Hope Quilters will be going through some changes and as with all things in life, these changes will create some sadness, but also some fortitude and even some excitement as we wait on the Lord to see how He wants this ministry to develop and continue to serve HIS purposes!
It was still a bit of an emotional weekend at Hope Quilters though as we made hard decisions on what stays and what goes in our HQ "closet" stash that we've gratefully used and relied on for years, but needed to downsize some supplies. But all is not lost as we were offered storage space at the Waukee Campus and are so very grateful for that opportunity!
Attendance was excellent both Friday and Saturday. Many volunteers stepped up and jumped in on the JOPPA blanket-making, quilt
binding and labels as well as closet cleaning. It was a tremendously
productive weekend for our mission outreach. We had 66 quilts and
blankets turned in this weekend! What fun it was to see the variety of
creativity that everyone participated in! We still have several JOPPA kits
that need to be sewn together so we'll continue with those in November.
Some changes to look forward to in the future:
Some changes to look forward to in the future:
1. Learning opportunities. We are going
to take the time to do some teaching on techniques. We had several
examples of how people are managing to make quilting easier. Look for an
upcoming session on prepping your quilt for quilting. Improv or Crazy
quilting is an interesting way to use scraps to make interesting quilts.
Not interested? That's okay. These will just be options. The
monthly email will include the Technique we'll work on and supplies needed (if
any) and then you can choose whether to participate or not. There will
always be all the other fun Hope Quilters activities going on too.
2. Quilting: Our focus will be turning more towards helping our members learn how to finish their own quilts. There are always options. We haven't explored as many of those options as we've relied on our long-arm
quilters. This does not mean that you each have to quilt your own
top. Some
ideas we will be exploring:
1. Some long-armers are willing to open up their
quilting rooms to have a group
over to learn the art of quilting on a long-arm machine.
2. Others are willing to quilt their own but haven't had any training and need
some
tips.
3. Coordinate directly with long-armers to
get those larger quilts finished.
We will be exploring our options
in the months to come.
3. Basic Quilting How-Tos: As we've grown in
size and activity, one need that has emerged is providing the basics needed on making quilts from start to finish for new
people joining our group. Volunteer coaches will work with newcomers to walk through all of the
basic steps to get familiar with them. Additional basic information will
be supplied on our Facebook Group Page and the Blog.
So as we change course, let's take some time to figure
this out together. We can spend the rest of the year finishing up some
projects and consider planning how to approach others in 2020, prayerfully and with His guidance.
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you."
Psalm 32:8
And some of those 66 amazing quilts? You can find them here: PHOTOS
And a limited-time page for those absolutely adorable EMOJI quilts is up, so take a look! EMOJI
Lastly, in September we had a representative from the Iowa Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace share with us about this ministry. You can check out some photos on this limited-time page: Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Lastly, in September we had a representative from the Iowa Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace share with us about this ministry. You can check out some photos on this limited-time page: Sleep in Heavenly Peace
