Charity Sew-In

Sunday August 26th is our next Charity Sew-In at the Chandler Police Station.  Bring your machine and sewing supplies and join us as we whip up some quilts for charity.  Come and go as you like 8 AM to 8 PM.  The A/C works great so we will be cool while we stitch. 
We do this the last Sunday of every month if this month does not work for you.  Hope to see you there!

We are still hoping to get to know each of our members better!  If you too want to be a member spotlight, please copy and paste these questions and answers to me along with some pictures!  It is SEW much fun getting to know you!

Member Spotlight–

Info about you:

Q:  When did you start quilting?

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Q:  What would you tell a newbie that you wish you had known when you started?

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Q:  What kind of a quilter are you?

A:  

Q:  What’s your favorite sewing/quilting tip?

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Q:  Do you have a favorite quilt block, pattern or designer?

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Q:  Do you have a favorite notion or tool you can’t quilt without?

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Q:  Do you quilt your own quilts?

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Q:  What’s your favorite part of the quilting process?

A:  

Q:  What part of the quilting process do you dislike or struggle with?

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Q:  Do you design your own quilts?

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Q:  What inspires you to create?

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Q:  Do you do any other crafts? Which ones?

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Q:  How many quilts have you made?

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Q:  What are you working on now?
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Q:  What do you wish you knew how to do (quilt related) and hope to learn?
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Q:  Do you have quilt related business that you want to share with us?

A:  

Last Night's Meeting Fun!

 Here are some of the many charity quilts shared at last night's meeting.  A special thank you went out to Gudrun for having a hand in making over 45 quilts this year and to Leslie for making over 100 bags!  Great job ladies!  A few other folks got prizes from the drawing for their participation as well.  Penny announced that over fifty percent of the members are participating in our charity work one way or another.  Join in, it is fun!

Our president Debbie also passed her presidency and gavel to her sister Crystal who is our new president.  Out thanks go out to Debbie for a job well done.  We do appreciate all of your hard work this year to make our guild what it is!  Debbie reminded us that "it takes all of us" to make this guild work so thanks to all of you have helped in anyway this past fiscal year!  If anyone wants to step up to be our new vice president, Crystal is in need of one--let us know!

Our ice cream social could not have been on a better hot Arizona night!  There was every kind of ice cream including gluten free!  Lots of toppings and we managed to eat it before it melted.  Thank you to everyone who brought stuff and for those who scooped too!

 For our meeting we shared the oldest quilts we had or ones we had a hand in.  Here are some of the more antique ones we saw. 

Remember our next date falls on the fourth of July so NO MEETING on the holiday.  See you July 18th for Jackie Kunkel's "Splash of Color" trunk show.  Bring your ten dollars if you want to reserve your fall spot for quilt camp with Colleen.

Charity Shout Out!

Penny, our Outreach Coordinator, announced at our last meeting that to date the Nimble Thimbles guild has delivered 142 quilts to those in need!  36 have gone to vets, 67 to the Red Cross (along with 69 bags) and 39 have gone to the Pregnancy Care Center.  In addition, at our last charity sew in, fifty people came to work on quilts! 

 I was inspired to pick up a kit to whip up to add to these numbers.  Thank you to all those who do this charity work faithfully and to anyone just getting started on it too!  Thanks too to Judy and Penny for organizing and sharing all these quilts with us this past year--we could not do it without you guys!

Charity Sew In – Tuesday October 29, 2013

Join us for the fifth Tuesday in October (10/29/13) at the church for a Charity Sew In from 7:00-9:00pm. Please Note: The location has changed to Classroom 1 (Fifth Grade) and Classroom 2 (Sixth Grade). The location change is needed for this Sew-In as the church will be using the gymnasium. You will need to park at the East Side parking lot in the church complex. The classrooms are in the northeast building of the complex and entered via the courtyard from the parking lot. Bring your sewing machine - we will have lots of different kits available to sew or bring a project you are working on. Refreshments will be provided. This is our last Sew-In of the year - we hope to see you there!!

Charity Sew In – Tuesday July 30, 2013

Join us for the fifth Tuesday in July at our usual meeting place at the church for a Charity Sew In from 7:00-9:00pm. We will be cutting kits so please bring a ruler, rotary cutter, and cutting mat if you want to help with cutting. We will also have kits available to sew and we have a few quilts ready for binding and also a few sandwiched to do quilting. Refreshments will be provided. We hope to see you there!!

Save the date of February 15th and join us in making the quilt for The Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness organization.

Giving last year's quilt to Kepra.

Everyone hard at work for a wonderful cause.

This year's quilt is already cut out and ready to be sewn together. We will be meeting at Holy Trinity Luthern Church in Classroom A (come to our regular meeting room and classroom A is right beside the kitchen). We have the room from 9-4pm and I think we can finish the quilt top on this day. Bring your regular sewing supplies , your machine and brown bag lunch, to keep your energy level up!! I'll be bringing a case of water for everyone and snacks are always welcome to share. Here is a picture of last year's quilt  and I think this year's quilt will be just as beautiful.

Help a young man earn his Eagle Scout

A call has been made to help a young man earn his Eagle Scout award. His project is to collect 300 pillowcases to donate to the ConKerr Cancer Center for Children. He will be at our meeting on February 21 to talk with us and Nimble Thimbles would greatly appreciate collecting pillowcases for him at that meeting. Here is a link for pillowcase instructions for those those that haven't made them before :http://www.conkerrcancer.org/pillowdirections.html

Charity Sew Night on January 31st...lots of smiling faces and fast sewing!!!!

Good friends enjoying good times for charity! Please join us for a future charity night sewing event. Keep an eye on the blog calendar for next scheduled event.

You are invited to join us for a ?"Sewing For The Children" day.? Where: Community Room at The Gilbert Historical Museum (Gilbert Rd & Elliott)When: Tuesday, March 23, from 1:00 - 8:00. Pick a time slot that best suits your schedule.What to bring: your sewing machines, extra needles, threads, sewing and cutting equipment, mats, rulers, etc. Our goal is to:1. Assemble Carry Bags with straps for Child Protective Services.2. Assemble ?Quilt Sandwiches? of the sewn tops in our stash. Optional, for those who prefer to:1. Stitch together precut kits.2. Machine quilt ?Quilt Sandwiches? as we get them prepared. We will have one ironing board and iron available in the roomThe dinner hour will be creatively addressed by those present at the time. Thank You to the Gilbert Historical Museum for the room use as a way of supporting our sewing for The Children.Contact Delores Jenisch or Jean Nielsen for more information

Calling for all end-of-the-year quilts!

We are planning on delivering about 40 more quit ls next weekend, some to each of our three recipient groups: Chandler Fire Department, Project Linus, and Child Protective Services. This will put our total given for the 2009 year at 170.

We also have a few Carry Bags ready for Child Protective Services, where they are highly favored and much in demand. Melissa says that the ones we make are absolutely the best because they hold more and are well made.

If you can have any more quilts or bags ready by next Saturday, noon, please contact either Delores or Jean so we can add them to the stack for Christmas. Thank you for joining in and making this year a great one for "Charity Quilt Show and Tell". We've enjoyed seeing each one of the them.

Thank you, thank you, thank you ... for giving comfort to the children.

Community Service Delivery

We had 29 quilts of various sizes, and 2 Carry Bags, ready for Child Protective Services by September 18 when Melissa Zeller, and her son T.J., came to pick them up. We also had a large box of used blankets and quilts to give her. Melissa was so happy to receive our donations. Some of these quilts will be taken to kiddos in St. Joseph's Hospital, some will be made available to children in Foster Care, and the remainder will be kept available in Melissa's office on a needs basis. The Carry Bags continue to be really hot items and are so very much appreciated. Melissa says these are the best they've ever had. If you haven't made one yet for her, you will find the pattern on our Charity Table at our meetings.

Thank you, Nimble Thimbles quilter, for your generous contributions towards this good cause. We're always excited to see what you've created for our project. If you haven't already, please fill out our 2010 Community Service Project planning questionnaire at the next meeting.

Folded Star Blocks

Several members have suggested that completed folded star blocks can be donated to make one charity quilt. These blocks are from the Make and Take that Kathy Silva did at the September 1 meeting. One completed block has already been turned in so we are hoping that some others will make their way to the charity table too. Just bring your completed block to any meeting.

Community Service Quilts Update

Monday, June 29, was a very big "Quilts & Carry Bags Pick Up" day for
us. "Thank You" to Jean Nielsen for helping with preparing quilts and
bags for pick up.

Melissa Zeller, of Child Protection Services, took 26 of our quilts and
35 carry bags (Nimble Thimbles 6, and Suzie Evenstad's quilters 29).
Melissa was very excited to get the bags as her need for them has
increased and supplies have dwindled. She also took more smaller baby
quilts/blankets for use with her "little kidos," to supplement the 100
quilts recently given her by Project Linus. Melissa assures us that
EVERY item we give her is greatly appreciated and put to good use with
her kids.

Two strong men of the Chandler Fire Department gladly took two large
bags of quilts (30), most of which were made by our very own George.
When the guys saw the quilts their response was, again, "Oh, more of
those quilts!" They are already looking ahead to supplies for, can you
believe it, the coming winter.

Another stack of quilts/blankets (18) will be delivered to Project
Linus, SE Valley Chapter, at their next
Sewing Bee on Saturday, July 18 at the Gilbert Community Center. Our
quilts we've selected for Project Linus will be designated for children
in the Maricopa Medical center.
See their web page for info and a check list on items they request, and
how to prepare them:
http://www.orgsites.com/az/project-linus-se-phoenix/

Thank you all for the beautiful, and "beautifully useful," quilts and
carry bags you've made for children and young people in need of comfort
and specialness. We encourage you to continue to do a bit of sewing here
and there as your busy lives allow, and while you're at it, to add a bit
of experimentation with techniques, and even to teach someone else how
to sew.

Thank you all, Delores, Community Service Project Chair

Book Collection and Sale

Thanks to those of you who have supported Ellen and Kelsey O'Brien as they earn their Girl Scout Bronze Award. The girls as a team have collected 639 books. These books will benefit Chandler Public Library, St. Peters Mission School on the Gila Indian Reservation, and Arizona Health Access programs for lower income children, and nursing homes in the East Valley.

The second half of their Bronze award work involves a book collection and sale at Santan Elementary in south Chandler. After collecting books from families in the school district for two weeks, a book sale will be held on May 1. The sale is a fund-raiser for three teachers who are participating in the 3-day Walk for a Cure for Breast Cancer research. The book sale is on Friday, May 1, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at the Santan Junior High Cafeteria. Both Santan Elementary and Junior High are located at 1550 Chandler Heights Road, between Cooper and McQueen. The books will be priced at 50 cents to $1.00 each.

All of the remaining books after the sale are consolidated with your generous donations and given to the Chandler Public Library for further distribution. Thank you again for your support. Kathy O'Brien

Charity Work Party

On Friday, March 27, you are all cordially invited to a cutting party and potluck.

What: Charity kit cutting party
When: 9:30am - 2:00pm
Where: Kathy O'Brien's house, 1613 E. Crescent Way, Chandler
Telephone: 480-855-1318

Please bring the following:

Cutting mat
Rotary cutter
Omnigrid measuring tools
and a side dish/salad or dessert to share.

I look forward to a fun gathering!

Kathy O'Brien

Book Drive Update

Ellen and Kelsey O'Brien, Girl Scout Troop #736, are working on a service project for their bronze award. They are collecting new and gently used books to benefit the Chandler Public Library, Gila Indian Reservation, and the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer organization. Children's books, chapter books, large print books, and audio tapes are being collected. The library will also accept National Geographic and Arizona Highways magazines. If you are interested in contributing to the book drive, please bring your books to the Nimble Thimbles meetings on March 3 and March 17. If you want us to pick up books at your home, please call 480-855-1318. Thank you.

February 3 - Meeting Speaker

Our program will feature "How the Child Protective Services uses our donated quilts."
It will be presented by Melissa Zeller, the Community Liaison of Child Protective Services, East Valley.

Melissa is responsible for overseeing the entire East Valley, which includes two offices. She has been in this position for over a year and does a lot of public speaking as a representative for the Child Protective Services. She will explain to our group how donated quilts/blankets are received, stored, and distributed to the children.
Melissa will have photos and stories of how our donated items have made a positive difference in the quality of life for children in their care.
They do get a lot of their quilts and blankets from Project Linus (Phoenix and the West valley get more from AZ Blankets for Kids), and that they go through hundreds of them every year , and that every child gets to keep the quilt given to them.

Project Linus Blanket Bee

Here is some information on an upcoming Project Linus Blanket Bee that I thought some of you might be interested in attending.

Blanket Bee
Jan 17, 2009
9am – 2pm

Oak Room at the Gilbert Community Center
100 N. Elm St

For more information please call
MaDonna Baker
Phoenix SE Valley Coordinator
480-399-3501
www.orgsites.com/az/project-linus-se-phoenix

Chairty Quilt Update

Happy Holidays to all Nimble Thimbles quilters!

Just wanted to remind you that we will be making one more delivery of our donated quilts to The Chandler Fire Department before the end of December.

You can still bring in pieced tops, fabric, and batting, as well as finished quilts to the Holiday Party next Tuesday, or call me to arrange for pick-up. We will add whatever is ready to George's stack of 20 he turned in last month. We are also expecting 4 quilts due back from Cheryl Bennett, who volunteered to longarm quilt for us. She will be able to do a few more for us this month, so bring in your pieced tops. We also welcome donations of 80/20 batting anytime, as per requested by longarm quilters. Thank you all so much for all your generous donations of labor, resources of all kinds, and time. See you at the party!

Delores Jenisch, Community Service Project Chair

Correction to A Card for a Soldier

Unfortunately,Walter Reed does not accept mail addressed to A Recovering Soldier for security reasons. If you wish to send mail to wounded servicemen and women the Red Cross sponsors Holiday Mail for Heros. You can send cards to

Holiday Mail for Heros
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

For more information go to:www.wramc.amedd.army.mil ORwww.redcross.org/holidaymail
- Carol