Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge - The Finale!!!!

Hi, all!!


Who would have thought, way back in early April, that we would end this challenge in July with 47 active participants? If my count is correct, those 47 participants have sent in 60 quilts - amazing!!  

And this is their week to shine - I'm asking each to link up their finished quilts below so that you can see the beautiful work that they have done!  They have worked hard to create special works of art and love that will bless the lives of orphans in Romania, taken there and distributed by Judi and Clint Madsen of Green Fairy Quilts.  This is an annual trip for Clint and Judi, and I know we are all honored to be a part of it this year.  

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And now, although I know at least for me the good

feeling I get when I give away a quilt is 

reward in itself, we have some generous

sponsors who have provided giveaway items

for our wonderful participants!

The following is a list of the sponsors and 

the prize they are providing....

Sharon Vrooman of Vrooman's Quilts

is donating a Robert Kaufman "brights" solid roll-up!

She's also donating a $25 Gift Certificate to

Green Fairy Quilts' on-line shop!

Pam Nagle of Auntie Pami's Quilting Adventure

is donating a Verna Kit by Kate Spain!

KatieQ of Katie's Salt Marsh Path is donating two charm packs of Benartex Heritage Prints to one lucky participant!

Rebecca of Chasing Cottons is donating six of her patterns to one lucky participant!

Cathy of Wondrous Woven Fabrics is donating a jelly roll of Warm Memories by Kansas Troubles!

Peg and Becca of Sew Fresh Fabrics are donating a  Blooming Brown and Blue Stash Builder Bundle! It contains one fat quarter each of Amy Butler Daisy Chain Happy Stripe, Desert Bloom Cactus Toss in Brown, Honey Vine in Chocolate, Paintbrush Summer Leaves and Lattice in Chocolate from Anthology Fabrics. 1.25 yards total.  

Leah of Burgundy Buttons is donating a $15 gift certificate to her fabulous on-line shop!

Julie at The Intrepid Thread is donating a fat quarter bundle of Joel Dewberry's Heirloom in the winner's choice of colorway!

Anna Luna at Crafty Girls Workshop is donating a $25 gift certificate to her awesome shop!!

Kate of Kate Conklin Designs is donating five sets of two each of her great quilt designs!!

Shannon of Fabrics 'N Quilts is donating a $25 gift certificate to her on-line shop!!

Melanie of Above All Fabric is donating a Make Life Jelly Roll from her shop!

Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Quilts is donating a $20 gift certificate to her shop!

Judi from Green Fairy Quilts is donating a Meadow Friends Jelly Roll from her shop!


And then, in a special giveaway for participants who sent in more than one quilt, Judi from Green Fairy Quilts is offering a bundle of five of her quilt designs, winner's choice!!


So, those of you who participated in the 
Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge, 
link up your quilts below!  
It can be a new post, an old post, or a flickr picture. 
Be sure to get your quilt mailed to Judi no later than 
August 5th, 2011 - everyone whose quilt arrives by 
August 14th will get an extra entry in the 
giveaway drawings.  I'll be drawing on August 15th 
and will post the winners on my Monday post that day; 
you'll also be notified by e-mail!

And those of you who are visiting tonight, check out the links and leave these ladies some bloggy love - they've worked hard!  And consider joining us next year - it's fun!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I get a Whoop-Whoop??

Hi, all!


It's Friday - are you ready to get your Whoop Whoop on?  I hope so - and I hope you've done better than me in getting something ready to show off!  


My sewing time this week has been limited - a three-year old who is determined not to take a nap really takes a toll on sewing time!  But I did manage to get my two bee blocks done....

Oh boy that's boring isn't it?  oh well, you all need to link up lots of pretties below 

to make this blog post worth reading!!

On the non-sewing front, I've been working hard on finishing up the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge - lots of stuff that has to get done before Sunday's final link-up!  I hope you will stop by and take a look at the beautiful quilts created by the ladies who participated - it looks like there will be around sixty quilts going to Romanian orphans with Judi of Green Fairy Quilts as a result of the challenge!  So stop by on Sunday and give all those ladies a big whoop whoop!!


So now it's your chance to shine - show us what you've been working on this week!!  And remember, you've got until Saturday night to link up!!


Hugs!


Sarah

What's Cookin' at The Sweatshop, Week #2

Hi, all!


Well, since I started a new feature for Tuesdays last week, I kind of felt like it needed a name.  As I sat up here sweating (it's REALLY hot here in middle Tennessee right now), I fondly recalled what we call it when we get together to work on ministry quilts - The Sweatshop! Thanks to Google and Picnik.com, we've got that great image above to spur us on to greater heights!


So - - - what's happened in The Sweatshop this week?  

Blue Beauty - the front...

...and the back.

This beautiful quilt, pieced and quilted by Diane Wingo, who blogs at DEW Quilting and comes to sew with our quilt ministry ladies, went to a gentleman in the final stages of cancer.  He is courageously living life on his own terms and we hope that this brings him comfort!

Flower Garden

This beautiful quilt top was paper pieced by Sharon of Vrooman's Quilts before she donated it to our quilt ministry.  I added borders and backing and quilted it up.  This week it went to a member of the team working to distribute the upcoming Christian movie "Courageous" who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  If you haven't heard about this movie, you really should check out the website.  It is being produced by the same group that did "Fireproof" last year, and is absolutely excellent!  Please go visit the website and be sure to go see the movie opening weekend, September 30th!  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll walk away changed......  Here's one of my favorite scenes from the movie...

Last Friday, my friend Kathy came over to quilt a very large quilt on my Juki, and brought with her this enormous stack of quilt flimsies for the quilt ministry....

Added to the seven flimsies I already have ready to quilt, we've got quite a stash going of quilts to fill needs we don't even know about yet.  These are all Great American Jelly Roll Race quilt tops - four of them made by our kids' group at Summer Camp, and three made by the ladies in the ministry group.  I think there are three or four more out there that haven't made it here for quilting, too!

And then today, I got to meet with two local quilt bloggers - Vicki of Dotty Jane Designs and Kari of High Pitched Barking - to gather up the last of the middle Tennessee quilts for Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  Their quilts have joined mine and those of Diane of DEW Quilting to form this glorious stack....

Aren't they just amazing?

These will go in the mail tomorrow, making their way to Utah and Judi of Green Fairy Quilts. In early September, she and her husband Clint will be winging their way to Romania to distribute quilts, food and school supplies to orphans there.  You can see the video of last year's distributions if you click on the Hands2Help tab at the top of my page.

It's also been a really good week for donations - take a look at my entry hall!

And this is just the stuff I haven't processed yet!  Fortunately, I've got a couple of friends who live to organize - and they're hopefully going to come over next week when I start empty-nesting again and help me get it all organized...

So that's what's going on in The Sweatshop this week!  Hope you're staying cool where you are.....

And be sure to come back on Sunday, July 31st for the final linkup for the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  Check out all the beautiful quilts made by the wonderful ladies who have participate in this challenge, and maybe get inspired to join in next year!!

Hugs!

Sarah