Gifts and Sales

I am a junker.  I go to estate sales, garage sales and junk stores searching for the perfect... whatever.  Sewing loot is always on my radar.  Especially at estate sales, I find the crafty room and search the deep corners of the room.  Usually a closed box.  I buy it.  By doing this, I have acquired a large amount of orphan blocks.  One or two or five blocks - or partial blocks for a quilt.  Not enough for a quilt, but enough for someone to enjoy.

So one day in my prayers I asked God to tell me what I needed to be doing. What was needed?  He had been leading me to our local nursing home, but I had no idea what to do.  After the prayers, I go online and saw that the nursing home had just asked for some blankets for the patients for Christmas - specifically "fun" blankets - they had normal hospital type blankets.  So I realized here was my answer - heck, I am a quilter!  I can do this!  

I let the poster know I would be working on quilts, but I could not provide for every patient - 50-ish.  She said if you don't mind, I really need fidgets mats.  Can you make those?  Well, yes, I have never done it but I can figure this out...   So there was God's answer.

I went into the sewing room and was trying to figure out where to start.  My cousin had given me a shower curtain that they did not need and some fabric,  I saw the shower curtain and thought it might make a nice guy's fidget mat.  And sew I started.  This is the first one.  It is not my best, but it is just the beginning.  There are buttons, washers, a zipper, beads, strings and a squishy.  The bears are a shower curtain.  It came out ok, but I could do better... 

So I started looking for other ideas.  Lo and behold I found the boxes I had picked up at estate/garage sales.  Orphan blocks or beginnings!  And so I started again... I made them with puffs, keys, key chains, buttons, fuzzies, stretchies, pulls, squishies, bumpies, nubbies and pulls.  And orphan blocks.

How fun!  And of course, I got better...

This block was a block that I got on a quilt run.  At each quilt store you get a block to add to the overall quilt designed for the run.  I only went to a couple of stores and I didn't care for the rooster block for a quilt.  I added yarns, buttons, stretchies, tabs and key pull on a zipper.  

They all came out much cuter than the pics.

This was the stack of donations that I took to the nursing home.  Fidget mats, quilts, throws and an afghan that I made as well.  It was a lot of fun and I will continue to make more.  

Someone saw the post on nursing home's facebook post and saw that they asked me to make fidget mats for the home.  The lady PM'd me and told me she wanted one for her 96 year old grandmother - would I consider making her one to give her granny for Christmas?  She wanted to pay.  And so it began...  

She loved flowers and buttons... and this is what she bought.

Then a friend contacted me and asked me to make one for her mom.   When she contacted me she sent a picture of her mom, tapping on the table like drums.  

I got the specifics and went to work.  

This is the one I came up with.  After receiving her fidget mat, she sent a picture of her mom very busy playing with it.  It was so rewarding!  If it helps her for a day it was worth it.  

 

I will continue to make to donate and to sell.  Unfortunately there is a need for them.  I went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of stuff for the ones I will sell, and two people in the community donated a lot of things.  I have duplicates on the ones they donated - some worked and I haven't found a way to make some work - yet.  However, I do feel like I am answering God's call.  Our seniors need activities that are safe and fun for them - especially if they cannot participate in group activities.

And I donated these things for Christmas, so I am backing up just a bit.  All of this fiber art is what keeps me sane.  I do enjoy it.