Quilt Top Finished

 During our recent Quilt Top Drive we collected 85 wonderful quilt tops from all over the country--I have just started to sort through them and finish them off.  This top came from April and I loved every minute spent quilting and binding it--such wonderful colors for a spring quilt.  Thanks to April and every one else for giving me and other volunteers finishing work to do!

Spring Quilt Bloggers Festival

 I am so happy that May has come and it is time to share our favorite quilts again on Amy's Creative Side!  Her Quilt Blogger's Festival draws huge numbers of quilters here every year--WELCOME to Margaret's Hope Chest! We are a non-profit quilting organization that shares HOPE and comfort with people all over the United States through the gift of a handmade quilt.

Most of the 1000+ quilts we have given away over the past 5 years have gone to strangers but we do occasionally give quilts to those we know in our community. 

This is my favorite quilt this year--made for a good friend of mine named Ellie.

It is called 'Ellie's Garden'

 There are two things you need to know about Ellie: 1) She loves to garden.  2) She is a wonderfully energetic and positive person--just talking with her brightens my days.

So when Ellie was diagnosed with brain cancer in January I was stunned and saddened. But thankfully, I am in charge of this wonderful ministry and I am able to give HOPE and comfort to her through a quilt.

I got to work within days of her diagnosis--I wanted her to have a 'garden' that she could take with her during her first hospital stay.  I started by Google-ing "Ellie's Garden"--I had a hunch that there was a pattern with this name and I was right--here it is. 

It was just perfect.

Next, I started hunting through my scraps for prints that would add to the garden feel--bright and varied! I found contrasting prints for the background in the blocks and then 

I took my blocks to my local quilt shop for advice on sashing.  

I wanted to add a little to the pattern that I had found.

Thanks to the sage advice of the quilt shop employees I was able to add a double sashing and border fabric (light blue).  I still am amazed at the result.  I LOVE this quilt. 

 I finished the top off in record time (one week start to finish!) added a little of the extra sashing pieces to the backing and decided to save some money and time and quilt it myself.

After binding and washing it, I added this label to the quilt--once again, I Googled 'poems about gardens' and found this poem--

'The kiss of the sun for pardon,

the song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

than anywhere else on earth'

I was able to give it to Ellie at church one Sunday in February--just a few days before she entered the hospital for her first treatment. She wrote a blog post about that Sunday HERE.

Ellie has now come through 3 chemo cycles, and she brings the quilt with her each time.

She has had a few complications but she is doing GREAT! 

Praise God that she is still able to garden between treatments and she remains upbeat and positive.

The future is still unclear--but we are all hopeful that the cancer is dying and she will once again be 100% healthy.

Ahhh.......

Ahhh.....back to 'quilting without obligation'--no more deadlines, (except self imposed ones--which makes all of the difference doesn't it?) no more fundraiser meetings--things are looking up! Speaking of the fundraising dinner--it went well--here is what everything looked like on display.

You will never guess how much the Dr. Seuss quilt went for----$2500--two thousand and five hundred dollars!!!! Can you believe that?  Too bad no one would ever pay ME that much to make one :)




I started this baby quilt today---WHY? Well, when I finish it I will tell you--until then, have a wonderful week!

What I've Been Up To--School Fundraising Auction Edition

I am linking to Lee at Freshly Pieced this week!

Hold on to your crafting hats ladies because I am going to blow you away with lots of fun kid-created art treasures.  My works in progress have been many and I am tired---really tired of piecing and stuffing pillows.  In the last two weeks I have made 25 pillows, 5 bags and 100 magnets :)

THANK GOD the school fundraising auction is on Friday and I can return to life as normal on Saturday!

Here's the truth: I am not a team player when it comes to crafts. Gossip amongst yourselves about that.

So, when I commited to helping with the student made art projects for the fundraising auction I knew what I was getting myself into--a ton of work because I like it done a certain way and that usually involves a lot of time and effort. And I love it--up until the last 48 hours and then I am ready to be done!

First up, I scanned these art pieces that grade 4/5 had painted--downloaded them to spoonflower.com and a yard of each (that got me 6 of each of the prints).  I made pillows and bags and also notecards, magnets and a calendar (used Staples to print the paper stuff).

Some of the stuff is pictured below.

this is my daughters print :)

Grade 6 hand stitched 'Words to Live By' and I made them into pillows--I had the most fun with these.  I did have to correct a few stitches here and there--but tried to keep them as 'real' as possible :)

I used a TON of scraps on these-yeah!

 

 And I also made these two quilts--one for Kinder and one for Grade 1/2.

And so now, I get to resume my regular life as director of MHC--I am looking forward to organizing Bee Blocks into a birthday quilt for Joshua--finishing up a few tops that have been on the back burner for far too long and getting ready to move out of my house in 7 weeks!

Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone!

Guest Blogger--My Mom

Six years since Mom was declared brain dead, and she was considered a murder victim.  So much has happened since those April days.  Our family did not have to wait many years or even many months before the two young women were arrested and had their days in court.  Our loving families, friends and communities surrounded us with prayers every step of the way.  Dad was amazed each time a new great-grandchild was born.  There were 16 from the time of Mom's death until his death in early September, 2010, and 7 more since then.
     But the most amazing gift of all was the start of Margaret's Hope Chest, and its continuing good work to people around the country.  One thousand quilts given away in less than four years!  None of this would be possible without the generosity of all of you who are reading this post today.  God has worked through you to bring comfort and hope to us, and we have been able to pass on that hope and comfort to so many hundreds of people - some we know, so many more that we will never meet.  This is what I had published last year in our local paper as a memoriam to Mom on the fifth anniversary of her death.  "If you but trust in God to guide you, and place your confidence in Him, you'll find Him always there beside you, to give you hope and strength within."  Thank you, everyone, for partnering with us in this work that Carin lovingly started in Mom's memory.  And all praise and thanks to God for blessing the work that is Margaret's Hope Chest. 

ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

 Thanks to all who entered our anniversary giveaway! It was fun to read all of the comments--from ladies who have helped out in the past 4 years and from new friends who have expressed interest in helping us in the future! 
Thanks also to those who sent us quilt tops! In my mind I had a goal of collecting 25 quilt tops--enough to keep us and other volunteers busy for several months--can you believe that as of today we have received 70 quilt tops and 15 finished quilts! We always receive so much more than we could imagine :) I love that! THANK YOU!
Many commenters mentioned that they would like to help us out in the future.  We are ALWAYS accepting unfinished quilt tops and finished quilts.  In fact, last week I found out that we are going to be providing quilts for 5 prison quilt giveaways this year--last year, we did 3----that means God will have to move in a powerful and mysterious way in order for us to meet this need--all this to say, if you weren't able to help before the end of April--please know that a future donation will be happily received. 
There, now we can get to the best part--announcing the 4 blessed winners of our giveaway!



 NUMBER ONE WINNER IS.......
CRAFTYMAMA!! She said, "Congratulations on all the big news!
I've sent it several quilts/quilt tops. Last year I made 3 quilts for children of prisoners and am doing 2 so far this year. I'm so glad to be able to something to help those in need. I really feel that God has blessed me with quilting so that I can bless others and seeing how happy the children are who recieve these quilts blesses me as much as them, I think☺"
 True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 210 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 NUMBER TWO WINNER IS......

RENAE!!  She said "I've helped with random quilts for your prison visits as well as your latest quilting Bee Blocks.Congrats and it really has been a pleasure to help out."

 True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 118 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 

 

 NUMBER THREE WINNER IS.....

SANDRA!! She said "Congratulations on reaching the 1,000th quilt milestone! I've been wanting to get involved in your ministry for quite some time. For my contribution, I'll be mailing two finished baby quilts next week, along with the 4 blocks I made for the Quilting Bee. I also posted info about the MHC giveaway on my blog. May God richly bless your efforts:)"

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 401 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 

 

NUMBER FOUR WINNER IS....

SARA!! She said "I dropped off a baby quilt top and backing last week. Previously I have given you 14 tops and 6 finished quilts. I really am glad that I DON'T have to do the quilting. Kudoes to your happy quilters who do the finishing for me!"

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 389 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 

 Congratulations!! 

 

6 Years Ago Today

My mom and I have these matching necklaces that were made at 3 Little Birds Boutique

Thursday, April 28, 2005.  Thursday, April 28, 2011.  Six years since Margaret Herrema was pushed to the ground by a young woman stealing her purse.

6 years ago today

HOPE took on a whole new meaning to me.

HOPE began on the plane ride from Monterrey, Mexico to Chicago. I hoped that once I arrived in 

Grand Rapids my grandma's condition wouldn't be as grave as everyone was telling me it was.

After it was clear that her condition was indeed very grave and she was not going to recover from her head injury HOPE continued to buoy our family through funeral planning, burial, and rebuilding of lives without our wife/mother/grandmother.

HOPE stood strong through a murder trial and sentencing.

HOPE took on new life when Margaret's 10th great-grandchild, a sweet baby girl named Clara Margaret, was born on January 27, 2008--almost exactly 9 months after Margaret's death--coincidence? I don't think so!

Because of this thing called HOPE, Margaret's HOPE Chest started it's work 4 years ago.

1000 little pieces of this HOPE are now spread all over the country.

We have so much to be thankful for over the past 6 years--really it is overwhelming to think about sometimes.  

We have been blessed with generous amounts of fabric, thread, money, quilts, quilt tops.

This blog has become a place where strangers can meet and work together to spread the gift of HOPE.

I feel as if my grandma's legacy isn't about murder anymore

God's grace has covered over that sin, transformed and renamed her legacy to

 LOVE, COMFORT, FORGIVENESS and most importantly

HOPE.