What's Cookin' at The Sweatshop, Week #2

Hi, all!


Well, since I started a new feature for Tuesdays last week, I kind of felt like it needed a name.  As I sat up here sweating (it's REALLY hot here in middle Tennessee right now), I fondly recalled what we call it when we get together to work on ministry quilts - The Sweatshop! Thanks to Google and Picnik.com, we've got that great image above to spur us on to greater heights!


So - - - what's happened in The Sweatshop this week?  

Blue Beauty - the front...

...and the back.

This beautiful quilt, pieced and quilted by Diane Wingo, who blogs at DEW Quilting and comes to sew with our quilt ministry ladies, went to a gentleman in the final stages of cancer.  He is courageously living life on his own terms and we hope that this brings him comfort!

Flower Garden

This beautiful quilt top was paper pieced by Sharon of Vrooman's Quilts before she donated it to our quilt ministry.  I added borders and backing and quilted it up.  This week it went to a member of the team working to distribute the upcoming Christian movie "Courageous" who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  If you haven't heard about this movie, you really should check out the website.  It is being produced by the same group that did "Fireproof" last year, and is absolutely excellent!  Please go visit the website and be sure to go see the movie opening weekend, September 30th!  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll walk away changed......  Here's one of my favorite scenes from the movie...

Last Friday, my friend Kathy came over to quilt a very large quilt on my Juki, and brought with her this enormous stack of quilt flimsies for the quilt ministry....

Added to the seven flimsies I already have ready to quilt, we've got quite a stash going of quilts to fill needs we don't even know about yet.  These are all Great American Jelly Roll Race quilt tops - four of them made by our kids' group at Summer Camp, and three made by the ladies in the ministry group.  I think there are three or four more out there that haven't made it here for quilting, too!

And then today, I got to meet with two local quilt bloggers - Vicki of Dotty Jane Designs and Kari of High Pitched Barking - to gather up the last of the middle Tennessee quilts for Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  Their quilts have joined mine and those of Diane of DEW Quilting to form this glorious stack....

Aren't they just amazing?

These will go in the mail tomorrow, making their way to Utah and Judi of Green Fairy Quilts. In early September, she and her husband Clint will be winging their way to Romania to distribute quilts, food and school supplies to orphans there.  You can see the video of last year's distributions if you click on the Hands2Help tab at the top of my page.

It's also been a really good week for donations - take a look at my entry hall!

And this is just the stuff I haven't processed yet!  Fortunately, I've got a couple of friends who live to organize - and they're hopefully going to come over next week when I start empty-nesting again and help me get it all organized...

So that's what's going on in The Sweatshop this week!  Hope you're staying cool where you are.....

And be sure to come back on Sunday, July 31st for the final linkup for the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  Check out all the beautiful quilts made by the wonderful ladies who have participate in this challenge, and maybe get inspired to join in next year!!

Hugs!

Sarah