They call this a work party. We hung out in the beautifully stocked quilt store Queen Bee Quilts, all day long. We got to visit with Crazy Mom Quilts‘ Amanda Jean Nyberg who spoke about writing the book Sunday Morning Quilts, which she co-authored with Cheryl Arkison, on using up every last bit of your fabric scraps. And meet this many new friends!

You call this work? I call it a party!

Amanda Jean shared several of her quilts that are featured in the book. We passed them around and fondled them. Not sure if she got them all back or not…. They are just lovely. Almost as lovely as she is!

These were great for using smaller scraps. But the amount of color, in all four of these, could fit in a breadbox! I need uses for a bigger size and quantity of scraps, LOL!

And that is what we did on Saturday. We helped quilters get rid of some of their larger scraps!

Eighteen, or so, of us gathered to stitch together more than 1000 blocks that had been donated by bloggers and quilters the world over. The call went out and quilters responded! Hugely!

Apparently, we did work.

My traps say so, anyway. No matter how much you laugh or stop to chit-chat with your neighbor, sewing from 9-3 will definitely create tension, in your shoulders, resulting in not being able to lift your arms on Sunday! And yes, I did my shoulder rolls!

We completed somewhere around 15 Ragged Squares quilts for kids. Innocent children who did not and would not choose the circumstances they live in. Hopefully they will feel the smiles, laughter and joy that filled these quilts as we got to know other quilters. We gathered from not only from Grand Rapids but from all over Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and even Bermuda!

And we worked wherever we could find a spot. Carol was lucky she claimed a spot on the floor, early on, most of us worked from our laps. But then you can tell she knew what she was doing!

If you need a charity to donate your quilts to, please consider Margaret’s Hope Chest‘s Wrapped in Hope program. This family has turned such a tragedy, in their lives, into a lesson in forgiveness, taking care of others and following in their mother and grandmother’s charitable footsteps. I wasn’t the only one tearing up listening to their stories of how far they have come.

Amanda Jean along with Carol, Carin and Amy of Margaret’s Hope Chest.

It really brought home the point of forgiveness. We don’t know why we are here, on this earth, and maybe it is not even for our own story but for the story of how others deal with what they are left with, after we are gone….

That is really what struck a chord with me on Saturday. That and how easy it is to put together a boatload of quilts when gathered with friends.

And in the meantime ~ Do Good, Be Kind, Have Fun.