What's Cookin' at the Sweatshop?

Hi, all!

It's so much fun to see all the ladies coming to The Sweatshop each Wednesday night - we had about fifteen sewers in the room tonight, working on sewing new quilts, putting kits together, using blocks on the design wall to pull together some new quilts - it's an exciting place to be on Wednesday nights!  Lots of creative energy and cheering each other on, too!

We've given away several quilts this week, too....

This quilt was made with bento blocks donated by Georgia.  When we received these, I thought they would make a gorgeous quilt, but we had no immediate plans for them.  Then we received a request for a quilt for a couple who just lost their baby which was born prematurely in December.  The young woman who requested the quilt asked, if possible, that it be black and white - and we had just received the perfect blocks!  She also asked that it have an anchor on it....

...so I worked one into the pieced back.  This back makes me happy - it uses a piece of houndstooth fabric I've had in my stash for years and years and haven't ever found a great use for. It's soft and cuddle and just perfect for this quilt.

This quilt, made from a donated top, is now covering the bed of an older, very traditional Southern lady who was just re-diagnosed with cancer. She had surgery Monday and this quilt was delivered to her in the hospital.  It's such a lovely top, very traditional and with such beautiful applique - I wish I could remember who donated this top but I can't.  If you donated this top, please speak up and leave a comment - I'd love to give credit where credit is due!

This pretty top is another great story.  Two weeks ago we received a request for a quilt to be given to a 19 year old girl with stage 4 ovarian cancer that has spread to her kidneys.  As I thought about what we had available up at church that was ready to be quilted, the doorbell rang.  I opened up and found a box from Barbara, who sent us a large pile of beautiful tops.  On the very top of the pile was this brightly colored star quilt.  Immediately I knew that this would be just the thing for this need.  I emailed Barbara to let her know that the box had arrived, and where one of the quilts would be going.  She emailed back, saying that the colors in this top were definitely out of her comfort zone and she had hoped that it would go to a teenage girl while she was working on it!  

And this pretty little quilt is going to a 12-year old girl who was in a bad car accident this week.  She broke two vertebra in her back and will have to be in a brace for six to eight weeks.  

This last quilt has an interesting story, too.  Back in November, a friend of mine requested two quilts for parents of children at the school where she works.  One of the quilts she was able to deliver, but she never did connect up with the other parent, and the quilt was still sitting in her car.  Last week, a young man was killed in a car accident, and his mother worked at the same school as my friend.  She went to visit her, and when she got in her car after the visit, she says God told her that the quilt in her car should be given to the mom of the young man who died.  There are birdhouses on the back of the quilt, and it turns out the woman collects birdhouses!  This top was also donated to us, and I do not recall who donated it - so if you did, please speak up!!

<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>

We also received a very nice donation last week that I forgot to show you...

KatieQ sent this beautiful quilt kit - a huge stack of gorgeous fabrics and a great pattern too!  This is going to be a great quilt someday...

And Pam J. is the first of our local quilt ministry members to make her hand block - isn't it great?  Once again, if you've ever donated to the ministry, please make a hand block for the "Helping Hands" quilt that I plan to make to commemorate our 500th quilt - only 46 quilts away!!

Thanks again to all of you who help to make this ministry possible!!

Hugs!

Sarah