Pillows for Hospice House, round how many now?

Simple patchwork with cheery and cherry fabrics.	I have a lot of leftover hexagons that didn't get used for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt, and so, why not?
I cut hearts and a square from the cherry pillow blocks.	Another hexagon piece.
Donated ties in a strip formation.	A little of this and that.

And a couple of brown and whites, one in a log cabin design and the other just a mish mash of patchwork. 

More pillows to show off. I'll deliver these tomorrow and then I'm taking a brief break and working on some things for myself. 

More pillows for Hospice House

Community service sewing sure makes a girl feel good. Here are my newest pillow creations for Hospice House. I'll post more of these as the year goes on. I'm having fun coming up with the patchwork designs. All of them are 13" x 13" and the backs of this bunch were provided by my sister (a sheet!). Enjoy:

Donated fabrics. 

Working on my black and white fabric stash.

Neckties. 

Simple 9 patch with black and whites. 

Donated fabrics in a split rail pattern.

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. 

Memorial Day - Scrap Sewing Can Help

It's Memorial Day. This is a day when we consider the fallen soldier, giving thanks in our personal way. It's also a time when we send our thoughts to the families of fallen servicemen and women. I saw a story on the ABC news and then again on our local news about a woman (Marcia Bonifas) who makes teddy bears for children of the fallen. She herself is a military widow.. Ms. Bonifas' story was told on the web at Coastal Point (Delaware) you can read it here. I've also provided a link to the video of the ABC story as shown on my local ABC affiliate. 

I appreciate what Ms. Bonifas is doing. I wrote to her this evening asking if her pattern were still available as it was not found on the site pointed to from the Coastal Point story. I love that she is providing "something to hold" for youngsters whose parents are not coming home. The mechanics of the teddy bear are simple - they'd be very easy to make and you most definitely can make them with scraps or remnants or patchwork that you have on hand. Hers is an easy, jointless, 2-piece pattern that is sewn around the edges, turned, and stuffed. She embroiders a simple face on them, and if you decided to make one or a bunch, this could be optional. The only expense I can see is the cost of the fiberfil, and even that is something most of us have in our sewing rooms already!

I hope Ms. Bonifas writes back and shares her pattern. If she does not, run with the idea on your own. Get in touch with a local military base or one of the many organizations on the web for children of fallen soldiers. Create a pattern of a bear or a cat or a whatever and get those scraps out and start sewing. There are so many things we can do for our military families; this one speaks to me, though - it's truly needed, wanted, and falls under the scrap stitching definitely of making do. Love isn't expensive. Let's all show some to the folks who put their lives on the line for our freedoms every single day.

NOTE 05/31/11: Ms. Bonifas did reply to my email and provided the following links for instructions and pattern for the teddy bear she makes. 

http://oceanwavesquiltguild.org/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Teddy%20Bear%20Instructions.pdf
http://oceanwavesquiltguild.org/teddybear_large.upper.pdf
http://oceanwavesquiltguild.org/teddybear_large.lower.pdf

A reminder about sewing for charity

Some time ago, I posted about sewing for charity. The need in our country and elsewhere has never been greater. Kids are getting ready to go back to school, parents are losing or not able to find jobs, winter and cold weather are right around the corner, Halloween is coming and there are kids who may not have costumes, Christmas and other giving holidays are also on the way and many will go without presents, and there is much that we with our needles and thread can do. You can sew something for someone else for no reason at all - a random act of kindness. You can volunteer locally to help with sewing at a preschool, a community theater, a church, an early intervention center, a hospital, a Ronald McDonald House, and so many other places. To get you started, take a a trip back and read my former post about sewing for charity, which I updated today:

Sewing For Charity Post

Preemies - Our littlest population

There's been a bit of discussion on message boards about sewing for premature infants. I'm the mother of two premature infants who are now 21-year-old adults. Yep, twins. I didn't do much sewing for them when they were below 7 pounds because my time was taken up caring for them. Premature babies require close attention, transportation to a lot of appointments, lots of small feedings, monitoring, etc., etc., etc., that is in addition to that you would provide for a full term infant. Many premature infants don't make it, and there's the added grief of a baby's death. And here's where we can help.

Parents of premature infants don't have a lot of time to do anything other than take care of their children. Organizations that provide clothing for the little ones abound on the web. Do a quick Google search for "patterns for premature babies" or "sewing for preemies" or any permutation of the phrase. There are free patterns on the web for tee shirts, sleeping gowns, blankets that fold and swathe a baby, as well as clothing and burial gowns. Any thing you can do for your community or for an organization line is more than appreciated by the parents who receive the items.
If you do sew for premature infants, remember to keep the fabric extra soft. Their skin is not as developed as a full term infant.

The best "help" I received when my twins were infants was anything that helped save me time. Many parents, such as myself, have another child as well as their preemie. That child needs to be remembered too. Stitch up a small stuffed animal or something unique for the sibling of the preemie if you have some time. You can use scraps you already have and stuffing you have stashed away.
Sewing for preemies is relatively simple and it's definitely something we call can do.
Feel free to browse around Google's free preemie sewing listings and try out an item or two. You'll feel really good that you've done something positive for the littlest babies.

Update 11/2018: My twins are now in their 30s and doing fine. 

Sewing for charity

I've been thinking of sewing for charity lately. We have so many talents that can be put to good use. After Katrina, every year around Christmas, and other times throughout the year, we hear about people who need our help. What we may fail to remember is that there are people every day of the year who could use an item or two that we could make as individuals or in groups. While the community manager at Sewing.com, I posted some links, just a few, about sewing for charity in the hope that others will follow suit. I plan on making some items for premature babies. I had two of those, yep, twins, who have grown to be strapping adults, but I do remember when they were both four pounds and below and there were very few items available for them to wear. I was too busy being mom to twins to have time to sew for them. A few things here and there for a new mom or dad could be a wonderful gift to receive, and it could also be a way for me to "give back."

Battered women's shelters. Ever think about the people there? Moms and kids. They could use blankies for the little ones or even just a nice pillowcase of their own. Some people end up in the shelters with nothing other than what they could carry when they left home. The same goes for homeless shelters. Blankets are a big need. Scarfs for a cold neck. Anything at all. I know that some sewing guilds make gift bags as a project, fill them with toiletries, and give them to faith-based charities for distribution.

There will always be someone who needs something. We have a talent. Shouldn't we share what we can do with others? Oh, and don't forget our furry friends in animal shelters. They need comfort blankies too.

Here are a few links to get you started:

Newborns In Need - Sewing for the smallest of babies, including patterns.
Project Linus - Providing security through blankets.
Ugly Quilts - Sewing for our homeless population.
Cancer caps/turbans from Sewing.org.
Sew Much Comfort - "to provide custom-made adaptive clothing at no cost, to injured service members from all branches of the military and national guard, injured while serving in our current conflicts."

There are many more - Google "sewing for charity" or "sewing for our troops" or whatever interests you. There are many people who need our talents.

(Updated 08/08/10)