Spring Break!

I will be away from the on-line world for a bit while I soak up Spring Break with my family! :) 

Please note that there will be a delay in any response to emails and such for this coming week. 

More FLUFF sewing to come and to share soon! :)

HAVE A GREAT WEEK ALL!

Earth Day GIVEAWAY with Babyville Boutique!!!

Happy Earth Day!

There are so many ways to live a "green" conscious lifestyle, one of those being using cloth diapers. Today, Babyville Boutique has a special GIVEAWAY to help celebrate and support a Happy Earth Day!

One lucky winner will receive a prize pack valued at $35 in their choice of boy, girl or gender neutral prints!!! The picture contains a sample of some Babyville Boutique products that might be included in your prize....

Simply follow the Rafflecopter prompts to enter with as many options as you choose.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Open to US residents. Giveaway closes & winner announced 4/25/14. Winner will be notified by email according the email address provided to enter the giveaway.

Babyville Boutique offers a wide variety of sewing supplies outside of their varied cloth diaper materials, so be sure to drop by and check them out!
Good Luck!

1st Quarter Project Donations Delivered!

Sorted...

 Packed...

 ...and Delivered! 

1st Quarter Project donations above delivered to the coordinator of our local foster care outreach, Knoxville, TN: The Forgotten Initiative. These will be used to stock the care closet at DCS so they can be provided to children coming into state custody. 

A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you that made this such a meaningful project! She was blown away by your talent and generosity!

We delivered:
64 packed personal care bags
53 extra empty bags
91 stuffed toys
AND, 3 HUGE boxes of extra supplies & and BUNCH of diapers!

Pattern Review - Little Ninjas by Melly & Me

 This was some really fun sewing!!!!

I've had these adorably "tough" little guys on my sewing list for a good long while now. So glad to finally get to make them! This pattern is the Little Ninja pattern from Melly & Me and was generously gifted to me by the designer to use for the FLUFF Project. She was very kind and enthusiastically supportive of our outreach to children in foster care, and I am very grateful. Just look how sweet these fellas are!

The pattern is very straight forward, easy to follow and sewists of all experience levels will enjoy making these. I think the dolls are perfect for kids of all ages and have already envisioned a few in pink suits! ;) The 6 seen above are being donated as part of our Spring FLUFF Drive!

I had a really fun time picking the fabrics to use. The only variation to the original pattern was that I used pre-made bias tape for the head ties and belts. I also used safety doll eyes in place of embroidery just because I had some on hand. 

 One of these last 2 has found his place next to one of my sons and the other is a special gift.  

You can find the pattern in the Melly & Me shop here.

SUMMARY

Sewing Experience Level: Suitable for all skill levels

Size Range: N/A

Special Techniques: Sewing & stuffing small doll parts

Pattern Format: PDF or Paper available

Materials Used: Cotton woven prints, bias tape for trim, Fairfield World polyester fiberfil, safety doll eyes.

Personal Notes: Fun sewing project and adorable finish that little boys (and girls!) are sure to love!

Inching our way towards our 2nd Quarter GOAL!!!!!

Find out how you can join us and help bring smiles and FLUFF hugs to children in foster care HERE.

Fast FLUFF sewing using Panels!

 I know I've shared about sewing with panels before, but there are more and more options like this that make sewing quick and easy. Each of these stuffed friends was made from a panel. These have certainly helped get a jump start on our goal of 500 Fluff Friends for the 2nd Quarter Project! 

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

The primary goal of foster care is the safety and well-being of children.

Rehabilitation of and reunification with the birth family is of utmost desire whenever possible.

Abuse and neglect are the most common causes for children being brought into state custody. Prevention is a much better alternative, and there are many organizations working to provide education and support to aid in this prevention.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and I hope you will take a moment to learn more and share the information with others in an effort to help bring an end to child abuse nation wide....and ultimately world wide.

You can read more HERE.

2014 - 2nd Quarter Project Announcement

April holds so many special things for our family, and we are excited to ask you to be a part of that!

As many of you know, foster care and the support of children in foster care is something close to our hearts. We have served as a foster family, and have adopted through the foster system twice. Last year, we invited you to join us in celebrating this special month by participating in a special project called "Fluff for Foster Care". There was such a great response that we began our first on-going project....still going strong....the FLUFF Project. Together, we have provided hundreds of stuffed toys to children in foster care, and we want to see that GROW!

Last year, in one month's time, we were able to collect 366 stuffed friends for our first delivery. So I present this challenge to you for our 2nd Quarter Project of 2014, and firmly believe we can surpass it....

We want to deliver at least 500 stuffed friends at the end of this quarter's project!

ARE YOU READY???? :) :) :) Ok....here we go....it's time for a Spring FLUFF Drive!

PROJECT DETAILS   

• NEW items only. First, because these children deserve no less. Second, this may be the one and only personal item they have that they feel is all theirs at this time....let's make it a good one!
• Any type of stuffed animal or doll is welcome. Please refrain from anything that could potentially be scary or offensive though. 
• All ages included. Children in the foster care system range in age from Newborn - 18 years old, that's a broad audience to create for, so lots of possibilities. :)
• HAVE FUN!!!! :) 

You can find an abundance of stuffed toy sewing ideas, inspiration and pattern/tutorial links on my Pinterest board here.
 "Plushies, Soft Toys & Pillows".
Sewing stuffed toys is fast becoming one of my favorite creative projects!

Also, would LOVE to have you add pictures of your donations to our FLUFF Project flickr album HERE. You can see many of the friends we have already delivered there too. :)

When you have your items ready to ship, you can send to me here:

Kristy Smith

c/o Echelon Florist

1260 Rocky Hill Road

Knoxville TN 37919

If you are local, you can also drop off your donations here, as well as, purchase stuffed animals and dolls from the Echelon Gift Shop for donation.

***PLEASE NOTE - Our anticipated delivery is planned for July 14th, so please be sure to have your items arrive by July 10th to insure plenty of time. Having a goal for shipping by June 30th will be a great way to guarantee your items will be here in time to be included with this big delivery. (We regularly deliver stuffed toys, so any late arrivals will simply be added to the next delivery.)

I will be sewing and stuffing like crazy all quarter long and look forward to sharing a bunch of new patterns I've enjoyed working with! I hope you will join me!

For future reference, I have a tab at the top of the blog here that is specifically for the FLUFF Project. You can find regular updates and delivery counts there. 

If I can help you in any way, or you have a business that would like to support our efforts, please email me, I'd love to chat with you!

Remember....Every. Stitch. Matters.

Ready....Set.....SEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!