Archive for the ‘Charity’ Category

Friday afternoon, we had a group of friends from our local homeschool group over to sew pillowcases with us! I think everyone had a great time, and we turned out a slew of pillowcases. The kids each made two pillowcases, one to keep and one to give. My hope is that the pillowcase that they kept will remind them to pray for the sick child who receives the matching one.

Folding

Cutting

Pinning

Sewing

(I love this one of me sewing with Jamie!)

And, the kids, each showing off one of their finished pillowcases:

We used the Hot Dog Pillowcase Tutorial with a French seam to make these, and they turned out great! The donated pillowcases will go to ConKerr Cancer’s Miles of Pillowcase Smiles project.

Pillowcases 25 & 26 are ready to go:

I used the Hot Dog Pillowcase tutorial from the Conkerr Cancer website to sew these two, finishing them up with a french seam. The group of beginning sewists who are coming over to sew pillowcases this afternoon will be using sewing machines rather than sergers, so I thought I’d try this method out and see how it works. It is so cool! I think the kids are going to really enjoy it.

For more information about my personal challenge and to find my 9 1/2 Minute Serged Pillowcase Tutorial, check out this post: Pillowcase Challenge.

We headed out after our book-work was done this morning to do some shopping and a little on-the-road learning. This Friday afternoon, we have a group of moms and children from our local homeschool group dropping in to sew pillowcases with us for the Crafthope pillowcase project. I thought my kids and I would enjoy a trip to Historic Downtown Carrollton to pick out fabrics for their pillowcases at The Old Craft Store.

We did a little math on the way. “If you need 3/4 yard of a main fabric and 1/3 yard of a trim fabric for one pillowcase, how much do you need for two pillowcases? How many inches is that?”

The kids did a great job picking out their fabrics. I was so surprised that Allen was the quickest, and Samantha took the longest! (I’ll post pictures of their finished pillowcases on Friday so you can see the fabrics they chose.)

This sweet quilt shop is packed full of beautiful fabrics, and I’m in awe of the projects that they have on display. I think I could spend a whole day wandering around gathering ideas to add to my sewing list. The ladies who run the quilt shop are amazing, too–they were so encouraging and so patient with my littles. It’s so nice every so often to just drop in to a place where you can shop and chat about your love of sewing and enjoy some comraderie with fellow sewing enthusiasts.

Four more pillowcases on my way to 40 for Craft Hope’s latest project . . .

Kitties in the Garden

Pink Elephants

Monkey Business

Just Fluttering By

Hoot!

Bearfootin’

Under the Big Top!

Ladybugs & Friends

For more information about my personal challenge and to find my 9 1/2 Minute Pillowcase Tutorial, check out this post: Pillowcase Challenge.

To see all the pillowcases I’ve done so far, click here!

I’ve fallen a bit behind, but my birthday is coming quickly. It’s time to get moving! I read somewhere that ConKerr Cancer receives considerably more girly pillowcases than boyish ones. Since I’m the mom to four boys, I decided to make sure that I make plenty of pillowcases that little and big boys will love! These six are great examples.

The Aliens Are Coming!

Play Ball!

Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting . . .

. . . I think I’ll leave you singing that for the rest of the day. Maybe it’ll remind you to go sew some pillowcases! Seriously, one pillowcase takes less than 10 minutes, and it’ll bring such joy to a sick child. Here’s the tutorial again: Pillowcase tute

. . . and the cats!

A quarter of the way finished now! Are you sewing pillowcases with me? I’d love to know! You can find my pillowcase tutorial here, in case you’d like to join in.

Pillowcases numbers 5 and 6 are all done. 34 to go! These two sport some of my favorite Michael Miller prints.

And, I’m finally caught up on quilt blocks for the Fresh Comfort Quilting Bee. Bibi send us these adorable prints and asked us to sew up Dutchman’s Puzzle Blocks.

Of course, I had to make a matching one for myself, too!

In 40 days, I’ll be *gulp* 40 years old! I was checking out the Crafthope blog a few days ago and discovered that they’re participating in ConKerr Cancer’s Miles of Pillowcase Smiles project. ConKerr Cancer organizes sewists around the country who sew bright and cheery handmade pillowcases for children who are seriously ill. It just so happens that the deadline for this project is September 15th–my 40th birthday. So, I’ve set a goal for myself to sew 40 pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer in the next 40 days.

I finished up my first four pillowcases today. They were so quick and easy! I’m sure there are zillions of tutorials online for pillowcases, but I thought I’d put together one to show my method. I timed myself to see exactly how long one pillowcase takes. Including cutting out the fabric, the total time was 9 1/2 minutes! You do need a serger to use this tutorial. (If you don’t have a serger, check out the ConKerr Cancer website for a tutorial using your sewing machine.) Just click for The 9 1/2 Minute Pillowcase Tutorial.

If one pillowcase only takes 9 1/2 minutes, surely you have time to sew up one or two, too! If you do, I’d love to see them!

I finished two skirts for the Sewing Seeds for Haiti project this afternoon! These are just simple 6-panel skirts with elastic waists, sized at about a girls 12-14. 12-year-old Samantha is modeling them in these pictures.