What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop?

Hi, all!

Well, it's been a very busy couple of weeks since I last did a Sweatshop update - lots of quilts have been made and given away! So let's get right to it....

First of all, this quilt was mentioned in the last Sweatshop update, but I didn't have a picture of it.  It went to a woman who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Rita pieced this beautiful quilt, and Debbie H. (our new long-armer) quilted it.

These two quilts went to two sisters whose mother recently died in a car accident.  We did a quilt for the oldest sister, then found out about these two, so we couldn't leave them out!  Cindy and Kathy bordered up the two tops to get them ready for quilting....

This quilt was given to an older woman in her final days of life.  Made back in our days of learning the Disappearing 9-Patch pattern, I'm not sure which ministry member pieced this quilt!

This quilt went to a woman who has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and is going through treatment.  I believe Deborah C. pieced this softly colored quilt.

This quilt was given to a woman who was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a short time to live.  This quilt was actually pieced by our summer camp kids two years ago!

This quilt went to a woman with serious heart issues.  She had a pacemaker installed and then immediately started having unexpected issues with her heart.  Pam S. took some donated blocks and pulled this beautiful quilt together.

This quilt went to a young man who was in a four-wheeler accident and sustained a serious head injury.  He is making an amazing recovery, but will be in rehab for quite a while.  This top was donated to us by Judi, a new member.  She actually made it over twenty years ago, by hand!

This quilt went to the grandmother who raised her grandson.  He recently tried to commit suicide, and we wanted to send her a comfort quilt.  This is another top made by Judi, by hand, over 20 years ago!

This quilt was given to the sister of one of our members.  She broke her leg very badly and will be in rehab for several months.  Rita pieced this top, her second in this pattern.  I love the colors she chose - so calm and yet vibrant!

This quilt is being given to a woman who just went through surgery for liver cancer.  She will be undergoing chemo as soon as she recovers from her surgery.  This is another of Judi's hand pieced UFOs - amazing!

This quilt is going to the sister of a young man who recently died from self-inflicted injuries.  Kathy pieced this top - I love the colors in it!

And this quilt, the last of this week's bunch, is being given to a young father who has just gone through surgery for testicular cancer.  Kathy also pieced this one, which is very similar to one she made for her dad.  She loved the texted blocks so much she wanted to make another one.

And with these thirteen quilts, we have now made and given away 499 quilts since this ministry started in November 2009.   (If you've never read the story of how the ministry started, you can read it here.)  What a ride!  We've learned how amazingly generous quilters are.  We've learned that even if you've been told you can't sew, you probably can!  We've learned that God will provide what we need even before we know we need it.  I would not have traded this experience for the world - or all the friends I've made in the process!  Hopefully this is only the beginning of the ride - I can't wait to see what comes in the future!

Thanks to all of you who have been a part of this ministry, and to all of you who will be in the future!!

Hugs!

Sarah