5th and 6th Grade Delivery

I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  Needless to say - it was a GOOD day !

Forge Ridge School here we come......

Early Wednesday morning on a beautifully cool Fall morning we packed up the SUV and headed to the Tennessee/Kentucky border.  I don't think we could have fit even one more blanket.

Blanket Tie Day at South College

South College once again came through for Sewing Hands.  This past Monday the faculty got together for our last "blanket tie day".  They cut and tied 17 blankets.  Thank you to everyone who participated !!

Forge Ridge is on the horizon !

Even though most of us are experiencing 90 plus degree weather (notice I didn't say enjoying), many Sewing Hands have been looking ahead to this winter and have been very busy working on the last four grades for the Forge Ridge School.

In October Deborah and Sharon will be delivering blankets for the 5th and 6th graders and quilts for 7th and 8th.  Thankfully there are many people who are helping....

Cheryl has sent an email saying that 10 quilt tops for boys are on their way to Tennessee.

Evelyn sent 6 beautiful tops for the girls.

Sharon has been busy making a few tops too......

So far this is what is waiting for the next step - basting, quilting and binding...

We also have had some donations:  Thank you Bev for the adorable fleece panel that we will use for a kindergartner.  Thank you Harriet for the bolt of batting that we will use for 5 quilts!  South College has agreed to host a blanket tie day in October. We appreciate everyone's hard work and interest in what we are doing.

Happy Sewing,
Sharon

Four More Grades To Go

Boxes are already piling up in Tennessee for the big push this Fall and Winter to finish up Forge Ridge School.  Next school year's 5th and 6th grade classes will receive fleece blankets.  7th and 8th grade will receive quilts. What you see here is the entire 5th grade all ready for labels.  We had a wonderful donation last winter that made completing this entire grade possible.  Thank you to the angel who gave his tithing to Sewing Hands.

Thank you to everyone who contributes in any way to what we do as Sewing Hands.  I wish all of you could accompany me when the deliveries are made.  The smiles and hugs from the kids just make your heart melt.  

Have a wonderful Summer - and keep sewing!

Sharon  

Graduating 8th Graders

The weather has turned very warm in Tennessee so our thoughts are certainly not on delivering quilts. But the 8th graders at Forge Ridge School are graduating and headed off to High School in the Fall and we certainly did not want them to miss out on receiving a Sewing Hands quilt!  So the process began again.....

Tops arrived from Florida - expertly sewn by the wonderful "hands" there.  Sharon basted and quilted a gigantic amount for the 23 graduating students.

Help was definitely needed to get all of these quilts finished with binding.  Here are two new Sewing Hands - Harriet and Frieda.  They helped Sharon whittle down that pile in no time flat!

And so another deadline was met.  Frieda accompanied Sharon for the delivery on the last day of school.  Normally the older kids don't show much emotion upon receiving their quits but not this group!  They were thrilled.

Busy, Busy, Busy

 Sewing Hands has been VERY busy since the last update in January.  After the 3rd grade delivery to Forge Ridge School, Deborah made some adorable t-shirt dresses to send to Cuba. The individual who delivered the dresses said that the girls were so excited to receive them that they immediately put them on right over their clothes.

Isn't it amazing that our small group has been able to share our talents in the Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, Florida and Tennessee!

Also in the Spring, Sewing Hands once again helped the girls of the Super Kids Club (New Horizons).  This time they made  t-shirt dresses for themselves!

Winter Update

 This Winter certainly has been a busy time for all of the Sewing Hands.  We had two generous donations.  One completely took care of all of the materials for the Forge Ridge kindergarten class.  The other will completely take care of one of the grades which we will deliver this Fall.  THANK YOU to both of these contributors.  Your generosity has helped us make a difference in many children's lives.

 27 quilt tops were made and sent to Sharon to baste, quilt and bind.  Here is how the pile started......

and here is how it finished !

 

47 blankets were tied and also sent to Sharon in Tennessee.  Everything had to be ironed, sticky rolled, labeled and packed.   The "stitching sisters" were called in to help.

Laurie, Sandy and Judy to the rescue !!!!!!

 8:30 am January 20th, the trek to the Tennessee/Kentucky border began with a full load.

Almost two hours later, and with a few flurries of snow dancing in the air as we drove, we arrived at the school and visited the second graders first.  Happiness and gratitude poured out of these wonderful kids.

The young man on the left said "I wanted a John Deere blanket!

Last year Molly's sister in 3rd grade got a quilt and she told us that Molly like cheerleading.  She was right!

When asked what kind of quilt he got this little boy said "a little bit of everything".  He was very happy with that.

Another princess

And if that wasn't enough sweetness - we then visited the Kindergarten class

Mostly all of the boys covered themselves

While the girls immediately became a princess

The school was celebrating their 100th day so this little girl was all made up to look "old".  Being snuggled in her blanket just added to the role.

This little boy was so happy with his horses

This little girl made very sure I had taken her picture

Second Grade

Kindergarten

A very special Thank you to Jim and Joy Hollingsworth who made the ride and the day that much more enjoyable.

Hugs from a child are the best

The next delivery is for the 8th graders and will be sometime in April or May.  Until then.....

Happy Sewing,
Sharon