Remember

Today we pause to remember and be grateful.

What great caregivers are those that give of themselves daily.

SMS WINNER!!!

And our SMS Winner of these lovely fat quarters is....

Entry #480brenda

 

Congratulations!!!! 

 Winner has been emailed and has 48 hours to respond and claim their prize.

Thank you all for playing along!

Have a lovely weekend!

Care 4 Caregivers Opportunity...at home

I'm a very blessed Mama. 

I truly have 5 of the greatest kids on the planet....and I'm not even exaggerating! :)

My two oldest daughters are amazing people. 

They are giving, and nurturing and a huge help in our home. 

They are natural caregivers to their younger siblings....even when it's hard, as caring for little brothers and mischievous toddlers can be. 

We've had a seasonal cold that has taken it's turn with each of us the past couple of weeks, even getting a hold of me, and we all know it's never good when Mama gets sick! My girls have stepped it up and given me the extra time I needed to rest on my sick days and I have been most grateful for their sweet attitudes and care. 

It dawned on me that they were fully deserving of my Care 4 Caregivers recognition this week!

 I saw the perfect tutorial for these fabric bookmarks over at Zaaberry and since they are both avid readers, I thought this would be a perfect little token to say "thanks". 

 The best part is it has a little pocket to add a personal note. I found these precious cards at Kind Over Matter. If you've never visited, she has a HUGE collection of inspirational and encouraging printables that she offers free. I have used several and they always bring a smile!

I think my girls are going to love them!

Now.....to just sneak them inside their books when they aren't looking!

Simple. Sweet.

Kristy

Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop WINNER!!!

So much crazy giveaway fun going on in blog land this week, hope you are having a blast with it!

It's time to announce the winner of the 5-pack pattern bundle from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and the lucky person is.....

Entry #93Heidi K.

 

Congratulations!!! 

 Hope you enjoy your awesome prize!

Please respond to the email sent within 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thanks to all for playing along and a BIG THANKS to Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop for providing this generous giveaway!

 

Don't forget to scroll down to the next post and enter the SMS giveaway if you haven't yet. 

Have a great day!

Kristy

 

Gratitude Giveaway!

I am so incredibly grateful for the online sewing community and the friends I've made here!

Today, I'd like to offer a special giveaway with that in mind. 

I am giving away a fat quarter bundle of these 3 Just Dreamy prints. 

Just Dreamy was one of the first Riley Blake collections and I love it!

These matching pieces for my girls are just a few of the things I've made from this beautiful fabric line. You are going to love it too, I know!

To make it fun and easy to enter, just follow the handy Rafflecopter prompts below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll announce the winner of this giveaway Saturday, the 26th. All other details regarding giveaways at Hopeful Threads can be found on the "Giveaways" page at the top of the blog.

Oh, and to answer my question...

+source+

 

 

I am TOTALLY Piglet! :)

I also have a pattern bundle giveaway going on here from one of our lovely sponsors, so be sure to enter it too! It closes on the 24th. 

 Thanks for dropping by! 

Thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew for hosting this fun event!

Have a great week visiting all the giveaway blogs and good luck to you!

Kristy

Counting Blessings

There are so many things in life that can cast doubt, sadness or even at times hopelessness that make it even more important to pause and absorb the special moments. 

Today, that's what I'd like to do.

This week I received a remarkable gift. A gift that has left me feeling inspired, humbled and overwhelmingly blessed. A gift from the heart of a friend. 

A gift that she poured herself into.....for me.

While I wish I could take credit for this beautiful creation, the gifted artist behind this one of a kind piece is my friend Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs. 

Isn't it amazing???!!!

I absolutely love it! It inspires me to want to create even more!

If someone had asked me what I would have wanted a wall hanging like this to look like, I wouldn't have known how to tell them that this is exactly it. I love everything about it! The colors, the fabric prints, the chevron design, the backing...

And most importantly, the meaning behind it. 

Melissa chose to send this to me as her way of participating in this month's project of Care 4 Caregivers. To recognize me as a caregiver that has influenced her life. 

That leaves me humble, grateful and speechless.

 Look how it matches a little plaque I already had hanging in my room...

  It makes me so happy every time I look at it!

And it has proudly found the perfect home in my sewing studio....

 ...right above where I work!

I've been collecting a bunch of different sized embroidery hoops and I'm thinking I may finally fill each with favorite fabric prints I find to scattered around it. But for now, I think it's perfect just as it is!

This gift is a reminder to me of the "Why?" behind Hopeful Threads.

Sewing projects, pattern reviews, giveaways....they're all fun and I love sharing them with each of you...but the relationships within in this community are priceless to me! And I continue to be blessed by these relationships, whether it be precious Chinese nannies that share enthusiastic gratitude for the bibs we sent for the children in their care or like-minded (and creatively talented!) friends who encourage me daily. 

Thank you all for being a part of Hopeful Threads and a part of my life. 

Thank you Melissa for this touching gift. I will cherish it always.

Kristy

Let's help Danny!!!

Hopeful Threads friends, take a minute to read this message from Danny and see how you can help in a simple but BIG way by offering your gift and love of sewing....good stuff!!!  

"I am looking for donations of 24 drawstring totes for boys and 40 zipper pouches for girls. 

 Random? 

Not really. 

Since I was a teenager, I've been helping with a program called Royal Family Kids Camp. This is a camp for youngsters in the foster care system here in America. These children are neglected. Abused. Abandoned. Lost. RFKC strives to mend those wounds by providing a week of fun, comfort and love. I had the opportunity to attend RFKC as an adult leader and the experiences changed my life. We played games and sang songs and ate three meals a day and had a birthday party for all the kiddos with presents; presents they took home, and for some of them, these presents became their only possessions. We hugged. We cried. We laughed. We talked. My only job for the entire week was to love on these kids. It was by far the easiest and the most mentally and physically exhausting thing I have ever done in my life. 

These kids age out of the program at 12 years. 

This summer, we are joining forces with a new camp geared toward teenagers; a new camp that will give these kids and others a chance to experience the love and acceptance we strive for with RFKC. Teen Reach Adventure Camp (aka TRAC) is a three day single gender camp for kids ages 12-15 providing a fun-filled, outdoors experience with safe loving adults to help provide an experience that brings hope and encouragement to these hurting teens. 

 Every child who attends RFKC with us gets a quilt handmade by some generous donors in and around the Valley (where I live). We would like to do something similar for the TRAC kids and have come up with a few small items that we really feel will make a difference. The kids attending these camps come with next to nothing. We give them clothes and toiletries, and since the TRAC kids are teenagers, we've decided to make them bags to hold their toiletries. 

This is where you come in. 

We have 20 boys attending camp this summer and we would like a drawstring bag for each of them. These bags should be fairly simple, made with manly/teen appropriate fabrics. Since this is a camp, outdoorsy fabrics are fine. Please no halloween (or any holiday for that matter), skulls, choo-choo trains, teddy bears, etc. We want these to be age appropriate and uplifting. The lovely Kat over at Mummas Time to Create has posted a recent tutorial for making drawstring bags that are the PERFECT size. You can find it here. When you make your bags, please leave the handles off. 

We have 40 girls attending camp this summer. For them, we would like a simple zipper pouch measuring about 7"x 9" finished. Again, these should be simple: just one fabric for the outside and one for the inside. We want these to be special and unique, but also uniform so the girls can all feel their gifts are equally lovely. Remember, fabrics should be age appropriate (teenagers). Here are a couple tutorials for basic zipper pouches: See Kate Sew Skip to My Lou 

Think camp. Plaid. Green and yellow are the colors of TRAC, if you want to go that route. Modern. Fun. Things teenagers would like.

If you are willing to donate one or more of these items, please let me know. I need all the items by Monday, June 18th in order to get them to the campers on time. Also, please help me spread the word and get all these campers their bags. Blog about it. Facebook it. Share wherever you are willing and link back here so donors can let me know in the comments that they are going to help. Thank you all so very much for your consideration!"

 

Jump over to Danny's blog here and let her know you are IN!

Thank you Danny for making us aware of this special need and allowing us the opportunity to be a part!