May 2010 Donations

I'd say I'm going to do this every month but if I do that then I won't. So let's just say for May these are the things that were sent or taken in, not just finished.

Project Linus
Dropped off five blankets I made. Two of them I showed you not too long ago, here. The other three were ones I had hanging around here just needing ends worked in. I also dropped off one made by one of my helpers.

Frederick Memorial Hospital w/Carewear
Seven Newborn Hats
 
Lil'Troopers
Six Newborn Hats

Troy Manor (nursing home)
12 Wheelchair totes, 8 from Lynda and 4 I made

AmHeart Hospice
2 Lapghans made from donated squares

More Great Donations!!

Sandie P. from Crochet Cabana sent me these great squares. She also wrote the tutorial on the continuous join that I've been using (and adapting) to join the squares.

Chris H. sent me a bagful!! Thanks so much Chris!!

Joyce sent in these beautiful 7" squares. I asked for 6" but there's enough there for an lapghan so that's great. (That's a hint!)

{I worded that wrong, Joyce had asked me if I would take these squares before she sent them. I made it sound like she made a mistake, She didn't, I knew they would be 7". The point I was trying to make was that if you have enough for  a full lapghan or blanket, they don't need to be 6"}

I know all three of these ladies from the Bev's Charity Challange Yahoo group. These squares will make some beautiful lapghans!!

And last but far from least Margaret from NJ sent me these great Chemo Caps!! She even donated the yarn she had leftover!! I can always find a use for yarn!

If you would like to join us and help the elderly, ill and disabled in my area you can get more information here or email me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Making Progress - Finished Projects

I've been working hard this past week and a half, even with my youngest graduating from college last Saturday. As well as the projects I have pictures of below, I've finished about half of the hug pillows I had cut out, a couple of baby hats, and several squares to add to the ones my great readers have been sending for my nursing home project.

I finished crocheting the borders around the squares Lynda sent. They were several different sizes and I love how the lapghan came out. The different sizes and patterns really adds to it.

I wanted to make one for a man so I chose squares I thought would work well for that goal. This one is entirely made up of squares that were sent for this project. If you sent me squares see if yours were used! If not, well I have many more lapghans to make. keep checking back! If you would like to contribute to my nursing home/hospice project, email me at debstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com

I also finished the eight girls skirts I was making for Kenya, too. I'm just waiting for the address for where to send them.

Another Great Donation!!

Alma from Alma's Blog sent me these beautiful squares and chemo hat! They're a little blurry in the picture, my camera isn't working too well. If you would like to help contact me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

What I'm Working On... Stretching Myself Too Thin

I just have way too many things going on, I got tired of taking pictures so I'm only going to show some of them. Lynda from Delaware sent me this squares that she had sitting around in hopes that they would become a lapghan for my local nursing homes. There were several different sizes so I'm putting a border on them to make them all the same size.

These squares are finished, all I have to do is sew them together and make a nice lapghan for the nursing homes. If you would like to donate to the nursing homes see this post for what's needed.

I've been working on this one for awhile, these are Never-Ending-Blanket squares for a never-ending-blanket done in red, blue and purple. I just keep adding to it whenever I feel like it and have enough scraps of yarn. This blanket will end up going to Project Linus.

On to the sewing, I usually sew at home and crochet when I'm staying at my son's apartment. These are going to be skirts for little girls in Kenya. They just need the elastic and hems.

Wheelchair and walker totes, just waiting to be stitched up!

And the hug pillows, lots and lots of hug pillows. These are finished, it just didn't seem right to show a stack of fabric rectangles.

AND There's MORE

Purse Projects - I always carry around yarn in my purse. Lately I've been making baby hats. I'm also doing a never-ending-blanket in baby sport weight yarn. I just add to the squares until they're big enough (5 rounds) as I finish the baby hats.

Small Amount of Yarn projects- I make yo-yo's and grannies daughters, I either keep these for future projects or send them to someone who makes other items with them.

Leftover Fabric- Gets cut up for strip pieced quilts, I make the squares as I go, adding a strip or two to the squares in between other projects. Here's a tutorial I made some time ago about making these quilt blocks.

And Waiting in The Wings- I have some more 6" grannies just waiting for someone to send some that want to play with the others to make more lapghans for the nursing homes.

Little Girl's Skirts for Africa

This is one of the things I've been working on today. The skirts are being made for little girls in Africa but I'm still not sure where exactly, this is the monthly project for one of my charity groups on Yahoo, AC4C. They have been having trouble contacting the charity handling it so we are currently holding off on shipping. I have two skirts finished and 3 more cut out, with fabric for some more set aside.

I've also been working on the walker totes for our local nursing homes and could still use some help with that project (details here). When I'm not sewing I'm busy crocheting lapghans for that project, also.

Sona came over and cut out some more hug pillows today so I have to sew them together, going to be shipping what I done have soon.

Charity Sweatshop #1 Has Been Completed

I conned my daughter Jenny and my friend, Sona into coming over for pizza and put them to work in my charity sweatshop. I've referred to them previously as my neophyte crafters, neither knows how to sew, crochet, knit etc. so I decided to start with a simple project. We made hug pillows for the labor and delivery department of Cooper Hospital in Camden, NJ. These are small pillows for those having a C-section to hold over their stitches when they cough.

I had pulled out a bunch of fabric to work on (it hardly made a dent in my mess... I mean stash) and set the girls to work. I had Jenny ironing the fabric and after a quick lesson with the rotary cutter, I had Sona cutting them out. I manned the sewing machine and we got almost 75 of them done. We don't stuff them here, they do that in NJ, but with the 75 or so more we have the fabric for and the 50 I already had done I should have about 200 to send them. This is an ongoing need since they use around 60 every month.

The best news is I have 3 more slaves (I mean volunteers) for the next session!! Next time I'm hoping to get some girls skirts done for Kenya,