ANNOUNCING OUR VERY OWN QUILTING BEE

 "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." J.R.R. Tolkien

Zach received his 'Wrapped in Hope' quilt last month.

After receiving a quilting  rejection a few weeks back I was gifted with many nice and supportive comments and e-mails from friends of Margaret's Hope Chest-basically, the consensus was to carry on and don't let it bother me-and I have...mostly. I must admit that I still go to their Flickr group and snoop around every once in a while--wishing I had been welcomed in....but I have so much work to do here it is crazy that I would be wishing for one more commitment. Anyway, one particular e-mail I received was from Emily-she said:

"I have this idea... Actually I was thinking about it way before your rejection post, but that just solidified my thoughts.  I think we should start a Bee for MHC.  Like the do.good.stitches bee but only for your organization. 

I would love to contribute more to MHC but sometimes feel I don't have time to make and entire quilt.  If I could do bee blocks each month I would feel like I'm making a difference, albeit small.  What do you think? " 

I think---YES. 

And so without further ado--I present the Margaret's Hope Chest Quilting Bee!! And the blocks that participants make will go directly into quilts for 6 kids on the 'Wrapped in Hope' Birthday List!  Why I am I using lots of exclamation marks?? Because I am really excited about this and I hope about 20 other people are too!!!

Here is what I am looking for.  12 people (for each quilt) to make 2 of the pre-determined blocks in the pre-determined color/theme.  Simple.  You could sign up for one quilt or all 6.  

Here are the kids I have selected:

1. Joshua with a birthday of June 2, 1999.  He likes basketball, blue, red, black, white, yellow. Blocks must be received by May 1st.  The block I have chosen is Crazy Mom Quilts Hourglass Block. FULL

2. Jordan with a birthday of July 2 , 2002. He likes cars, animals, yellow, orange, red, blue. Blocks for this quilt must be received by June 1st. The block I have chosen is Cluck Cluck Sew's Stack and Whack Block.  FULL

3. Meyon with a birthday of October 7, 1998. She likes purple, pink and cats. Blocks for this quilt must be received by August 1st. The block I have chosen for this is PS I Quilt's Block-O-Strings block.

4. N'Tari with a birthday of November 9, 1995. He likes football, basketball, dogs, blue, black, white. Blocks for this quilt must be received by September 1st. The block I have chosen for this is That Girl That Quilt's Cross Block tutorial.

5. Frankee with a birthday of November 27, 2002.  She likes pink, purple, tiaras, butterflies. Blocks for this quilt must be received by October 1st.  The block I have chosen for this is Crazy Mom Quilts Hourglass Block. 
FULL

6. Harmony with a birthday of December 17, 1999. She likes blue, pink, green, red. Blocks for this quilt must be received by October 1st.  The block I have chosen for this is PS I Quilt's Block-O-Strings block.

So what do you think? Are you IN? I think that the quilts that are made will be spectacular display of commitment to bringing HOPE and comfort to these precious children.  E-mail Carin or leave a comment  if you have any questions or want to grab a spot!

Look What I Found Today!

 Theirs (Pottery Barn Teen): $29.99

Mine: Priceless--just kidding-less than $29.99

Just found it interesting and thought I would share--I could completely copy theirs--actually, I think I will--I have lots of scraps....

Two Finishes This Week!

 Linking up again this week to 

 I have been very productive this week--I think the hormones have aligned to create clarity, focus and energy--a rare treat in my world :)

So 'Ellie's Garden' is finished! I decided to save myself $100 and a week of waiting and quilt it myself (remember the hormones). It took me about 6 hours total to meander stitch this.

A little use of sashing scraps on the back....

 I added the label on Sunday morning with a little help from Google.....

 And I gave it to Ellie after church!  She loves it! It is going to go to the hospital with her this week when she starts Chemo. I have added her blog to the sidebar--it is called 'Counting My Blessings'--if you want to follow along on her journey through cancer--I think you will be inspired--she is a very neat lady!

I finished the safe delivery kits for Craft Hope project number #11.
I made two more little receiving blankets...

and divided everything up....

boxed it up and sent it out!  Feels good to have that done!

Project number three is a birthday quilt for Dallas.  It is peace themed--read more about it here

The good news is that the pillow is done--huh?  Why in the world did I make a pillow yesterday? Hormones.

Happy Sewing all!

Give Peace a Chance--Pillow and Quilt

 I got a late request for a 'Wrapped in Hope' birthday quilt last month.  I was asked to make a quilt for Dallas who had just turned 14.  Her older brother, whom she looks to as a father figure, is in prison. Here's a bit from the e-mail request I received from Dallas's mom:

'I have to be honest I was unable to give her more then a cake. She is very understanding but as a mom we know how our heart feels...I am not sure if your able to help me but a quilt from her brother would be a wonderful thing and it would really be appreciated.'

Needless to say, I happily agreed to make a peace themed quilt for Dallas--I was able to start on it this weekend--finally.  Below is what I have so far...remember I am going to use this pattern to make the quilt.  I threw the pillow together last night/today so I could enter it in the Sew Mama Sew pillow contest.  Nothing like waiting till the last minute.....

Can't wait to see how it all turns out and send it off as a belated birthday gift to Dallas!

Checking These Off the WIP List!

 I really like joining this weekly WIP update.  It encourages me to finish things (as opposed to starting more projects) by the following Wednesday.  And although I didn't finish everything I wanted to this week I do have a few things to check off the list.

The Craft Hope safe delivery kits are due by March 1st. I already finished the tote bags but that was it so I had to get down to business.

I went out and purchased all of the items that I needed; bars of soap, alcohol wipes, Purelle, latex gloves, plastic sheeting and string.

Next, I found this super cute stuffed elephant pattern at my local quilt shop.

Then I enlisted the help of my daughter (the blond one) and her friend (who I was babysitting!)

to make a few stuffed elephants.  If you know any girls around this age (9-11) you also know that they LOVE crafts. Sweet.  Yes, they picked minky for the fabric (ugh!) but they turned out fine despite some stretching etc.

Here is one of the finished elephants!

Next I had to make receiving blankets.  I was rather proud of myself when I found a couple of gently used cotton blankets, cut them up and added a bright flannel. 

So, now all that is left is putting all of the items together and sending it off.  I wanted to try and get to the States to mail the package because from Canada I have to send things UPS which costs SO MUCH MONEY.  Maybe I can talk myself into a trip to New York this weekend.....

So, the other major project I have been working on this week has been Ellie's quilt. Ellie is a friend of mine who was diagnosed with brain cancer a couple of weeks ago.  She will be starting treatment next week and I would really like to give this to her before then.  Ellie LOVES to garden and I found this pattern on the internet and it is called

 'Ellie's Garden'!  I just love how the top turned out. So bright and spring-like!

It's exactly what I wanted--I used all scraps for the flower blocks and then went to my neighborhood quilt shop and they helped me choose the sashing and border fabric.  

I have to call the long arm quilter today and see what her wait time is.

That's about all I have had time for this week :)

Happy sewing friends!!

Give a Little Take a Little

On Thursday's, this little guy and I are left alone at home while the other three are at school--yeah, the one with beautiful blue eyes.

But if any of you have ever had a 2 year old you know they are looking for action

and trouble

and attention

most of the day.

 

And so I have to give a little...

like spreading all of his favorite car and truck fabrics out on the floor

he likes to point out all of the cars

and he likes me to respond with 

'uh huh, blue car'

or

'yep, a fast race car!'

and then I take a little....

like pinning 24 one inch squares

and then I give a little....

like a few titles we picked up from the library yesterday

 and then I give a little more....

like a 4th reading of 'Little Dump Truck'

and then he gives me 2 hours by taking a

nice

long 

nap.

I love Thursdays.

Whatcha Been Up To?

 

The Hannah Montana quilt is finished.  Pretty happy with it--the layers shifted a bit when I was quilting the inner squares so there are a few small buckles but I am sure the birthday girl won't care.  This quilt will be sent out this week to Eryka who is turning 7 this month. 

She is part of the 'Wrapped in Hope' program here at Margaret's Hope Chest.

Eryka's daddy is in prison and this quilt will be a gift from him!

The next thing I am working on is part MHC and part personal. 

A friend from my church was diagnosed with brain cancer on Saturday.

Her name is Ellie and she loves to garden and when I decided to make her a HOPE quilt I Googled the words 'Ellie's Garden Quilt' and this pattern came up. I have decided to make it scrappy and bright. So far I am loving it!

 My pile of scraps for more blocks

 And last and least right now are these fabrics that I mentioned last week.  They are still sitting on my ironing board in the exact same position. Sigh.

But, I think I have found a pattern I will use. 

Cluck Cluck Sew has an amazing collection of free quilting tutorials that I go to all of the time.

I found this circle quilt pattern here.

I thought it might be fun to change one or two of the circles into peace signs to match the theme of the quilt. 

Happy sewing to all of you this week!

More Pictures!!!

 A group of our quilts traveled without us to North Carolina last month.

I am so thankful for these pictures--what a fun (and tiring) day it must have been for these dads!

An entire day with their babies--and it looks as if one dad had double duty with a set of twins!

We would love to be able to send more baby quilts in the future--what a special gift for these little ones.

Enjoy!