Status Update on Forge Ridge

With the fall leaves still on the trees Tennessee got a cold blast of winter this first day of November!  I haven't seen any snow yet but the mountains got plenty.  Now is the time I "hunker down", get Alice fired up and concentrate on quilting the tops for the second graders of Forge Ridge School.   Hunker down had a different connotation when I lived in Florida - I'm now very happy to apply it to hibernating for the winter instead of riding out a hurricane.

This time of year also brings many of you down from the North to escape the cold and to your warm and toasty (or should I say hot and humid) Florida homes.  One such traveler is Cheryl.  She was very busy this summer in Michigan making NINE tops for Sewing Hands !  She met up with me in  Lenoir City, TN to drop them off on her way down to Naples.  Awesome work, Cheryl - thank you very much. 

Cheryl at Cracker Barrel dropping off quilt tops

Deborah went back to Naples after her visit with me this summer obviously fired up about Forge Ridge.  She has been sewing nonstop.  Look at the tops she has completed.  But don't give her all the credit, Peggy did a couple of those - thanks Peggy !

The goal is to have all 27 quilts made and delivered to the second graders at the end of January.  But wait....there's more....Deborah is now gathering the fleece for the 36 blankets needed for the Kindergarten class.  Yes, you heard right 36 !!  This is a huge undertaking for our small group - not just with time but also expenses.  So I need to ask all of  you who are reading this to please consider donating a gift card from Hobby Lobby or Joanne's to Sewing Hands.  Each blanket for a kindergarten child takes 3 yards (1 1/2 for the top and 1 1/2 for the bottom).  This works out to about $15 if we are able to get it on sale and use a coupon.  $15 times 36 students is a whopping $540.  Any help, even enough for one blanket, will insure that another child will be warm this winter,

That's it for now....Happy Sewing,

Sharon