Charities – My Needle's Song

Finishes and New Beginnings

Silence is almost always a good thing around here. It means I have taken the time away from the computer to stitch. I’ve been working hard the last few weeks to get things done. since we chatted last I have finished the Spiderman and sent him on his way to Canada. He will be turned into a pillow for a very special young man.

I also finished a piece for another group. This is an anniversary stitch along, and each stitcher gets to put their own spin on the design by picking out the colors. These are usually fun stitches. Mine also got to take a trip to Stockholm as my husband and I took a lovely overnight cruise. I never ever go anywhere without my stitching! It’s like my pacifier. Even if I don’t stitch I still have it with me. If we are stuck waiting someplace, I can just take it out of my bag and stitch. Very comforting at times.

Also finished this week were my Christmas ornaments that go to that same group. Every year in July they post this event and collect a pretty good number of ornaments. These are turned into Christmas ornaments and then auctioned off to raise funds for no-kill animal shelters. These ornaments are always fun to do, and nice quick projects.

Even the more complex Precious Moments ones took a maximum of 2 days. I know these will help the shelters a lot. The auction usually happens on Facebook, and I will post a link to it once it starts, usually in late October.

One thing that has helped is a Facebook group that has grown like crazy the last 6 months. They are always holding events to help us get our stitching done. Somehow, when everyone is stitching like crazy, the combined energy seem to find its way to our individual needles and we all get more done.

In between all of this excitement, I managed to stitch 2 squares for Canada Stitches. The first one is the same flower heart I used for my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday, but with a yellow rose for healing. This one wasn’t bad. Stitched on Aida, it took me less than 2 weeks, and includes backstitching every leaf and petal.

This second one was done as an stand-by square. Hearts are always in need, and designs like this can be used for so many of the request quilts. This was another very fast stitch done using a free chart found out there on the ‘net. I used the Azalea blend of DMC’s Color Variations, but did the butterfly itself in a matching purple. It will be interesting to see where it ends up.

And there you have it. All caught up on the finishes. For the new beginnings, I really can’t show you much yet because it is a gift for my mother and secondly, I haven’t taken a stitch yet. New beginnings also includes an upcoming restart on the website for Canada Stitches and a couple of others. I think with some care and planning I can do my charity stitching *AND* my personal stitching. I just need balance. I can do my websites and stitch – I just have to pace myself. My stitching queue is again full, with 4 more pieces holding, several in the thinking about doing phase. I am taking a few days to catch things up for the shops and get some personal stitching done. I’m going back to dividing my time – 4 days for me and my shops and 3 days for charity. That is still almost almost half of my time devoted to them. It should also help me keep my promise to my husband of no more than 2 charity squares per month. Let’s see how long this lasts…

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

FINALLY!!

We have progress!! I kept thinking and thinking about what I wanted for my header image. One night as I tossed and turned it came to me. I wanted to use the last needlepoint picture my grandmother ever completed. We now have this out of the frame for photos, but also so that we can take it to the framer in June to have it redone.

This is really a very typical Finnish-Swedish theme, with the small village with its church on the hill overlooking the river. I have had this hanging on my wall for over 30 years. It was with me in California, then Colorado, then Texas and now here in Finland. This was also the first piece where she trusted me to help her. I did some of the dark brown on the birch trees. I remember so well stitching carefully in her small apartment in Los Angeles. So very many years ago, and it brings back such memories. I used parts of this piece for my new headers. The great facelift has begun!!

It’s been an interesting week here. I did not get as much stitching done as I would have liked. But then, how many stitchers can say that they accomplished everything they set out to do? As long as I make progress, I try not to get too grumpy about it.

My geese only got about 8 hours of love total. Not really so much when you think about it. The tough parts are actually done now. I really don’t like counting the blank fabric like I did with the darker wing. It is just too easy to mis-count and then everything has to come out. This is also on 18 count fabric which is a bit harder to count. Why so fine? This will be part of a quilt and the squares have to have a certain size so that they all blend together. Too large and they get cut off, too small and they disappear. Each group specifies what size the fabric must be cut and the minimum/maximum dimensions. It is up to the stitcher to make the design work from there.

We also went visiting one day this week. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am never without a project in my bag to work on. I try to keep it something simple that I can do with distractions and minimal counting as well as something that can be done in poor light. I do have a little mini-light that I can clip onto my hoop but I find it awkward to work with for long periods and frankly, it is quite tiring. The 8 point star fits the bill as I have the outline done and don’t need the reference the chart. Here’s this week’s work:

It doesn’t show very well, but most of the white on the upper right point is done. There is just something so unsatisfying about stitching with white floss on white fabric. You can stitch for hours and have it look like you did nothing!

Now that I have the new header images for the shops done, I will begin to relist the items in the Boutique (Etsy shop). They are all still listed in the other shops hint hint. I just have not updated pictures or descriptions.. or prices.

S-L-O-W-L-Y

A couple of tough days here… must be spring fever! Everything is in bloom and starting to come back to life after the sleepy winter months. Even Jessie is running around like a crazy little kitty these days. I almost think we need a traffic light here in the house so we know when it is safe to cross the room! You don’t really want to collide with a full grown cat racing through the house at top speed, do you?

I worked on something different yesterday, and I did promise a progress picture on the geese for the RCMP detachment in British Columbia. You can scroll down to the previous post for the reference picture, or simply click here.

I know, it really does not look like much of anything. This is the lighter silhouetted goose on the left, and I am using DMC 3813 for this one. When we work on squares for these quilts, we often are given a minimum-maximum size range along with any other special instructions. For these hand cross-stitched quilts, we are told between 6 and 8 inches for the design size, but we are not told what fabric size to choose. That is really up to us to figure out.

The chart on this says the design is about 130 stitches wide by 90 stitches tall. I can either break out my calculator or use a fabric size calculator on websites like Cyberstitchers (I use theirs because it is easy and they have a simply fantastic website with tons of useful stitching information).

When you click on their Fabric Size Calculator, all you have to do is put in the dimensions from the chart and you can easily see how big the stitched piece will be on different sized fabrics. I like it because I can compare the size outcomes side by side. Looking at the sizes, if I went with 14 or 16 count Aida, it would simply be too large. Ah, but look at what that gives us on 18 count Aida! A very nice 7 inches wide by 5 inches high! This should give a nice sized square PLUS I will be using only a fraction of the floss that I would stitching this with 2 strands of floss on 14 count.

I am actually finding this faster to stitch than it would be with 2 threads because I don’t have to worry about trying to keep the threads laying flat (I will do more about that later!). With good lighting, it really isn’t that much different from stitching on the other counts. It just takes a bit of patience, but that is true with all needlework, right?

Will update again in a few days – probably over the weekend.

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Just a Little Behind…

Yeah, I know. We are off our schedule already. I had really been hoping for a nice, sunny day to take pictures. Well, it is spring here in Western Finland. Spring means lots of rain showers and gloomy, cloudy days. Not good days for photos! But, we do have some sunny days coming up this week, so I am sure we will get them done.

In the meantime, you are welcome to click on the link for the Headquarters to see what items I have available. A full 50% of the sales price will be donated to a shelter you choose or to Blind Cat Rescue and Sanctuary. If you are here in Finland, of course, I will happily donate to a Finnish shelter or rescue, too. If you need to buy through Etsy, please let me know and I will relist the item for you.

I’ve always posted pictures of the pieces I do for the various charity groups on my personal Facebook timeline, and items for the shops on my Facebook Page. Why hide all the good stuff behind a logon? So, I am changing that up this week. I have a very busy roster of pieces to stitch right now…

First up is doing the outlines and “setting” the colors on this 8 point star that will be headed to Canada Stitches for an injured RCMP officer’s quilt. The colors have several meanings to the various First Nations tribes, and the officer that will receive this quilt is a member of the Mi’kmaqs. It isn’t a difficult design at all, but it will have a good amount of solid cross stitch. This is one of my own charts. It is being done on a 12″x12″ piece of white Aida, using 9 colors of DMC floss. This design can be done in so many color combinations. If you want the chart I am using for this, do feel free to post a message on my Facebook Page.

I do have this in progress as this is published, and will get progress pictures posted on the Facebook page in the next day or so.

I have an ongoing project I am working on to make hand cross stitched squares for fallen RCMP officers. Sadly, there always seems to be a need for this.

I’ve seen this one done up before and always loved it. It’s bright, colorful, and yet very appropriate for a memorial quilt, especially for a young, vibrant officer. You can get this chart as an almost instant download from Crosstitch.com (along with so very many others, including Ursula Michael). The design is from Marv Schier.

This one is kitted up, and ready to start. I will be doing this one on 14 count white Aida too. I do use a lot of that fabric!

My other start this week is this lovely Canada Geese design from the recently retired Canadian designer Lynne Nicoletti. Although her website is now gone, you can still get these designs in many local shops. I ordered this one from Gitta’s in Ontario Canada. They have the best selection of her designs and outstanding service. i’ve always loved this design and have just the perfect place to send it.

I am doing this one on 18 count Aida with one strand of DMC floss. I went with soft blue-greens (think pine trees) for the geese in the background. So far, I have a good portion of the lightest background goose done. I will get scans posted on the Facebook page.

So, outside of that, you can tell it is crazy-busy around here. Is it really any wonder why we didn’t get the pictures done this week?

A Mild Rant about Charity Stitching

Stitchers are givers in so very many ways. We give our hearts and souls to the recipients of every single piece we work on, whether we give them to family members, keep them for ourselves, or donate the pieces to charity. I have limited wall space, and don’t really have family here in Finland. For many years now I have worked with different volunteer and charity groups. There are some great ones out there that really do an outstanding job helping others, and there are some totally lousy ones that do a great job – at helping themselves. That’s not to say that helping yourself is a bad thing. It’s only bad if you are not up front about it. I recently got involved with a group that sounded really great in the beginning but turned into a nightmare.

But how do you figure out who the good ones are, and who to stay away from? Here’s my current list of guidelines. If you have others you want to add, please do leave a comment!

Target – do your donations go where they should?
There are horror stories out there of people sending completed panels to be used for hospital donations only to hear later that they were used for fundraising efforts.
Communication – do they let you know promptly when your donations arrive? When they are due? Where to send them?
The good charities post pictures and send you emails when they get your donation. They have active social media groups that tell you clearly where something is to be sent and when. The others? They just leave you guessing. The bad ones won’t even tell you when you ask if your work has been received.
Transparency – Do they make all the decisions behind closed doors? Are they open about what has been received and what they have done with it? Do they publish pictures? If so, where?
This is the big one for me. Who decides where your items go? Do you have a say in what goes where? Many groups do fundraisers or beg for donations of supplies. What do they do with them? For most of these groups, the biggest expenses are postage. Each stitcher provides their own fabric and floss as well as chart, so there really is little need for donation of these items! There are exceptions, of course, but 95% of the time, the volunteers have their own supplies!
Hidden Skeletons – Are they a corporation? What kind of perks or salaries to the board members receive?
This is another minefield. If the group is an organized charity (think Red Cross), they have a board of directors and do have to provide all kinds of reports. They have to employ accountants to do these reports along with filing tax returns. Who pays the salaries? If the group begs for supplies, what happens to them? Are they sent to the volunteers to use for stitching, or do the board members hang on to them and use them for personal gain? What kind of track record to they have? Can you find their record on their website? Do they even have a website?
Other aspects – How easy are they to work with? How approachable?
Many groups today use Facebook or Yahoo Groups to stay in touch. Yahoo can be a bit tricky, but Facebook seems to have taken over. When you ask to join their group, how long does it take for them to respond? If you ask for information, do you have to wait for a week for someone to get around to answering you? How active are they? Do the members seem to be friendly?

Please don’t think it is all doom and gloom out there. There are a lot of great groups to work with that benefit every cause you can imagine. There are also more rip-off artists posing as charities that just want your donations for their own personal need and greed.

Wow!! It’s been a very busy month!

Please don’t think for a moment that I am ignoring this blog. I have just been very busy lately. For the shop news, I did add several new magnets, including a really cute red squirrel and my first round magnets.These have all been done on a beautiful, soft antique white 28 count linen. I was so pleased with how the round magnets came out that I will be doing more (including Christmas ornaments) this way.

The squirrel really jumped out at me. I love squirrels for some unknown reason. When I lived in Texas, I had one resident in the oak trees in my yard. My cats loved watching them come over and steal the bird seed. We have resident squirrels here in Finland too, and yes, they are bird seed thieves!! This one won’t steal anything but your heart…

As you can also tell, I am playing with new backgrounds. The round ones were shot indoors on a paper that has glitter. Then we found a really neat handmade light blue-gray paper. The squirrel was shot outdoors on the new paper. I did not do any color correcting to it, and I think it is a much more accurate picture of the magnet. It is so important to try to get these pictures as close as possible to the real thing. People who are looking for these don’t have the chance to see these in person. All they have to go by is the picture.

We have family arriving on Sunday, and will be taking an overnight cruise on the new Viking Grace from Turku to Stockholm and back. We are all excited about this. Yeah, I know.. who gets excited about a ferry boat ride? Well, this is more of a cruise ship with the restaurants, nightclubs, and other facilities. Plus, it is brand new. We watched the christening of the ship live. Finns do these cruises as mini-holidays, and it is very reasonable. For me, it will be a test. I usually take my laptop when I leave home. This time, my computer stays here. I am taking only one small stitching project – another first for me. I am going to relax and enjoy some quality time with my husband. Two years ago this week, he proposed to me. It’s a special week for us, and I hope you have a special week as well.

Charity Stitching

Earlier I had posted the 4 panels I sent to California for a special quilt. Yesterday, I saw a picture of the completed quilt.

The lovely lady holding this quilt is the teacher who put this project together. Everyone was so happy, and everyone was crying over the love shown to this little girl by complete strangers. It’s a great feeling knowing that something so simple as a piece of needlework can make someone so happy…

Which brings me to today’s topic — Charity Stitching. We all have our own reasons for stitching these pieces. With the quilt above, I had the time, the materials, and the desire. When her teacher asked in a Facebook group for volunteers, I was happy to be able to help. I have a lot of Precious Moments designs here, so it was just a matter of picking out ones that fit the theme and size requirements. These panels weren’t stitched for money or for the thanks. They were stitched to show that we can care about others, even if we don’t know them. It’s really all about people helping each other.

My go-to group is Canada Stitches. This mainly-Canadian group of stitchers creates unique and totally handmade quilts for First Responders dealing with PTSD/PTSI, or who have been injured in the line of duty. We also create awesome quilts for children dealing with life-long medical/mental issues. Very few groups out there help Canadians. I am so happy and proud to be with this group and know that I do make a difference.

Love Quilts also makes quilts for children facing challenges. They have active chapters in the US; UK, and Brazil.

The second group I love stitching for is Cole’s Quilts. This is a much smaller, more focused group that makes quilts for children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. This devastating disease usually strikes infants, and is fatal about 80% of the time. It’s heartbreaking for the families. The quilts are made with the child’s favorite characters and colors. Even if the child has passed away, the quilts are a precious keepsake of that young life.

Another great group is the Linus Project. They are all over the US, Canada, and the UK. They deliver brand new handmade security blankets to children in need. If these don’t suit you, there are so many other ways to help. Many many churches work to help the elderly and children with bits of handmade comfort and are excellent resources. A simple Google search will also turn up a lot of ideas.

The whole point is to take a short time out to help another person through a time of stress. You have no idea how much it will add to your pleasure by simply doing so.

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I will have more updates to the shops this week as I am just finishing off a group of magnets on linen.

Until then, Happy Stitching!!

My Needle's Song – Neulani laulu

Category Archives: Charities