Work on anything Community Quilt-related:
--If you have a donation project going, bring it and work on that
--OR: We'll have several small projects to choose from; bring sewing machine, walking foot and neutral thread
--OR: If you want to join the fun but not bring your machine, then bring your rotary cutter with a new blade and a long ruler; make sure your name is on them
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRING ON THE CUTE STUFF!
It's time to make quilts for kids! Get out your juvenile prints and go to town on them – satisfy that inner desire to make something utterly adorable! But CALM serves children of all ages, so if “cute, cute, cute” isn't your thing, make something that's more your own style. Check your UFO stash , too! These can be smaller nap-sized quilts, but remember that CALM serves abused and traumatized children, so the wrap-up-in-it factor is important, too. Quilts sized 45 to 60” on a side will be ideal. Check out our new larger children's quilt patterns on the left. Batting is available if you need it. Patterns to get you started are on the left side-bar.
Instead of chucking your leftovers into the scrap bin or (horrors!) the trash, see if those bits and pieces can make a doll cradle quilt, sized 16-18” square. It will soon be “Cradle Time” again, and you can be ahead of the game by using up your scraps. Directions for doll cradle bedding are right here, on the left. (See a brief Facebook video of the doll cradles below.)
We also encourage you to finish up any red, white and blue Veterans' quilts and to continue making quilts for Hospice patients; the need is on-going. Looking ahead to the quilt show in September, we will want a good number of quilts in the Community Quilts booth to represent the Sew for Veterans Project, so keep the red, white and blue coming!
Check out our new Sew for Veterans Project page, at top left! Then scroll down to find the slide show of all 93 quilts made for this project.
THIS YEAR'S RECIPIENTS OF OUR DONATIONS
CALM (Child Abuse Listening & Mediation): CALM's mission is to prevent child abuse with early intervention programs for at-risk families; to assess and treat child abuse where it has occurred; and to strengthen the family unit so that families can remain intact. CALM works directly with families and with individual children from infants to age 18. In addition, CALM provides prevention programs in elementary and pre-schools. CALM has requested 100 Christmas stockings and 100 quilts for children.
| CALM staff members admire 100 Christmas Stockings made for the children they serve by members of Coastal Quilters Guild. |
 |
| L-R: Denise Crosby, Marianna Paredes, Mary Andrews-Dalbey, Sherry Robin, Nicole Ballas, Mireya Hernandez, Adelaida Gutierrez, and Horacio Rodriguez. |
American Charities Foundation: Based in Santa Ynez, American Charities keeps track of over 600 Santa Barbara County foster children, age newborn to age 18, whose families have been split apart by abuse, neglect or abandonment. Their programs, for children age 6-18, focus on building motivation for educational and lifetime achievement. American Charities has requested Christmas stockings, pillowcases, and support for their annual Christmas toy drive.
 |
Carol Barringer and Bonnie Epperson deliver 171 pillowcases, 50 Christmas stockings and a box of toys donated by our members to American Charities Foundation for Santa Barbara County Foster Children.
After Christmas, 24 more pillowcases were turned in and delivered, bringing the total to 195. |
Sarah House provides residential care for people who are very low-income at the end of their lives. Sarah House has requested 8 lap-size quilts and one quilt for auction at their annual fund-raising drive.
Unity Shoppe provides an array of services to low-income families and seniors. Doll Cradle Quilts, plus mattress, pillow and pillowcase, paired with a wooden cradle built by the woodworking class at SBCC and painted by local artists, make a Christmas gift for a young girl. The woodworkers make 168 cradles each year, along with a vast assortment of trucks and other wooden toys and gifts. We make the cradle bedding.
See a short Facebook video about the doll cradle project posted by
Unity Toys of Santa Barbara (quilts begin at minute 00:02:38 in the video)
Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care (VNHC) provides Hospice care free of charge to people in the last months of their lives. VNHC partners with the national “We Honor Veterans” program to present veterans in their Hospice care program with a “pinning ceremony” in which a veteran is thanked and honored for their service. VNHC requests quilts of any size for their Hospice patients, and red, white and blue quilts for the veterans' pinning ceremonies. The Sew for Veterans Project has been focused on making these quilts, aiming for 75 patriotic quilts by Veterans Day/November meeting.
A slide show of all 93 quilts made for the Sew for Veterans Project can be seen HERE. We will continue to make Hospice and veterans quilts throughout the 2015-2016 year.
