Sewing for Hospice House

I've mentioned that I am a volunteer for Hospice House and Support Care of Williamsburg. I started as the birdfeeder and birdbath caretaker and then oriented at the front desk (reception). Along the way, I learned they needed a few items sewn - simple tote bags for guest belongings, a pillow for each guest's bed as a decoration, and other small things. The pillow goes home with family.

The main person who sews pillows needed help, so I stepped in. She makes so many of them and delivered >50 recently. That's when she and I met. I was working at the front desk and she stopped by. We chatted and my assistant pillow maker gig began.

The pictured pillow was made completely from scraps today in a modified split-rail quilt block design. I was given small pieces of the fabric shown and the back of the pillow is from an old sheet that my sister gave me. The cost to me was time and the Poly-Fil, and the payback for me is a feeling of giving back and paying forward, a way to spend some of the new free time I've found since retirement, and my stash is getting smaller! That's just plain odd. 

Get out in your own community and see what kind of charity sewing you can do. Check with early intervention centers, nursing homes, hospices, any place that serves people in some way. You'll be glad you did. 

Virginia Ham is so delicious! (How-to)

Until you've had a real Virginia ham, you are truly missing out. A lot of places sell "Virginia ham" that isn't the real deal. Some delis call it country ham. But here in VA, we call it what it is, Virginia ham.  

I've been fortunate enough to acquire a bunch of unused ham bags and what better thing to do than make a pillow?!?

Easy instructions:

1. Wash the bag. If it is a used ham bag, you might want to soak it first and make sure to air dry it. It may hold some of the ham smell. Some companies will hook you up with the bags if you ask nicely :)
2. Iron the bag to get out any weird wrinkles.
3. Cut the edge off, all the way around. 
4. Take one piece and apply ruffle to the right side (if you choose to use it). 
5. Place right sides together, pin, and sew, leaving an opening for stuffing.
6. Stuff with polyfil or your fluff of choice. I like to stuff these pretty tightly to make them easier to toss in the washer (in a pillowcase!) and dryer. 
7. Stitch the opening by hand. 
8. Fluff it up with your hands. 
9. Enjoy!

We have one of these on our bed. It makes a good extra pillow for reading. The one pictured is being sent to a friend who has moved. Just a little bit of home for her. It's odd, but wonderful. Everyone should have a ham pillow!

Anna and Brian quilt, now known as Catherine's quilt!

The quilt is done (May 28 - October 1, 2017). The baby's been born. Now to bring the two together. It's taken time as I've been working on a play and doing some other things, but here's the result and I hope they love it.

This is a 4x5 block log cabin design. The first fabric I chose was the train fabric, a nod to Catherine's father, Brian. I found muted ROYGBV fabrics at Joanns and created the log cabin around a 2" piece of the train fabric. 

I had plenty of the log cabins left when I was done, so decided to create a small pillow to go with the quilt. I fashioned a ruffle out of strips of fabric and there you go!

The back of the quilt, which was made quilt-as-you-go, is train fabric.  

Here's a closeup of the ROYGBV log cabin. I used 2 strips of each color, but all the prints are different. 

I created binding using the strips I had cut for the log cabin itself. I reinforced all the seams in the binding since the pieces are so small and I want it to hold up to as many washings as needed. Everything except the binding was machine stitched. I like to hand stitch the binding on a quilt. 

And the pillow. I added strips to an original log cabin until I had used each of the color designs twice. That made a nice size (about 12") pillow. But it needed a ruffle! I had plenty of strips left from the quilt itself to make a ruffle. For the log cabin side, I used train fabric.....

....and for the train fabric side, I used the ROYGBV strips. I think it looks pretty cute! 

I'll be seeing Anna soon and will deliver the quilt, pillow, and some other goodies in person. I'm excited to pass this along and hope Catherine drags it around the house, gets it dirty, loves it, and who knows what else with it. It's hers now. Welcome to the world Catherine Jenkins!

More pillows

Why not Dale Earnhardt? Surely a ham bag pillow with a NASCAR king's name on it is worth a little something, right?

If not, a Smokehouse Brand ham bag will do the trick.

Always sewing something!