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On the way to Sew for HOPE in August, I visited Epiphany Lutheran Church here in Tallahassee.
The
Mission Quilters
who sew there had
generously offered to
donate
15 of their
handmade http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 plus a
purchased receiving
blanket to the children at
Big Bend Homeless
Coalition. What a
blessing. We hope that
each of these talented
ladies know how grateful
the residents and their
children are to receive
these beautiful treasures.
As am I. From the bottom
of my heart, thank you one
and all. So, that was an awesome way to start off the day. And it just kept getting better. We had 20 volunteers and residents at our August meeting. Those of you who have followed our progress from the beginning know what a jump in numbers that is. Carol Harrison came to work and brought 4 children's http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 which she made with the help of the "Fellowship Presbyterian Stitchers". A quadruple "Thank You" to Carol and friends. We
appreciate your effort,
service, and gifts.Marty O'Neill brought 4 adult and 2 children quilt tops. Marty has been so prolific during her Summer vacation from school. Thank you Marty.
Gosh, we wish you didn't
have to go back to work
and could keep coming to
Sew for HOPE all year.
 During our August meeting we received another sewing machine. This one from Shirley Williams. Thank you so much Shirley.
This is such a generous
gift. Now we have 7 sewing
machines and with all the
help we had this month, we
had 6 of them
smokin'.Peggy Adair did the cutest thing. She wrote on http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 with a sewing machine. That means she quilted "Sweet Dreams", children's names, and other fun words into our http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415. Peggy has a real talent for this and we thank her for choosing to share this with us.
And, thanks for the
donation of a 5 pound cone
of green thread Peggy. We
won't need to buy that
color
for a lonnngggg time.
Margaret Reed
made yo-yo's with the help
of
Gabriella Morales.
Young Gabriella was a big
help as she tied fleece
blankets, added stuffing &
stitched up little fleece
pillows,
and helped to make
sewing kits to give away.
Gabriella -- you're the
best!
Oh, I almost forgot to
mention, Gabriella also
brought a clown made out
of yo-yos. She wanted us
to have an example of
something else that can be
made with those wonderful
little fabric puffs.Our denim quilt is almost finished thanks to Heather Whitehead.
To make it bigger, she
added a border all the way
around. It is
so
cute. We'll have to make
sure we take a picture of
it for the web site.
Heather took the quilt
home to work on a bit
more.
Ashley Hudson
worked on the little
matching denim pillows.
She made and stitched on
little pockets from some
of the coordinating fabric
in the quilt. Thanks Ash.A special thanks to Chelsea Lortie
for being our volunteer
photographer for the day.
You did a splendid job
Chelsea. (I did try to
insert a couple photos in
this newsletter, but my 'puter
is stubbornly refusing).
Later in the day,
Sandi Dutton
helped Chelsea make a
pillowcase with frogs and
bears for her father.
Thanks for all your help
Sandi, and
for the beautiful
sunflower arrangement you
brought to
brightened up the room..Anna Lynn finished tying a fleece blanket, and made a fleece pillow. Thank you Anna .
We appreciate you.Marty Quinn came along to work and brought six very handsome yards of fabric to donate. Thank you Marty ,
that will back at least
two http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415.Sandra Iasiello
came forward and offered
to help
Nancy Price
with basic sewing lessons
for residents. We're still
working on those details,
however I think it was
that offer of extra help
and teachers that really
got the room jumpin'.
Sandra and
Nancy taught how to sew on
buttons, repair a ripped
seam, patch a large hole
in jeans, and how to
operate a sewing machine.It was a very busy and productive day, and before we went home we gave away 19 hand-made http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, 1 store bought blanket, 1 small fleece blanket, one preemie size fleece blanket, 1 soothie blanket, one fleece pillow, one table cloth, and one teddy bear. To date we've donated 34 finished/hand-made http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, 31 handmade fleece blankets, three fleece pillows, nine crocheted or knitted afghans, two summer-weight coverlets, 13 store bought blankets, and seven 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. During the past month we've received several other fine and generous gifts. Dawn Griffin gave us a serger. She also gave us about 60 quilt blocks which she made with her own talented hands. Wow! Thank you so very much for your generosity Dawn. Thanks to Mary DiGiovanni ,
Sandi Dutton,
and
Peggy Adair
for meeting with me at the
end of the month to lay
out quilt blocks for a
music quilt. We also
worked on paper piecing
some quilt blocks, and
stitched the backs on a
couple of http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415, so now
they're finished.
Peggy handed over a quilt
top from donated blocks
she took home last month.
It's bright and
beautiful. She also made
the yummiest pralines --
with extra butter mind
you.
That made me very happy.Thanks to Laurie Wischmeyer
for taking donated squares
and piecing them into a
really cute cat quilt top.
It's fair sized and will
be great for an older
child. Laurie has also
volunteered to work on
some other http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 at home
and is making great
progress. Thanks Laurie.A great big whopping THANKS to all Havana members of the American Sewing Guild. This week they got together and made more quilt blocks for us. Thank you ladies .
Boy, we'd better get busy
making http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 out of those
blocks now.Special thanks to Heather Whitehead for creating and continuing to build our website. Please
do check it out at
www.sewforhopenow.com
We always meet the
second Tuesday of the
month. So, our
next meeting is Tuesday,
September 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. All are
welcome and experience
is not required. If you live outside the area and would like to make a quilt for Sew for HOPE, we are now in a position to mail you a boxed kit. Some of the kits are just pre-cut strips of five coordinating fabrics. Some of the kits have all the squares cut and labeled. Some have the quilt backing included. If you request it, I can also include the return postage in your quilt kit. 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 a blanket. If you'd just like to stitch the quilt top together and return it to us, that's fine and very much appreciated. 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. Free quilting bundles available for you to work with. WISH LIST: Through "Freecycle" we received a second ironing board, however it needs a new pad and cover. We could use a second steam iron also. Gift cards to JoAnn's would greatly be appreciated so we can purchase quilt batting as needed. While we have received a wonderful abundance of fabric, we lack the batting for all the http://www.sewforhopenow.com/?page_id=1415 we need to make. We need cash or stamps for postage. We still appreciate receiving fleece fabric -- 1 1/4 yard or 2 1/2 yard pieces are perfect. We need knitting needles (especially size 8), and basic sewing supplies such as: scissors, straight pins, needles, and thimbles. Sewing supplies and knitting needles are given to residents who are learning a new skill. We need someone willing to service our sewing machines as needed. Please forward this newsletter on to anyone you think might be interested 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.)
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