Use Your Craft to Help Others

During the past few months, I have been creating things as much for my own sanity as well as to donate to others. I wanted to use my crafting skills to help others. At first it was masks. As a bonus, this was a great way to use up large fabric scraps as I continue to downsize.

Masks for Multnomah County Health Department

Masks for family and neighbors - no elastic phase

We made signs to show our appreciation for the Essential Workers living in or traveling through our neighborhood.

Then I started making quilt tops and stuffed animals for local charities. The quilts shown below are pictured as works in progress. They will be donated through my local American Sewing Guild Chapter to families who have a member who is facing terminal illness or other end of life scenarios.

These stuffed animals are also to be donated through my ASG Chapter. They will be collected later this Autumn. If they look familiar, it may be that I posted the original ones which were made for my granddaughter on an earlier post. These are new - but are the same designs from Urban Threads.

And now I am working on cards. Some of those will be posted in the near future. Many of you have probably found yourselves in a similar situation while you have been sheltering in place at home. And maybe you have had other things to do, too. My husband is an essential worker and for that we are very thankful that he has an ongoing job. But, truthfully, in the beginning I was a little apprehensive about him getting sick. Thankfully, we are very fortunate that we are all healthy and also that my daughter transitioned to learning at home without any hiccups! My family is truly blessed. 

 Where to donate

Maybe your community no longer needs donations and you would still like to help. If you are looking for new places in which to donate your talents and creations.  Here is a short list of organizations that can use our help:

The Navajo Nation is in need of masks and other items.

JoAnn’s is collecting cloth masks.

Love for the Elderly. Send a handwritten card.

Cards for Kindness is collecting blank cards.

Bee a Blessing Card Drive is collecting handwritten cards for medical staff and senior citizens.

Please share the names and links if you know of additional places in need of donations. Whether you are a card maker or a quilter or are just getting started with finding your preferred creative way to make the world brighter, please know that many places will be happy to accept your donations. We are in this together. 

Stay safe and stay healthy.

All my best,

Beverly

Moved! Starting Afresh!

Door frame growth chart

About a year and a half ago my husband took a new job in a new state. Our large house and, more importantly, several rooms of craft supplies and workspaces had to be packed and moved into less than half of the space.  Downsizing is not easy for most people. But for quilters, paper crafters, and art supply collectors, we may as well be told that we are moving to a deserted island with no Michael's or online shopping opportunities. That is how excited I was, to be giving up my set-up.

Pre-downsizing craft room storage wall

It took a long time to figure out how to effectively store things in that house. After 10 years there, it felt Just Right. Pictured below is one of the areas that worked very well.

Wafer thin metal dies on magnetic sheet on the wall

It is a 24"x 5' long magnet for my thin dies collection. Here is the link to what I bought on  Amazon. All of the Spellbinders, Scrapbook.com, Avery Elle, etc., wafer-thin dies stick on here and are easy to see.  If I see things, I am more likely to use them. And pack them!

Items that almost got left behind!

So the adventure began. Purging and packing. Purging some more. Packing some more. After the moving truck was packed and drove away, I discovered a cupboard that hadn't been packed. I quickly threw the stuff in a box. But knew I'd have a problem with how to move it since my Ridgeline was full. The idea was that I would take valuables, food, and chemicals in my vehicle along with the dog and the 13-year-old kid.  There was no extra room for this box of crap, goodies of metal tins, cards and other papercrafting items. I am not saying that I gave away a box of chemicals to the neighbors so that I could bring my craft items on the 1,400-mile trip. However, that stuff is now stored in my garage waiting to be put away.  What? A year and a half later and you still haven't unpacked? You may be wondering what is going on here! My tale of woe continues. We moved into a house and then it fell apart. More on that another day. With Before and After pictures!

Looking back on these pictures, the only one that really makes my heart constrict is the first one with the growth chart we made in my daughter's closet.  You can see on it that she measured herself (without us knowing) a couple of times over the years.  I wished that we could take it with us. And I'll tell you the truth. I actually shed a few tears when I took that picture. It was the only house she had known and she had many wonderful friends that she was going to miss in Arizona.

Tomorrow, I am going to post some suggestions about purging craft supplies and fabric.  This is mainly for my benefit because I need pep talks periodically and things are finally getting finished here so it is time to purge. Again!

All the best to you! Sorry for the long absence. In all honesty, this has been a pretty rough year and a half for me so I do feel like I need to start anew.