The invasion is over............

for this year.

Last week was Quilt Week in Quilt City, USA. This is a big deal!!! 30,000 quilters from all over the world invaded our city of 25,000. Each year we turn our streets, sidewalks, hotels, shops, restaurants and homes over to women in patch work vests while we take extra precautions navigating our streets, eat at home and count the coffer.  

For the past 12 years we have hosted quilters in our home, sometimes strangers and sometimes friends. It was not different this year except the friends from Texas we were expecting had to cancel at the last minute. Coincidentally (or maybe not) ABN noticed in a newsletter from Sew Powerful, a non-profit in which she has had an interest, that they were to have a vendor booth and needed volunteers. What better way to learn about an organization than to work with them? On a chance they might need lodging we offered our vacant guest room. Long story short, they accepted our offer, we made new friends and became captivated with a purse making mission. Even Captain (he was their personal driver for the week.)

Driving Miss Daisy the Ladies

We ended the week with new friends from Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, Indiana and Washington.

This is not the entire team.

And we found a way to help make the world a little better place. Now I know you are curious; you want to know about Sew Powerful and how making purses can make a difference. In a nutshell, it is a faith based organization that works to empower women to learn skills and to improve education for girls. They got our attention with empowerment and education. The organization recruits volunteers around the world to make purses that are sent to Zambia via WorldVision. Sew Powerful employs the local women to sew reusable sanitary pads that are placed in the purse along with a bar of soap and two pairs of panties. The purses are distributed to 6^th grade girls in their health class in the Ngombe Compound in Lusaka Zambia. This project provides a means of income for the women and keeps the girls in school all month long.

Doubt that Captain will be making purses, but one never knows.

We would like to say we returned home to sunny skies and warm temperatures. We have had a few wonderfully mild days, but also a lot of days that were cloudy, cool and rainy. Not much different than the past 4 months in Texas and Arizona. Most of the geraniums survived in the greenhouse (thank you water elves, you know who you are, the roses and Irises are beginning to bloom and we have had one hummingbird scout stop by. Hopefully the Major Wheeler Honeysuckle got his attention and he will report back to his tribe flock.

The house and garden are pretty much back to normal after a winter hiatus, so now it is time to hit the road again. North Carolina, here we come!

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