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!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st Quarter Project FINALE!!!

Wow! What an exciting intro you all have provided for our new quarterly project focus and 1st Quarter Project!!! There has been an overwhelming and positive response and level of participation that I am both humbled and inspired by. I look so forward to delivering all of these goodies in the next couple of weeks. I know they are going to be such a blessing and frankly, knock the socks off of those who help organize the foster closet and supplies for the kids. 

Please be sure that your donation items ship as soon as possible in order to be a part of or delivery. 

Shipping and project info can be found HERE.

2nd Quarter Project to post tomorrow! 

Can't wait to share with you! :) 

Last Week for 1st Quarter Project!

This is it!

The FINAL WEEK for our 1st Quarter Project!

I am very pleased and delighted by all of the beautiful and generous donations that have begun to arrive for this project! I am so excited to make this delivery!

****DON'T FORGET****

Please try and mail your donations by the end of this week so they will arrive in plenty of time to meet our April 12th deadline. I'd like to make the delivery early in the April 14th week. 

Thank you all for joining me so enthusiastically for this project!

Always love sewing with you! :)

UPDATED!!! Tips & Tutorials Page!

I accomplished a VERY BIG update on the blog this weekend,and I wanted to share with you so it didn't get missed. :) If you are looking for any of the "Tips & Tutorials" I've shared here, it will be MUCH easier for you to find them now. I have updated the "Tips & Tutorials" page and you can visit it by clicking the appropriately labeled tab at the top of the blog. 

OR, JUST CLICK HERE. :)

Maybe there are some you have missed before?

Maybe you have created using one of them?

Would love to hear from you!

Happy Sewing!

Entering the FINAL STRETCH!

Hey Friends!!!

I can hardly believe I'm typing this, but it's true! We are nearing the END of our 1st Quarter Project for 2014! And I am so excited about all the great support and generous donations we have already received and that many of you have said are still on their way! We can't wait to deliver all these goodies!!!

Not only are these gifts going to be so helpful and I believe meaningful for the children that receive them, seeing such an outpouring is always so encouraging to caregivers and staff working with the kids too. Your efforts to "Sew to Share" are making such a difference in the lives of so many! 

THANK YOU!!!

If you haven't had a peek yet, be sure and drop by the Hopeful Threads facebook page or our 1st Quarter Project Flickr album to see some of the incredible piles and bags full of goodies being delivered! Makes me SMILE!!!

 There are only 2 weeks left in this month, still plenty of time to be a part of the project, but also a great time to start wrapping up any sewing and stuffing you may have on your list! When you are ready to ship your donations, you can find all the information you need HERE. 

Due to limited space to store, I'm asking that you please ship as close to the end of the month as possible, and consider Saturday, APRIL 12th the deadline for your items to have arrived to be included in our delivery the following week. I will OF COURSE post photos and let you all know about the response received! :)

Thanks so much for caring and choosing to be a part.

Every. Stitch. Matters.

Cleft Surgery Trip - NEEDS BIBS!

Hi Friends!

If you follow on facebook, you may have already seen that Love Without Boundaries is preparing for another Cleft Surgery Trip and are in need of many, many bibs to take along! I know last year, many of us sent bibs for this special trip and so I wanted you to have the opportunity to do so again. The bibs were so very well received and put to good use! Such a special thing to see them in action!

Read the full post with all the details and contact information HERE.

I shipped off this bundle of 40 bibs yesterday. Most were made using "bits of binkeez" that are trimmings from some very special blankets, donated to me by Binkeez for Comfort. Thank you so much for helping us to GIVE MORE! 

I love seeing how things like this come together.....fabric "bits" from Binkeez, sewn by me of Hopeful Threads, heading to China with Love Without Boundaries. Exciting and inspiring! :) What a blessing to be a part!

If you'd like to sew some to send too, there are a BUNCH of FREE bib patterns on my "Baby Sewing" pin board that you can FIND HERE. 

If you aren't yet familiar with either of these incredible organizations...

Love Without Boundaries

Binkeez for Comfort

...I highly recommend checking them out! They are both GIVING BACK in some amazing ways!!!

Have a beautiful day!

Treasures in UNexpected places!

Well, I must admit.....when the Hubs pulled into the giant, tool outlet store....with ALL 6 kiddos in tow....I wasn't exactly excited. :) Not the best place to keep little hands safe and busy while daddy enjoys a leisurely look about. But....he's (almost) always a really good sport about my fabric store stops, so, I agreed with a smile. 

Much to my surprise, I was able to find some great things at REALLY great prices, perfect for my sewing! I found all of these goodies, and for steal of a deal prices! The tape measures were only 69 cents each and are a durable quality. I'm all the time loosing my serger tweezers, so now I have a back up pair, and I think they were only $1.29. Can't beat it! I'll probably wish I had bought several. I thought the little clips would be useful for holding ribbons when I'm tying bows, and they were only 25 cents each! I bet they would work well for holding quilt binding in place while sewing too. My "big" spend was for the extra long hemostats I had been wanting for a while to help with stuffing long & narrow arms and legs on my plushies, I think they were $3.99. So all in all, a great little assortment of very useful tools for Mama was found too!   

One of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE Sewing Essentials also didn't come from a sewing/craft store. Nope, I actually "stole" this beauty from Hub's tool box. :) It's a super sized magnetic dish that sits right beside my machine. I don't even have to look while sewing, just toss the pins in the general direction of this heavy duty bowl, and it snatches 'em right up! It was designed to hold nuts and bolts while working on a car. I LOVE this thing!!!

Here's wishing you some pleasant and unexpected surprises in your week!

For posts sharing more of my favorite "Sewing Essentials", see the tab labeled such at the top of the blog. Lots of fun tools and gadgets that make sewing even more fun!