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Boston area sewing get-togethers, and sewing for charity



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 25th 05, 11:19 AM
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Default Boston area sewing get-togethers, and sewing for charity

Hi folks,

Some of you who have been around for a while may recall the Boston area
sewing "crawls" I used to throw, at which we'd get together at a fabric
store, proceed to a nearby restaurant for a social lunch, and then shop
our way through other local fabric stores.

Lately, I've been feeling like I should organize something again. So,
I've started an online group through which you can sign up to be
notified of upcoming events:
http://sewing.meetup.com/123/

I'm planning two types of events. One will be occasional social events
like just like the old fabric crawls: we'll have something to eat, or
maybe coffee and a pastry, and visit a fabric store or two together.
It's an opportunity to hang out and chat with other creative people.
You could bring projects you're working on to get advice, or projects
you've completed to get admiration. At past events, I've sometimes been
able to arrange small discounts at fabric stores, and once a special
lunch menu with extra selections. I also met a few of my closest
friends through such events.

The other type of event will be community-service oriented. We'll get
together for a "crafting party" to create things which will be donated
to charity. These crafting parties can be lots of fun, and we can also
have a potluck luncheon at the same time. I'll design a few patterns we
can use for some of the projects, and I'll make sure they're suitable
for everyone regardless of sewing skill level. I'll also provide a
location where we can set up our sewing machines and lay out fabric for
selection and cutting.

Charitable crafting parties I'm planning include:

* Make turbans and hats for women with breast cancer! I've done this
in the past, and it was both easy and fun. The process can be anything
from "zip a quick hat through the sewing machine in 15 minutes" to
"spend hours embroidering and embellishing an extravagant turban".
Either way, you know your creation will bring warmth and comfort to a
woman facing one of the most difficult times in her life.

* Make duffel bags for children in foster care! Children in foster care
often have few to no possessions of their own. Charitable organization
"Children To Children" tries to provide each child with a duffel bag, a
stuffed animal, and a note to remind them they're loved. Duffel bags
are easy to make, I have a source of wholesale zippers for the closure,
and we can use practically any fabric as long as it's reasonably
durable. I've contacted the charity and received their specifications
for what size bags they want, and I am designing a pattern to suit.

* Make various sewn and/or quilted objects to donate to the WGBH
auction to raise funds for public television! Last year I made a baby
quilt using only $9 of materials and completed in only four hours, and
it raised $85 for WGBH. I'll happily teach basic quilting methods to
beginners so we can repeat this feat. Other appropriate objects we
could make for the auction could include scarves, hats, pullover
shirts, mittens, slippers, shorts... practically anything we can
simplify for group production in quantity.

Again, that URL to sign up for these events in the Boston area is:
http://sewing.meetup.com/123/
Please join us. We're going to have lots of fun *and* do what we can to
make the world a better place.

Tom Farrell
http://www.SewingWithTom.com/

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  #2  
Old February 25th 05, 06:39 PM
Cynthia Spilsted
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Default

GRRRRRR!
How I wished I lived on the other side of the continent right about now!
Suddenly, Prince Rupert seems very isolated (even more than usual!)....
Sure wish I could join your crafting parties and sewing crawls - sound like
a gas! Until then, I'll have to make do with a day in Terrace having lunch
at the Hot House and a three shop stop (better than our one shop). Of
course, if you like Punjabi food, I think we have you beat by a country mile
in the foods department.....One thing about living in Northwestern BC: we
like our food!
Good luck and have fun - wish I could join you.
Cynthia

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi folks,

Some of you who have been around for a while may recall the Boston area
sewing "crawls" I used to throw, at which we'd get together at a fabric
store, proceed to a nearby restaurant for a social lunch, and then shop
our way through other local fabric stores.

Lately, I've been feeling like I should organize something again. So,
I've started an online group through which you can sign up to be
notified of upcoming events:
http://sewing.meetup.com/123/

I'm planning two types of events. One will be occasional social events
like just like the old fabric crawls: we'll have something to eat, or
maybe coffee and a pastry, and visit a fabric store or two together.
It's an opportunity to hang out and chat with other creative people.
You could bring projects you're working on to get advice, or projects
you've completed to get admiration. At past events, I've sometimes been
able to arrange small discounts at fabric stores, and once a special
lunch menu with extra selections. I also met a few of my closest
friends through such events.

The other type of event will be community-service oriented. We'll get
together for a "crafting party" to create things which will be donated
to charity. These crafting parties can be lots of fun, and we can also
have a potluck luncheon at the same time. I'll design a few patterns we
can use for some of the projects, and I'll make sure they're suitable
for everyone regardless of sewing skill level. I'll also provide a
location where we can set up our sewing machines and lay out fabric for
selection and cutting.

Charitable crafting parties I'm planning include:

* Make turbans and hats for women with breast cancer! I've done this
in the past, and it was both easy and fun. The process can be anything
from "zip a quick hat through the sewing machine in 15 minutes" to
"spend hours embroidering and embellishing an extravagant turban".
Either way, you know your creation will bring warmth and comfort to a
woman facing one of the most difficult times in her life.

* Make duffel bags for children in foster care! Children in foster care
often have few to no possessions of their own. Charitable organization
"Children To Children" tries to provide each child with a duffel bag, a
stuffed animal, and a note to remind them they're loved. Duffel bags
are easy to make, I have a source of wholesale zippers for the closure,
and we can use practically any fabric as long as it's reasonably
durable. I've contacted the charity and received their specifications
for what size bags they want, and I am designing a pattern to suit.

* Make various sewn and/or quilted objects to donate to the WGBH
auction to raise funds for public television! Last year I made a baby
quilt using only $9 of materials and completed in only four hours, and
it raised $85 for WGBH. I'll happily teach basic quilting methods to
beginners so we can repeat this feat. Other appropriate objects we
could make for the auction could include scarves, hats, pullover
shirts, mittens, slippers, shorts... practically anything we can
simplify for group production in quantity.

Again, that URL to sign up for these events in the Boston area is:
http://sewing.meetup.com/123/
Please join us. We're going to have lots of fun *and* do what we can to
make the world a better place.

Tom Farrell
http://www.SewingWithTom.com/



  #3  
Old February 25th 05, 08:07 PM
BEI Design
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Posts: n/a
Default



Cynthia Spilsted wrote:
GRRRRRR!
How I wished I lived on the other side of the continent right
about now! Suddenly, Prince Rupert seems very isolated (even
more than usual!)....


Wow, Cynthia, next time I do the Kelowna-Kamloops-Prince George trip,
I'm thinking I'll have to swing over your way. My DH and I always
planned to do in "Inside Passage" cruise, maybe I'll still do it, and
plan a meeting with you. I love northern BC. Well, actually I love
all of BC that I've seen. :-)

--
Beverly
delete no spam and .invalid to reply


  #4  
Old February 27th 05, 04:08 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Cynthia, don't feel envious, start a local group yourself. You never
know who you'll meet.

If this group works out well in the Boston area, I plan to create a
web-based system to organize local sewing clubs, and seek out
volunteers to run at least one club in each US state to get started.
I'm also already working on web pages about ways to help out charities
by sewing, quilting, and knitting, and I'm going to include either
downloadable patterns or web-based instructions on how to draw your own
pattern. (The duffel bag for foster children, for example, will be made
of two circles and two or three rectangles. With a compass and a ruler,
anyone can draw the pattern.)

Incidentally, on the subject of food... within walking distance of my
home are two excellent Indian restaurants and one okay one, two
excellent Tibetan restaurants, a quite good sushi place, a crepe shop,
five Chinese restaurants (two of which are quite good, the other three
are passable), countless places that serve pasta, pizza, and various
Italian sandwiches (ranging in quality from merely edible to
marvelous), two pastry shops, a Mexican restaurant and a French
restaurant that I hear are good but haven't tried yet, a very good ice
cream parlor, a roast beef sandwich shop, an Irish pub that serves
marvelous stews and other comfort food, a chocolatier, and one of the
only two remaining places on Earth that serve the royal cuisine of
Cambodia (the other is two or three miles away). And that's just in my
neighborhood, and doesn't even count the fact that three of my upstairs
neighbors are gourmet cooks. The Boston area is extraordinarily lucky
about food too.

  #5  
Old February 28th 05, 02:04 AM
CNYstitcher
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Default

Sheesh, Tom! Listing all those restaurants, I may just make a trip to
crash at your place and eat!!

LOL

Larisa

wrote:
Cynthia, don't feel envious, start a local group yourself. You never
know who you'll meet.

If this group works out well in the Boston area, I plan to create a
web-based system to organize local sewing clubs, and seek out
volunteers to run at least one club in each US state to get started.
I'm also already working on web pages about ways to help out charities
by sewing, quilting, and knitting, and I'm going to include either
downloadable patterns or web-based instructions on how to draw your own
pattern. (The duffel bag for foster children, for example, will be made
of two circles and two or three rectangles. With a compass and a ruler,
anyone can draw the pattern.)

Incidentally, on the subject of food... within walking distance of my
home are two excellent Indian restaurants and one okay one, two
excellent Tibetan restaurants, a quite good sushi place, a crepe shop,
five Chinese restaurants (two of which are quite good, the other three
are passable), countless places that serve pasta, pizza, and various
Italian sandwiches (ranging in quality from merely edible to
marvelous), two pastry shops, a Mexican restaurant and a French
restaurant that I hear are good but haven't tried yet, a very good ice
cream parlor, a roast beef sandwich shop, an Irish pub that serves
marvelous stews and other comfort food, a chocolatier, and one of the
only two remaining places on Earth that serve the royal cuisine of
Cambodia (the other is two or three miles away). And that's just in my
neighborhood, and doesn't even count the fact that three of my upstairs
neighbors are gourmet cooks. The Boston area is extraordinarily lucky
about food too.

  #6  
Old February 28th 05, 02:11 AM
Carey N.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"CNYstitcher" wrote in message
...
Sheesh, Tom! Listing all those restaurants, I may just make a trip to
crash at your place and eat!!

LOL

Larisa



Are we talking downtown Boston, near Chinatown by any chance? It'd be worth
the drive in from Brockton to find a few of those restaurants. Please tell.
--
Carey N. in MA
(begging, pretty please.......)


  #7  
Old February 28th 05, 06:07 AM
Cynthia Spilsted
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Posts: n/a
Default


wrote in message
oups.com...
Cynthia, don't feel envious, start a local group yourself. You never
know who you'll meet.

big snip

Incidentally, on the subject of food... within walking distance of my
home are two excellent Indian restaurants and one okay one, two
excellent Tibetan restaurants, a quite good sushi place, a crepe shop,
five Chinese restaurants (two of which are quite good, the other three
are passable), countless places that serve pasta, pizza,
big snip The Boston area is extraordinarily lucky
about food too.


Tom:
It's the food and choice of shops that I'm envious of! We have only one
sewing store in town and the next one is over 140 kilometres away - and the
road is no picnic in the winter! (Over half of it is avalanche zone - and
it's pretty well all sandwiched between the mountains and the Skeena river.
Oh, did I mention that the available space is shared by the railway? Great
improvement over the old, narrow road - but still no fun in bad weather!)
Because our population is about 12,000 there is not a whole lot going on in
town.....but we have great people, a fabulous performing arts centre, and
nobody in town has a lousy view. I curse the deer when they eat my flowers,
laugh when they use the crosswalks downtown and worry every spring about
bears wandering into town.
There are always people getting together to sew and craft either in formal
groups or informal "stitch & bitches". During the trouble in the Balkans,
boxes of quilt tops were made and sent overseas to help out....
We just need the shops and food choices!!!
Cynthia


  #8  
Old March 4th 05, 02:12 AM
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Posts: n/a
Default

Great ideas, Tom. Not that I'll move north to join. You guys still
snowed in?
Cea

 




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