April 2026 Work Day Recap

It was a very pleasant weekend of quilting with friends!  So inspiring to see the Word project hanging in the Atrium.  Thanks to Linda for coordinating this project and getting us all involved.  Make sure you get a chance to check this out in person.

Despite the small number of people, we still had an awesome Show and Tell.  Twenty-nine quilts were finished for groups including Child Serve, Agape, LSI and Sleep in Heavenly Peace.  We save out a couple of quilts for the upcoming bible camp auctions.

Check out the PHOTOS page for all the quilts turned in this month.

Several joys and concerns were shared.  This isn't just a quilting group, it is a safe place to share the blessings and the struggles that this gift of life produces.  Don't hesitate to reach out to your quilting sisters when you could use a little help of any kind.

RETREAT DETAILS

Date: April 23, 24 and 25.

Start times 8:30am on 23rd

                  9am on 24th

                  7:30 on 25th  

Location: Hope Waukee, Room 134

We need to get all supplies out of the closet in Room 130 before 9am when preschool starts so if you can help on Thursday AM it will be appreciated.

Remember:

• This is time for you to work on your own projects and fellowship with other quilters.  You are welcome to work on mission quilts if you choose.  All supplies will be available but we are not collecting finished quilts or doing any sort of meeting.
• Come and go as your schedule and interests allow.  End times are based on how long people want to stay so if you plan to come later in the afternoon check with someone to make sure they are still at the church.
• No meals are planned but there will be coffee available and feel free to bring snacks to share.  You can use the fridge to keep lunch cold and there are several places close by for takeout.
• Cleanup on Saturday takes a while due to everything we need to get back into the closet.  Irons need time to cool down and cutting boards are the first thing that go back against the wall so be considerate and don't plan on needing the cutting and ironing supplies late into the day on Saturday.  You don't need to be out of the church at any time but there needs to be 4 or 5 people to clean up so plan accordingly.    

All these April showers not only produce May flowers...but also many beautiful quilts as one is stuck inside!  😄  Enjoy your sewing days!

March 2026 Work Day Recap

Great weekend of sewing as always.  Abundant fellowship and laughter, as well. Donations always bring lots of smiles as the swarm of interested quilters glance through the pile for something they can snatch up to use in a new creation!

We had 29 quilts at Show and Tell.  PHOTO PAGE.  Linn Vande Berg was our guest speaker, sharing information about their chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace.  We have partnered with this group since 2019, making quilts and book pillows to give to those receiving a new bed.  If you have not volunteered for a bed build day, don't hesitate to sign up and try it!  Minimal time commitment and a lot of fun if done with friends.  You can also check the website for other volunteer opportunities with this group and also, spread the word about this group.  They do so much good in our local community but they are not as well known. 

Just a reminder that we're still looking for help making scrappy fabric in order to use up our smaller scraps.  This endeavor started when our bins were quite low on yardage and we seem to have turned that situation around, or should we say, God has provided again!  However, using small scraps to make attractive quilt tops actually challenges you to work on several helpful skills.  It can be a lesson in design, color selection and even math.  Finding a way to use what you have is a great quilting life lesson. 

There's around 5 kits using scrappy blocks that have been put together.  More kits will be available next month from recent fabric contributions.  Keep those scrappy fabric contributions coming!  Whether you are using your own leftovers or pulling from the bins where collected scraps from our other bins have been sorted, it's always fun to be challenged on new ideas and skills.  There are a few scrappy patterns/ideas available if you want to give it a whirl.  And if sewing scraps isn't your thing, maybe you could take a kit and put together a quilt top.

Retreat is coming up!!!  Make sure you have it on your calendar for April 23, 24 and 25.  Hope to see many of you there!

 February 2026

It was a beautiful weekend, both outside and inside.  The room was buzzing with sewing machines and visiting.  Welcome to Jenny and Char, new quilters who stopped by and I think they'll be back. Thanks so much for making them feel welcome!

Our Sleep in Heavenly Peace speaker was not able to attend due to some family health issues.  So say a prayer for Jim!  Marty is still planning on a bed build session on March 28th.  Be sure to let her know if you are interested and she'll get you the details.

Our other speakers were Deb Carlson and Lisa Hansen.  Deb is the leader of the quilt group Hands of Hope Sewing Ministry at New Hope Church in Adel.  Lisa's husband works at Sheepgate and made them aware that the bed quilts at the men's facility in Colfax were aged and worn.  This quilt group has taken it upon themselves to find new bed quilts for each bed.  This is a new quilting group and rather small.  Some of you can remember the start of our quilt group where we operated with no money and not very many supplies.  But that desire to quilt and to serve others kept us working hard to help others.  Deb and Lisa are working with many local churches and quilt groups to find help with this project.  

Show and tell was fabulous as always.  39 quilts will be distributed to Waypoint Resources, SHP, LSI, Agape and Hope's Care Ministry.    Thanks for the extra hands and feet in showing, folding and bagging quilts and then delivering!  Check out the photo tab for pictures of them all.

January 2026 Work Day Recap

It was a wonderful spirit-filled weekend at Hope Quilters.  Two speakers inspired us with the work that they do and the faith journey that led them to cross our path.  Barbara, from LSI, told us about the programs at LSI and how our quilts are used in each one.  What a blessing it was to hear how our quilts provide a little bit of comfort and love in the work that LSI does.  And Kim Ogle's involvement with Will Keeps and the road she has traveled to help his organization with these bed quilts is a wonderful story of what happens when you let God lead you.  We are very thankful to be helping her in this mission.  For those coming to retreat, we will have one more bed quilt that we can work on if you haven't gotten involved yet.  We can share more of both of these stories for anyone who missed it.

We spent a little time talking about some scrappy block design options.  Examples were shown of some foundation piecing for a scrappy quilt.  Some quicks bags of scraps and some foundation pieces were put together so people could try this technique.  There were mixed opinions on how much "fun" this was.  We are going to continue to try different block techniques and talk about design options for these scrappy quilts.  We do have lots of scraps that we want to use.  While the bins have filled up more due to several donations in the past months, we still have a variety of fabrics rather than lots of yardage of a few fabrics which means scrappy quilt patterns will suit us better.   We'll keep up with design discussions on making patterns more scrappy.

Some topics worth mentioning:

• We have had several quilt tops donated.  That means they need backing and need to get on the list to be quilted.  We're looking for people to "Adopt a quilt top" which means taking on the task of finding and making a back and getting the name on the long arm list.  
• There are still a box full of those small donated quilt tops that we were using for the altar cloth project.  The remaining ones we're using kid prints so we can make them for many of our agencies.  And they are a good size to practice quilting on your domestic machine!  If you are interested in trying quilting let us know and we can buddy you up with someone to walk along side you as you learn.  
• The bins are very disorganized with all the new fabrics as well as the scrap projects.  There are LOTS of cool children's fabrics.  We have many children's' agencies needing twin, lap and baby quilts.  Let's dig into these fun fabrics!  Big pieces of lots of children's fabrics of the Turning Twenty quilt can be as neat as an I Spy quilt.  

The blog URL is hopequilters.blogspot.com.  For those who haven't checked it out yet, please do. This is becoming the best place to get information about our group.  If you search for it on your phone's internet, and after you click on the link for the blog, usually you click on the three dots at the top right, and in the drop down it should offer "Add to Home Screen", and then it will be right there on your phone!  We're working on putting an active calendar page on the website to help with all those questions like "are we meeting this weekend" or "are we going to cancel because of the snow", etc.  I really want to have a place to post our speakers and field trips too.  Possibly establishing a monthly design talk as well and get back to having topics of interest.  Having this readily available is easier in digital format than on paper.  So check it out and become familiar with the blog site.  There is a lot of old stuff there but the main page and the photo's page are the key tabs.  Ideas and suggestions on improving the blog site are always welcome.  We don't really intend it to be for blogging but it was established a long time ago and is free so we're making it work for us.

We welcomed a few new quilters to the group.  Make sure you introduce yourself to them when you see them!

Finally, January Retreat is coming up on the 22nd.  All the details will be sent in an email.  

Happy Sewing!