Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Quilt Show Recap and Hands2Help Heads-Up!!

Hi, all!

It's Friday again - are you ready to get your whoop whoop on?  I've got some great photos to show you from the Lancaster AQS Quilt Show last weekend, so I hope you're ready for some inspiration!!

There were so many great quilts to see, and I took tons of pictures -  fortunately for you, I'm not going to show you all of them!  But these are the best of the ones that I took.  First, though, I want to show you the beautiful room we had at The Cork Factory Hotel...

Isn't that gorgeous?  So much neat ambience - the rough hewn ceiling, the brick wall - which had two big bright windows in it, by the way!  Only problem was, the floors were very squeaky - no sneaking around in this room!  It was a great place to stay, though - only about a mile away from the show! 

And now for the quilts...

Some very cool modern quilts...

Some more traditional quilts...

And some really neat photo-realistic quilts!

So many beautiful quilts and such a wide variety of styles - it was a ton of inspiration and eye candy!!  

And on another front, I'm whooping big-time because this Sunday marks the beginning of sign-ups for this year's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  



If you've participated before, I hope you'll join in again!  If you've never heard of the Challenge, you can read more about this year's Challenge on the Page at the top of my blog, or see posts about previous Challenges by clicking on the label "Hands2Help" in the sidebar to the right.

This year we'll be making quilts to benefit Happy Chemo and Quilts Beyond Borders.  I'm really excited about both these great organizations and being able to help them out!

I'd just love it if you could help promote the Challenge - you can pick up the button for your blog on the top right sidebar!!  

I'm in the process of lining up sponsors - lots of great prizes already, and I'm hoping for even more! If you'd like to help sponsor, please let me know...

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So now it's your turn!

What has made you dance the happy dance this week?

We want to know - it's more fun to dance in a crowd!!

So link up your post and join in the fun!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight -

Be there or be square!!

Hugs!

Sarah

What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop?

Hi, all!

The first day of spring has arrived, and yet it was actually snowing on my way home from church tonight!  Somebody didn't get the memo, apparently....  ;-)

We've given away a few quilts this week...

This pretty quilt was pieced by Debora from a fat quarter bundle I found at Tuesday Morning for $24.95 - if I remember right, it was a full bundle of Tina Givens fabric!  You just never know where you'll find a good deal....  Anyway, this quilt is going to Rogersville, TN with our middle schoolers.  They are on a mission trip there this week, and a woman who works for one of the churches in town was just diagnosed with leukemia.  They called and asked for a quilt for her, and one of our church members was heading up there today, so we sent this quilt along for the ride.  It should be giving her a nice warm quilt-y hug as I write this...

And this quilt, pieced from donated flannel squares by Rita and backed with a nice soft piece of blue and green flannel, is going to a man with colon cancer.  He is undergoing chemo that makes him cold all the time, and this flannel quilt is lovely, soft and warm.  It should keep him nice and warm, and remind him that folks are praying for him all the time!

We've had a couple more quilts go out this week, but I don't have pictures of those yet, so we'll show those next week.

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And here's a heads-up...

It's time again for the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  Signups will begin this coming Sunday, March 24th.  You can read more about the challenge by clicking on the Page at the top of my blog, and there will be more information on Sunday's post.  I hope you'll consider joining in - it's lots of fun and a great way to give back!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make A List Monday - Time to work on Hands2Help!

Hi, all!

Do you ever feel like you've just lost your mind?  I certainly did - when I looked back at last year's Hands2Help info and realized that I should have been starting signups this week!  Ack!!  I should never rely on my memory - I thought it started in the middle of April.  Oh well - it just means I'll have to move a little quicker!  

With that in mind, if you would like to help sponsor the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge this year, please leave me a comment below or email me directly at salliesue@clearwire.net.  Any and all sponsors are greatly appreciated - last year we ended up with enough items to give away so that every participant received a little something for their efforts!  

I'll be getting the H2H info together this week with the hopes of posting something next Sunday...

And now, let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Get new items listed in the shop.

Done - and not only done, but two of them actually sold already!

2.  Deliver "buddy bags" to our contact at church.

Done!  14 delivered...

3.  Clean up the house so the house/dog sitter doesn't run away screaming!

Done - at least she stayed for the whole weekend!

4.  Make more kits to take for sewing in the car.

Done!  I got two more paper pieced pincushions done while hubby was driving - they just need stuffing!  And I've still got some kits

for the next time I've got some available stitching time...

5.  Get some ministry quilts ready and lined up to quilt next week.

Done!  I'm going to need to get one of them on the frame tomorrow for a gentleman going through chemo treatment 

 that makes him cold all the time.

6.  Clean up my workspace a bit - it's getting hard to see the cutting board!

Didn't get to this one - but I'll have to do it before I can get any sewing done this week!

Not too bad - it was an easy week.  And now, here's what I need to get done this week...

1. Get the Hands2Help Challenge up and running!

2.  Mail giveaway loot and shop sales items.

3.  Quilt and bind man's quilt for ministry.

4.  Finishing piecing ministry quilt for baby boy.

5.  Quilt the baby boy ministry quilt.

6.  Finish up the quilter's apron pattern.

7.  Make a lanyard (or two!) for the shop.

8.  Make Easter dresses for the granddaughters!

9.  List new items in the shop.

There's only about eighty other things I ought to be working on, but these are the most important ones!  So we'll see how it goes....

By the way, I'll have pictures from Lancaster sometime later this week.  I had a great time!

So now the question is..... what are you working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah