one of MHC's largest fans. He would proudly carry around newspaper clippings that featured MHC for all to read. He even had one of our bumper stickers on the back of his car. I will miss seeing the pleasure on his face when he would pull me aside and say, "That's a great thing you are doing Carin"-in my mind, even if he was the only person in the whole world who understood what and why we do what we do--it would be worth every minute spent.
Understandably, my grandpa was never the same after my grandma's murder. He lacked the flair and drive he had possessed when my grandma was by his side. I would guess that there were many times that he lie awake and long to join his Savior and be reunited with her. And so, his funeral was a celebration of a life well lived. 85 years of putting his family first and doing what he loved most--playing the organ and singing--that is a lot to be thankful for. Most of all, I am grateful for the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ that my grandpa accepted many years ago--it gives me HOPE. And so now we will do our work here at MHC to honor the life and legacy of both of my grandparent's. TO GOD BE THE GLORY.

75 Quilts + a Prison=HOPE

A little more than a week ago, I entered the Huron Valley Women's Correctional Facility with 75 kid-themed quilts. Many of the quilts were made by generous volunteer quilters from all over the country. The quilts pictured below have been finished off recently and were given away that day.
Maybe you are wondering how I came to the point of entering a prison with 75 quilts....well, it is a story only God could orchestrate. Using his infinite wisdom and love he connected me with two ladies--Mary Engle who is the Executive Director of Prison Fellowship in Michigan and Scottie Barnes who is the director of Forgiven Ministries. To make a long story short, Forgiven Ministries enters into prisons and puts on a two day workshop called Great Dads/Marvelous Moms (depending on whether it is in a men's or women's prison). On the first day the dads/moms are encouraged in their relationships with their kids and God. On the second day the children of the dads/moms come into the prison for a day of fun and love and relationship building.
Margaret's Hope Chest agreed to provide quilts for the 3 camps that are running in the state of Michigan in 2010. Each mom/dad has the opportunity to pick a quilt for their child to take home with them. We mean for the quilts to be a tangible symbol of HOPE, comfort and love.
So back to the day last week when we lugged 5 bulging bags of quilts through 2 sets of heavy metal doors and the lives of 20 precious mothers.....
as of this moment I am still unable to sit down and write out exactly what I experienced that day but I can tell you this much
*God was present
*God has given Forgiven Ministries a wonderful group of staff and volunteers--each with a unique story of forgiveness and love to share with these men and women.
*I felt as if I belonged there.
*The quilts were a HUGE hit! The mothers carefully chose a quilt that their child would like--thankfully we have a wonderful selection for them to chose from.
*My grandma's love and forgiveness was present in that room among those quilts.
*I can hardly wait to do it again at the end of this month!

I am anxiously waiting for more pictures from that weekend to be e-mailed to me so you can see the joy on those mother's faces and the faces of their precious children.

In the meantime I have a question for you.....Do you have a child themed quilt that you could send to us to share with these families? Do you have time to make a child-themed quilt over the next 2 months?
We need about 50 more quilts to cover the next 2 giveaways--one at the end of this month and one in early November.
****EDIT****Quilts can be any size but a good size is 40X60 inches--the kids are ages 4-17.
Leave a comment or e-mail if you can help--Thanks!







My son Josiah was very interested in the John Deere themed quilt!