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Oh my goodness. We have been showered with such blessings since
we began this project. And we are grateful for all the many gifts we've
received. Our last meeting was so much fun -- and busy as usual. A new
volunteer, Heather Whitehead, came to help sew and sort fabric. I'm so
happy and grateful she's decided to join us. Heather has wonderful ideas
and amazing skills besides sewing. She's good with computers and has volunteered
to create and fund a web site for Sew for HOPE. Check out the site listed
above. It's still under construction and needs photos but you can access it
doing a Yahoo search. Three cheers for Heather and a GREAT BIG THANK YOU.
In our June newsletter I mentioned that Nancy Price gave us seven storage
tubs filled with fabric - among other generous gifts. Well, she made it to our
June meeting and brought along a car-full of donations, including: a California
king bedspread, two more storage tubs of fabric, and a sewing machine. She also
brought a gazillion fabric yo-yos, cut out fabric circles (for making more
yo-yos), and yo-yo afghans in various stages of completion. I wanted to cry
tears of joy when I saw them. They are so
pretty -- like a blanket of wildflowers. Where did all these yo-yos come from
you might ask? Well, if I remember correctly, Nancy's son's mother-in-law
collected fabric and made two tons of yo-yos while traveling with her husband.
Sadly, she recently passed away from cancer, but we're not going to let her hard
work become wasted. We're honoring her effort and will continue the work she
started. Several of our volunteers, including me, took these little treasures
home to work on. We'll be stitching circles into yo-yos and stitching yo-yos
into afghans. We can also use them to embellish plain http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415. Thank you Nancy.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do this. Anyway, back to our meeting
-- Marty O'Neill came and worked on the creamy yellow quilt. That was the
first one we started. Of course it's no longer just creamy yellow. As I've
stated before, when you're working with donated scraps, you have to work with
what you have on hand. So now the quilt is pale yellow, blue, and brown. It's
going to be simply charming when it's finished. Marty has been doing lots
of work at home on our behalf, and has made four quilt tops and two baby http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415
so far. Thank you so much Marty. I'm proud to know you. My partner,
Mary Digiovanni, worked on paper piecing quilt blocks which are based on a
vintage design. She worked with a young (first time) volunteer Ashley Hudson
-- teaching her this paper piecing technique. Thank you Mary. Thank
you Ashley. Nathalee Barnes came along, working and laughing the
day away. Thank you Nathalee, you always brighten up the room. So, we
continued working on several on-going projects, and our seven volunteers had 4
sewing machines smokin'. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the little "denim
with red and white polka-dots quilt" that Tracy Allen donated. We worked
on it a bit. Tracy also gave us denim scraps and the pant legs to some
old stretch denim jeans. We just happened to have two baby pillows. It was
Heather's Idea to put baby pillows in the pant legs and stitch them up. So
when the denim quilt is finished, it will have two little denim pillows to
match. How cute is that? Really Cute!!!
At the end of the day we turned in one hand-crocheted afghan, one hand-quilted
table runner, one quilted wall hanging, two store bought fleece blankets, one
"gently used" California king bedspread, one curtain valance, and a pillow case.
To date we've donated 13 finished/hand-made http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, 28 handmade fleece blankets,
two fleece pillows, nine crocheted or knitted afghans, two summer-weight
coverlets, 12 store bought blankets, and six used blankets. 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
Big Bend
Homeless Coalition.
Thanks to Leslee Horner for her generous cash donation of $50.00. Thanks
to Heather Whitehead, Mary Digiovanni, and Janet Hall for
helping out at our informal end of the month get together. We sorted fabric and
cut out a log cabin quilt kit to give away to a volunteer quilter. Anyone
interested?
We always meet the second Tuesday of the month. So, our
next meeting is Tuesday, July 14th from 1 - 4:30 pm. We'll be doing the
usual -- 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're going to continue working on making
quilt bundles to give away. These will be for people to work on at home and then
return to us. They will contain the backing fabric and enough coordinating
fabric to make a small quilt. We also have batting that we can include if
needed. If we have time, we're going to cut some more "log cabin" quilt kits to
give away. Come on beginners -- stop by, get a free patchwork lesson and some
free fabric to take home and practice with. Also, if you're someone with an eye
for color and coordinating fabrics, stop by and help us make the bundles. We
still have "half a gazillion" fabric circles to make yo-yos out of. We're
starting something new this time. We're going to have a separate sewing station
for teaching basic sewing lessons to residents, and we'd like to try holding
weekly sewing lessons in the women's dorm. Nancy Price is interested in
offering those free basic sewing machine classes for residents.
A message to any professional long arm quilters who might be reading this. 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. Free quilting bundles available
for you to work with.
WISH LIST: Ironing board pad and cover, steam iron, crib size cotton batting,
fleece fabric (1 1/4 yard or 2 1/2 yard pieces are perfect), knitting
needles (especially size 8). We always need
basic sewing supplies such as: scissors, straight pins, needles,
new cotton thread,
and thimbles. Sewing supplies are given to residents who are learning to sew. We
need someone willing to service our
sewing machines when needed. And of course we always need
helping hands. We would love to have another volunteer(s) interested in helping
Nancy teach basic sewing lessons once a week in the woman's dorm.
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
(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.)
June 2009
August 2009
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