Part of The Work Process

One of Eila's first solo projects, Good Job!

Another made by Eila

Every quilt we create has a story. This one was designed around the birds. What you see on the front of the quilt was created from a blend of fabrics and one remenent purchased years ago. Sometimes no matter how much you like a particular fabric, print or design, it may take much longer for it to all come together. The backing was specifically purchased to blend with all of these soft tones. Made by Kathy Rogerson

These two Quilted pieces were actually hand quilted by Ora Owensby's mom! They can be used as wall hangings or as a table topper. Maria finished each by adding binding for a polished look.

A Saturday afternoon, Eila & Kathy enjoyed the use of the banquet tables in the church hall, as they hauled a roll of batting and several quilt tops to sandwich them together and begin tying them. This roll of batting was donated to us in the spring of 2012. It was a full roll, so big around you could not wrap your arms around it. After working on all of these, the supply has dwindled down greatly. But, since our fund raiser, we now have enough to replenish the supply! God is so good! Thank you everyone for your support, encouragement and prayers. 

The blocks in this quilt and the next two were made by Sheila Murphy.  A few years ago I took a mystery quilt class, and never put it together. Part of our goal is to never duplicate anything we make. Every person who has given the gift of life is a very unique individual, therefore, we strive to make each quilt special and unique.

A few weeks ago I received a phone call from a stranger. He had been given our business card by Stitch Craft, a quilt shop in Boca. Long story short, he blessed our ministry with bins & boxes full of sewing & craft supplies, much of which we could use, which was his mom's. This panel was joined together by his mom, and finished by Kathy. Included in the donation was an iron, ironing board, sewing machine, batting, and much more. Everything we could not use was then donated to Vita Nova in Lake Worth.

As seen by all of the photos, we never seem to do a repeat.
Several of the sewers have never sewn before, or haven't sewn in many years, there is plenty of room for you to join this ministry. Needed are sewers, cutters, pressers, financial support and prayer.
Thank you for taking the time to explore our blog, may you be blessed.
By the way, have you chosen to give the gift of life, should that time arise? It just takes a few minutes to register. Go to
http://donatelife.net

Delayed Thank You, I was locked out of my account!

There is so much to share, but I haven't been able to get into this account. Too many emails & passwords. Nonetheless, it is time to share some great news!

This past week has been a very hectic awesome some for us quilters. For the past 6 weeks we have been working non-stop on projects for our first ever fund raiser, but we did take off to the annual Quilters Expo at the Palm Beach Convention Center last Thursday.

We met at in the lobby, wearing our tee shirts to bring awareness to our group. Most of had the opportunity to meet vendors and fellow quilters to talk about what we do and why. To make this post a bit shorter I will post those pictures in a separate post. It was a wonderful time to be amongst such talented people and be inspired. Certainly our calendars will be marked for next year. Perhaps we may even have a booth!

Here's the great news, on Sunday November 11th, we had the opportunity to not only have a fund raiser, but to show and talk about what and why we make quilts. Yillian Fraga, a representative from Life Alliance in Miami, was also at the service and in the courtyard to meet and talk with the quilters as well as the Victory Worship Center Family.

Pastor Sherry Colby, Yillian Fraga, Sheila Murphy and Joe Flores

The sale was a huge success! Many compliments, words of encouragement and appreciation for what we do were received. It was a great experience, Thank You to everyone who purchased and generously made donations.

One of the most asked questions was, "Are you going to do this again before Christmas?"

Yes, Sunday December 9th between services and after the second service.

Eila Granfors showing a wall hanging - hot off the press 
(She just finished it!)

Ann Olson keeping occupied with handwork

How Cute, Even the kids were checking out the goods.

Jillian, Maria, Kathy, Eila, Sheila and Ann

Maria made this prayer shawl in-between packing & moving

Reverse side

Back View, Heading to Miami to comfort someone in their time of sorrow

Here's what you can expect; potholders, scrunchies, tissue holders, stockings, bookmakers, prayer shawls, more pillows and quilts. Several of what you may have seen on Sunday will be on it's way to Miami this week, but there will be lots more in time for Christmas gifts and you.

Reminiscing last year's quilt show...

Here it is September 1st, 2012coming to a close. This morning we had another great day of sewing, planning and anticipating great things to come. In just 58 days we will be having our very first fund raiser! Totally unlike anything you have ever seen before before!

Everyone is excited about exploring new territories to see what we can do with fabric, and some fantastic accents, you won't be disappointed. Mark your calendars for Sunday, October 28th. All proceeds will go directly to the ministry for fabrics, tools etc. As you know, the quilts and now prayer shawls, go to Life Alliance in Miami, who then presents them to the family of a Donor.

Also coming up on November 8th, as a group, we will be attending the Quilt Fest, held in our own back yard, at the Convention Center. Last we a few of us went and we were inspired and in awe of the talent, variety and incredible people we met and quilts we saw. Certainly we did not return home empty-handed, it was a great opportunity to acquire fabrics from vendors all across the country.

Here are a few pics from last year. Hope you enjoy them, perhaps you may like to join us this year!

These are all works of art. I can't imagine the hours of love and labor into each one! Of course, the quilts we make are no where as intricate as these, but just as special and beautiful, and straight from the heart!

Two Newbees

This was Susie's second time ever sewing!!! Look at her go - who knew?

She's got her hands in the right place, doing a great job!

Here's Maria, after one sewing lesson! So proud of you!

Here's the story, Maria wanted to learn how to sew. So she purchased fabric, but didn't have a machine. So her darling hubby, granted her request. She came to class with her new machine and said show me what to do. So that evening, she learned to cut while I learned how to thread her machine. She then learned how to sew.
Every new person who joins our group first learns the feel of the machine by sewing scraps together, which we turn into a quilt. (previous posts have many of those pictures) We begin this way to build confidence and skill. In doing this there really is no way to mess up. And if you did - it's no big deal. We are here to enjoy ourselves and be a blessing to other.

Back to Maria, her project was based on this hot air balloon fabric and bright colorful scraps. She was so excited, she wanted to work on it at home! She surprised us when she came in the room with this prayer shawl almost complete!

As you can see we all have fun. There aren't many of us yet, but I believe more are coming to join us. We meet Three times a month. just bring yourself. We have machines, and many projects to work on.

Hope you will stop in soon, Sheila

Special Thank You's

Thank you's need to go out to several people who gave given generously to this amazing ministry over the past year.

2 anonymous people who donated a Bolt of Quilt Batting

Someone from the Miami area who sent us a sewing machine via, Life Alliance

Fay Nicoll, owner of Sunshine Sewing & Quilting Shop in Margate, FL, who donated bags of yardage

A sewing machine from June, and misc items

Two sewing machines from Marguerite Miller

Victory Worship Center
Quality yardage from several of our sewers

Working Hard

Ever Wonder Where We Begin? In the beginning all of our fabric was from our fabric stashes. Bits & pieces, some are still waiting in the wings for a match.

These odd scraps were then hauled to church to be sorted by color & value to see just what was possible. (Kind of like dumping a dozen puzzles on the table, and then wondering where to begin.)

As the fabrics are sorted, they then get bagged up
 as possible quilt creations.

 As you can see there is a BROAD range of colors, prints, not to mention all the odd sizes. Now don't get me wrong, every piece of fabric does and will get used. Eventually.....

Here's the label that is added to every quilt

Two of our youngest, hand tying a quilt! After dinner!

More sorting under way!

Somehow we slipped in another work night.

First everyone was fed a good meal, and then to work we went in 3 different rooms! It was a fun night and very productive! Planning to do something similar very soon.

 Quilting involves many steps. There is pressing that needs to be done throughout the session.

                                                          

 Here's Eila hard at work

Nancy Kane surprised us one evening, and got right to work!

Some of Our Latest Quilts

Here's a short video of the blessing over the quilts

Where Does The Time Go???

Wow, I just can't believe how time flies! Here is a very long overdue update on what we have been up to. Recently we sent another batch of lap quilts to Life Alliance in Miami. Hope you enjoy the many pics.

The above pic's were taken at an outdoor service our church, Victory Worship Center held in Lake Worth.

As you can see each quilt is very different from each other. We purposely create each one to be a unique one of a kind creation, just as each donor is. These were shown at a recent service. The families who will receive these quilts were prayed for as well as the quilts prayed over.