I apologize if this post isn't an easy read, I'm trying to make it... but being over tired and listening to Russian music to stay awake really isn't helping. ;)
As most of you know, I am a crocheter. Big time. And if you didn't know that, you don't know me very well, I need to post more about it, or you don't read my other blogs! :) I don't mention either of my other two blogs on here very often (I actually have more like 5, but a few are private, and I don't post on some anymore like my mission trip one).
But anyways, with in the last few months, I've blogged about big things over at For His Glory Handiwork. Big things that have been keeping me crazy busy! This year was the 3rd year I helped plan the Block Party! And it was a huge success!
You are probably wondering what the Block Party is... and I'd be thrilled happy to explain it yet again! :) Oh and I'm also going to add a bit of history, so bear with me!
The January before we brought Elijah home (he came home Dec '10), inspired by a semi-similar idea I had seen on a crocheting site, I came up with the idea for a 'Block Party'! This isn't your typical Block Party though (honestly, I didn't know what a real Block Party was until a year or so ago!), instead we wanted knitters and crocheters to make 6 inch squares/blocks, and then we got together and sewed them together. After they are sewn, they get sent to orphanages and institutions in Ukraine, many of which I have visited.
In March it happened! We hosted the first Block Party at our house, and had about 10 ladies come and help sew blankets together, and had a total of 300 blocks, which made 8 blankets! Praise God! It was a great turn out for a great year!
The second year, or 2011, my goal was to double and get to 600 blocks! After some very large generous block donations, we made that plus more! We ended up with 854 blocks or something like that!!! Those blocks made about 25 blankets! We also collected a lot of scarves, baby hats, slippers, baby sweaters, etc. Some wonderful ladies also made about 25 sewn quilts for us.
This year, we hosted the Block Party on February 4th, and had about 20 people show up to help!! Since we had SO many blocks left over we did another Block Party at our house the next Saturday, and about a little less people come. God has blessed the Block Party SOOO greatly this year, just look at these totals! (Taken from For His Glory Handiwork)
1864 BLOCKS!!!!
Which made:
12 baby blankets including 6 other ones not made with blocks
11 lap blankets
4 medium blankets including 1 not made with blocks
11 big blankets (twin bed size)
Total of 38 blankets!!!
16 preemie/baby hats
5 older kid hats
3 pairs of baby booties
11 scarves
4 toys
1 baby sweater
In March it happened! We hosted the first Block Party at our house, and had about 10 ladies come and help sew blankets together, and had a total of 300 blocks, which made 8 blankets! Praise God! It was a great turn out for a great year!
The second year, or 2011, my goal was to double and get to 600 blocks! After some very large generous block donations, we made that plus more! We ended up with 854 blocks or something like that!!! Those blocks made about 25 blankets! We also collected a lot of scarves, baby hats, slippers, baby sweaters, etc. Some wonderful ladies also made about 25 sewn quilts for us.
This year, we hosted the Block Party on February 4th, and had about 20 people show up to help!! Since we had SO many blocks left over we did another Block Party at our house the next Saturday, and about a little less people come. God has blessed the Block Party SOOO greatly this year, just look at these totals! (Taken from For His Glory Handiwork)
1864 BLOCKS!!!!
Which made:
12 baby blankets including 6 other ones not made with blocks
11 lap blankets
4 medium blankets including 1 not made with blocks
11 big blankets (twin bed size)
Total of 38 blankets!!!
16 preemie/baby hats
5 older kid hats
3 pairs of baby booties
11 scarves
4 toys
1 baby sweater
Total of 1911 items collected to bless and bring hope to the hopeless in Ukraine!!!
Plus a bunch of clothes, baby sleepers, and other things!!
Here is a video I made the other day with a bunch of pictures of the Block Parties, finished blankets, and people who these blankets will bless once they get to Ukraine!
This year's blankets are on their way to Ukraine right now, and our dear friend Max will distribute them to where they are needed most when they get there. I'm praying that each and every person who uses a blanket can feel God's love through them.
I also want to thank my best friend, partner in crime, and companion orphan advocator, Rachel for all the work she has put into this project!!!! She has done so much sewing and has been willing to take lots of blankets home to finish, not to mention making blocks, helping soo much at the Block Parties, and doing a LOT of the borders. She is my right-hand and is always there to help and offer advice even on such things at what song to use for the above video! :) I often get the credit for the Block Party, but so much belongs to her as well! I could not do it without her!
One of my favorite verses (which I will post about more tomorrow) is:
1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Sarah this is AWESOME!!
ReplyDeleteThat is so amazing Sarah! How inspiring to see how much people can accomplish when they all do their part... Rachel, GREAT song choice! Who sings that?
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get the pictures from the baby hospital? I've never seen that first picture of Dasha... And did you know that that's Lucas in the last picture? Has his mom seen it?
The song is Little is Much by Downhere. :)
DeleteThe first and third pictures I got from Max's website (http://truehopeukraine.com/). Is the first one Dasha? The second and fourth I got from RR's database of pictures. The one of the baby in yellow is Dasha. And yes, I knew the last one is Lucas. :) I'm not sure if his mom has it, but I'll send it to her just to be sure. :)