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It's that time again. We're getting ready
for Sew for HOPE blanket making day at
Big Bend Homeless Coalition (BBHC), also known as HOPE Communities,
here in Tallahassee, Florida.
But first, I'd like to share with you what's been going on. Our family is growing. We have a sister group now. Lynne Corbett and Libby Penrod are the co-founders of Bags of HOPE which uses donated fabric and volunteer labor to make bags for sale. There are tote bags, tiny gift card bags, wine cozies, multi-pocketed travel jewelry bags, clutch-type purses -- well you get the picture. 100% of the proceeds are going to BBHC to pay for field trips, so homeless children can go along with their classmates. The money will also fund a library on site at HOPE Communities. Libby reports that they've already given $370.00 to BBHC. Congratulations and good work ladies. Tears of joy. For more information on Bags of HOPE please contact Libby at libbypenrod@comcast.net, or Lynne at lcc0809@comcast.net. (that's a lower case L). We had such a great afternoon at Sew for HOPE when we met in October. We had eleven volunteers and five visitors. The activities included: sewing, visiting, crocheting, smiling, machine quilting, talking, hand tying http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, laughing, making doll clothes, teaching, cutting fabric, helping, coordinating fabrics, making new friends, organizing donated yarn, loving, and measuring quilt tops (so we'd know what size batting to add). Thanks to Mary DiGiovanni  ,
Heather Whitehead,
Sandi Dutton,
Peggy Adair,
Nancy Price,
and
Marty Quinn
for hard work and a job well done. I love you all so much.We had four new helpers in October. Barbara Sims heard me give a little talk at Unity Church and came to volunteer her time. We put her to work tying blankets. Thank you Barbara ,
we really appreciated your help. Hope to see you next week.We had a real treat when Sharon Whitehead came to help and brought a "seeing eye" puppy in training. We had the best time when the puppy's vest was removed so she was "off duty". Then we got lots of puppy kisses on our ears. Ahhh . . . it had been way too long since I'd had puppy kisses. 
Thank you so much Sharon
for bringing her along. She's welcome to visit us any time. And thanks for
your help with tying that baby quilt. Good job!Many thanks also go out to Lisa Brown
and
Debra Wilson.
Their happy helping hands are greatly appreciated. We hope you can come back
and help us in November.
 We received so many donations at out October meeting. Sandi Dutton
brought a finished
crocheted afghan which she made with her own talented hands. Sandi
also, picked up and brought in two huge bags of yarn and 20 crochet hooks from
DeeDee Harrison.
Thank you ladies. This will be great for the resident mommies or daddies who
want to knit or crochet their own baby blanket.Nancy Price made and brought in two tote bags for the Bags of HOPE project, and a $20 cash donation to celebrate our one year anniversary. Thank you Nancy.
I realize that without you we wouldn't be nearly as far along as we are.Special thanks to Darlene Wilke
who brought us a bag full of baby yarn that she no longer needed.Heather Whitehead brought a finished afghan that her aunt Margaret Reed made for us. Thanks so much Margaret.
We missed seeing you. Thanks also to Heather
for bringing in a quilt top and a finished quilt that she made. We love
Heather
.New volunteer Barbara Sims brought us a bag of fiberfill stuffing. Thank you Barbara ,
we'll put it to good use. I think we have enough fiberfill now to make some
more pillows.
I just had a flash of inspiration. We've
received a lot of brown fabric that doesn't really lend itself to a baby
quilt. We're going to start making large brown bear pillows.Continued thanks to Marty Quinn ,
who brought a quilt top, some
backing fabric for a quilt, and a box of fabric for the
Bags of HOPE
project.Fellowship Presbyterian Stitchers
donated two fleece blanket panels. Thank you ladies, you've come through for
us yet again.A sweet thank you for Lynne Corbett
who stopped by and dropped off some quilt fabric and picked up some donations
we had for her.I brought in a beautiful baby quilt that I'd only finished the quilting on, that Mary Quinn assembled and quilted, from donated fabric and donated quilt squares. So many of our http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 are collaborations just like this. It reminds me of The House That Jack Built. This is the Quilt Tallahassee Built . . .should I write a book? I made an error in the newsletter last month when I wrote that Laninda Sande had passed along donations from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. The kind and generous folks at Capital Regional Medical Center, where Laninda works, donated those items to us. I'm sorry for the boo boo. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Those donations were a quilt, assorted fabric, an ironing board cover (yea!), and a package of crib size batting. Thank you so much Laninda and friends.
.I'll have to look back and count up, but I think we've received nine sewing machines and one serger now. We've just given the serger and one sewing machine to Bags of HOPE. At the end of our October meeting we turned in three afghans, one double bed quilt, four baby http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 and Tracy Allen's handmade denim doll. To date we've donated 43 finished hand-made http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, 31 handmade fleece blankets, 12 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. We've received many generous donations since our meeting in October. Joani Robson gave us four small teddy bears. They're dressed up in full boxing regalia and fighting for a breast cancer cure. Thank you Joani .A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Cathy Perryman for
the donation of that steam iron we've been needing. We'll think of you
whenever we iron our beautiful
quilting fabric.Tracy Allen
thought we might be able to use some quilting templates. Yes indeed Tracy, we
can. We appreciate how generous you've been with us since the very beginning.Libby Penrod
has donated a much needed twin sized
package of quilt batting.
She also delivered three containers of quilting fabric from the patrons and
owner of
The Bernina Connection
here in Tallahassee. Wow, we love quilt shop fabric. It's the best!
Thank you one and all.Thanks to Mary DiGiovanni ,
and Heather Whitehead
for
meeting with me at the end of October to sort and organize fabric.
We assembled 12 quilt bundles to
give away. Any takers?We always meet the second Tuesday of the month. So, our next meeting is Tuesday, November 10th 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! Sandi Dutton has
volunteered to teach crochet during our blanket making sessions. She will also
teach how to read a pattern, so it's alright for students to bring a pattern
if there's something specific they want to make.If you live outside the area and would like to make a quilt for Sew for HOPE, we would love to mail you a bundle of fabric or a quilt kit. If you request it, I will also include the return postage in your package. We really need helping hands now. Remember, we are making simple utility http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415. We are not asking for perfection. Also, we are 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). A special happy note -- I mailed out the first quilt kit. Barbara Sherman is working on baby http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 for us at home and when she travels. Thank you Barbara ,
we can't wait to see them.We now have enough yarn to mail packages for volunteer knitters or crochet lovers. Just let me know and I'll mail you a "present". 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. WISH LIST: We have received such abundant blessings that our wish list is now shrinking. We still would appreciate Gift cards to JoAnn's to purchase twin size and larger quilt batting as needed. We need cash or stamps for postage. We still appreciate receiving fleece fabric in 1 1/4 yard or 2 1/2 yard pieces. The fleece is perfect for helpers with no sewing experience or skills. We need knitting needles (especially size 8), crochet hooks, and 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 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. 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, (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
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