Last veterans quilt delivery for 2022

I delivered 27 quilts to our hospital contact this week and that brings our 2022 total to 114! I know that they really love receiving them and I also know that they are seeing an uptick in cancer patients so the quilts are absolutely needed and appreciated. I'm trying to get Jenn to a meeting soon to talk with us again about how they use the quilts.

We haven't kept great records until the last few years but scrolling back I see that we have made at least 321 since January 2020. I think that's pretty amazing for our little group!

I have at least 12 tops here that Brenda and I will get started quilting soon. 

For anyone new to the group and interested in making veterans quilts, here's all the info that you need:

- Quilts are to be as close as possible to 48" x 60". The hospital prefers patriotic or masculine colors/themes. Scrappy quilts seem to work very well too. Florals and pastels aren't so much in demand.

- You can quilt your own or we will quilt it for you. If you want to quilt your own quilts I can provide backing, batting and labels for you. 

- If we quilt your quilt for you we have complete control over the design and thread choice. We can't keep up with special requests. Fortunately, so far, we haven't had any complaints. We quilt them as we have time. Since quilts are quilted in pairs (matched to a backing) sometimes it takes a while to get your quilt back for binding. Occasionally when the maker isn't at the meeting to pick up a quilted top someone else volunteers to do the binding. Many hand make light work.

- We appreciate all efforts to avoid fragrances in your fabrics. I can't have fragrances in my house because of my allergies and I have had to hang quilt tops and finished quilts outside for days to get fragrance smells out. I don't like doing that to your tops and quilts but sometimes I have to.

It's always rewarding to fill the back of my car and deliver a new batch of quilts. I'm already looking forward to a Spring delivery.

Vicki

CSQ Meetings January - May 2023

 Our meetings have been scheduled with the county for January - May 2023

The meeting dates are:

January 10

February 14

March 14

April 11

May 9

We do not have any programs scheduled for 2023. Please consider hosting a program for one of our meetings. You can sign up on the Program Calendar.

Sewing Days are:

January 13 - 14

February 17 - 18 (off our normal schedule)

March 10 -11

April 7 - 8

May 12 - 13

We are required to sign up for the meetings and sewing days. There's no charge. You can sign up at the Parks and Rec website here:

https://secure.rec1.com/VA/hanover-county-va/catalog

Look under Clubs and Social for the Country School Quilters listing of meetings

A few more things about our December meetings

Our December 13th meeting will start at 6:30, since we are having a potluck.  Please bring your own drink.  Paper goods will be provided.

Our sewing days this month are December 16th and 17th, NOT this coming weekend!  The county had a conflict so things were pushed back one week.

Hope to see many of you next week!

December Meeting Reminder

 Our December meeting is scheduled for December 13. It's our annual holiday pot luck and collection for WHEAT. Cathy Williams has provided this list of the items that they always need at the pantry. She said that they are seeing heavier traffic this season.

Bring your favorite dish to share. There's no sign up because we can always count on you to bring a great variety of delicious food!

Don't forget to bring show-and-tell.

Boxes of breakfast cereal

Boxes of instant oatmeal

Oatmeal

Pancake mix with syrup, some low sugar or sugar free

Boxes of Mac ‘n cheese

Any size and type of tomato products

One pound boxes of spaghetti noodles

Containers of Spaghetti sauce to feed 4-6

Ramen noodles

16-ounce jars of peanut butter and/or jelly

6-ounce cans of tuna

Cans of chicken

Other cans of meat

16-ounce cans of any vegetables

Cans of dried beans, pork and beans, black and pinto beans

Pound bags of white or brown rice

Cans of fruit, some low sugar or sugar free

Any size or kind of soup

Any type of one-dish meals, Brunswick stew, chicken and dumplings, beef stew

Quart envelopes of dried milk

Envelopes of dried potatoes

Dressing Mix

Meal starters like hamburger helper

Paper grocery bags

Hygiene kits in a zip bag containing soap, shampoo, hand towel, wash cloth, comb or

brush, small hand sanitizer, tooth brush, tooth paste, razor, 5 bandaids, deodorant

Monetary donations are used to help citizens with utility bills or other emergency expenses and can be mailed to WHEAT P.O. Box 171 Beaverdam, VA 23015

November Meeting Reminders

 Before we get into the revised meeting schedule for November let's celebrate the huge success of the Trash to Treasure even in October. We raised $1458!!! That will cover our veterans quilt project supplies for a year or more. 

Tuesday is election day and the county has something going on for the weekend so our meeting room is unavailable normal schedule.  Our meeting is November 15, and sewing days are Nov. 18 and 19.  For the meeting, Debbie Q. is doing a program on pineapple quilts.

October Meeting Reminders

 It seems a little early but since October 1 fell on Saturday, our sewing days are THIS weekend! Join us October 7 & 8 at our meeting location. We still have to register for all of our meetings and you can register at the link at the end of this post. If you have any problems registering just give Parks and Rec a call.

The October meeting is October 11 and it's our annual Trash to Treasure. It's going to be a really special one because we have a sewing machine that's been donated!

It's a Husqvarna Viking Quilt Designer with over 15 feet, bobbins and user guide.

We also have some new-in-package quilt kits that have been donated. Bring your "trash" and be ready to take home some treasures!

You can sign up at the Parks and Rec website here:

https://secure.rec1.com/VA/hanover-county-va/catalog

Look under Clubs and Social for the Country School Quilters listing of meetings

Veterans quilts delivered

 This week I delivered 23 more quilts to our VA contact.

This brings our YTD total to 87!

CSQ Meeting Schedules for the rest of 2022

 We have some changes to meeting schedules because of conflicts with voting and other County scheduling issues. Following are the dates of all events for the rest of 2022. Changes are in BOLD.

September 13 - Monthly Meeting - Program being presented by Julie VanDen Elzen

October 7 - 8 - Friday and Saturday Sewing

October 11 - Monthly Meeting - Trash to Treasure Sale

November 15 - Meeting - program needed

November 18 - 19 - Friday and Saturday Sewing

December 13 - Meeting - Potluck and collection for WHEAT

December 16 - 17 - Friday and Saturday Sewing

You can sign up at the Parks and Rec website here:

https://secure.rec1.com/VA/hanover-county-va/catalog

Look under Clubs and Social for the Country School Quilters listing of meetings

Fall meetings and sewing days

Hanover County is still asking that we register in advance for our meetings and sewing days.  Registration is available on their website at https://secure.rec1.com/VA/hanover-county-va/catalog

Click on Clubs and Social, then Country School Quilters.  You can register for September, October, November, and December.  Please note that our meeting in November will be a week later than usual, and sewing days in both November and December are a week later than usual; this is due to a conflict on the County’s end.

For September, Julie Van Den Elzen will be presenting a program on starching your fabric.

Our annual Trash and Treasure sale will be in October.

We still need a program for November.

December will be our holiday potluck and collection for WHEAT.

Two nice quilts for veterans need bindings. We don't know who made them. Please let us know so we can return them to you.

July Meeting Reminder

 Just a reminder that our meeting next week will be in the picnic shelter and we will be collecting items for WHEAT. Here's the list of things that they need:

Boxes of breakfast cereal

Boxes of instant oatmeal

Oatmeal

Pancake mix with syrup, some low sugar or sugar free

Boxes of Mac ‘n cheese

Any size and type of tomato products

One pound boxes of spaghetti noodles

Containers of Spaghetti sauce to feed 4-6

Ramen noodles

16-ounce jars of peanut butter and/or jelly

6-ounce cans of tuna

Cans of chicken

Other cans of meat

16-ounce cans of any vegetables

Cans of dried beans, pork and beans, black and pinto beans

Pound bags of white or brown rice

Cans of fruit, some low sugar or sugar free

Any size or kind of soup

Any type of one-dish meals, Brunswick stew, chicken and dumplings, beef stew

Quart envelopes of dried milk

Envelopes of dried potatoes

Dressing Mix

Meal starters like hamburger helper

Paper grocery bags

Hygiene kits in a zip bag containing soap, shampoo, hand towel, wash cloth, comb or

brush, small hand sanitizer, tooth brush, tooth paste, razor, 5 bandaids, deodorant

Monetary donations could be mailed to WHEAT P.O. Box 171 Beaverdam, VA 23015

July Meeting and Sewing Days

 Our meeting room is not available to us in July but we have secured the picnic shelter for the meeting on July 12.

We are not having our usual July pot luck but we are collecting pantry items for WHEAT. Following is a list of the current on-going needs for the pantry:

Boxes of breakfast cereal

Boxes of instant oatmeal

Oatmeal

Pancake mix with syrup, some low sugar or sugar free

Boxes of Mac ‘n cheese

Any size and type of tomato products

One pound boxes of spaghetti noodles

Containers of Spaghetti sauce to feed 4-6

Ramen noodles

16-ounce jars of peanut butter and/or jelly

6-ounce cans of tuna

Cans of chicken

Other cans of meat

16-ounce cans of any vegetables

Cans of dried beans, pork and beans, black and pinto beans

Pound bags of white or brown rice

Cans of fruit, some low sugar or sugar free

Any size or kind of soup

Any type of one-dish meals, Brunswick stew, chicken and dumplings, beef stew

Quart envelopes of dried milk

Envelopes of dried potatoes

Dressing Mix

Meal starters like hamburger helper

Paper grocery bags

Hygiene kits in a zip bag containing soap, shampoo, hand towel, wash cloth, comb or

brush, small hand sanitizer, tooth brush, tooth paste, razor, 5 bandaids, deodorant

Monetary donations could be mailed to WHEAT P.O. Box 171 Beaverdam, VA 23015

Veterans Quilts Delivered

 This is the next batch of quilts to be delivered to our VA contacts. This group of 33 will bring our YTD total to 64. 

Great job everyone!

SCISSOR SHARPENING

SCISSOR SHARPENING on Friday, June 10, 10-2 p.m.  Come to Friday Sewing to sew or visit while your scissors are sharpened. All scissors are $8 - cash or check.

From The Heart Stitchers Ashland Group

 Last month we had a presentation from Beth Watkins at From The Heart Stitchers. Some of our members expressed interest in having a local sub-group that would meet up with the specific goal of making items for From The Heart. This group will be totally separate from Country School Quilters.

We now have a western Hanover group!

The Ashland Library FTH Group will meet at the Ashland Library the 4th Thursday of every month from noon - 4. It's not going to be a formal meeting. It's just a casual atmosphere where we can sit and sew/knit/crochet together while working on item for From The Heart. You can bring lunch/snacks and you can bring your sewing machine. You can come for 10 minutes or the whole 4 hours. It's really casual. It's totally open to the public so anyone can attend.

The first meeting is:

June 23 - Ashland Public Library meeting room A

noon - 4pm

Contact Vicki vickiwelsh @ protonmail dot com for questions

Just for this first meeting I'd like to know if you will attend so I can gauge whether I'll be there by myself or not. 😁

June 14 - BOM program by Becky

    BOM - "Hands All Around" by Nancy - given to a veteran

                                 

In January 2011 I began a friendship with quilt historian and writer, Barbara Brackman when she offered her first Block of the Month on her blog and I who had never done a BOM decided to sew along. Two weeks later I was sewing blocks and photographing them for her to use on her blog and I’ve been sewing for her continually since then. At our June 14 meeting I would like to do a trunk show (no trunk involved) to share them with you. It’s a nice group of quilts/tops, both pieced and applique and I hope you’ll enjoy seeing them and maybe you’ll want to sew along with us on one of the BOMs. Each BOM offers a history lesson related to the block as well as the pattern.

There will also be a door prize: a signed copy of “Divided Hearts – a Civil War Friendship Quilt” by Barbara Brackman.

Barbara has two blogs:

civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

              American Stars – BOM, 2^nd Wednesday each month           

              Freedom’s Friends – BOM, last Wednesday each month

barbarabrackman.blogspot.com

               Southern Spin – BOM, last day each month

From The Heart Stitchers Presentation

A few years ago someone I (Vicki) know received an item with this tag on it. I was curious about From The Heart Stitchers and looked up their website. What I found was an amazing clearinghouse for pretty much any possible handmade item for donation. I had just started crocheting and was very happy to find a place where I could donate things I crocheted. But I could also donate sewn items that I could make from my stash.

For our June meeting, Beth Watkins, kindly agreed to come talk to us about the organization. After the meeting a few of us discussed setting up a local group to meet and make things for FTH. This group will be distinct and separate from Country School. But I will let you know when we have a meeting time and location set if you would like to join.

As I mentioned, FTH takes pretty much ANYTHING that you can make for others. The organization began in 2001 and has since donated over 475,000 items all over Virginia.

Beth says that the support everything from birth to death. They supply many of the sweet and beautiful outfits given to still-born babies, like these sets that she brought as examples.

They make all sorts of support item for surgery and chemo patients from small pillows, to mastectomy drain bags to chemo port pillows for car safety belts.

They take all sorts of soft items like knitted knockers for mastectomy patients, dressed bears for children's hospitals and little octopi for neo-natal units.

For seniors there are walker caddies,

warm horseshoe shawls for wheelchair patients, and 

lots of different sensory items for memory care patients.

For me, I like to make things with my stash. Wheelchair blankets are fun and fast to make.

Mastectomy drain bags were a great use for some fat quarters that had been in my stash too long.

Walker caddies were a great way to divest myself of a stash of upholstery fabrics.

I also like to make horseshoe shawls and various hats.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of the vast types of things that they collect and distribute! If you want to learn more about the organization or sign up for their monthly newsletter, you can check out their website.

Once we set up the local group I'll post a notice on the blog for anyone who is interested.
 

Tuesday meeting

 Our program Tuesday evening will be a guest speaker! Beth Watkins with From The Heart Stitchers will join us to tell us about all the great work this organization does with donated hand made items.

I (Vicki) learned about this group when someone I know received a post-surgery item that was donated by the group. Since then I have made and donated wheelchair caddies, wheelchair blankets, dialysis blankets, dialysis sleeves, baby blankets and mastectomy drain bags. It's been a great way for me to find a home for my crochet items and sewn items that aren't veterans quilts. 

Beth will tell us all about the group and the kinds of things that they need. If you already make things for FTH you are welcome to bring them to the meeting for Beth to take to the office for distribution.

Scissor Sharpening - JUNE 10

We will have a scissor sharpening event on June 10, from 10-2 pm., while we are sewing. Richard Hile whose business is SHARP AGAIN will be there to sharpen your scissors or knives. (He is a regular at West End Farmers Market and the Great Big Greenhouse.) You do not have to be sewing to stop by with your scissors. I will not be at the May meeting, so would someone please pass around a signup sheet so we can give him an idea of how many scissors/knives he will be doing.

PRICE: $8 for scissors - any size, including pinking shears

$6 for knives.

We will have zip lock bags to put your scissors in with your name.

Hanover County Spirit of Volunteerism Awards

As most of you know, our group has been nominated for a Hanover County 2022 Spirit of Volunteerism award in the Spirit of Team category.  The county will be holding a celebration on May 12, 2022 where the award winners will be announced.  We are invited to the celebration but need to provide the county with a head count by next week.

The ceremony will be at 7:00 p.m. at Hanover High School, and will include musical entertainment, presentation of awards in eight categories, and light refreshments.  The guest host will be Simone Cuccurullo of NBC 12 News.

There is no limit on the number of people who may attend, so if you want to come you are welcome to bring friends and family members.  I need to know the total number of attendees from our group, so if you plan to attend please send me an email at malshealy <at> gmail.com by Sunday, April 17.  I hope to see many of you there!  - Peg

Upcoming meetings and sewing days

Hanover County is still asking that we register in advance for our meetings and sewing days.  Registration is available on their website at https://secure.rec1.com/VA/hanover-county-va/catalog

Click on Clubs and Social, then Country School Quilters.  You can register for April, May, June, and August.  Please note that for June and August there are separate sign-ups for Friday sewing and Saturday sewing.

 

Our usual meeting place is not available in July, either for our meeting or for sewing days.  There’s a chance that we will be able to have our meeting in the picnic shelter; I am waiting to hear about that.  If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know.

 

Our April meeting is on the 12th at 7 pm.  Denise Zapf will be presenting a program on using the Brother Scan ‘n’ Cut for applique and other techniques.  We are still looking for a program for May – if you have something you’d like to present, please sign up on the schedule available through our blog.

 

April sewing days are this week – the 8th and 9th.

March meeting and sewing days

Hanover County is still asking that we register in advance for our meetings and sewing days.  Registration is available on their website at https://secure.rec1.com/VA/hanover-county-va/catalog/index/debf1a5ce9f732d025cdc0fe81fac7d7?filter=c2VhcmNoPXF1aWx0ZXJz for dates through May.

Our March meeting is on the 8th at 7 pm.  Marcy will be presenting a program on crumb quilts.  Also, Pokey plans to be there with registration forms for those who still need to pay dues.  Dues for the year are $15; we accept cash and checks.  If anyone is in need of a partial or full gift membership, please contact me (malshealy at gmail); a very generous member has donated one.

Sewing days this month are the 11th and 12th.

If you’d like to present a program later in the year, you are encouraged to sign up on the Program Schedule  - under Our Links on the blog.

First veterans quilts of 2022 delivered!

Our first batch of quilts for 2022 were delivered to our VA hospital contact Saturday. We start off the year with 31 quilts! If you do not see one of yours in this stack, don't worry. They didn't all make it for the photo shoot but I delivered all that I had.

I wanted to take this opportunity for my annual reminder notes about our veterans quilts project. 

The quilts we make are donated to the Interventional Radiography Department at Hunter Holmes McGuire Hospital. They primarily gift the quilts to veterans with recent cancer diagnoses that are in their department to have chemo ports inserted. The staff says that the quilts are wonderful especially for patients who are extra stressed over their diagnosis.

- Optimal size for the quilts is 48" x 60". We can accept an inch or 2 smaller and a inch or so bigger, but the backing and batting is precut so we do not have a ton of flexibility.

- You can make any pattern or design that you want. As for fabric selection, patriotic quilts are always the first preference but anything masculine or non-gender is fine. Scrap quilts are great too. Avoid feminine quilts. They have so few female patients that those quilts rarely get distributed. Hanover Safe Place is a great option if you are making more feminine quilts.

- We now have several volunteer quilters so once you give us your tops we can usually turn them around within 60 days (2 meetings). They are quilted 2 at a time. We load one backing piece that's big enough for 2 quilts. 

- If you want to quilt your own quilt I (Vicki) can provide you with backing and batting. All you have to do is ask. I'll even do my best to dye a matching backing for you.

- Please do not use any fragrance when you wash the fabrics or quilts. I'm very allergic. The quilts and the tops might stay in my house for a couple of months and I just can't have fragrance in my house for that long. I can't quilt tops that have fragrance in them at all. When I have received quilts that have been washed in fragrance detergent I have to hang them outside (on a covered porch) for as long as 2 weeks before I can have them in my house. I don't like doing that to your quilts but I have no other option.

Announcements!

We are once again being nominated for the Hanover County Spirit of Volunteerism award. We need a new group picture, which we plan to take at our meeting on the 15th. Could whoever has our hanging frames please bring them to the meeting (and please email me at malshealy <at> gmail so I know you saw this). We will have the quilts from our Hanover Museum show (see below) and should be able to find 2 or 3 that will make an appropriate backdrop, but if you have a quilt you’d particularly like us to use, bring it along. We’ll try to take the picture at the start of our meeting.

 

Quilts from the Hanover Museum show

 

Jaime Fawcett plans to be at our meeting on the 15th to return as many of the quilts as possible. She will arrive around 6, so feel free to come early to the meeting to get your quilt(s) Please remember to bring your claim form! As far as I know, any remaining quilts will be delivered on the 18th as originally planned.

We were featured!

 I think everyone still remembers the generous donation of Benartex fabric that we received last year for our veterans quilts. We were featured this week on the Benartex Instagram page!

You can check it out here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZo4F2DO3f9/

Change in plans!

I hope you all saw the email from Hanover County Parks and Rec. Our meeting has been postponed from Feb. 8 to Feb 15, because the meeting space does not have heat. The heating system should be fixed next Wednesday or soon thereafter.

We don't currently have a program for this month. Since we had a small turnout in January, it's been suggested that we continue the First quilt/Last quilt program that we did last month. Please bring an early quilt and a recent quilt if you want to participate. And you are all encouraged to sign up for programs in the months ahead!

Also, please remember that sewing days this month are the 18th and 19th.

Thank you for all your contributions!

I just received this "thank you" from WHEAT:

WHEAT [is grateful to] Country School Quilters who have once again been so very generous with food, diapers, miscellaneous items and financial donations.

During your December 2021 meeting, a total of 178 pounds of food, 8 packs of diapers, 39 misc. items and $780 dollars were collected.

 

This wonderful donation is in addition to your group's generosity over time.  It truly feels like we have "adopted family" in your organization.  For that we are exceedingly grateful.

 

Blessings to each of you.