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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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. |
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"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
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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
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Great ideas, Tom. Not that I'll move north to join. You guys still
snowed in? Cea |
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