What We Do

We make and give Hope Quilts to those who are afflicted with cancer.  Above is Peggy Burns from Crossroads with her quilt.  These are great for people who are going through chemo as they tend to get cold, but they are wonderful for anyone who is fighting this battle.  Each quilt has 35 blocks, 33 of which have hand written Bible verses on them, one of which has the name of the group and the church’s name and address. The center block has an embroidered cross that coordinates with the colors of the quilt.  While the specific Bible verses may vary, each quilt has John 3:16, Romans 10:9, and Romans 8:28, making each quilt an evangelistic tool.  These are given to people at Crossroads, in the Valley, and often mailed to others around the state and around the country.  They are given without charge to anyone who requests one for someone they know, no matter how serious the cancer is.

When and Where

We meet at the home of Gayle Brosnan-Watters at 10410 East Lambert St., Sun Lakes, 85248 at noon on alternate Tuesday mornings, usually the first and third Tuesday (call Gayle at 480-290-8835 or e-mail glbrosnan@aol.com) to find out which Tuesdays we are meeting – it varies due to people’s jobs and other schedules

How You Can Help

• Come and work with us on Tuesday.  It is not necessary to know how to sew or quilt!  There is no hand quilting involved!  The quilts are done  mostly on an assembly line basis.  Many people work at cutting the material into strips.  Color coordinated strips are then made into kits that we put in gallon size storage bags. The strips are then sewn together to form the blocks.  Each of the 35 blocks is then squared to 9 inches, and then the Bible verses are traced onto the blocks by hand using a light box (we have the verses printed in various fonts to use as models), or just printed by hand by those who have excellent writing skills.  Then the blocks are laid out and sewn together into the quilt tops.  On Tuesdays we usually have a number of quilts to “sandwich” – when the top, batting, and backing are assembled and pinned together for quilting.  The quilting is done by members by machine (not a fancy quilting machine, just sewing machines with a “walking foot.”)  After that the binding is made and attached by machine and then hand sewn to finish it.

Want to help but can't come on Tuesdays?

• Some people work at home on various parts of the process listed above.  Some take material to cut, some take the blocks to square and write the verses, and some take the “kits” of strips home to sew into the blocks, and some assemble the tops.  Let us know of your interest and we will see what we can do.

• Donations of 100% cotton fabric (not sheets) are always accepted, as are donations of money or gift cards to quilt shops or JoAnn Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or any of the great quilt shops in the area, such as Cutting Edge in Chandler.  We have to buy our batting, and it costs over $200 for a roll.  We go through one roll about every 6 months.  Although we have been able to mostly use donated fabric, we do sometimes need to buy it, and we always have to buy the white fabric on which we write the Bible verses.