Join Us at Sunshine Quilt Guild

Being helpful to others makes one happy. If you want to get in on the happiness, join us at Sunshine Online Quilt Guild and help us make quilts for kids and teens. We support two programs: Wrap a Smile (make quilts for kids having cleft lip/palate surgery) and Quilts Beyond Borders (quilts for kids in underserved areas, often in orphanages in hard-to-reach places). We have a lot of fun, and the service is rewarding. Join us at our group at MeWe (similar to Facebook but no ads and no privacy invasions). Here is the link:
https://mewe.com/join/sunshineonlinequiltguild


Examples of some of the fun we have:

Round Robin quilts

Block Lotto challenges

Quilts made from the Lotto blocks

Just for fun quilts

Occasional Retreats

Best of all, the kids who receive our quilts are comforted at a scary or unpredictable time in their lives. We are happy we can help them in this small but beautiful way.

(This quilt was made at our 2017 retreat in Omaha.)

(This quilt is the one shown above at Quilts made from Lotto blocks.)

A Surprise Gift, and a Question

A while ago I signed up at Julie S.'s Facebook offer for a free gift. It was a Pay It Forward deal, where I then also offered gifts to people who signed up at mine. I put it out of my mind for a while until I received a surprise package. Look at the cool stuff she sent me! A beautifully covered journal, and some home-made fabric notecards. I love this kind of stuff!

Now I have to think about what I will make and send to my sign-up folks.

Here is my question:
See my tabs up at the top that say "Quilts Finished in 2014" and "Books I Love" ?? I made two more new pages for 2015, but for some reason they are not showing up. Unless, mysteriously, they show up on your views and not on mine!? Do you see a tab called "Quilts Finished in 2015" and "Knitting 2015"? If so, please let me know. I have done everything I can think of to make them publish publicly, and I still can't see them on the blog. I can only see them in the area where I create and edit them. Where are they hiding?? If anyone knows what I can do, please advise.

Thoughts on Helping

home-made shorts, pillow-case dress, and a skirt that I will send to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota (a program for kids in foster care)

Recently I was with a good friend of mine, telling her about a community service project I had done with my church... only two of us had shown up, but we decided that was OK, and we did the best we could and had fun. My friend said "when I grow up I want to be you [give of myself to community]. I have it in my heart; I just don't get around to doing it." I felt surprised, but also a little sad. There must be a lot of people who feel the same way. They have a pull in their heart to DO something, but just don't do it.

Now don't get me wrong; I understand that being a good person and treating people kindly as you go through your day is a service, too. And my friend certainly does that. She's a loving and wonderful person! She just doesn't do the "more" that she has in her heart. And I think a lot of people are in her same shoes.

I always had a strong tug to help, and used to do it to an extreme with my money. I have gone broke and run up credit card debt in my attempts to help the whole world. Thankfully I have come to my senses in that score. I can't "save" everyone from their poverty and despair! Once I took up quilting (11 years ago) and also got a renewed interest in knitting, I have been able to help a lot more without going broke. I love to give away quilts and knitted items. I know fabric isn't free, but I have found many ways to do this without breaking the bank.

Life is so hectic these days. People feel pulled in so many directions and time is limited. However, I can't imagine MY life without time devoted to the helping things I do. I think more people could fit some small service projects into their lives. For example, I rarely leave the house without some knitting. When I'm waiting for an appointment, or visiting someone in the hospital, or at home watching TV.. these are perfect opportunities to pull out the knitting and whip up a hat or a pair of booties. There are always babies who need booties or blankies and homeless people who need warm hats.

Another thing I've done is start a small crafting group at my church. We meet once a month for a few hours on a Saturday and knit together. We are making prayer shawls which our minister distributes to people suffering from various crises. We also make hats and booties for preemies, babies, and homeless people. It's not a huge time commitment, but has been a fun little activity with a few great women. We have fun chatting and learning from each other. Sometimes we include going out to eat! It's fun AND helpful to our world.

At home I make sewing time a priority. I know some people can't fit this in. I tend to ignore the housework and sew. I announce to my husband "I'm helping the children!" Then I spend hours sewing some quilts or clothing items. The house does get neglected, but that is not one of my priorities. Others can't do that, and I understand. I sure wish I could have a perfectly clean house like they have! But when it comes right down to it, I'd rather sew. For me this is important, and it feeds my soul.

I just think that if people really WANT to do something extra, the time could be found. It wouldn't have to be hours and hours like I do. I'm just a little nuts that way. But most people could find some extra time to take a meal to a family with an illness, knit or crochet a hat, or deliver some library books to a shut-in. There are zillions of ways to help, and if you have it in your heart, tugging at you, maybe you should answer.

A couple weeks ago in church our pastor said something about being a friend of God's. It made me think: when I have a human friend, I appreciate and want help from my friend, but I also give them my time and attention. How does God, as my friend, want me to do that giving part of our friendship? I can't just take God's help and stop with it as a one-way street. I think the way I need to be God's friend is in answering that tug that is in my heart. That's God asking me to be a friend to others, in God's name.

I guess that's why I feel called to give and donate and help. Maybe, if you feel that tug in your heart but have ignored it, you would find some joy in exploring how you can answer and respond to the tug. It's the other half of a friendship that makes it a full, two-way street. At least for me, this has been a source of joy.

Thoughts on a Sunday

Thank you SO MUCH to all who left comments and even made donations to Ampersand Families. I can hardly believe I've posted 1,000 times here at my blog! The time has gone fast. Thanks for helping me celebrate by helping a fabulous organization.

I will send Ampersand Families one dollar for each comment as well as for each reaction: cool (1), gorgeous (1), and you rock (6). So I "owe" them $22, but I will round it up to $25. That means my little blog celebration netted $150 that I know of for Ampersand. That rocks, and it's because of fabulous and generous friends. THANKS!!

I've been super busy lately so haven't had much time for fun creativity. But I do have these pictures to share..



This quilt, above, was made a while ago, without any particular recipient in mind. Recently I gave it to a friend for her new grandchild and heard it was well received. Yay!

My guild's quilt show usually includes a small quilt auction, and I won two items. First this purse, below. I think it is so cool. It looks like it has umpteen divisions, but it really doesn't have that many. It's easy to understand, but looks complicated. Isn't it just pretty, pretty, pretty? The only thing I'd like different is wider handles.

front

an inside view

back - I love all the pockets

I also got a set of 4 placemats. They look so springy; maybe I can use them for Easter this year, depending on how many people may or may not be with us.



Yesterday I met with a friend for some knitting and sharing time and started this hat. Later I worked on it while watching a boring movie (The Good Shepherd), so I made great progress.



Today I slept late (really late) and skipped church. I haven't been sleeping well lately, and finally I got caught up. I feel good today. I plan to spoil myself and sew and/or knit all day long!

I do have a potential worry on my mind. My mom has been found to have cysts on her spine and is meeting with a neurosurgeon this week. The cysts are the source of her back and leg pain. I am crossing my fingers for a non-invasive and quick resolution.

Celebrating 1,000 Posts With Ampersand Families

Jen and Michelle, the directors of Ampersand Families

Wheeee! Time to celebrate my 1,000th blog post!!!

I have been puzzling over how to celebrate my 1,000th post. I decided to continue my tradition of rustling up support for one of my favorite non-profits: Ampersand Families.

Ampersand Families finds permanent families for teens in foster care. They are compassionate and dedicated. I am extremely impressed with them and their work.

Since I'm not going to adopt a teen (went through that decision-making process with husband and realized we need to find other ways to support Ampersand)... I try to do what I can to help them out.

Last fall I created a fund-raising page for Ampersand, and to my amazement I have almost fulfilled my goal of raising $500 for them. If you feel so moved, would you like to go to my page and help me reach my goal, or even exceed it? Even a dollar would help. If each of my 89 followers could donate a dollar... that would rock! Just click on this link:

Ampersand Families - compassion in action!

If you can't donate (which I realize may be asking a lot), I will donate some money to Ampersand for each comment that is left here. Please comment! If I can, I'll give Ampersand a dollar per comment. That may have to change, depending on how many comments I get. But I'll aim for a dollar.

Can you help Ampersand continue doing their wonderful work? How many comments can I get???

Giving in Minnesota

I love the quilts you guessed for me! But you are all wrong. #15 is beautiful... I watched the owner make that one at the first retreat I attended and loved it! The other one, on the unmade bed, is a quilt made of blocks we donated to a president when her term ended. She likes wild and bright, like I do. Both were good guesses on your part!

Mine is #10. It is fabric with a marching band printed on it. I just added some borders and got it quilted by Diane who does fabulous work. It was in honor of my son and his years of hard work on the drum line in his high school marching band. I thought it might be something he would like, but he didn't seem to, so I kept it.



Now on to my real topic: Nov 16 in Minnesota is Give to the Max day. Non-profits in Minnesota are asking for a one-day donation blitz. It worked really well last year. I am trying to raise money for a group called Ampersand Families, and I made my own fund-raising page. If anyone feels like making a donation, I would love you forever. (Well, I already do, but this would just be icing on the cake.)

Ampersand Families is a fabulous agency whose goal is to find permanent homes for older kids (10 and up) who are in foster care. They are the most caring, smart, hard-working, wise group you could ask for. Your money will make a big difference and will help some kids and their adoptive families. Ampersand is GREAT!!

Here's my link to my page. Thank you for at least reading about this. Even learning a little more about the topic will help our world be a better place!

Carol's Ampersand Families fund-raising page