5 Years, 800 Posts, 1000 Quilts - Giveaway Time!!!

Hi, all!

Can you believe it?  Five years ago I started writing a blog, simply to chronicle my efforts to deal with a fabric stash that was becoming a (little) bit out of hand.  I had just begun quilting as a hobby, with no intention of doing anything with it other than that.  My first blogposts are so funny to go back and read - terrible pictures, usually only commented on by my niece (thanks, Heather!) but I kept at it.  

One of my very first quilts...

And one of our first ministry quilts!

We've watched my granddaughter Lilli grow up on the blog.  Here's her first appearance…

…and here's a picture from yesterday, her seventh birthday!

We also met Emmalyn on the day she was born…

…and look how much she has grown!  (Isn't it funny how kids love to have their pictures made with the Old Navy mannequins?)

Five years and eight hundred and five posts later, I am seriously into quilting, working with a fabulous group of women and men and together we have made and given away more than one thousand quilts to people dealing with serious illness, emotional or spiritual trauma, new babies, and victims of natural disasters.  More than three quarters of the quilts we have given away have gone to people outside our church family, requested by the members of our church to show others God's love.  

I have come to know so many of you, who have joined in our work by donating your UFOs, blocks, fabric, and scraps. You have no idea how big a part of the quilt ministry you are - we are overwhelmed and encouraged every time we receive a box of donations!  

This quilt was made to commemorate giving away our 500th quilt last June.  It is made of hand blocks representing each of the people who have quilted, donated, or in any way participated in creating the quilts we had made.

I've also been honored to host the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge for four years now - and so many of you have joined with me in creating beautiful quilts to help brighten the lives of people in need.  I look forward to this event every year, and am humbled that so many of you do too!

Anyway - thank you so much for reading my humble little blog and encouraging me so much for all these years!  I appreciate each of you more than I can possibly say… and so I have a little something to give away to one lucky reader! (Please excuse the quality of the pictures - we haven't had sunshine here in about two weeks, I think!  With rain in the forecast for Thursday, I took the best light I could get!)

I'm calling this pretty little quilt "Peppermint Candy" - isn't it sweet?  It's backed with a great Christmas text print, too.  

So many of you have mentioned that you regret not having time to make a Christmas quilt, I thought it would make a nice little giveaway item!  

It measures about 45" x 54", and is made from all 100% cotton fabrics and Warm and White batting.  The quilting is lots of swirls and it's been washed, so it's all lovely soft and crinkly!

So how can you enter the giveaway?  Simple!  

Get one entry by simply leaving a comment on this post.  Let's make it fun - since the quilt is called "Peppermint Candy", tell me your all-time favorite candy in your comment!

Leave a second comment if you are an old or new follower for an additional entry!

That's it - no hoops to jump through!  You can enter the giveaway until about 5:00 PM CST on Wednesday, December 24th, and I'll draw a winner and announce it on Christmas morning!

Once again, thanks so much for being on this journey with me - it's been a fun, wild ride and I can't wait to see the next five years!!

Hugs!

Sarah