This newsletter keeps getting longer and longer, but it's just because we've received so many blessings. We want to make sure we thank everyone for their sweet and generous gifts and beg forgiveness if we accidentally leave anyone out.

We appreciate all our volunteers and would like to thank the ten who joined us In March for blanket making day at HOPE Community. Those individuals were: Sandi Dutton, Nancy Price, Lea Kornegay, Pennie Slaughter, Heather Whitehead, Mary DiGiovanni, Peggy Adair, Sheilah Dambitis, and Carol P. Several of our volunteers also brought in donations: Nancy Price  gave a darling knitted black bear, Lea Kornegay  brought back a finished quilt that she practiced her free motion machine quilting on. Heather Whitehead  brought in a crocheted afghan that's so cute. I hope she posts a photo of it on our web site. The sides aren't straight because it's a flower - complete with leaves. It's very small and will be perfect for a preemie or newborn. Peggy Adair  brought us a photo album, a book for the children, and three beading trays for our annual yard sale. Sheilah Dambitis  brought in six (you read that right - SIX!) pieced, finished, beautiful, experienced quilter quality, heirloom-type, that you'd give to your own kids, quilts. What a loving gift. Thank you so much Sheilah. Pennie Slaughter  brought back three fleece blankets from kits she'd taken home. They're finished and beautiful. They were from the fleece kits Marty Quinn  brought us over the last several months. And I  brought in one finished fleece blanket.

At the end of our March meeting we turned in 13 handmade quilts, four fleece blankets, two afghans -- one with a matching pillow, and a knitted teddy bear.

To date we've donated 165 blankets in the form of: 80 finished hand-made quilts, 38 handmade fleece blankets, 25 crocheted or knitted afghans,  two summer-weight coverlets, 13 store bought blankets, seven used blankets, seven handmade pillows, and one crocheted Bunny Love. We've also received a small mountain of stuffed animals, toys, clothes, and household items which have been passed along to the kind folks residing at HOPE Community.

At our March meeting, I learned that Sew for HOPE has been exceeding it's goal of providing a handmade quilt, afghan, or blanket to each child who passes through HOPE Community/Big Bend Homeless Coalition. And it's no wonder - with the group of caring individuals we have on our side now.

Additional blessings we've received since the last newsletter are:

Thank you to Sandi Dutton , Mary DiGiovanni , Heather Whitehead, and Marty Quinn  for helping out at our additional Sew for HOPE meetings at our satellite location. That's at 1108 W Tharpe. In addition to helping hands getting our space set up, Sandi brought in three quilt tops she made from kits we had given her. She did an awesome job and they are quite beautiful. Carol Harrison  has already stopped by to see our new space and brought us the gift of a cute "duckies" quilt made by Fellowship Presbyterian Quilters. Carol also took three kits for her group to turn into quilts. Thank you Carol and friends.

And of course we wouldn't have been able to work there without the generosity of Goodwill. So . . . a continued thanks to Brooke Lochore  and Goodwill Industries – Big Bend, Inc.  for the donation of work and storage space, plus the perfect shelving units.

Yet another, much deserved, thank you to Roselind Woods  for the fabric donations to Sew for HOPE and A Bag of HOPE projects. Roselind also gave us the mini table lamp w/ extra light bulbs, 2 extension cords, and a storage container.

A special thank you to Anne Wade  for the generous quantity of fabric for Sew for HOPE and A Bag of HOPE projects. Anne also gave us patterns, a quilt top, and a finished afghan with a matching pillow. So cute. She knitted squares, whip-stitched them together, then added a border. It's very folksy and comfortable.

At the past two visits to Quilter's Unlimited Guild meeting we received nine more quilts. Seven were from kits we loaned out and the other two were pure donations. The quilters who gave of their time and talent are: Wanda Crowe , Janice Parker , Clara Black , Renie Marchese, Genera Shepherd , and Linda Brooks . We also received five knitted, newborn size, stocking caps from Charlotte Hughes . Thank you ladies.

A great big thank you to Carol Woodward for the gift of four antique quilts. They are lovely and I wish everyone could see them.

A heartfelt thank you to the ladies of Sweet Bay Garden Circle for spending their March meeting time snipping fringe and tying four fleece blankets. They turned out really cute ladies. Good job!

Thank you to Cathy Byrnes, Pennsylvania Coordinator of Quilts of Comfort, for the two boxes containing, a quilt, a quilt kit, yarn, a rotary cutter, and some extra blades for that cutter. What an awesome gift.

Sandra Iasiello gave us a button-holer, a book on sewing machine repair, and a book on serger repair. Thank you Sandra, we hope you'll be able to join us again soon.

Peggy Adair made an Easter quilt and dropped it off at HOPE Community. We weren't meeting again until after Easter and she wanted a little person to have it in time. Thank you Peggy.

Thank you to Judee Pouncey for the donation of clothing, toys, and household items that will be donated to HOPE Community residents.

I mentioned above that we're going to have an annual yard sale for a fund raising event. We have not set the date for the first sale. We have to wait until we have enough stuff. We are selling anything sewing related and will also have arts and crafts supplies. Anyone wishing to donate items for our yard sale please call or send me an e-mail.

Our workday schedule at HOPE and Goodwill, at 1108 W Tharpe Street (at Old Bainbridge) is the 1st Saturday, 3rd Monday, and 4th Wednesday of each month. We meet from 9am - 1pm. We have room for up to six individuals to work at one time. In addition, there's a Goodwill employee on site and donations may be dropped off seven days a week from 8a - 6p. Donations need to be clearly marked "Sew for HOPE", so they are not confused with Goodwill donations.

NOTE: We will still be meeting the second Tuesday of each month for blanket making day at HOPE Community.

Thanks to our Web Mistress, Heather Whitehead, we are now on Facebook. To find us there, one just needs to search for "Sew for HOPE" in the fan pages. Also, you can follow us on twitter. http://www.twitter.com/sewforhope. Now I need to find time to get on Facebook and twitter too -- so I can see what else we're up to. LOL

Our sister group, "A Bag for HOPE" has donated $2,322 to HOPE Community. This money comes from the sale of handmade bags, and this money is used for books, supplies, and field trips for resident children. For more information on that project, please contact Libby at libbypenrod@comcast.net, or Lynne at  lcc0809@comcast.net. (that's a lower case L).

Remember, we have a raffle going on to raise operating capital.  The item is a hand made, hand quilted, queen size quilt. It measures 77" x 104". The colors are primarily beige, light blue, dark blue, and a dusty reddish color. The pattern is called "Weather Vane". It was made in 1985 by Quilter's Unlimited. It has just been freshly laundered. Tickets are $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00. If you'd like to have your name put in the drawing, please give me a call or reply to this e-mail. The winning ticket will be pulled on June 10th of this year.

We have already begun working on our next raffle quilt. We're using 5,000 of the gazillion fabric circles and fabric yo-yos we have and putting them into a queen size quilt. These yo-yos are really not suitable for small children, and we don't want them to go to waste. This is going to be the prettiest quilt you've ever seen. And I have to mention that at last evenings Quilter's Unlimited meeting, we received 29 yo-yo quilt blocks to help us with our task. That's 725 yo-yos sewn together. Thank you ladies.

WISH LIST: We could really use a volunteer to head up fund raising. We need an ironing board pad and cover. We need quilting supplies such as: rotary cutters, self healing cutting mats, gridded rulers, quilting pins, seam rippers, and all sizes of quilt batting, or gift cards to JoAnn's to purchase those items. We still appreciate fleece fabric in - 1 1/4 yard or 2 1/2 yard pieces. We always need basic sewing supplies such as: scissors, straight pins, needles, and thimbles. Tools and supplies are given to residents who are learning a new skill. We need zippers for residents who need slacks repaired. We need cash or stamps for postage.

We're looking for professional long arm quilters who are willing to quilt children's quilts when in-between projects? We would supply everything needed of course.

If you're a member of a church group or social organization please consider having a blanket making party or a quilting bee as one of your monthly programs. Please call or e-mail me for more information. We have free quilting bundles available for you to work with.

If you live outside the area and would like to make a quilt or afghan for Sew for HOPE, we would love to mail you a bundle of fabric, a quilt kit, or some yarn. If you request it, I will also include the return postage in your package. We really need helping hands now. Remember, we're making simple utility quilts and blankets. We're not asking for perfection. Also, we're not asking you to hand or machine quilt. If you'd just like to stitch a quilt top together and return it to us, that's fine and very much appreciated. In addition, they can be very small. A preemie size is only 17" x 22" (or thereabouts). We also are accepting yarn and crocheted granny squares.

We always meet the second Tuesday of the month. So, our next meeting is Tuesday, April 13th from 1 - 4:30 pm. We'll be visiting and  while making quilts and blankets for the children residing at HOPE Community here in Tallahassee. We are not a closed group like a sit and stitch. Interested persons are always welcome and experience is not required. Men are welcome too you know!

ADDRESS: Big Bend Homeless Coalition
                 2729 W Pensacola St
                 Tallahassee, FL  32302
we always meet in the cafeteria

DIRECTIONS - drive west on Tennessee Street, turn left onto Appleyard, cross Pensacola, take the first left onto Municipal Way, pass the jail on the right, look for a small sign by the entrance on the left that says "Tallahassee Coalition for the Homeless". Please stop by the administration building to sign in. That's the last building on the right and it's brick.

Thanks for your precious time and for all you do,
Cynthia Seyler, founder
(850) 539-5558 home
(850) 556-1215 cell (Please don't leave messages on the cell. I live in a dead zone and usually don't receive them in a timely manner.)

Special thanks to Heather Whitehead for creating and continuing to build our website. Please do check it out at  www.sewforhopenow.com

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested.