Bursting at the Seams With Good News!

Wow, it is good to start Monday with lots of good news!
GOOD NEWS! Last night I posted the winner of the 2nd Quilt of Hope winner--we are praying that quilt is a comfort and source of HOPE to that young woman!
GOOD NEWS! We now have 37 children signed up to receive a birthday quilt through 'Wrapped in Hope'. We have 32 quilters from around the country who have committed to making a special quilt for a special child!
GOOD NEWS! We need more volunteer quilters! On the sidebar is a list of the kids we are serving--when you see a big red AVAILABLE it means there is room for YOU to help!! Leave a comment and e-mail Carin if you are interested.
GOOD NEWS! I finished making this quilt for Aaron who just celebrated his 6th Birthday (don't worry, his mom knows it will be a late delivery!) -it's on it's way to Pennsylvania tomorrow!

GOOD NEWS! I found a woman who is collecting blankets/quilts/fleece blankets/knitted afghans etc. to be sent to Haiti with a group in March. A few readers had asked for this information-I added a button on my sidebar that says 'Blankets for Haiti'--we will be sending her a few-will you?
GOOD NEWS! I have made contact with a woman who works with Prison Fellowship in Michigan and they are interested in 'Wrapped in Hope'! Can't wait to get the details ironed out!
GOOD NEWS! Tomorrow I will be posting our newest QUILT OF HOPE--this time be thinking of a GIRL who could use some HOPE!

And The Winner is of This Quilt is.....

the sister-in-law of Jessica- "My husband's sister... They lost their dad just four months ago, which tore her up emotionally... then she found out she may lose her scholarship and have to drop out of college, now, just a week or two ago she found out she is pregnant, and her boyfriend is facing jail time for drug charges. She is very scared and worried right now, and I think a beautiful quilt would be like a wonderful hug from her dad..."

Thanks Jessica for nominating her-can you email me so I can get an address to send the quilt to??

Thanks to everyone else who nominated a deserving woman!

Nydia's Birthday Quilt

Nydia
Originally uploaded by jbsmama

Isn't this quilt beautiful? Nydia loves ballet and Lisa did a wonderful job making this quilt in a very short amount of time! Can't wait for her to get it--her birthday is Feb. 9! You can see more of this quilt on our Flickr site.

Some Business

A few items of business for the Wrapped In Hope Program participants....

1. There is now a Flickr Group where all quilt makers can go and post pictures of the quilts they have made for their birthday boy or girl.

2. I have a new group of 12 quilters who have signed up to make a quilt. I am just organizing my information and then I will be e-mailing those ladies with the available birthdays.

3. Very soon, we will have an influx of children from VERMONT! I have found a great pastor and his wife who are working with a woman's prison. We will start by offering this program to about 40 women and see how everything goes. If you have contact with someone who works with prisoners and might want to work with us--please email me.

4. I am getting some great feedback from the families of prisoners--they are all very grateful for this gift--hope to share some words of thanks from them soon!

Nick and His Quilt

Nick-who was the recipient of our first Quilt of Hope-was kind enough to send us a picture of himself with his quilt--mom says he loves it!


Nominations are still open for our second Quilt of Hope--follow the link and leave a comment or e-mail Carin--margaretshopechest at yahoo dot com.

First WRAPPED IN HOPE Quilt Finished!

DSC_0185
Originally uploaded by adamvogelzang

***UPDATE***We have 10 new volunteers! Thanks to those who have answered the call! I'll be ready for more help very soon-so the rest of you aren't off the hook :)

I just finished this quilt today for an 11 year old girl in Missouri who loves horses and the color pink! Her birthday is February 2nd-I think it will make it just in time. I had so much fun putting it together!
I still am looking for 7 more quilters to reach the goal by tomorrow evening! Read here and here if you have no idea what I am talking about :)!

Good News, Bad News

The Good News is......the initial group of 10 kids for our WRAPPED IN HOPE program have all been paired with a volunteer quilter!!! It has been a great week for me personally as I watch the mothers and fathers happily accept help and HOPE from us and I am meeting some very enthusiastic quilters who are excitedly choosing a child from the list and then planning a very special quilt for them--I mean really, does it get any better than this???

The Bad News...(which is really good news) is that I have run out of volunteer quilters--and I have a growing list of children once again. In the next 48 hours I would love to see 10 more quilters join the ranks! Don't worry if you don't have time right now--because the best part of this program is that you can choose a child with a birthday in August or September and you are off the hook for a few more months!!! Please leave a comment if you can be one of the 10!!