Nap Blankets 2019

Nap Blankets 2019  ~ Ready for the first day of the new school year.

I have posted about making Nap Blankets before, I am blessed to be a part of a small quilt group that is dedicated to supplying an elementary school in our local system with a nap blanket for each child enrolled in the Pre-K program there; that is 45 blankets-- three classrooms with fifteen children each. I have posted about this program before, here. I believe that our group has been doing this for the last nine years, that's 405 nap blankets so far! You can read more about the program, part of our greater Quilt Guild here.   

Here you see some of the nap blankets going through the rigors of "quality control". She's tough! 😉

 From a previous post: "These blankets are simply constructed with two one yard lengths of child-friendly fabric, a front and a back. They're sewn right sides together, turned and top-stitched around the edges and with a corner to corner "X" through both layers, there is no batting."  

I  am grateful to be a member of such a generous group of quilting friends; we are all blessed with so much, this annual project elicits nothing but pure joy.

Life is Good!

Back To School...

...back to blog*. Where I live today is the first day of school again for public school. For all intents and purposes this day signals the end of summer. I have written about this before, but this day, that of school beginning once again, has always made me incredibly sad. I don't know where this emotion comes from-- does it have its roots in my own end of summer/ school starting memories? Does it emanate from sending my own little ones off to school again at the conclusion of happy summer vacations all those years ago? Is it a combination of both? Is it one more tangible marker of the passing of time?  It probably seems silly to most; this melancholy will pass, it does every year, but today's the day and my heart is heavy. As a way of mediating this "funk" I am choosing to focus on a positive outcome of today's first school day: once again my great group of sewing buddies, the "Miss Bee Haven" gals, have come through and piled up the nap blankets for PreK students at a local school. We have adopted a school and provide forty five blankets, three classrooms full, for the youngest students to claim and keep, not only at school, but forever when summer comes rolling around once again in 2018. I can only imagine their apprehension today-- embarking on new experience in a place where they've never been before, filled with faces of friends they've yet to meet. Then, a grace moment: they are given the opportunity to claim a blanket; something they can hold on to, wrap up in and feel safe, something that is theirs and theirs alone. I hope they can feel the love stitched in each and every one. 💗

Our "Bee" group gathered on Saturday at the barn studio of one of our members to have a Sew Day and pot luck lunch together, it was a gorgeous day. This has become an annual event and is yet one more end-of-summer signal for yours truly. As always, a good time was had by all and we'll all be marking our calendars for next year!

Life is Good!

* I have been woefully neglectful of this blog. I know-- you probably think that I have been consumed with cleaning after that last post over three weeks ago. No, I honestly can't say what has taken up my time or can even effectively explain my absence. I have been busy with many fun things and am making a concerted effort, starting today, to catch up and post again on a much more regular basis.

We've Got Them Covered!

This is what twenty-five nap blankets looks like. They're waiting, along with some more to be picked up this weekend, to be delivered to the Pre-K classes at a local school on opening day. The small quilting group of which I'm a part, our "Bee", adopted a specific school a few years ago, we supply three classrooms there each year when the school year starts. Our Guild describes the program this way:  The Nap Blanket Program provides these simple covers to  Pre-Kindergarten classrooms in our local school system's schools which meet the criteria as an Equity Plus School. For an elementary school that designation is a school where over 75% of the students receive free or reduced lunches. The children who receive the nap blankets claim their own and keep them to take home forever at the end of the school year. It is hard to describe the happiness on a little one's face when they choose their very own blanket!

These blankets are simply constructed with two one yard lengths of child-friendly fabric, a front and a back. They're sewn right sides together, turned and top-stitched around the edges and with a corner to corner "X" through both layers, there is no batting. I bagged these up yesterday, preparing them for delivery and realized how very much this stack weighs; wow, it is heavy, that's when I realized the obvious... this is fifty yards of fabric! I'm grateful to be a member of such a generous group of quilting friends; we are all blessed with so much, this annual project elicits nothing but pure joy.

Life is Good!

Nap Time!

The Strawberry Patch was abuzz with activity on Monday night; my Bee arrived and set right to work making nap blankets for the Pre-K classes at a local school. I was ready for them and had set up two machines for sewing, plus two ironing stations all ready so that we could work assembly-line style. Lightweight blankets are made for each child from two one yard lengths of kid-friendly fabric, sewn right sides together, turned right side out, edge stitched and, finally, "quilted" with a large "X" corner to corner to keep the blanket from separating in the laundry (teachers take them home to wash each week). Each child is assigned their own blanket on the first day of school to nap with, they use that same one every day until school is dismissed for the summer; then, their blanket goes home with them to keep forever.When all was tallied, at the end of our sewing sprint, we had made 20+ on Monday night; our goal is to "blanket" each of three classrooms of 15 students each! So far, we've always been able to meet our goal of 45. With the number of completed ones that I have here, plus a few leftovers that weren't assigned in the previous year, it looks like we've met our goal once again! A huge thank you to the friends in my Bee for their contributions of fabric and time as well as Quiltdivajulie who sent a large box of fabrics toward this cause; you're all the best!  I received a note yesterday from one of the Pre-K teachers at the school we have "adopted", it read: "Ladies, I can't thank you enough for doing this. It means a lot to our children and their families." School will start up once again in just a few short weeks; dim the lights and switch on the soft music, it's nap time... we've got you covered!

Life is Good!

What's All The Buzz About?

Today is "back pocket" kind of day here; one you'd like to tuck away to retrieve whenever you need a perfect day with a cloudless blue sky, spring bursting forth and gentle sunshine to warm your body and soul. I walked out to the mailbox and could hear a loud drone coming from deep down in the woods, or so I thought; I walked back down the driveway and realized that now the sound was coming from behind me... that's when I looked UP. Right there, buzzing high over my head, were thousands of bees buzzing about the flowers in the Bradford Pear trees that line the edge of our driveway. These trees, while lovely in leaf, have never bloomed well in the past due to being sheltered, and shaded, by taller tree cover from the woods behind them. That all changed last June when we lost a good number of those tall trees to a fast moving and destuctive storm. These Pears remained, untouched, and treated to much more light and sunshine than ever before; hence, their newly acquired blooming status and thousands of buzzing visitors; have a listen here. For all the sadness that I have carried in my heart over losing those big trees I never imagined this surprise that arrived with the change of seasons; God's unexpected gift of glorious flowering trees, and a choir of buzzing bees to announce their presence!

The Forsythia are blooming too, but in a much quieter fashion.
Wishing you a "back pocket" kind of day, wherever you may be.
Life is Good!

Sewing With PUL

A few weeks ago a request came to our small Quilting Bee from a fellow member, Spokes and Stitches, for handmade bibs. There is a project underway through Love Without Boundaries for items to make the lives of babies undergoing cleft surgery a little brighter and more comfortable.  I found a free online bib pattern by Heather Bailey and began to pull fabrics from which to make up a few; that was, until, I had an in-person conversation with my friend who made the request. She has a son who has already undergone one cleft surgery; her sweet boy has a second one scheduled for next month. She well understands the need for these bibs and she likes for his to be as waterproof as possible. She explained that since drool is excessive a shirt can quickly become soaked through; she showed me some PUL; a waterproof fabric that she had only just purchased. PUL was new to me; it's soft to the touch and comes in solid colors as well as child-friendly prints. After seeing hers I decided to give it a try; I got some and found it to be extremely easy to work with. I used PUL for my bib fronts, backing them with soft flannel. The only special attention that I gave to this new-to-me fabric was a fresh, sharp, needle and avoidance of placing the iron directly onto the PUL itself. I did press the bibs, and they did just fine, but I pressed them from the flannel side.

While sewing the bib fronts and backs together I kept the flannel side down, against the throat plate, so that the bibs would feed through smoothly and not "stick" or bog down. I used an overedge stitch for construction. The PUL that I bought was in a three-pack of precuts, each piece measured 21" X 24" and, with precise attention to placement, I found that I was able to get three bibs from each piece! I had never made bibs before, this pattern was wonderful to work from; I found the process to be fun and rewarding!

Try something new today, I, for one, am glad that I did!
I hope and pray that these bibs will be much loved and well used by their precious little recipients.
Life is Good!

Dim The Lights...

... cue the soft music, it's nap time! Okay, so maybe it's not nap time yet, but it soon will be! My dear DIL teaches Pre-K, where students still nap after lunch. Once again the generous Miss BeeHaven quilters have joined me in the challenge to supply three classrooms with nap blankets for the coming year. I handed off eleven last evening, what a good feeling! More will continue to come in before the school year begins; and, according to my calculations, we'll meet the goal of forty-five! In fact, this year's "Blankie" award goes to LP; who has, single-handedly, sewn up fifteen and blanketed one entire classroom! YAY!

I have a large, designated, tote bin that resides in the bottom of my stash closet into which all appropriate fabrics, measuring at least one yard, are placed throughout the year. Fabrics are donated from friends and family, the bin is still this full after sewing eleven yesterday, (that's twenty-two yards out!) it has truly become a "loaves and fishes" box. The nap blankets are simply sewn from two one yard lengths, placed RST and sewn all along the edges, pillowcase style, then turned and topstitched around the outside edges and from corner to corner with a large "X"; there's no batting. They are lightweight and comfortable, the children love them!

One little tip that I learned recently (an online tutorial... what did we ever do without those?) is to secure the opening when doing the RST stitching with a backtacked line of stitching perpendicular to the stitching along the edge, it makes the turning, and pressing down of that opening, so much cleaner and better!

Here's the teacher, my deal DIL, last evening. She burned the midnight oil and powered through to get her quilt top done for little Lynnleigh; she goes back to school next week and her evenings won't be as leisurely as they've been all summer, her clock was ticking! Didn't she do a fabulous job? I am SEW proud of her! She has some yellow flannel (Big Bird motif) for the backing, she's not exactly sure how she wants to finish it yet; she may go batting-less, like the nap blankets for her classroom, she's still deciding. Whatever she decides though, Lynnleigh will rest comfortably under this quilt of love sewn especially for her by her own sweet Mama!

Life is Good!

 

Christmas Spirit Abounds...

Gifts are readied for friends and neighbors.

 ...even if blog posts are few and far between these days!

In a recent article I read by ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson he described an Advent posture of "standing on tiptoes and leaning into-- looking into-- God's promised future in hope. Advent reminds us that it is not for what we hope, but in whom we hope. The hope in Christ changes our perspective on both the future and the present."

 Just like all of you, I am as busy as can be in these last few days leading up to Christmas; today is no exception. I am checking in with a few photos as a way of chronicling this past week. As hard as I tried to load them in order, Blogger had other ideas about that; so, rather than fight it, I have relented and ask you to bear with me. I've included captions to add a relative time frame. My wish for you is a hope and spirit-filled Christmas; both today and into the future!

Thursday was our annual Quilt Ministry Christmas Tea;
we've gathered like this for the past eleven years, celebrating the season
and enjoying each others' company over a simple luncheon and warm cider. 

A better-late-than-never birthday quilt was finished on Tuesday.
Gregory enjoying his new BIG BOY room, bed and quilt!
Of all the things I've ever seen on any quilt I have made, a child is my all-time favorite!

Mason in his pre-school Christmas program on Monday, he was a cow.
(Although he insisted that he was an owl! A great horned owl, maybe?!)

Gregory and Mr. Goodneedle outside the sanctuary of the church
just before Mason's preschool program on Monday morning in the Capital City.

Lucy Ann and Gregory enjoying an impromptu game of
catch after the preschool program on Monday morning.

Mason with Santa on Monday; there was a special visitor in the Fellowship Hall!
Lucy Ann and Gregory kept their distance, even though there were candy canes.
The two-year-olds in our family aren't quite sure about the big guy in the red suit.

In our neck of the woods the candles for Christmas eve services at church are wrapped with crepe paper "ruffles", in a tradition borrowed locally from the Moravians. Over the last few years the job of cutting the paper (red representing the blood of Christ) and wrapping the candles (white representing purity and The Light) has fallen to the Quilt Ministry. In December the sewing machines don't move out the closet at church; instead, the ladies gather and wrap candles. This year 680+ have been prepared!

And, finally, on Monday evening our Bee gathered for snacks,
a Naughty Santa gift exchange and a movie. This is a great time that we eagerly look forward to all year long. Although some choice gifts were "snatched" during the exchange it was all in good fun!
(I'm over it, really I am! Ha!)

Life is Good!

Friends And Family Weekend

Saturday was spent stitching in Nane's barn/studio with her and the rest of with my Bee friends. As always, it was time set aside to eat, visit and sew... yes, all at the same time; we're super-women after all. Those who weren't able to join us were certainly missed. Nane lives out in the country, in a beautiful old log cabin; driving out to her her home is a treat in itself. Her husband moved the cabin to it's current location
where he painstakingly rebuilt it, log by log, with careful and loving attention to every detail.I took this photo back in January, you can see the cabin here, and the barn, where her spacious studio is located on the upper level. There's plenty of room for sewing machines, friends and memory-making! OK, so that was the friend part of the weekend.

Today was the family part! We celebrated our son's birthday with a dinner for him here at the house. It was a great day together. Gregory was loads of fun but wondered why Nana lit daddy's cake on fire ("hey, that doesn't look safe", he seems to be thinking). It's been a great day all around, hard to believe that thirty-one years have passed this quickly. Happy birthday, Kyle; you're a wonderful son and a devoted and loving husband and daddy, we're very proud of you! Here's hoping that wish comes true.

Life is Good!

A Bee In The Barn

Many hands make light work. Nane graciously opened her barn-loft studio space to our Bee for a sew day on Saturday. We came bearing bushels of scraps and strips to construct lap quilts for the patients in the Neuroscience Unit at one of our local hospitals. We left with enough finished string blocks for four complete quilt tops and the beginnings of a few more. There were seven quilters gathered, plus Zorro the kitty. It was a wonderful day; we accomplished much and greatly missed those who couldn't join us.

Life is Good!

Bee Merry

The Bee gathered on Monday night right here at Chez Goodneedle for some Christmas cheer, gift exchange, and a movie! Pictured here are friends, fellow quilters and some bloggers (and would-be bloggers); to name a few: Salem Stitcher, Designer Stitches, Nane, Quiltkeemosabe, and Quiltteacher. If you look closely you will see one of the group wearing her Snuggie "Plush-wrap". I think she thought I'd object after a recent post, however I called her bluff... I'm totally OK with wearing them inside the house, anyone's house! We had a great evening, it wasn't until we sat down and began talking (never a problem) that I realized how long it's been since I've spent time with this group. With the new babies, the injuries in the family that required attention, visitors and various and assorted commitments my life has been crazy-busy all fall! I broke out the special stash of wine I had collected and reserved for my quilting friends, brewed some Christmas coffee and we ate, laughed and opened/traded/stole gifts while thoroughly enjoying each others company. We especially missed those two members who were unable to attend. I can't wait to gather together again; until then, may your gatherings Bee merry and your stitches be even and often!

Life is Good!

A Show Of Quilts

It's a one Bee show, my Bee! One of our members, Nane, sits on the board of the Yadkin Cultural Arts Center. Through her connections, and hard work, there is a quilt show hanging there right now, it is open to the public through the end of the year. The center is located at 226 E. Main St. in Yadkinville, North Carolina; if you're in the area stop by and also take in the display of handmade Santas in the adjoining gallery. The quilts are all done by our small group, "Miss Bee Haven", these artistic and creative women are some of my closest and dearest friends. Our core group has been together for about ten years. It was absolutely thrilling to wander through this beautiful new gallery (and multi-use facility) last evening and see our quilts on display in all their glory! Take a minute, sit back, and enjoy the show!

Life is Good!