Transforming Towels

What started out life as humble kitchen towels have been transformed into something SEW much more! On Sunday afternoon the Service Group of our church, namely, the COGs (Circle of Grace), met to cut, bind, and attach tags to these towels; transforming them into adult bibs for distribution to local nursing homes and/or facilities with  a need for adult bibs. These are soft and substantial towels, they will serve the purpose well; protecting clothing and should stand up to vigorous laundering. The pattern that we used can be found here. 

These went together quite well, there were tasks for all, even the youngest of seamstresses; here she diligently applies binding to a neck opening. 

Tags with our church logo were attached to a hanging loop on the side of each newly-made (or about to be) bib. 

Among the items that I am packing to take to MidAtlantic Quilt Festival tomorrow is this bin of bibs-in-the-making to work on during "down time". Quiltkeemosabe and I can get a lot done in little snatches of time back in the hotel room in the evenings. We should have fifty bibs completed in short order; and in the hands of those who can use them the most. 

If you're attending to MidAtlantic this year, and see me wandering around, be sure and say "hello!"; 

I'll be roaming the vendors mall, at the show or in a workshop with Jamie Wallen on Friday. This year, thankfully, I don't see winter weather as a threat in Hampton, VA!

Sorry, Hannes, you can't ride along this time; your job, while I'm away, is to keep an eye on Dad. 

🐾

Life is Good!

Many Hands

As I prepare quilts for tying this coming Sunday afternoon, for the monthly meeting of our women's service group from church, I am reminded of how we spent our April meeting. We are Lutheran, we are a liturgical church, and following along with the service in the hymnal can take many "markers" to keep one on the correct page. Some people tear little scraps of paper from their bulletins to mark the order of service, hymns and Psalm before worship begins; some fumble to quickly catch up, and some work ahead holding the upcoming page with their finger so that they will be ready. So, last month, as a service project for our own church, we made hymnal markers that would slip down into the binding of the hymnal between the pages and the hymnal's cover. We used grosgrain ribbon in five liturgical colors and went to town. I figured out a way to save money and use up cardstock that I already owned. Cutting the cardstock into strips twice as wide as we needed, we stitched the ribbons, side by side, onto one half of the short end of the bookmark. Then, these bookmarks, were folded, lengthwise, to cover the stitching and ribbon ends and glued together with glue sticks. As you can see, we set up assembly-line style and each person had their own step to perform as the bookmarks moved on down the line. We enjoyed chatting and each others' company as we worked, the time slipped by pleasantly and all too quickly! Many hands, and cheerful hearts, make light work! We are blessed, also, by a local quilt shop, to be allowed workspace to meet when their shop is closed, one of our members is an employee there. Being a tiny mission church, we still do not have space of our own and are exceedingly grateful for the generosity displayed by this small business!

The ends that were to be slipped into the hymnals were cut on a gentle curve to ease in the insertion.

No, we're not cheerleaders; we're showing off the 70 bookmarks that were completed in less than two hours! We had a wonderfully productive afternoon, made all the more fun by our youngest helper!

The next Sunday morning the bookmarks were placed in the hymnals and are being enjoyed by all! This was a simple project that has long-lasting benefits; perhaps the greatest is the joy of working together to accomplish a common goal, developing friendships and involving our youth so that they have ownership in the project too! 

I didn't lose my place even once last week! 

And, I couldn't help but notice that those afore-mentioned bulletins are remaining intact too!😉

Life is Good!

Art Party!

Lucy Ann chose the theme for her 5th birthday party: ART!  Our daughter took that theme and ran with it. I believe it was everything the birthday girl could have wanted!

The first activity was treat bag decorating.

Picture painting came next... here are two particularly adorable the artists at work.

Our daughter read the party guests an art-related story, it was enjoyed by all. One of Lucy Ann's little friends told Miss Marcia that she reminded her of a teacher! (Once a teacher always a teacher...)

 For their sweet treat the budding artists decorated white cupcakes as original, one-of-a-kind, creations!

And a good time was had by all!

I did manage to get a quick snapshot of Lucy Ann in her special dress before the guests arrived. She loved it. Lucy Ann had requested gifts for the Humane Society in lieu of gifts for herself. At the end of the party that green washtub (in the background) was filled with donations for dogs and cats living in the animal shelter until they find their forever homes. We couldn't be prouder of this little girl and her huge heart!

Life is Good!

...and rocketing by at the speed of light...

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!