Ballerina Quilt for Carolyn

This is the Ballerina I stitched for the Ballerina Quilt for my Yahoo group, World of Charity Stitching.  This chart was a free chart from the DMC Club.  It had some small ballerinas also, so I stitched a small one for a card.  

This quilt is a special request quilt made by one of our members, for a little girl, Carolyn, age 4, who has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

This is the quilt top I put together for Carolyn's Ballerina Quilt. The quilt and matching pillow was delivered by one of our members, Mary.  Carolyn's mom, Kathryn, said, "Carolyn loves this quilt and pillow.  Both are on her bed.  Thank you so much for the kind gift."

Smalls for Cards

 

Recently, one of the members of my Yahoo group, World of Charity Stitching, (Bonnie who creates a lot of the quilts) came across a stamp that reads:  "Those who sleep under a quilt, sleep under a blanket of love."
  
She plans to use this stamp to make cards that we are giving with our quilts to the elderly in two of the care facilities to which our group donates.  Our group donates many quilts to the elderly and to children. 

Always Stitching

It seems like I am always stitching something new.  I enjoy working on small projects that can be finished in a few days or a week.   I have a huge stash of charts in books, magazines or downloaded from the internet, which I enjoy looking through to find new items to stitch.  I usually don't stitch the same one twice, but I have a few times. 

This cute little stitching girl is a free chart from Stitching the Night Away, by Loretta Oliver.  My Yahoo group, World of Charity Stitching, is stitching the complete alphabet to be made into a quilt for a senior citizen in a care facility.  You can see more of the alphabet squares by clicking on the World of Charity Stitching link above.

Breast Cancer Bookmark

Since October is Breast Cancer Month, I decided to stitch a small bookmark to be donated for a raffle at my local bowling alley, where I bowl on Tuesdays in a ladies' league.  Every year the bowling alley allows one of the ladies to hold a raffle to raise money for breast cancer research.  I wanted to do a small part to help in this great cause.

My mother had breast cancer and had a radical mastectomy, so I know first-hand what breast cancer can do to a family.  I have friends who have been diagnosed and treated and have been cancer free for several years.  The daughter of one of my good friends died from breast cancer when she was in her 30's, after having been cancer free for eight years.  So, early detection is the key.  I get a yearly mammogram and ultrasound (due to dense breast tissue).  I urge everyone to have a yearly mammogram and to check your breasts monthly for any changes.




 

Charity Stitching

 

In 2006, I retired from my State of Florida clerical job and began looking for a way to help others.   One of the ways I found was to stitch for charity.  

I was surfing the net one day and came across an article about stitching for charity.    Since I had been stitching for such a long time, family and friends had received so many stitched gifts.   I know they were tired of getting them,   so I decided to enter the cyber-world of stitching by joining two Yahoo groups, World of Charity Stitching and Love Quilts USA.  

Cross Stitching has always been one of my favorite hobbies.  I stitch almost every day, having taught myself to stitch in about 1983.   Most of the time, while I am stitching, I "watch/listen"  to television and I almost always take my stitching with me when I have doctor appointments or any kind of period of waiting.   I even stitch while riding in the car on trips with my husband, at my granddaughters volleyball tournaments, in bowling leagues.

I started bogging about stitching for charity in 2008 and in the first year of record-keeping, I was able to stitch 12 charity squares; year two ended with 33 squares for charity.  (On my blog there is a list of how many squares I've stitched for these groups). 

In 2008, I became the co-owner of World of Charity Stitching.   This has been a challenging part of my life and I've enjoyed it very much.    Our membership of stitchers has varied over the years, but right now we have 285 members.  Not all of the members stitch on a regular basis: most have families that take up a lot of time, some work outside of the home,  and some  stitch when a special theme sparks their interest.  Our group does not put pressure on the members-they can stitch as often as they like.  If they find they don't have time to stitch, they might take a break and then sign up for the next round of quilt themes or they might stitch odd pieces at their leisure.  

Rachel (the other co-owner) and I collaborate on what quilt themes the group will be stitching, but members can make suggestions on quilt themes.   We donate to several different venues, but mainly to elderly care facilities and to a domestic violence shelter.  We also create special quilts for those with debilitating diseases, such as cancer.   We recently donated 3 quilts and one pillow to the Baptist Cancer Institute in Pensacola, Florida, to ladies who are cancer survivors.

If anyone is interested in joining our Yahoo group, World of Charity Stitchers, they can join by clicking here.  If you love to cross stitch, sew, quilt, crochet, tat, or knit, we welcome anyone who wishes to bring their talents to help others.

I am so thankful to have found an outlet for my stitching and sewing.  

Here are a few of my recent finishes:

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Some Summer Stitching for Charity

These are some of the pieces I've been working on this summer for charity.

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Stitching for Charity

These are some of my finishes for this year.