Hands2Help - Meet Guest Blogger Joy @ The Joyful Quilter

 Hi, all!

Sunday means another Hands2Help post, and this week we are welcoming guest blogger Joy from The Joyful Quilter!  Joy is definitely joyful, and her delightful blog is great evidence of that.  Stop by and visit her - I guarantee you won't be disappointed.  Today she will be sharing a bit of her love for charity quilting and how she worked to meet needs that came to her attention, so I will turn the blog over to her now!

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Welcome to my GUEST BLOGGER post for Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict's 2021 Hand2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!!  I'm still a little shell-shocked that Sarah agreed to have me do a GUEST BLOGGER gig for this year's event.  My name is Joy and I blog at The Joyful Quilter.  I am primarily a scrap quilter, which is why I enjoy Sarah's blog so much.  I own an APQS Millennium longarm quilting machine which I like to keep hopping.  I quilt for myself and for some of my friends, but I also have a heart for charity quilting.

LWR Mission Quilt Drive Project Review...

The project that took on a life of its own...

You may recall the BIG explosion in August 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon.  Jo @ Jo's Country Junction announced it to her readers.  (Scroll down to the bottom of the post.)  Not long after, I jumped into action.  I didn't have any grand plans.  I thought I would offer my readers a chance to get involved, if they so chose.  My goal was to collect enough 10.5" squares to make 4 or 5 quilts to donate.

Who would have guessed where we would be today???

Not I, you can be sure!  The project bloomed beyond my wildest imagination.  To date, blog readers and friends have assembled 20 quilt tops, with more in the making. Between Britt @Britt_Quilts, Louise @ My Quilt Odyssey, and myself, we have quilted 13 of the quilts made for Lutheran World Relief.  That's TRIPLE the number of my original conservative quilt goal.

Would YOU like to see MORE photos???

I thought SEW!!!  :o))

Readers and friends completely blew my conservative estimates out of the water.  (Terrible analogy, I know!)

Thank you to the following contributors:

Nann @ With Strings Attached and Wendy @ The Constant Quilter provided the fabric for many of the quilt tops.  Suzanne in Alaska and Kirsten @ Quilting With Corgis provided a fair amount of backing fabric.  Much of the labor was donated by the Nimble Thimbles family of  Quilt Bees.

Other bloggers, blog readers, and friends donated to our Batting Fund, Shipping Fund, and the General Fund in support of this Mission Quilt Drive.  Thank you to Ruth S., Knittingsuek., Maggie S., Libby @ Life on the Hill, Judy @ Busy Hands are Happy Hands, Alycia @ Alycia Quilts, and Mari @ The Academic Quilter.

Many hands make light work and your (sewing) support has kept me from having a nervous breakdown.  Thank you, again, to Nancy R., Maggie S., Carol K., Britt P., Candy H., Ruth S, Deborah H., Ruth B., Linda H., Sue K., Darlene H., Mari @ The Academic Quilter, Libby @ Life on the Hill, and Paulette @ The Way I Sew It!  Most of these quilters donated fabrics from their own stash to arrive at a quilt top which measured approximately 60 x 80 inches.  Best of all, each of these contributors had a hand in what will ultimately be nearly 2 dozen quilts to provide warmth from the cold and/or shelter from the heat.  That is SIX TIMES the number of quilts that I had originally hoped to create!!  Color me amazed.

Wrapping things up...

With the overwhelming response, our finish date for the project has been a moving target.  Five quilts are currently waiting to be quilted and bound.  Three kits remain to be sewn into quilt tops.  Since the quilters and quilt makers are juggling other responsibilities, I haven't been too concerned with extending the deadline.  At this point, it  seems like aiming for the anniversary is the most reasonable goal.  That means there's still time for YOU to help, if you feel SEW inspired!

How can I help, Joyful???

To find out more about this project, links to the entire story can be found at the DONATIONS tab at the top of my blog.

Thank you for allowing me to share this story of quilters caring for others, Sarah.

Until next time...

Quilt to GIVE!!!

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Thank you, Joy, for the lovely look into your charity quilting life!  It is wonderful to see so many quilters joining hands in yet another endeavor to share quilty hugs!!  

Be sure to come back next week for another guest blogger, and keep working on those quilts!  

Hugs!

Sarah