Another Stitchin' Mission Series Scheduled!

Stitchin' Mission® beginner quiltmaking lessons start Thursday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m., at Faith Lutheran Church, 10395 University Ave. (next to K-Mart), Clive, Iowa. Choose from four 36” X 48” quilt patterns and in five free lessons, learn the fundamentals of quiltmaking. As much as possible, supplies are provided. Your cost may be $15 or less. Please consider donating the quilt you make to the mission selected by Faith Lutheran Church: House of Mercy, Des Moines.

Stitchin’ Mission is for everyone! Home-schoolers, accompanied by a parent, are welcome! For more information and to register visit www.StitchinMission.org or phone 515-225-8334.

Five Stitchin' Mission, beginner quiltmaking lessons are:

Thursday, October 6, 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, October 13, 6:30 p.m. 

No Lesson October 20

Thursday, October 27 , 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, November 3, 6:30 p.m. 

Thursday, November 10, 6:30 p.m.

Registrations are being accepted now! Go here to register.

Stitchin' Mission #25 Cancelled

Due to low registration numbers, Stitchin' Mission #25, scheduled to begin Sunday, July 17 at Crosspoint Methodist Church in Bondurant, Iowa, is cancelled. This is the first time a Stitchin' Mission has been cancelled. Perhaps it's due to busy summer schedules.

Several of us are praying about future Stitchin' Missions. At this time, none are anticipated.

New and Experienced Quilters Can Help Tornado Victims

Quilters always come through when it's time to help others in need. Stitchin' Mission #25 is your opportunity to help tornado victims in Alabama and Missouri.

If you'd like to learn how to make a quilt from start to finish five beginner quiltmaking lessons begin Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., on July 17 at Crosspoint Methodist Church in Bondurant, Iowa. (More information here.) In exchange for your lessons, the 36" X 48" quilt you make will be given to tornado victims. Quilts will be delivered to affect areas by people involved with United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCR).

If you're already a quilter, you too can help by making a quilt - preferably a larger one - that can also be donated and delivered through the UMCR. Please finish your quilt by the last Stitchin' Mission lesson on Sunday, August 7 to have it included in the delivery to either Alabama or Missouri.

As well, a request for help has been received from Gloria Parks who represents one of the quilt guilds in Joplin, Missouri. Her email reads:

I am in charge of donations for our guild of 75 quilters. As you probably know the house we store our fabric and tools in was completely destroyed. We found only two crib quilts in the debris so about 80 quilts we had already made are gone. Any material, batting, quilts, large pieces for backings, etc. will be appreciated. You couldn't ship mats and large rolls of batting, so any donation of money for these items we would love. Our quilt store, Joann's and Walmart are destroyed so we can purchase in an adjoining city. We have also set up a relief fund for victims. Anything donated can be sent to:

Gloria Parks

2921 N. Hickory

Joplin, MO 64801

Checks should be made out to Gloria Park. The other (Joplin) guild doesn't make charity quilts for the needy. We make 178 per year along with 150 pillow cases made for cancer children which I personally drove up to Kansas City to the Children's Cancer Hospital. We made dresses to send to Africa and star blocks for the Military Quilt this year. We make baby layettes, blankets and premie hats for the hospital and every Christmas all of us make Christmas stockings and put money in them for the children in a home here. We knit scarves and hats to give out in winter and some women make sleeping bags out of old batting and fabric for the homeless. We help the needy and now we are the needy.

Did you catch that last sentence? "We help the needy and now we are the needy"? We never know when such a tragedy will strike us or someone we love. Make the time, now, to help as you are able. 


When you happen on someone who's in trouble or needs help among your people with whom you live in this land that God, your God, is giving you, don't look the other way pretending you don't see him. Don't keep a tight grip on your purse. No. Look at him, open your purse, lend whatever and as much as he needs. - Deuteronomy 15:7, The Message

Stitchin' Mission can lead to...

Stitchin' Mission #19 was at St. Mark's Anglican Church, Darling Point (Sydney), Australia, in 2009. Those lessons have evolved into a thriving group that's St. Mark's Quilters.

Click here to visit my friend, Di's blog post about what they've been up to.

Let Go and Let God

As children bring their broken toys
with tears, for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God,
because he was my friend.


But then, instead of leaving Him
in peace, to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help,
with ways that were my own.

At last, I snatched them back
and cried, "How can you be so slow?"
My child, He said, "What could I do?
You never did let go."
author unknown


Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.    Phillippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

DVD Recording Postponed

For more than a week, I have spent many hours cutting and making all the samples and examples needed to record a five lessons series of Stitchin' Mission beginner quiltmaking lessons. By my calculations, I've cut out enough fabric strips and blocks, and sewn enough strip-sets and quilt tops to make seven 36" X 48" quilts!

36" X 48" Stitchin' Mission "Noah's Ark" quilt - fabrics courtesy of Michael Miller Fabrics

As well, four dear friends volunteered about 20 hours of their time - each! - to plan, prepare, and rehearse for the approximately eight hours of DVD content.

We worked out a master plan, determined props, wrote copious notes and made test recordings. Though we encountered glitches along the way, we seemed to be making progress.

But when we realized two days of recording would be required instead of one, and a technical difficulty arose with the sound... and then found that the cost of appropriate post-production editing software was as much as the entire budget, it became clear that the $1,000 grant received last August was insufficient for this project and that changes were needed.

After several confabs and much discussion, late last Friday the difficult decision was made to put the entire project on hold. While no one is ruling out the possibility of overcoming the problems - with a different recording location (a muted environment so a single videocamera can be used to simultaneously record video and audio) or with different post-recording editing software - for the time being, all the work is being packed up and put away.

Every part...

every piece... 

Tied quilt with basted edges ready for teaching binding.

every mini quilt...

12" X 12" mini quilt for teaching how to hand sew a binding

19" X 19" sample of walking foot quilting - in the valley; cross-hatch; channel; echo 

... and my sewing machine, and quiltmaking tools and supplies will come back home. I'm ready for a breather from the stress of trying to making this DVD happen, but I will continue to pray about the best use of the grant. I very much appreciate the encouraging comments and support you've already expressed for Stitchin' Mission and this DVD.

Nominated for an Award

The Stitchin' Mission beginner quiltmaking lessons I teach have been nominated to win the 2011 "Best Teacher/Instructor" award. To win the honor, votes must be cast and tallied to choose a winner.

At any time between now and March 31, you may cast one vote in each of ten categories, or just in the Best Teacher/Instructor category, if you prefer.

• Best Designer
• Best Teacher/Instructor
• Best Author
• Best Quilt Store (physical)
• Best Quilt Store (online)
• Best Long Arm Quilter
• Most Innovative Product (physical)
• Most Innovative Product (software item)
• Most Influential Person in the World of Quilting To-Date (AKA "Lifetime Achievement")
• Best Quilt Retreat

Nominees are listed here. You may vote only one time in one or all of the ten categories.

Go here to see the nominees, then cast a vote by posting a comment indicating who you're voting for. By commenting, you not only cast your vote, but enter a chance to be selected to win a prize.

Be sure your vote/comment includes your email address so you can be contacted if you are selected to win a prize. The format for leaving your email address can be, for example: mary dot smith at mchsi dot com

Thank you for considering voting for Stitchin' Mission and me - Linda Hungerford. I really appreciate your support!

P.S. We've put together a small pre-production team that is working together on the Stitchin' Mission DVD, and we're making progress. I'll keep you updated. - Linda