My 4 year-old granddaughter asked to help, and it turns out she's a whiz at putting the caps of the snaps in the pre-poked holes of the shields.
Our shields are typically sewn in batches by color, so the seamstresses don't have to change the color of thread on their machines too often. Consequently, it was easy enough to give her a handful of caps of a particular color for each batch. She was even great at putting the second cap on the correct side--making fewer mistakes than some of us adults do!
I'm pleased to announce that the Duck quilt that Patty made to raffle off for us brought in over $100. (Here's the aforementioned Snap Assistant holding the quilt that's much larger than she is.)
Fittingly, the lucky winner was Henry, an active member of the Springfield Lions Club, which has been so supportive of our group. Thanks again, Patty, for being so generous with your time, and thanks to all of you who supported us by buying tickets. And, congratulations to Henry!
Laura continues to do such a wonderful job on dying our undies. She's recently been experimenting with tossing in some pretty fabric that is too light. Of course, to save on labor and dye, we prefer that the fabric we work with already be great stain-hiding colors, but when it's a donation, it's worth a try to make it darker. These all had white backgrounds, and are now useable for our components, thanks to Laura!
When I went to pick up the most recent dying batch last week, Laura gave me a bag of fabric a friend of hers had donated. Here are some stain-hiding pieces in that donation.
Obviously, yardage is easier to work with than small pieces, but in quilting-weight cotton, we can use smaller pieces. Our minimum size of fabric to use for pockets measures 4.5" x 5". What we work with most easily is strips 5" wide. We fold those in half lengthwise, press wrong sides together, topstitch 1/4" from the fold (in matching polyester thread), then cut into 4.5" pieces for the pockets. Pocket fabric must be busy and dark enough to hide stains. If you have some that qualifies and want to make it into pockets for us, that's fantastic and very much appreciated. Just remember the fabric design restrictions (see previous post). When putting the shield pieces together, it's nice to be able to choose already-sewn pockets that look great with the shield's main fabric.
I was at JoAnn fabrics a few days ago, and came across a floral flannel I hadn't seen there before. My coupons weren't that great, so I didn't buy it, but went home and found it on their website. All fabrics were 60% off for 2 days, but unfortunately, this one was excluded from online sales. I think it'll be outstanding for liners--busy, stain-hiding colors, pretty, and no animals!
Yesterday, my neighbor alerted me to an excellent article in the BBC online. It's one of the most detailed I've come across about the menstrual issues challenging women and girls around the world, and some of the other groups which are also working to eliminate them. Please take the time to read it.
I hope you're able to join us this month. Throughout the year, we meet at Our Sewing Room on the 3rd Sunday of each month. Except this month! In June, the 3rd Sunday is Fathers' Day, which would cause conflicts for many. So, in June only, we're meeting on the 4th Sunday, June 26th. Please join us for as much time as you have available. Some stay the whole time, others for part of the day, still others just drop off contributions. Some bring lunch and others eat at one of the fun restaurants in the downtown area.
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