Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Scraps of Love

Hi, all!

It's Friday again - are you ready to get your whoop whoop on?  I'm currently whooping it up in Gatlinburg, TN with my family - a long weekend to play, shop and enjoy the beautiful fall colors in the Great Smoky Mountains!  I didn't get a whole lot of sewing done this week, but I want to share a post I also put up on the Quilts Are For Giving blog - so if you've already read it there, I apologize for repeating myself....

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I've got a special quilt to share with you all today - made for one of our quilt ministry members, who had a brain aneurysm rupture last week.  

The word blocks were donated by Sharon...

Christy is a new member - she had just joined a couple of months ago, and after making her first quilt for herself (she was afraid it wouldn't be good enough to give away!), she made six baby quilt tops and started on a quilt for a friend.  

The monkey fabric came from the first baby quilt Christy made...

And the red striped fabric above is left over from a dress I made
for my daughter about 20 years ago!

Then suddenly, last Monday, she suffered a ruptured aneurysm and has been in the hospital ever since.  She is still sedated and they are unsure of the extent of the damage.  

Lots of the ministry members joined in making blocks for this quilt - it was the first experience for many of them with dump-and-sew blocks, but it went well!  

In fact, the block on the right above was the first block a new member had ever made, and actually the first thing she ever sewed!  She was so excited....

And this block has the best story - one of the ladies in the group was making it at home before leaving on a trip, and her daughter was helping her pull fabrics.  When KatieBeth brought the princess fabric over, Deb said, "Honey, this quilt is for a grown-up lady - and that's a little girl fabric."  KatieBeth responded, "Well, she's a princess too, isn't she?"  As Deb said, how could she tell her not to put it in after that?

There are pieces of fabric in this quilt from many of the quilts we've made for the ministry, and many hands had a part in the making of it.  Our hope is that it will remind Christy of how many people are praying for her and cheering her on as she recovers from this horrible event in her life.  

Thanks for letting me share this special quilt with you.  I hope you'll join us in praying for Christy - she'll need a lot of prayer over the coming months......

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So now it's your turn!

What have you been working on this week?

What's made you dance a happy dance?

Share - we want to boogie along with you!!

The linky party will stay open until Sunday night...

Be there or be square!!

Hugs!

Sarah

What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop - Another Busy Week!

Hi, all!

Another week, another big pile of quilts!  It's been busy, but hopefully this catches us up for a bit, so I can work on quilting the summer camp quilts that will be going to New Orleans!  Let's see what we did this week....

The front...

...and the back!

This very bright and patriotic quilt, pieced by Emilie, will be going to a young Marine who is suffering from PTSD.  

This pretty postage stamp quilt, also pieced by Emilie, will be going to a young woman dealing with cancer and Crohn's disease.  Notice the little flowers in the detail picture?  They cover up a "booboo" in the border.  Don't you just love applique? 

This soft print quilt (made by me! surprise surprise!) will be going to a young woman who is going through a difficult time right now. We seem to be branching out into encouragement quilts a bit - it's a nice addition to the types of quilts we make!

This sunny, cheerful quilt will be brightening the day of another woman dealing with cancer.  

And this bright and colorful quilt is going to a lady batting cancer.  Katy, one of our ministry members, met her husband in an airport while waiting for a plane, and felt led to send her a quilt.  Isn't it neat when an opportunity to help someone comes along?

This last quilt, made by Cindy, has a very special story.  Originally intended for a friend who was in the last stages of cancer, it instead was given to the friend's daughter.  You can read the whole story here on the Quilts Are For Giving blog - it's definitely worth hopping over and checking out.

So that's what we've been working on this week.  Next week, we've got to buckle down and get those summer camp quilts finished for the New Orleans trip - that should keep us busy!  Lots of quilting and binding to come.....  I can't wait to see all the quilts for New Orleans in one place - it's going to be an impressive pile of love and comfort!!

Thanks to all the people who participated in making and delivering the quilts above - from the donors to the people who put them together to those who take them to the recipients, each of you are important to the final outcome and very much appreciated!!

Hugs!

Sarah

What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop? Teaching the Young ones!

Hi, all!

We've had a very busy week at the sweatshop!  Only a couple of quilts have gone out, but there's a reason for that....  Here are the two quilts we've finished this week.

Both of these beautiful tops were donated to us by Verda, a new friend I met through Brita, who brought a group of her friends on a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip) to my neck of the woods.  The top quilt is going to a woman in Canada with leukemia, and the bottom quilt is going to a woman here locally who is dealing with a rare blood disorder; she is undergoing chemotherapy to help her with the symptoms of her disease.  

(Just a side note - my husband has pointed out that with the quilt that is going to Canada, our ministry has now gone completely international - we've received donations from other countries, but this is the first time that we've sent a quilt internationally, I think!)

And here are some pictures that show the reason for our low output this week...

Summer Camp begins!!

Working on her quilt

Learning how to pin properly...

First time using a sewing machine!

Plus there's been a good bit of this going on...

The little princess holding court....

....which someone finds to be totally exhausting!!

This quilting business is hard work!

But we can't forget about the first little princess....

Isn't she growing up fast?

So that's what we've been working on here at The Sweatshop! I'll have pictures of the thirteen completed quilt tops from camp next week - be sure to check back!  The girls have worked so hard and done a great job on their quilt tops!

Oh - and don't forget, there's still time to enter in the giveway!!  Go to this post for the details - winner will be announced on Friday!  (And by the way, I'm trying to get to 700 followers - only five more to go - and then another giveaway!!)

Hugs!

Sarah

PS I'll be linking up with Quilting For Good Tuesdays over at Quilts Are For Giving!!  Come over and join in the fun!!

What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop? Getting Ready For Camp...

Hi, all!


I hope you're all having a happy and safe Fourth of July!!  It's been quiet around here for the past week or so - not too many quilts were requested, which worked out well, as we needed to get ready for summer camp next week!  

From last year's summer camp...

Sixteen little girls will be learning how to make quilt tops - it's always an exciting time!  So much fun to teach the next generation of quilters....  Wish us luck!  I'll have pictures to post next week...


I finish a couple of quilts this week for some recent requests...

This beautiful red quilt was pieced by Pam S., and will be going to a woman with breast cancer...

... and this 1600 quilt, pieced by a ministry member, will be going to a man who was just diagnosed with colon cancer.


I've got one quilt on the frame, and a pile of five more ready to finish.  Some of those will go to ministry needs, and some will be going to Julie, who blogs at Having Fun Quilting, for Operation Wood Hollow.  I just peeked over at her blog, and she's already received 70 quilts!!  That is so awesome!  But there are so many more needed, so if you've got some to send, get in touch with her!

Also, if you haven't already heard about it, there's a new linky party in town over at Quilts Are For Giving - called Quilting For Good Tuesday!  A great place to link up your blog posts or photos of quilts you've made and donated.  But you can also link up about anything charity quilting related - the rules are pretty flexible!  So come on over and join the party.  The linky party will stay open all week, from Tuesday morning until Monday night, then start all over again!  So there's always a place to link up your charity efforts!


Hugs!


Sarah

Quilting For Good Tuesdays - A New Linky Party!

Hi, all!


Just FYI, there's a new linky party in town, over at Quilts Are For Giving - called Quilting For Good Tuesdays!  Head over here and link up your charity quilting efforts - join in the fun!!


Hope to see you there!!


Hugs!


Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Holidays are for Quilting, Right?

Hi, all!


Well, it's back to real life today - the memory of those beautiful cool days and nights in San Diego will have to last for a while, and hopefully will mitigate the heat we're having in the Nashville area!


I didn't get everything done on my list last week but have a good reason - so let's see what I did do!

1.  Finish making the kits for summer camp.

Done - finally!  Thanks to a lot of help from my friends!

2.  Quilt a woman's quilt for the ministry.

Not done - but I'll explain why in a few minutes...

3.  Work on the upholstery project that's been hanging around since last fall!

Started - but not finished!

4.  Plan a trip to San Diego!

Done and enjoyed - woohoo!  Here's a few pics of a wonderful fabric store I found there - Rosie's Calico Cupboard.

I also hit this location for some fabric...

...and then stopped off at Cheesecake Factory for some of this!

(I have the BEST husband!!)

I didn't finish everything on my list this week because of a request I got from Julie for assistance with Operation Wood Hollow.  If you haven't heard about this yet, you can read more about it here - it started out small, but is growing by leaps and bounds!  So I spent my week working on this stack...

....that I will be quilting this week!  Two of the quilts are for our quilt ministry, but the others will be going to Julie for Operation Wood Hollow.  

So here's my list for the week:

1. Quilt two quilts for the church quilt ministry.

2.  Quilt four kids quilts for Operation Wood Hollow.

3.  Quilt two adult quilts for Operation Wood Hollow.

4.  Work on the upholstery project.

5.  Write a blogpost for a Tuesday linky party on Quilts Are For Giving.  (If you don't know about this blog yet, you should check it out - by quilters, for quilters, it's a place to share the quilts you've made for charity.  You can join and be a regular contributor, or you can join in a linky party on Tuesdays - or both!!  The first linky party will be this Tuesday, July 2nd!)

6.  Write a tutorial for a ministry quilt for the 100 Quilts For Kids Blog Hop that started this week - my day to post is next Monday!

7.  Spend some time with my DH and granddaughters!

And I think that's enough for the week, don't you?

And now the question is - - - what are you working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah