TAKING THE VOW

I am taking a vow. Today on May 30, 2010 I will begin to fill the world with more BOY HAPPY QUILTS. Big boys, little boys, rough boys and tough boys--they need quilts! We are ALWAYS short on boy-themed quilts here at Margaret's Hope Chest. I am going to do my part over the next month to fill that gap. So, from today until June 30, 2010 I am challenging myself to finish 15 boy-themed quilts. The fabric I bought last week will help plus I have several boy tops just waiting to be sandwiched and quilted.
What about YOU out there in blogland? Do you want to join my BOY ONLY month of quilting? Can you commit to making 1 or 2 boy happy quilts over the next 30 days OR pull out that boy-themed top in your UFO pile and finish it? You don't have to donate it to MHC but you could :). We have 3 quilt giveaways coming up later in the year (august, november and december) where we need a total of 120 quilts to choose from--both boy and girl!
Leave me a comment if you want to join or email me at margaretshopechest@yahoo.com if you need more information!
***TINA HAS COMMITTED TO 4 BOY QUILTS!!! THANKS TINA!!***

HERE ARE QUILT FINISHES 1 and 2!! Only 13 more to go!

front of quilt #1

back of quilt #1

Quilt #2-skater board themed

This Week At MHC

It has been a busy few weeks at MHC--many quilts going out and many quilts coming in! That's the way we like it!

On Tuesday my mom visited the West Michigan Quilters Guild to pick up the 20 quilt tops that I had dropped off in April. She walked away with 35 finished kid themed quilts! Bravo to the generous ladies who finished the tops and to a wonderful group of ladies who donated 18 quilts!!! I am not in Michigan right now to take pictures but I will post pics as soon as I can.

Our 'Wrapped in Hope' birthday program delivered 20 quilts to kids celebrating birthdays this month. I am amazed at how well this program is running--it is totally due to the fact that quilters in general are highly responsible individuals :) and in particular our volunteer quilters are passionate about our program and don't want to see these children do without something special from their incarcerated parent. Thanks for making my job so EASY!!!

In a weak moment I went to my local quilt shop this morning. I only intended to pick up some bright Kona solids. But then there was this lady in front of me at the cutting table who thought the store employee was her personal quilting consultant (I know you all have been behind someone like that before). So while I waited I was forced to look around the store and more specifically the SALE section and soon my pile on the cutting table was above my head :). Oh my. Now, in my defense, it was my birthday this week. Happy Birthday self--hehe! No really, I will use all of these fabrics to make BOY quilts for MHC--I promise! Oh, but the Amy Butler is for me--it was on sale for 6.99 a metre so who can resist that????

My Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry

Well folks, this quilt is hot off of the sewing machine pressers! I have been avoiding many tasks today in order to finish this quilt for two reasons--1.) I wanted to enter it into the Blogger's Quilt Festival going on over at Amy's Creative Side and 2.) this is a birthday gift for my daughter who will turn 9 on May 24th.



I made this quilt top about 3 years ago. I saw a quilt in a Land of Nod catalog made of diamond shapes. I wanted to make a similar one for my daughter Anne. However, I lacked a pattern and I was forced to figure it out as I went along. As you can see, it is imperfect--there is a wonky slant to the diamond pattern--oh well. At the time I made this I didn't have the time or energy to finish it properly so I made the top into a duvet cover and called it good.
During spring cleaning last month, I found the quilt top/duvet cover wadded up in the corner my daughter's closet. I rescued it and decided to finally finish it. I posted about it on my blog a few weeks ago and asked for advice on quilting it--I agreed with those who suggested that a soft large swirly pattern would contrast well with the geometric feel of the triangles.
I quilted it free motion on my Janome 6125 (for those who are interested). I used a Crayola washable marker to draw the design on--I find this works better than those overpriced fabric markers. I finished up the quilting, washed it, bound it and clipped off my strings between the hours of 11am and 5pm today :) and that is why my family of 6 ate cereal for dinner tonight!
I am so happy with how it turned out--I hope Anne will treasure it but I won't be surprised or angry if I find it wadded up in the depths her closet again. Happy 9th Birthday to my sweet girl--I love you so deeply!

OUR QUILT GIVE AWAY WINNERS!!

#6 was Lisa and she said "I'd like to win the first quilt for my sister. We were ecstatic last year when her cancer went into remission, but this year has been full of a whole host of unrelated health problems. She's currently in the hospital, again. I know she's feeling pretty hopeless right now."

I have contacted Lisa and soon this quilt will on it's way to a new home!






#15 was Stephanie and she shared "I would love to win either one for my friend who lost a baby, they named her Hope and she was still born. Quilt B would be good for her two year old"

I love that the baby's name was Hope and we pray that this quilt will bring HOPE to this family. I have contacted Stephanie and this quilt will be arriving soon!

Thanks to all who left comments and for sharing HOPE with those around you.

GIVEAWAY DAY-MARGARET'S HOPE CHEST STYLE!

****GIVE AWAY IS NOW CLOSED*****

Once again, Margaret's Hope Chest is joining Sew, Mama, Sew in her May Giveaway Day. In true MHC fashion we are putting our own little twist on it. Interested??? Read on....
Our mission at Margaret's Hope Chest is to give quilts to individuals and families who are experiencing seemingly hopeless situations. Do you know anyone RIGHT NOW who could use a gift of HOPE? Through this giveaway, we would love to help you serve someone you know by giving them a quilt.
This year we have TWO quilts that we would love to give away with your help. One is for an adult and one is for a child.

*****EDIT******Please note that these quilts are for people who need HOPE due to a HOPELESS SITUATION--only comments that recommend someone who fits this description will enter the draw--THANKS :)

QUILT A is for an adult. It measures 69 inches by 87 inches. If you want to know the story behind this quilt see THIS POST.


QUILT B is for a child. It measures 39 inches by 41 inches. This quilt was made by a volunteer quilter and we have been saving it for a special occasion. Oh, how I LOVE this quilt.
 

If you would like to "win" one of these quilts for a person that you know who could use some extra HOPE please read these guidelines:
- Leave a comment and tell me which quilt you want to be entered to "win"-Quilt A or B.
- Please share a brief explanation of who you would like us to give the quilt to and why.
- Be prepared to provide me with a mailing address for this person--if you "win" this quilt it will be sent directly to the person you nominated.
-Drawing will close at 8pm on Thursday, May 20.
-My kids will randomly pick one commenter for each quilt using a highly scientific method (HINT: it involves little slips of paper and a hat).
- We will video tape the drawing and post it here on our blog on May 20 at 8:10 pm (it usually takes me a few minutes to remember how to post videos).
- Please leave an e-mail contact in your comment.
We can ship anywhere in the U.S.

Special Delivery

The details of this post have been forming for the past 5 months. I hate keeping things under wraps--I hate secrets--and I have a hard time keeping my mouth closed when I am super excited about something. And so, FINALLY I can reveal these beautiful quilts which were delivered to Margaret's Hope Chest last week.
Here is the story behind them. In November of last year, I was nosing around on Jennifer Chiaverini's website. (Aside: If you are a quilter and you haven't heard about or read one of her books, you need to. She is an excellent writer and her books are worth your time and money). I saw this announcement: "In celebration of the publication of Jennifer Chiaverini's new novel, A Quilter's Holiday, Elm Creek Quilts fans are invited to piece a block for charity quilts, choosing a pattern symbolic of their own gratitude."
And then there was this sentence near the bottom of post:"If you would like to nominate a favorite charity, please include information about the group with your package."
I bet you can guess where this is going....I submitted a block and I wrote Jennifer to tell her of Margaret's Hope Chest and humbly asked to be considered to receive ONE of the charity quilts. Imagine my surprise in December when I opened my e-mail and found a personal e-mail from JENNIFER CHIAVERINI!!! Seriously, this was one of the most exciting moments in 2010 for me. She was not going to gift us with one quilt--but all of the quilts that were made from the blocks--FIVE in total.
And so, last week 4 of the 5 quilts arrived--and they are lovely and so very special. Each one made with blocks from ladies around the country who wanted to share something that they are thankful for. And now we have the honor and pleasure of sharing them with the people that God has chosen. Can't wait to see who they will be.

The quilts were so special that we took them on a field trip to the Toronto Botanical Gardens to be photographed today.
A special thanks to my mom and dad who lost all feeling in their arms while holding up the quilts and waiting for the wind to behave or one of my children to exit the picture :)!

Rock Star Baby!

I made this 'Rock Star' baby quilt for a brand new baby in our 'Wrapped in Hope' program. He was born the middle of April. I can't wait to send it off for him and his mom to enjoy.








And finally, I have caught up in the Pinwheel Quilt-along. These are my final two blocks--I will work on sashing it this weekend. It feels so good to check things off of my amazingly LONG list of things to do.

All Covered!

No pun intended here--but we are all covered for the 2010 Wrapped in Hope Birthday Quilt Program!! 111 children from around the country have been paired with a volunteer quilter!! Praise God! It seems the World magazine article attracted those few final volunteers we needed. I was never worried about it but it does bring me to a place where I can concentrate on the 2011 program now-oh, and all of the other projects I have been putting off for the last 4 months :)

Anyone have Quilting Suggestions?

This is a quilt top I made for my oldest daughter almost two years ago. At the time, I was just about to move back to North America from overseas and I didn't have time to quilt it. I made it into a duvet cover and promised myself that I would return to it when I had time and finish it properly. The time is now! My only issue is I am stuck on how to quilt it-so I thought I would see if anyone out there has suggestions. Links to ideas are good too! Thanks!