Hi! I hope everyone had a glorious Thanksgiving. What a wonderful holiday. Gathering together with family and friends to enjoy a wonderful feast. Uh Oh! I'm getting hungry again!

Our November "Sew for HOPE" get together at the Big Bend Homeless Coalition was awesome. Our number of volunteers doubled to 6, which was a perfect number for a beginning sewing circle. We were joined by Eileen Prince, who donated supplies for making a basic sewing kit to be gifted to a resident. She also donated extra thread to the group. After all,  you can't make http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 without thread! Eileen's giving us additional help by making quilt blocks at home. Thank you Eileen. Libby Penrod joined us and began making a "no sew" fleece blanket. Can't wait to see it Libby! Thanks to Patty Applegate for bringing her sewing machine along for the day. An antique Singer Feather Weight no less. What a treat! Patty was such a big help, we hope to see her at all our meetings. Thanks to Chris Rivers for volunteering to head up our knitting corner. Chris is also working on making afghans at home. During our meeting one of the resident children helped get our fabric sorted to begin making quilt blocks. While there we completed one fleece blanket and started another.

Since our November meeting other nice donations have been received, but first a belated thank you to Martha Mitchell for jump starting "Sew for HOPE" with her gift of 11 hand made fleece blankets. A double big thank you to Saima and her "Hibiscus Garden Circle" friends who once again donated to our cause. This past month they gave us a shopping bag filled with fabric, 2 teddy bears and some sewing supplies. Thanks to Colette Vallee who donated a fleece blanket which she made, and to Tracy Allen who gave a (mostly finished) blue jean quilt. We will finish it and give it a good home. A heartfelt thanks to Virginia Gilroy for her $10 donation. Thanks Aunt Ginny! That was added to the $25 gift we received from Loris Seyler and the $25 we received from Nancy Rasmussen. The money was combined for the purchase of an iron and ironing board. Yeah! You can't make http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 with wrinkly fabric! Thank you Mom and Aunt Nancy.

It's now December and we'll be meeting on Tuesday the 9th from 1 - 4:30 p.m. Regardless of experience all are welcome to join us on blanket making day. We'll continue cutting fabric and it's time to start sewing fabric strips together for making simple quilt blocks. We have the unfinished quilt that Tracy Allen donated which we can work on. Of course, if you want to bring a project to work on, that would be great too. We will probably have some "no sew" fleece blankets which can be tied. If you would like to help, but don't want to sew, we now need someone to iron donated fabric. We also need a volunteer to take future donated fabrics home to be laundered. We need someone available for working with the resident children who come in to visit after school. We have a very simple project in mind for all ages. And finally, volunteers can also take bundles of fabric home to stitch into simple quilt blocks, like Eileen did. We can show you how to make simple, no stress, no math quilt blocks.

To date we have received 15 handmade fleece blankets, 5 crocheted/knitted afghans, 5 finished http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, 1 unfinished quilt, 8 knitted caps, 5 used blankets, 2 teddy bears, and an assortment of toiletry items.

WISH LIST: Sewing machine, muslin fabric, quilt batting, scissors, freezer paper, knitting needles, basic sewing supplies and small sewing kits for residents.

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". Administration building is last building on right (brick). You must go to the administration building for a visitors pass.

Thanks for all you do,
Cynthia Seyler
850-539-5558 hm
850-556-1215 cell

November 2008     January 2009