Wow! Great work!...they are never going to forget you and this experience...and I went back to read your original post...very interesting....maybe other prisons will strart something like this too..thanks for sharing..

Thank you for sharing this article. What a wonderful way to share your talents!

Nice article Kathy. I guess I didn't realize these guys all hand pieced as well as hand quilted. You are an amazing woman!

What a fantastic mission.

"Whatsoever you do, to the least of My brothers, that you do unto Me."

You are a blessing.

wow, what a great way to make the time pass and how wonderful that they are helping other in need at the same time

God will surely bless you for the wonderful work you are doing.

You are a very special lady !

I applaud Katherine Mills for taking the time to teach inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, New Mexico. :thumbup:

(You)/she deserves an award for the great work in which you are doing. Good for you. I am pleased to see that the quilts are being given to charities. I send good wishes to you and the men and just wish that I could do something like that where I live. I think that I am going to look into doing something like this!

TreeFrog

That is just awesome!

That's great that the men can give back to the community & they look like they're enjoying the work.

This is so wonderful of you to do!!! Kudos to you and all them guys! Love seeing quilters with tats!!!

See if you get a hobby, keeps me out of trouble!! Get job you are doing. God Bless

Actually I was given an award by the Ogalalla Quilt Festival. They gave Warden McFadin & me the first Houston & Doris Lust Heart & Hand Award. It is given to people/ groups who are doing something that benefits the community. That was back in 2005.

Wow! Kathy you are doing such an awesome thing with you time and talent! In an article like that your picture is gorgeous!

I like the program you have going!!!

What an awesome program and the people that benefit from it :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I totally agree. The article is fantastic and your photo with the guys is tops :thumbup:

Congratulations on your success with this program - a real win/win for all involved.

Such a contrast between "little granny" quilters & big ole men.
Many inmates are very talented & others become so by the teaching of others as we see from these pics. Quilting is not just for the fairer sex. :lol:

Wonderful thing you are doing. Hope those guys keep the love that goes into quilting with them when they return to their lives.

way to go I would love to have a pattern of the one on your avatar

I have to agree, what a great job and service you are doing. Butttt looking at those pictures, are you sure you want to turn your back on a criminal with scissors or a rotary cutter in their hand?? Just a thought, are they harden criminals or just B & E's or fraud??? Sorry, I dont mean to offend, I just wasn't sure and I dont want to judge. It could be i'm just jealous because they hand quilt better than i do.

this is a great thing you are doing - you look great and it seems you really enjoy your "JOB". thanks for sharing.

One thing you can count on in a prison is that no one wants to be responsible for something happening that affects the whole group. This quilting program is a premium job for this group. They are on Protective Custody for various reasons. That means they can't be mixed with the General Population of inmates, so they can't work in places like the kitchen, laundry, commissary & the like.

They know that if they were to do something stupid like try to steal a pair of scissors or harm me in any way, not only would the program be shut down, but EVERYONE in this housing unit would know who was responsible for causing all of them to loose their job. There aren't other premium jobs back there. Their lives would be miserable, if not in danger.

These guys are eager to make sure everything is accounted for every day. I choose who gets to be a Production leader. I usually ask for a group opinion of any inmate I am considering as everyone has to get along to be able to work together. These guys are actually very honest with me because of this. They will tell me things I might not know about an inmate - both good and bad. I appreciate their info. So far, I haven't had any sort of problem. I wil call for a tool check & everything has to be returned to the tool box. Nothing has ever gone missing.

I have always treated these guys with respect & they, in turn, respect me. This program is now 9 years old.

I know this must be a blessing for you as well as the inmates.

What an amazing story! It lifted my heart andq god bless you.

What an awesome story. It would be wonderful if they could get inmates to make quilts for our soldiers! It seems there are never enough people to keep up with the requests.

Way Cool! Thank you for taking the time and energy to do this! How awesome.

your are one special lady...you are doing a wonderful job...thanks for the info. i also sent the website to a dear friend in california who works in the prison ministry...you are a blessing... :-D

I can hardly wait until my issue arrives. It seems that I read about either this program or another one in a prison in one of the quilting magazines about a year ago. Was that you too?
I think they were asking for fabric, patterns, etc. Could you use that also? If yes, let us know.

Wow, You are an Awesome Woman!!! God Bless you!! I can only hope to wonder that if the moms of this guys could see what their sons were doing, they would be soo proud of them. Nice article and pictures.

It is great to see the inmates making the quilts. They are doing marvellous work for the needy and they are to be congratulated for their effort. It is uplifting to to see projects like this.

what a great idea... convicts here get soooooooo pampered

Great article. Thanks so much for sharing it!

I really like the respect you give them and they give you. That will help in the long run. If the program has run that long it must be a success.

How profitable for the prisoners lives... skill and something worth while to do with their time, not to mention those who benefit fromt their quilts. Wow.

That is a beautiful project and so are you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bless you. The one gentleman with braid, I could never sit that far away from machine - but he certainly looks comfortable. 8-) What a postive and creative endeavor for them.

They find their own position for sewing - not necessarily what we would sit like, huh? I know I can't sit in a chair with arms to sew.

BTW, his nickname is "Red." I wonder why!!!

I hope the magazine gets on the newsstand soon. I am really anxious to read the official article.

Your "guys" look happy and satisfied to be doing this work. Great program.