Club Notes Sept 26, 2018

Pat Pipa and I attended the Villages Lifestyle club leaders meeting last week.  I shared the following info with club attendees today:

- There is now (or will be soon) wi-fi at all Villages rec centers, not just the regional centers.  It can't support a lot of users, but at least it's available for group presentations.

- They are in the process of installing handicap access door buttons on all rec centers, standing in the north and working the way south.

- As of the end of last week there were 2,972 lifestyle groups in The Villages

- They are going to be showing outdoor movies at the softball fields. Attendees can pull in with their golf cart and listen on FM radio.

- It is a requirement that everyone attending a lifestyle group sign a waiver once a year.  These forms are available in the front lobby in each rec center.  I'll remind everyone again in January.

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Show and Tell:

- Diane Placek showed a baby quilt with cute Llama fabric and a great corresponding quilting stitch.

 - B.J. Herter showed a charity quilt she finished.

- Nella Rose hand crocheted a beautiful cross as a wedding gift for a relative.

- Mic Pichard showed a purse/tote she made for her red hat group.

- Linda Parr showed a Halloween embroidered towel.

- Donna Rissman showed the little elephant she finished sewing.

- I showed the 2nd quilt I quilted that was donated by Carol Thurston from her friend's estate. This and the one I showed a few weeks ago will be donated to the VHA Hoedown quilt raffle.

- I also finished quilting a charity quilt Pat Pipa made the top for, with a combination of her blocks and blocks from our stash.

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Lynn Kluczynski gave today's demo on how to make a beach cover-up from towels.  Several ladies got to work making these after the demo.

I brought 2 bins of fabric out of my storage to be cut up into dog bed stuffing and several ladies got to work cutting it up and pulling out anything that might be useful.  They filled 4 large dog beds with it.  Thank You!

On the other side of the coin, a lady brought in 5 boxes of fabric, most of which is only good for dog bed sleeves or walker bags.  So I refilled the 2 bins that were emptied with as much as would fit and brought that plus another box home.  We'll see home much I can process this week.

We didn't have a demo on the schedule next week so I am filling in with a pattern for an eyeglass case.  This can  be adjusted for the size of any pair of glasses (or sunglasses).  I'll send the pattern out in a later email.

Hope to see you next week.

Club Notes - September 19, 2018

Great meeting today.  Eileen Callejas, founder of Helpertunity, gave a wonderful presentation, talking about how Helpertunity got started, what they do, and why the patterns are what they are.  She also gave a demo on another quick little 3-pocket purse pattern at the end.  Ellen Hein played with this and will give a demo on it in a future week.

The EQuilter company is moving their warehouse and the quilt guild chapters had an opportunity to get fabric from them for CHARITY USE ONLY.   As a member of the Alamanda chapter, I took charge of the box they received.  They only had to pay for postage, which came to $42.  I chipped in $20 from our charity fund so we could use whatever Allamanda members don't claim.  No one at this week's Allamanda meeting showed an interest in using any of this for charity efforts, so I claimed all the pieces that were large enough for pillowcase cuffs and added them to our pillowcase fabric box.  I have sent an email to all the Allamanda members asking if anyone wants to use any of the fabric.  If I don't get any responses by the end of the month I will cut the rest into blocks or fidget walker bag pieces for our use.  Any items we create for any charity will be reported to the guild through Allamanda, as usual.  This has turned out to be a great partnership.

Show and Tell:

Last week's project was to sew up the dolls and their pet elephants that we received in the fabric donation box.  Thanks to all who participated. Sue Campbell, Roberta Kelsey, Anne Knoff, Deb McCulston, and Mic Pickard chipped in to cut the pattern pieces from the panels and stuff pieces as they were sewn. Eileen DiSanto, Nita Hand, B.J. Herter, Lu Karatzas, Pat Pipa and I sewed up the final dolls.  Today, 14 dolls and 12 elephants were turned in completed.  I believe there are a few more out there waiting to be completed, so I will not find a home for them for a few more weeks.

Sue Campbell brought some pillowcases.

Pat Pipa made a carrier bag for her dog.  She showed it with a stuffed , musical dog so we could see how her dog will sit in it.

Lynn showed the hooded towel beach wrap that she will be demoing next week.  The only supplies you need to make one of these next week are a bath towel and a matching hand towel.  (a denim needle and a walking foot would help.)










Beryl Straub  came today as a guest and showed several items she has made:  A tote bag, a lion,  dolphins jumping out of a framed photo, and a wreath.

Donna Rissman showed a table centerpiece she made with border fabric and several items she is making for an upcoming craft fair.

Debbie Ardman made 6 border fabric placemats and used the excess fabric to make matching rugs.

Bev Minnerly showed her latest set of doll clothes and a little zipper pouch she made for her scissors.

Carol Thurston made some more patriotic dryer sheet blocks, some kint wash clothes (which will go to Busy Hands) and finished her project carrier bag.

Ellen Hein showed one of a set of the patio cushions she is recovering.

Diana Gosselin showed another big pile of pillowcases and a midi bag she finished.

I made a couple of dog bed sleeves and 5 duffel bags for the Sheriff's Youth Ranch kids.  I had fun embellishing 2 plain ones with a little Disney embroidery.






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After show and tell I introduced our guest speaker.  There was much interest in her talk and lots of questions.  Some key points:

- By making the bag open at one end like a pillowcase, it can be turned inside out for laundering.

- The latest version of the pattern adds a drawstring at the open end so items important to the resident (like glasses hearing aids, etc.) that are keep in the pockets can be secured if the nursing home needs to be evacuated.:

- Giving these fidget walker bags to a facility isn't enough.  They need to be trained on how to use them to get the most benefit.  That is what Helpertunity does
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I will be sending out the latest patterns and other handouts as soon as I get a chance to scan them.

After the talk, there were kits available for anyone who wanted to make a walker bag, plus lots of stuff to embellish them and make them fidget bags.

Hope to see you all next week.

Club Notes - September 12, 2018

Thanks to your efforts I was able to make 2 deliveries last week.  I brought 42 dog beds and a bag of tennis balls to the Marion County Animal Services on Friday.  On Monday I delivered 3 quilts, 6 pillowcases, 7 small drawstring bags, 1 large tote bag, a garment bag, and a large bag of soaps, shampoos, toothbrushes, etc. to the Ocala Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center.

I also have a pile of stuff for the Sheriff's Youth Ranch put aside, to be delivered the beginning of October.  I'll report on that when it goes.

We got another donation today - a bag of fabric and 2 boxes of patterns and hand embroidery floss. I separated the fabric into pieces suitable to make dog bed sleeves and what should just be cut up for dog bed stuffing.  I offered the 2 boxes of stuff to anyone who wanted any of it and I am happy to say all but a small pile of patterns disappeared. The patterns are now in my recycle bin.

I also got some good fabric donated yesterday.  The pieces that are large enough for one or two pillowcases are now in the pillowcase fabric box.  There are also a bunch of cut and matched pillowcase bodies and cuffs in the box.  

Show and Tell:

B.J. Herter showed a snowman pillow. (This will be one of our projects in November).

Eileen DiSanto showed a stack of finished mug rugs.

Carol Riggs showed a puzzle she had made from a photo of her granddaughter.

I showed 3 of the row-by-row kits I have completed from this year's "Sew Musical" theme. (I've got lots more to work on.)
















We had fun this afternoon cutting out the doll and little elephant pieces from the donated panels, sewing them together and stuffing them.  Most were taken home to finish, but they got really close.  I finished one doll and took home 2 more to just attach the legs. 

If you took some of these dolls home to sew, please check what you have.  At the end of the day we were missing skirts for 3 of the dolls.  If you have any of these extra skirts, please let me know.

Next week we will have a guest speaker.  Eileen Callejas from Helpertunity will be coming to talk to us about the Fidget walker bags and other things they do to support those in need.  I will have some pre-cut walker bag kits available for you to work on and an assortment of fidget embellishments.  I hope you will all come out to hear our guest talk and to create a fidget walker bag.

 

Club Notes - September 5, 2018

We had a noisy, fun meeting this afternoon.  I was happy to welcome back some old friends and some who have been away this summer.

Announcements:

I got an email from the coordinator for the Sheriff's Youth Ranch.  They are having the Annual Friends Luncheon on October 10th at Churchill Recreation Center.  It will be from 11:30 to 1:00.  I won't be going but If anyone would like to attend this to represent Sewing 'N More, let me know.  I emailed him back to let him know we have 7 quilts, 10 pillowcases and 10 duffel bags put aside for them.  We will get these to him before the luncheon.

This month is the Ryan's Case for Smiles pillowcase challenge month.  The Quilting Pallet is participating and offering a $100 gift card for the person who brings in the most pillowcases.  If you would like to try the challenge on your own, go for it.  If you would like to participate as part of a group effort, bring your completed pillowcases to a club meeting.   I currently have 34 pillowcases waiting to be turned in and I will add any brought in by 9/26 to the pile.  I will bring them all to the quilting Pallet after 9/26 and, if we get the prize I will add the gift card amount to our charity supply fund.

Someone told me the Shriners are looking for pillowcases for their kids again too. (Carol Riggs, was that you and is the contact still Jim Chaffin?)  I'm thinking if we get the prize for the most pillowcases turned in for Ryan's Case, we can use that to buy more pillowcase fabric and give those to the Shriners.  Any objections or comments?

Show and Tell:

Carol Thurston created her first set of dryer sheet blocks.

Bev Minnerly finished 2 Halloween wall hangings.

Pat Pipa showed a fabric strip placemat.

Marty Rhyne finished an embroidered purse just big enough to hold a passport and a small wallet, and told how she made several of these for friends (with some not coming out as well as others. ).

Donna Rissman showed a Halloween bag and a pillow she is making for a neighborhood craft sale.

Eileen Navikas showed her zebra strip placemat.

 

I haven' t been at a meeting for the past 2 weeks, so I had a bag of stuff to show.  For small stuff I showed mug rugs, pillowcases, and duffel bags I completed. 

 I finished a baby quilt for a great-great niece about to enter the world. Lastly, I backed and quilted a hand-sewn quilt that Carol Thurston brought in from her friend's estate.  This will be donated to the next VHA Hoedown fundraiser.

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Today I showed how to make a 6-sided placemat from border fabric.  The pattern is attached.  When you print it, make sure your print is set to "actual size" and not "fit to page", otherwise the template will print too small.   This pattern works best with a border design that will fit within a 6 inch height and with a short (12-15 inch) repeat.in a later email.

We received another bag of fabric and a BIG bag of batting today.  Thanks to the ladies who helped sort these.  There were some 1 yd pieces of fabric which I added to the pillowcase fabric box and a couple of larger pieces which I've added to our backing fabric box.
I have a good size load of dog beds and a large pile of stuff for the Domestic Violence center .  I plan to make these deliveries over the next few days and will report the quantities.
One of the fabric bolts we received a few weeks ago was for panels to make dolls.  Next week we will sew and stuff as many of these as we can.  I hope to be able to donate these to the Foster Kids organization.  Hope you can join us for this fun.

Lois Rose, Sewing 'N More Club Leader
Home: 352-753-7377

Cell: 352-630-5313

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Here is the current project schedule through the end of the year.  If you have something you can demo or have something you'd like to see a demo on, please let me know so we can fill in the empty weeks.

12-Sep-18	Stuffed Toys	Lois Rose
19-Sep-18	Charity Projects - Eileen Callejas, Helpertunity	Lois Rose
26-Sep-18	Towel Beach cover	Lynn K.
03-Oct-18
10-Oct-18
17-Oct-18	Charity Projects	Lois Rose
24-Oct-18	Halloween Pot Luck
31-Oct-18
07-Nov-18	Fabric Postcards	Lu Karatzas
14-Nov-18	Charity Projects	Lois Rose
21-Nov-18	NO MEETING
28-Nov-18
05-Dec-18
12-Dec-18	Christmas Pot Luck	Lois Rose
19-Dec-18
26-Dec-18	NO MEETING