Gettin' My Sew On
The fourth Saturday meeting of Charitable Crafting was rather quiet. It was me. Don't get me wrong, I think people should have been spending time with their families on that Saturday after Thanksgiving. Or traveling, or napping, for that matter. I - on the other hand - haven't been able to spend a lot of time sewing this semester, so that was perfect for me.
The Christmas Bags Project has been rolling along, and when I got there this morning the bag count was 32, and they are hanging up on the wall, so beautiful! Thanks to Misha, for providing some pictures that I didn't think of taking myself!
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| Here are some of the finished bags... |
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| ...hanging on a clothesline... |
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| ...in the textile room at Cruces Creatives! |
Because it has been a while since I did an update, here are some of the things that have developed in past meetings:
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| Sarah and I cut out bag kits. Many of these are hanging on the wall now, but there are still kits available if you want one! |
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| Did you know there was a bike shop at Cruces Creatives? Well there is, and several of the regulars there got together to make and donate 50 bike chain stars. Ornaments for the bags! |
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| Toys - like these hand-made beauties - have been donated! |
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| From this beginning, there are now 3 boxes of books! |
I am grateful to the point of almost overwhelmed by the generosity and giving spirits of the people who are supporting this project with their handwork and donations. I've also felt a little like I've been falling down on the job when there wasn't much finished that I could point to and say, "I made that!" So, along comes the fourth Saturday of November, and our project is only a couple of weeks to completion and donation to Jardin de los Ninos.
While I was happily sewing away, to some calming, happy music, someone came in and dropped off the bags she had sewn up. Five beautiful bags!
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| So colorful! And I recognized a couple of the kits from above, Yay! |
I added them to the wall of bags, along with the two I managed to finish.
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| See, I liked that stripy fabric too! |
Most of the children we are making the bags for, are pretty young, including several who are under the age of two, so I thought flannel blankets would be pretty useful for that group. Here are the ones I finished hemming yesterday...
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| So soft, and cuddly. |
Along with some others that still need hems in (my to-do pile).
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| Who wouldn't love elephants or dinosaurs? |
Pretty happy with the progress I personally made yesterday. Very happy with the progress that the Project has made - bag count now at 39! Very hopeful that the 50 bags goal is in reach. The additional socks and underwear donation is in the works, I believe. I've also been working on some cloth books for the youngest set of recipients. No pictures of those yet, either... The local SCA group has committed to making and donating toys for the project. Again, thanks to Misha, there are pictures of AWESOME wooden dragon puzzles!
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| Shire of Nahrun Kabirun makers of toys |
I know what you're thinking now... that sounds like a lot of stuff. What if you get more than you need for the 50 bags? (you've looked at the book donations, haven't you?) The plan is to donate any extra anything to Jardin to use, or donate to patrons, as they see fit. More books for their classroom libraries? Yes, please.
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| From full to empty: a journey of making. |
One final thought. Progress is often measured in the product created. It can also - and as importantly be measured by the trail that creation has left. Something that I think of when I empty a spool of thread is all the work that empty spool represents, and that, too, is an accomplishment.
