Do you go back and read the comments on blogs? I don’t always so I wanted to share this one with you that Martha just left on my blog. One thing that makes Martha so special is that she lives in Louisiana! 🙂 Oh, ok . . stop whining . . everyone is special but if you live in Louisiana or if you’re from Louisiana and no longer live there (ME!), then you’re just really special!
Martha teaches kindergarten and here’s her comment:
I don’t have much of a stash to bust, BUT may I be so bold as to suggest a stash busting idea? Some of the comments indicated a lot of small pieces such as strings were on hand. I would also guess lots of orphan blocks could be found in lost of stashes also. I teach Kindergarten here in Louisiana. We take naps in our class, as does every full day K in the states. Some Kindergarteners’ parents do not have the extra money at home to send anything to school for their child to sleep on. Stash busters could donate nap quilts to their local schools for children who are in need. Nap quilts need not be any larger than a bath towel. A call to the school’s office to inquire if any child needs a nap cover would be all that is necessary.
One of the things I want to encourage everyone to do is donate to causes near and dear to your own heart. There are so many worthwhile causes and lately, I’ve leaned towards the non-traditional charities. I’ve been more inclined to give quilts to police officers/firemen to give to children, to veterans’ homes, orphanages, etc.
If the kindergarten teachers are having to purchase the mats/blankets for the students, you know they would appreciate a donation! I intend to call our local schools tomorrow to find out if they have all day kindergarten and if they could use a few quilts. Orphan blocks could easily be made into these size quilts!
Thanks Martha for that tip!
Martha says
July,
Please correct my spelling!! I just told the world I’m a teacher, and either I can’t spell or I don’t know grammar. It should be lots of orphan blocks in lots of stashes
Julia says
Great idea, Martha!! Our kindergartens here are half days, so they don’t take naps. If I can help out your schools, let me know.
Pat says
As a retired teacher (and kindergarten was one of the many grades I taught over the years), I think this is a good idea and one I’d not have considered if it hadn’t been mentioned here. Our guild does donate to police and firefighters to distribute quilts to children and others at the scene of accidents and fires, as well as the more traditional donations (nursing homes, cancer centers, children’s hospitals, Habitat for Humanity families). I do like to hear of other ideas, so this was a good post, Judy. Thanks.
Nann says
Thanks for the great suggestion!
Nap quilts would be a good way to use the string blocks that those of in the HeartStrings Quitl Project make up by the dozen. Using the suggested HS size (9″ fin.), such a quilt would use 6 blocks (with a border) or 12 blocks (no border).
Me says
Judy,
As you said there are so many worthy causes out there where we can put our stash to work. I recently read this plea on the Martha Pullen website forum:
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Author: Sparkle
Date: 10-23-08 13:54
I work for Dominion Power here in Virginia. Dominion, mostly thru the incredible efforts of Beverly Robinson, is big on supporting our troops overseas, especially in hostile stations.
One of the things these soldiers do NOT get when they get sent out to combat areas is – unbelievably enough – PILLOWS! Well, Bev has been collecting and sending pillows to as many soldiers as she can and recently got a commercial donation of 150 pillows and is now looking for pillowcases. I’ve sewn up quite a few but there’s no way I can handle 150!
They REALLY like the bright colors and kiddy prints and I’ve even put names on some when I know them. A lot of these soldiers are little more than kids anyway. They’re living in really horrible conditions – pretty much 4-6 people in a semi-trailer container or smaller. So these little spots of bright, cheery color are especially appreciated.
I know you girls are all sewing for lots&lots of other extremely worthwhile charities but does anybody have time to sew up a few standard-sized pillowcases and mail them to me and I’ll make sure they get sent to Iraq or Afghanistan???
Send me an email and I’ll reply with my snail mail addy – Many THANKS Sewing Buddies!!!
Barbara O.
http://www.finestitchery.com/