Spreading Christmas Cheer

Just wanted to share the news with a successful first quilt donation!!!

Last week, Stitches of Goodness took the quilts that were donated by the ladies at the quilt camp to Union Mission Ministries in Norfolk, VA. Union Mission Ministries mission statement is “To aid the poor and needy; to reform the erring; to help those that are out of the way; to feed the hungry; to shelter the homeless; to preach the gospel; and to rescue the perishing.” Union Mission Ministries houses a women and children's shelter along with running many other programs to help the homeless and needy to stay warm, fed and aide in stirring a path for success. Stitches of Goodness decided that this mission was the best fit to receive the quilts since there was a high quantity of children's quilts in this donation. The shelter also had a need for warm blankets for the winter and we couldn't have been more excited to find a better fit for the need with the amazing quilts. Union Mission Ministries was very thankful for the kind and beautiful donation.

Stitches of Goodness would like to thank all who were involved in creating the beautiful and heartfelt quilts and the support received by many in this adventure. It was a great start to something that Stitches of Goodness hopes to continue throughout the years. We are praying that we touch many lives in the process. 

"Lord, I pray that these quilts help to warm people's hearts and bring people peace during the cold nights of the winter. Thank you for the opportunity to show your love! Lord, I ask you to bless these people at Union Mission Ministries, the ones who donated the quilts and Stitches of Goodness, and that through kindness and hope they would know your love. Amen"

Kristin

Quilt 2 Progress

                                                  

It has been a little while since my last entry. Since then, I have been working on the second quilt for Stitches of Goodness and visiting my family in Virginia. While I was in Virginia, my grandmother donated some red fabric for Quilt #2… I have added the red fabric to the array of blues and found the red fabric pops against the striking shades of blue in the quilt. I also visited a quilt camp during my time in Virginia. This is the quilt camp that my grandmother attends every year. The ladies at the quilt camp were very welcoming and eager to hear about my intensions with Stitches of Goodness and to learn how they could help with this adventure. They kindly let me admire their quilting abilities and their beautiful quilts with so many different colors, shapes and sizes, made with so much love and dedication going into their art. It would truly be a blessing to have these ladies donate their time and quilts to Stitches of Goodness.

Quilt #2 will be donated in my grandfather's honor. After finding out that he had stage 4 lung cancer in 2009, he passed away very suddenly, leaving me heart broken.  He was resilient, courageous, kind hearted, brave, and so full of love for everyone. My pawpaw was a true role model. I believe that he would have  been excited to be involved in my venture to help others. Making this quilt in his honor will definitely be a way for him to still  exude his love upon others. I am still struggling to heal from losing him as he meant so much to me, but with God's help, I am going to take the love I have for him and sew it into a beautiful quilt, each stitch symbolizing Gods blessings and goodness. As I sew this quilt in honor of my pawpaw, it will be a symbolic mending my broken heart, piecing together fabric to warm someone elses heart.

Kristin

Quilt 2

Sewing some strips of various blue fabrics together to start quilt #2 for Stitches of Goodness. 

Reflection from today...

As I was sewing these pieces of fabric together, it felt different than any other time that I had sat down at a sewing machine to start on a quilt. I have always enjoyed making quilts, getting the colors of fabrics together, cutting them, placing each shade next to one another, deciding where the colors look best, but before the preparation, the presentation, the final product were all fueled by vanity. Before when creating quilts, I wanted people to like them and think I was talented. I was trying to prove myself with something I was good at. However, this time while I sat there finding colors that flowed together harmoniously, I was sewing for a different purpose, a greater purpose, a cause. Now it was not only enjoyable making something beautiful, but it became fulfilling creating something that would bring much needed warmth to someone, and hopefully bless them as well. I am overly excited to give out the first quilts, just to make someone smile with a gift from the heart. 

Kristin

The first of many...

The first quilt designed for Stitches of Goodness, waiting for God to find an owner.

Beginnings...

She was shivering lying on the street while the snow came down. The wind was tearing through my jacket, stabbing my bones with cold and she was wrapped in a trash bag. No one should have to live like that. Stitches of Goodness is a humble act of trying to make a difference. Not to change the world, but rather to bless one individual at a time. God has blessed some of us with the ability to create something warm and beautiful. And my goal is to provide, with the little I can, something warm for those in need, something special just for them, something beautiful to remind us that we are all God's children.

Kristin