Merry Christmas
and Happy Holidays
to all who receive this tale of blessings.
We're meeting this coming
Tuesday, December 8th,
from 1 - 4:30 pm. Please join us if you're in the Tallahassee area. The
address and directions are at the bottom of this message.
So what's been going on during the past
month? Thanks for allowing me to share this with you. We had a great
meeting in November with eight residents and volunteers working hand in hand
to achieve our goals.
First and foremost, thanks to my
husband, Phil
.
He pleasantly loads and unloads my car, and never complains about the
HOPE Central Station the house has
become. We have fabric, sewing machines, and blankets coming and going like
crazy around here. The abundance we have received has been rich and rewarding.
A heart-felt thanks to new volunteer
Mavis La Bounty.
She was a powerhouse accomplishing an amazing amount of work during our
November meeting at HOPE Communities. We had some long narrow scraps of polar
fleece that she turned into five fringed fleece scarves (say that five times
really fast) for resident kids. She & Sandi Dutton also made great progress on
a quilt with a music theme that we've been working on. It'll be finished soon.
Mavis also lent a helping hand to Phillip, who needed to repair his favorite
shirt. And, not to be forgotten, she also brought along donations of batting
and fabric. Please come join us again Mavis. Pretty please with sugar on top.
A big thank you to
Cora
for helping out before she had to go to work. She cut out a bear pillow and
then cut fleece scraps into smaller pieces for pillow stuffing. I'm telling
you, we don't let much fabric go to waste.
Peggy Adair
brought in two finished http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 that are gorgeous -- as her work always is. She's
been such a blessing to us. At the meeting, she laid out donated quilt blocks
into a quilt top, also enlisting the help of Emanuel with the design
decisions. Then Peggy stitched up the bear pillow and taught Emanuel how to
use a sewing machine. Thanks Peggy. Never, never leave us.
Sandi Dutton
brought in two finished afghans that she crocheted with donated yarn. She
finished another one while we were working. She's going to town on those
granny squares. Sandi has volunteered to teach crochet at our monthly Sew for
HOPE meetings. We have an abundance of yarn and crochet hooks available for
residents and volunteers to work with. Thank you Sandi for all you do. We love
you.
My partner, Mary
DiGiovanni,
always lightens my load. She arrives early and stays late with me, helps me
organize donations, gladly does anything I ask of her, and is passionate about
this project. Thanks Mary. You're the best partner in the whole wide world.
So, at the end of the day we turned in two baby http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, two crocheted baby
afghans, one preemie fleece blanket, one baby fleece blanket, one Christmas
panel fleece blanket, five fleece scarves, four beanie baby bears, and two
bags of school supplies (from me).
To date we've donated
45 finished
hand-made http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, 34
handmade fleece blankets,
14
crocheted or knitted afghans,
two summer-weight coverlets,
13 store bought
blankets, seven
used blankets, and
five handmade
pillows, 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.
During the past month we've had many blessings:
Tallahassee's local quilt guild,
Quilter's Unlimited, gave me permission to have a
Sew for HOPE
table at their monthly meetings. At our first meeting we accepted a gift of
quilt batting from Martha Tilden. Thank you Martha.
Thanks also to Linda Brooks,
she's a long arm quilter who has generously volunteered to do machine quilting
for us. Additional thanks to Genera Shepard,
Loretta Hodge,
Maura McLaughlin,
Sheilah Dambitis,
and Dawn Griffin
for taking quilt blocks and quilt tops to work on at home.
A few weeks ago I picked up a set of really cute quilt blocks from
Eileen Prince.
She made these from donated fabric and cloth she purchased to coordinate.
We'll get those made up into a quilt top in no time. Thank you Eileen,
we promise to show it to you when it's finished.
Thanks to
Mary DiGiovanni,
Sandi Dutton,
and Peggy Adair
for
meeting with me at the end of November to work on turning Eileen's quilt
blocks into a quilt top. It's coming along nicely and is going to be very
pretty. We also worked on that quilt that Peggy and Emanuel started at our
November Sew for HOPE meeting.
Special thanks to Jenny Gray
for donating boxes of fabric, a quilt book and a case of toilet paper for HOPE
Communities. The shelter is in need of personal hygiene items at the present
time.
Carina Beaudoin-Tate
donated yarn and so many
knitting needles I am now taking that off the wish list. Her mom owned
a knitting shop and took a fresh pair of needles down every time she started a
new project. We'll use them in our classes, and give them to residents who are
learning to knit. Thank you very much Carina
.
Our sister group, "A
Bag for HOPE" has
donated
close to $1500 to HOPE Community for
books, supplies, and
field trips for the 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).
A message to professional long arm quilters
-- would you please be willing to quilt a child's quilt when you're in between
projects? We would supply everything needed. I'd appreciate hearing from you.
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 http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 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, granny squares.
WISH LIST:
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 cash or
stamps for postage. We need someone
willing to service
our
sewing machines
as needed. We also need a
corresponding secretary
to write and mail thank you cards. I send a Hallmark e-card to donors who have
e-mail accounts. However, occasionally we need to utilize the post office and
mail an old fashioned paper card.
And the Whopper -- we need a donated work
space with electricity included. Sew for HOPE and A Bag of HOPE are having
serious storage issues. Help!!!
We always meet the second Tuesday of the month. So, our
next meeting is Tuesday, December 8th from 1 - 4:30 pm.
We'll be visiting and having fun while making http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 and blankets for the
children residing at HOPE Communities 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 - we always meet in the cafeteria
2729 W Pensacola St
Tallahassee, FL 32302
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
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