HST's For Haiti and Honduras Update

We are halfway through our January/February collection of HST's for Haiti and Honduras--click here to read the original post. 

As of today I have received blocks from five awesome quilters; Amber, Sharon, Anita, Joan, and someone from Ft. Collins Colorado :)

Thank you ladies so much.  The more squares we get the more fun the quilts will be!

Please consider sending us a contribution to this project--it's fun and easy.

You still have the whole month of February to participate.

Just a quick review--we are looking for boy themed HST's for quilts that will be given to boys living in a boy's home in Honduras--ages 4-16. (click here for project details)

 We are also collecting baby themed HST's for the momma's and babies at Heartline Ministries in Haiti. (click here for project details)

These quilts will have a huge impact in lives of these families--really.  It's hard to imagine in our wealthy over saturated lives that a quilt means much at all, but these quilts will be something new and beautiful in their homes. . I recently read a blog post by a soon-to-be mother (from Colorado).  She was sharing pictures from a shower that her friends from work had thrown her--you might never believe how much stuff she had gotten--it was almost sickening to me--and then she went on to explain how excited she was for the additional 5 showers she was going to have in the near future.  My point in mentioning that is to offer a contrast--the quilts we make together may be the only gift these soon to be young mothers receive.

In December, we sent 12 baby quilts that our volunteers had made and sent to us to Costa Rica and just this week we received this heart-warming note: 

"To the family, friends, and contributors of Margaret's Hope Chest,
   In December, I had the opportunity to bring a dozen quilted baby blankets to women of the Young Lives program in Costa Rica.  These were beautiful blankets you donated upon the request of Evelyn, my mother-in-law. 
   I wish you could have seen the expressions of astonishment & joy on the faces of the young mothers who received these special Christmas gifts!  For many, they hardly have enough food & clothing for themselves & their babies.  To receive such a lovely blanket for their little ones was overwhelming!
   Thank you for your love, as shown through these gifts.
                 Pat
                  for the Young Lives team in Costa Rica"

Wow-huh? Wish I could have been there too!  

So, please consider joining our team of Project HOPE 2012-

we could use you!

I also wanted to add that you can send us completed quilts as well--no size requirements--boy themed or baby quilts.  Here is a baby quilt top that I threw together yesterday--maybe I will have time to finish it up this week.....

 

How To Assemble a Quilt Top and Clean Your House at the Same Time

 If I play my homeschooling cards right Monday-Thursday I have Friday off from teaching--and that means that I only have to do the week's laundry and clean the house between the hours of 9-3. What a bargain right? Of course, what I really want to do is quilt,  so I have found a way to sneak in what I really want to do amongst what I really have to do.  I am no genius--just determined and energetic.
Step One: Clean one room or area of the house.
 
 Step Two: Sew one row together and add to the top.

 Step Three: Clean another small area of the house

 Step Four: Add another row to the quilt.

 Step Five:  Pick yet another part of your messy house and pick it up.

 Step Six: Add another row to the quilt top.



And if you follow this pattern for about 5 hours three things will happen--
1) Your house will be clean
2) You quilt top will be assembled
3) and you will be exhausted-but happy

 

 And then on Saturday at sunset you force your husband to stop the car and hold up the quilt top--right there, no a little to the left--a little lower--please cover up your shoes--can't you just stop moving for a second! *SNAP* thanks sweetie--it's perfect.

I also finished this top this week--I love red and turquoise--it was fun and quite easy to put together--if you have never used this block before--check out this easy tutorial.

 I am linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday!

Hope you can get some sewing (and cleaning) done this week!

A New Little Angel Added to Wrapped In Hope

QUILT FOUND--THANKS DANA!!
Hello again, another last minute addition to the 'Wrapped in Hope' list. Liliana has a birthday on February 2nd.  She will be turning one and her daddy was just incarcerated.  He would love her to have a quilt that is light purple, turquoise, and one of the following--monkeys, or zoo animals, butterflies or princesses.  Does anyone out there have a few spare hours in the next week or so??? Please e-mail me if you can help--thanks!

He's Always Been Faithful to Margaret's Hope Chest--A RECAP of 2011

I have started writing this post a hundred times in my head...
but when it comes to typing it out on my keyboard
my words either come up short
or there aren't enough words to tell all the tales of provision and blessing
that Margaret's Hope Chest has experienced over the past year.

And then as I was sitting in church on Sunday the following song was sung and I realized I had to find a way share God's faithfulness to us with you dear reader.

He's Always Been Faithful to Me  by Sara Groves
 Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

I can’t remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can’t remember one single regret
In serving God only, and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful, He’s always been faithful
He’s always been faithful to me.



Over the past year, I have woken up morning after morning to find e-mails in my inbox from

• families who are brave enough to ask for a quilt
• quilters who are generous enough to use some of their precious time and resources to help us serve these families
• recipients of our quilts who are thoughtful enough to remember to say thank you and tell us how much the quilt meant to them or a loved one
• notes of encouragement from friends around the globe who understand the importance and value of what God is doing through us.

And I am amazed. Simply amazed by it all. And everyday I am in awe of the mystery of the story God has written for my Grandma's life--she is dead on earth-yet through His perfect ways she is very much alive. Right now, her name and legacy are being passed through prisons around Michigan--I know this because we get letters from men and women in prison that say, "....I heard about your mother/grandmother from my friend in prison--I am sorry about what happened to her.  It amazes me that you were able to forgive-and that you care about me and my family. I would like to humbly ask for a quilt for my child whom I haven't seen in 5 years...."  That is a sign of life and HOPE--an example of God's redeeming nature--it is His desire to claim every inch of earth as His own-even prisons where, from the outside, it would seem that lives are wasted.  I can't stop thinking about that some days.

God provided for our every need in 2011.  Volunteers (approximately 150 in 2011), families and individuals who need HOPE and a quilt (470 quilts were given in 2011), monetary donations (over $4000 in 2011), and prayer and emotional support from friends, family and strangers. 

I don't have one single regret in serving God and others in this way--not one. I count all of the personal time, money and creative sweat not as loss--but as gain. 

So, we look forward to new year with new children to bless, new pain and grief to heal, new quilt patterns to try out because we know that...
"God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end"

Just Added to the 'Wrapped In Hope' Birthday List

 QUILT FOUND!! THANKS SHIRLEY!


I just added 5 siblings to the birthday list but I want to highlight one in particular because her birthday is JANUARY 31--which is only 2 weeks away. 


TAYLER will be 8 on January 31--she would like a quilt with the DISNEY PRINCESSES on it.


Can anyone help out?

Good Morning Quilt

Good Morning Quilt----

                                             --you look so much better in the early morning light. 

And when I photograph you in the bright Bermuda sunshine you really come to life!

 And to think I almost gave up on you because I thought you were too blah....I now believe my misguided judgments were based on two factors--laying you against my brown living room rug and working in dim light into the late hours of the night. 
 Now I see you for what you are....a beautiful quilt top that will brighten someone's days.

I am linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday post.  I made this top in one week (a new record while homeschooling :)) working from the hours of 8pm (bedtime for the kids) until 11pm (bedtime for me).  I have now proven to myself that homeschooling, quilting, and sleeping can happily co-exist in my life.  This is huge. 
I used two layer cakes of Hulabaloo by Moda which made things go a little faster--and once again I used Jennifer's fantastic HST method to make the pin wheels.  Each 4 pinwheel section measures 24"--so, with the 1 inch sashing the quilt top measures 76" X 76".  I originally wanted to make it a twin size by having one more row of the 4 pinwheel sections but I ran out of blocks--boo!
I have promised myself that I will not be purchasing anymore fabric until I run out or until I die-whichever comes first---so I guess it will stay a nice square quilt. 
Hope you were able to find balance in your week too!
And remember, I am still collecting HST's for Haiti and Honduras--the more the merrier!

Help--Looking for a Car/Truck Themed Quilt for Jan. 19th Birthday

 WE HAVE A QUILT THANKS!!!
Hello Quilting Friends!
I am looking for a Car/Truck themed quilt for a little boy who will be turning 9 on January 19th.....I thought I would check before we resort to Plan B.  Please e-mail me if you can help! Thanks!

January/February Project HOPE--Half Squares for Haiti and Honduras!

Happy New Year Friends! We are so excited to start a new year of service here at Margaret's Hope Chest. In 2012 we plan to have 6 projects over the year in which quilters can contribute blocks or finished quilts. I am calling this PROJECT HOPE and I hope these smaller commitments will draw in more volunteers.

We don't know all of the plans that God has in store for us this year but I can tell you that he has given us a project for the first two months of the year.  We have committed to sending quilts to babies and their mothers in Haiti and orphaned boys in Honduras. 

So.....Project Hope's first assignment is Half Square Triangles for Haiti and Honduras!!

A few months ago I was reading That Girl That Quilt's blog and she was talking about 3 ways to make Half-Square Triangles (HST's).  I have made many a half square triangle in my life but my jaw dropped to the ground when I read Jennifer's Method #1 of making HST's.  Why had no one told me about this easy peasy method??  And to think I have wasted close to a year of my life drawing lines down the middle of squares--ugh.  

So friends, here is your first assignment:

1. Check out Jennifer's tutorial

2. grab some 9 inch squares of baby (boy or girl) or boy happy fabric

3. create some easy HST's and send them to us before the end of February

Here are the details:

• Please start with 9 inch squares (Jennifer uses 5 inch squares but it will be easier for me to put quilts together if the squares are bigger) this will yield 5.75 inch HST's.  
• One 9 inch square should be a white or off white solid or print fabric--the other 9 inch square should be a baby themed fabric (boy or girl or neutral for quilts going to Haiti) OR boy themed fabric (blues, reds, green, browns, blacks for quilts going to the boy's home in Honduras).
• Make as many HST's as you want, send them to me and they will be put together into quilts.

         My mailing address is Carin Vogelzang  5300 Hamilton Place  Dulles, VA 20189 

Of course, if you have finished baby or boy themed quilts that you would like to donate we will accept those as well--but please send those quilts to this address:

Margaret's Hope Chest

630 Griswold SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49507

Here are a few to many pictures of my HST baby quilt projects I completed last week--it was really fun!!