Have A Sew Day for Others

Once each month, our sewing bee has a "sew day for others". Quilters are among the most caring and generous folks around. This article describes some of the projects that we work on and why. Each quilter chooses what he or she wishes to work on for the day. The bee provides fabric, batting, and stuffing. Members can choose whether to sew, iron, or stuff.

The Guild to which our bee belongs has its own Military Service program. Our region is so rich with veterans that this is a full-time project for our Guild. At each sew day for others, we work on one of these quilts. After the top is complete, the quilt will be long armed by a volunteer in the Guild and presented to a resident of one of our counties who served in the military.

Another of our bee projects makes quilts and pillowcases for foster children. When children are removed from the family, they often leave too suddenly to take anything with them. The children are placed in a group home before going into foster care. We try to make sure that each one gets a quilt to take with them.

Children are a favorite focus of our work. Small groups work on the pillow case dresses project.

Other work on a project that makes sleeping bags with small stuffed animals

or teddy bears for children in stressful situations.

On this day, we worked on a special project. We live on the Mexican border and are getting hundreds of refugees seeking asylum in the US each day. We are not a wealthy region, but volunteers do what they can. Our local shelter needed supplies for refugees who stayed overnight or a few hours before being placed on a bus to other parts of the US where family were waiting for them. We were asked to make pillows to make their long bus journeys more comfortable. Together, we made 55 pillows on this day and delivered them to the shelter.

We also have special projects for cancer patients at our local hospitals and facilities. Patients with a port-a-cath (inserted under the skin) often have a hard time with irritation from wearing a seat belt. These special pillows have Velcro to attach them to the seat belt and provide a layer of protection from the seat belt. This day we completed 24.

We also pay special attention to women who have had breast cancer surgery.

We make these pillows, called "bones" from their shape to place under the arm for support during recovery. Forty-seven (47) were finished on this day.