Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? It's All Thanks To You! (My Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry)

Hi, all!

Here it is, Friday again, the end of October, only 62 days until Christmas, AND the beginning of the Blogger's Quilt Festival!  (Not to mention a little thing called Quilt Market, but since they didn't invite you and me, we won't talk about that, will we?)  Are you ready to get your whoop whoop on?  Possibly, like me, you are whooping about a long-completed quilt as part of your Quilt Festival entry - feel free to link it up here too!

So now, I'd like to welcome those of you who are popping over here from the Blogger's Quilt Festival!  We are so glad you're here - feel free to join in the whooping if the linky is still open!  We whoop it up every Friday, so come back and join in the fun!

And now, for my Blogger's Quilt Festival entry...

Earlier this year, I realized that our quilt ministry, Piece*Love*Quilt, was going to give away its 500th quilt this year.  So we asked all of the people who had participated in the ministry, whether by making quilts, donating fabric, quilt blocks, flimsies or finished quilts, or doing any of the many administrative chores, to create a "hand block" to be made into a commemorative quilt.  We called this "The Helping Hands Project".

Many months later, this is the quilt that we created from the blocks provided by both our local members and the many people across the country and around the world who have joined us in ministry.

We even created hand blocks for those people who didn't hear about the project - if we could find a record of you participating, you are represented in this quilt!

It was so neat to see the personalities of each person come out in their block.  The only requirement for the block was that it have a hand on it - there were no specifications for color, size or style.

We also worked in these beautiful little paper pieced hearts that were donated to us by a longtime quilt-y and bloggy friend!

I really want to know how this quilter created her handprint in print!  She incorporated many words that represent our ministry, including the name of the ministry!

Here's the current logo for our group, designed by my beautiful niece, Rachel!

I had a lot of fun quilting this quilt - so many different blocks gave lots of places to try out new quilting designs!

I really like this block - her hands are threading a needle!

I experimented with negative space quilting on this block, putting a heart in the background.

Tried out some feathers - - - I'm please to say my feather stitching has improved since this was done! 

Joanna put a little tiny quilt on her block!

See Sharon's block in the upper left?  It has a beautiful garden fabric on it (unfortunately I cut it off in the picture) and I have always thought of her as connected to gardens!

And P.'s block is so - - - well, P.!  All bright colors and peace signs!

So many different, beautiful blocks...

...all colorful and creative...

...representing so many helping hands!  We could never have done all the good that this ministry has done without the help of each and every one of the many hands that have helped create it!!

Just for fun, here's a shot of the back - the quilting was so pretty to see on the reverse of the quilt!

And one final shot, the "artsy" one!

The new part of the story of this quilt is that we presented it to our church this past Sunday, to commemorate our 500th quilt and to honor all the many people, both in our church and around the world, who have been a part of reaching that milestone.  The following is a video of our presentation to the church.  In interview format, we talk about how our quilt ministry started and other things related to it.  It's a little bit long (you've been warned) so I won't feel bad if you don't watch it!

Ministry Spotlight: The Piece*Love*Quilt Ministry at The Glade Church from The Glade Church on Vimeo.

So that's my whoop whoop for the week, and my entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!  

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And now it's your turn!

What are you whooping about this week?

Do tell us - we want to whoop right along with you!

For you new folks, it doesn't have to be a finish - 

Just something that made you dance the happy dance!

The linky party will remain open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS.  Be sure to go check out all the other beautiful quilts that have linked up to the Festival - there's tons of inspiration out there!!!

Make-A-List Monday - Getting Ready For Sand Between My Toes...

Hi, all!

Well, it's almost that time again - time to park myself on the beach under an umbrella and enjoy a good book and spend some time with my husband!  But of course, I can't go that long without some sewing, so I'll be taking my sewing machine and a couple of projects along, too!  But there's still plenty to do this week - including spending some fun time with this sweetie...

 while her big sister is off at preschool camp!  

First though, let's see how I did with last Monday's list...

1.  Take lots of pictures of the Helping Hands quilt!

Done!  You can see them here...

2.  Finish a man's quilt for the ministry.

Done!  And already delivered to its new owner...

3.  Finish a woman's quilt for the ministry.

Done!  This one has been delivered too!

4.  Put together the modern top on the design wall.

Done!  I really like the way this one looks!

5.  Start getting the house ready for vacation. 

(Oh how I hate housework!)

Definitely started, and almost finished, thanks to my wonderful hubby who pitched in to help!  (Of course, it didn't hurt that it rained all weekend - 9 inches! - and we were so stir crazy that even housework looked like fun!)

6.  Work on organizing the ministry's quilt patterns.

Done!  After three years of piles of patterns, pictures and scribbled notes, they're all organized into notebooks!  Woohoo!

7.  Keep up with any other ministry needs that come up.

Done!  Fortunately it was a quiet week!

So quiet, in fact, that I not only pieced this top for 100 Quilts For Kids, but wrote a tutorial for it!  

If you're interested (it's super simple and very fast - 3 hours from a pile of fabric to finished top!) you can check out the tutorial post here, or just request the pdf version in a comment!

And here's what I've got to work on this week...

1.  Go to church and make up kits for my Sewing Sisters to use next Saturday to make quilts for the Rogersville mission trip in October.

2.  Sash the batiks quilt that is on the design wall.

3.  Finish cleaning the house.

4.  Pack the essentials - beach umbrella, beach chairs, sewing machine, fabric, cutting tools!  (Oh yeah, I guess I'd better pack some clothes too...)

5.  Drop off some donation books at the library.

6.  Take Jolene to the shop for a "spa day" (a/k/a tune-up) while we're on vacation.

I think that's all I can count on getting done this week, and maybe not this much - but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

So now the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? The Helping Hands Quilt is done!

Hi, all!

It's Friday again!!  Are you ready to get your whoop whoop on???  I know I am!  I've got something special to share today - I guess you could call it OUR quilt!  Because lots of you had a part in it...

Many of you responded when I asked you to contribute to something called the Helping Hands Project - a way to honor the people who have participated in some way in our quilt ministry, which was nearing completion of its 500th quilt.  The blocks we received were amazing!  It was so much fun to see the variety, each giving a hint of what the maker was like.  And now I'd like to share with you pictures of the finished quilt!  Be warned - there are LOTS of pics in this post!!

First of all, here's a picture of the whole quilt...

Do you know how hard it is to get a full shot of a quilt this big?  I had to lay it on the floor next to a stairwell at church, then go up the stairs and lean out to get the shot!

And here are some shots of the blocks and quilting.  I had a lot of fun with the quilting on this one - I used lots of different stitches and tried out a lot of new things....

I'd love to know how Diane made her hand!

Clamshell quilting is pretty, isn't it?

I love this block - hands threading a needle!

Tried something a little different on this block -

creating my own negative space is new to me!

Feathers are still a bit wonky...

Don't you love this?  She put a tiny quilt on her block!

For people who didn't have a chance to send in a block, I made a lot of small hand blocks and put names on them for all the donors I could remember or find records of...

P.'s block.  I know I want to meet her in person some day!  We have the same taste in fabric and colors!

Some more new quilting techniques...

See the logo my niece (the artist, not the math geek/quilter) created for us?  I just had to add it in to the quilt!

And here are some shots of the back - it's fun to see all the quilting without the distraction of the colors!

And finally, one more shot of the finished quilt...

Many many thanks to all of you who helped with this project, and to those of you who have donated to the quilt ministry!  It's been an amazing ride so far - 535 quilts in three and a half years and hopefully many more to come!  Started by accident, this ministry could not have succeeded without the helping hands that have touched so many lives with quilt-y hugs and goodness!  

This quilt will hang in my church to commemorate those helping hands and the 500+ quilts they have shared with those in need.

"What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others.

It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like."

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And now it's your turn!!

What are you whooping about this week?

Finished or not, please share!!

We want to whoop with you!!

The party will remain open until Sunday at midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah