Good News at the Store:
Ladies, do you remember the wonderful Tea we had with the Button Lady? Saturday, May 4th the annual Button Show will be in The Historic Depot in Chelsea. The address is 125 Jackson Street. Showroom hours are 9:30 – 4:30. “A society whose purpose is the study and preservation of collectible clothing buttons”. FREE ADMISSION – and there are several wonderful places for lunch in Chelsea too!
We have had a wonderful week! We had both the Fidget Sisters (creating the activity mats ) for our Nursing homes and also Pillowcase Day. How wonderful it is to see all of you coming together to create these comforting things for others. The Fidget Mats provide “activities” such as moving a marble thru a maize or opening and closing a little door to see an animal or picture behind the door. Folks with dementia never tire of repeating a activity. In the later stages of dementia, they simply enjoy rubbing different textures. Families who are caring for these folks so appreciate these mats to offer their loved one something else to do. Folks in nursing homes also need them.
The second joyful day was Pillowcase Day. I was in the store today and watched Cathy pinning the pillowcases together for the ladies to sew. I can’t imagine just how many pillowcases Cathy has pinned – probably close to 100,000! Getting the fabrics ready for kits for the pillowcases requires so much work! The fabrics have to be ironed, cut and then kitted. Then the day of pillowcase making requires the kits to be pinned for the sewers.
SPECIAL KIDS SEWING CLASS May 19th from 1 – 4:30 pm To sew Lounge Pants. The perfect clothing for the summer time. Fee is $30.00 and includes pattern. We have been hearing that the girls want to create clothing. For themselves. Choose your own fabric – you will need 2 1/4 yards of cotton. Come and begin sewing clothes for yourself!
Next weekend is SCRAPS IN THE SWIMMING POOL;. We have been gathering lots of new scraps – we are thankful for all the scraps you bring in. So many people come in to fill a bag with the treasures I have included two pictures to encourage your creativity.
Someone donated four boxes of 4” squares of flannel all ready to be used for any project and Carolyn was nice enough to go and pick them up. We figured that it would take 72 squares to make a preemie quilt and we were going to ask you to come in and choose your own. But guess what? They are all gone! So many were eager to make the preemie quilts that they emptied the boxes! Here are two examples of finished quilts:
We are part of the “All Michigan Shop Hop” which runs all of June and July. Please call the store to reserve your 2024 Magazine or stop in to pick yours up. They cost $11.95 and each contains your passport and a list of all the stores involved, plus patterns, maps, articles, and many more tidbits. The Michigan fabric should be in any day now and we will be busy making up samples and kits.
Our Helping Hands
We are continuing to need sewing machines. It would be helpful if you called us and told us about the machine and we could schedule a date to bring it in. This would also allow us to arrange a time for the folks to pick it up. As we get closer to the Shop Hop, we want to clear out the sewing room as much as we can – but at the same time do all the things we normally do.
We have an increased need for machines – I have requests for two at the moment, but need to find out if they need to be in a cabinet or portable. And it would be wonderful if they were in working order. Some of the ladies do not need “back stitching “– but zig zag is most important. We also have some who are skilled and enjoy all the bells and whistles and will set up a little business sewing.
No matter what – we will work very hard to get these women their sewing machines. We are hearing that many of them have been in refugee camps after fleeing conflicts. Many of the families helped our folks during those conflicts. It’s just taken so long for them to wend their way through the many immigration hurdles. We also need to continue to receive fabric – as we all know how expensive it. They like all kinds – sometimes we get in something that I have no idea how to use, but someone will come in and be so excited to find it!
Mary's Musings
We are excited, scared, and nervous about the Shop Hop. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t share that with you. We want to put our best foot forward, and that requires lots of samples with many kits to back it up as well . I am welcoming any of you who could help us as we get into May. Just leave us at the cash register your name and what you would be able to do to help us. – sewing samples, cutting kits or packaging kits or helping to hostess during the Hop? How will we do it? Mary
A Few Laughs...
“My grandson made the mistake of telling me I was being overdramatic so I just changed the WiFi password. We’ll see who’s overdramatic in about 5 minutes!”
“Wife: “I look fat. Can you give me a compliment?” Husband: “You have perfect eyesight!”
“Most people write ‘Congrats’ because they don’t know the spelling of congrajulashions!”
“I think it’s adorable they’re putting jokes on the side of snacks now. Like listen to this one: serving size: 3 cookies!”
“Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really angry. She told him, “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds!” The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, she put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale. Bob has been missing since Friday!”
Aha!