May 2023 Work Day Recap

 As I (Jody) listened to Pastor Mike Householder's Mother's Day sermon I realized that I never even recognized the day or all of you mothers.  I love the breadth of Anna Jarvis' meaning of Mother's Day as, "Commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life."  This says to me that anyone who loves and cares for anyone like a mother does is worthy of honor on this day.  The sense of care, empathy, and love that is shown in your service to others is certainly something to honor.  So Happy Mother's Day to all of you, my loving servant-hearted friends. ❤

We spent the weekend working to take on the donation of fabric from The Iowa Quilt Block.  We have built such a strong relationship with Shelly and her staff.  They have servant hearts just like we do.  They are happy to see their older inventory used for our mission quilts.  We also support different missions that are important to them.  I sure hope you'll stop by to say hello and Thank You.  Tell them you're with Hope Quilters as they love to see our faces and learn our names.

1. When we get a donation like this we're like a kid in a candy store.  Your imagination runs wild with possibilities so you just start to dig in.  You find something that speaks to you and then match a few more bolts to go with it and take it home to find a pattern that works with it. There is even bargaining going on when two or more people are interested in the same fabric. 😂  Can't wait for Show and Tell next month!  Should be some pretty awesome quilts to see!
2. We set aside many bolts that we would not use for a couple of other charities.  It's nice to have relationships and connections with like-minded people where we can help them out as well.  Cheryl also works making quilts with Windsor Heights Lutheran for Lutheran World Relief.  This church was a collection point for Iowa and gathered 1200 quilts in their annual quilt drive.  There are 50 other Iowa Lutheran Churches involved.  We gave them 44 bolts of fabric that they could use to help make their quilts and share with other churches too.
3. Dress A Girl Around the World is another organization that has a local chapter.  As it happens, Marty has connections with this group so we share yardage for cute little dresses.
4. Many Hands Thrift Stores also get many items we are just tired of.  Some fabric hangs around too long and doesn't seem to be attractive for our quilts.  It's amazing how fast this fabric sells in the thrift shop. You can see how the missions of this store are in alignment with our mission so we are happy they can use what we cannot.

And now, on to what we do with the fabric......36 new finished quilts were turned in for our local missions!  LSI, YESS, Bidwell Riverside, Hawthorne Hills, and Agape Pregnancy will be getting some really nice new quilts.  Additionally, this weekend two of our quilts went with the build teams going to Tijuana with the Homes for Hope project. 

We spent a short time talking about our Panel Challenge. We have been gifted with lots of cute panels.  We will use the monthly meetings for sharing progress and learning how your ideas came about.  It will inspire others!  Anyone needing help with a design, matching fabric, measurements, or any problem-solving will be able to engage people in some brainstorming.  Creating together can be so much fun.  

I want to include another reminder for the Family and Friends Event on July 7th.  Plan to bring a family member or friend to sew with you.  We'll plan to eat pizza around 6 but feel free to bring them any time in the afternoon.  You will be the teacher so be sure to try the scrappy sew-as-you-go block so you are comfortable helping them.  We'll have supplies ready at the June meeting for you to try with.  If you won't be at the June meeting I can tell you more about how to make the block if you want to try it.

Be sure to take a look at the PHOTOS to see pictures of all the quilts.  In June we'll pull out the quilts we designated for the auction and get those assigned and packaged up to go to the delivery drivers.  You've seen them all before but it's always so fun to pull these out as they are always some of our favorites!  We won't do Show and Tell again but they'll be unfolded for measuring so you'll have a chance to see them again if you're there on Friday and we'll try to remember to take pictures of them all for the blog.

It was an exhausting weekend but usually, when Hope Quilters is exhausting we know there was something exciting going on and that was proven this time again.  Lord, thanks for connecting us with Shelly.  Thanks for putting us in touch with other fabric lovers as well.  Thanks for this group of generous servants who share their time not only for quilting but by helping and just doing what needs to get done to keep things running smoothly.  You are all such a blessing!

(Due to conflicting events, Hope Quilters took the month of APRIL off from our monthly meeting.)