Wow another month gone and I have been slack!!!

I really can't believe almost a month has passed since I last updated this blog. I have no idea where time has gone but I have been doing things not being slack..lol

Yesterday I posted off a parcel of premmie hats and a pair of bootees for the Newcastle NICU, another small parcel of 6 premmie hats went off to Mercy Hospital for Women for their NICU and also a large parcel for http://sewmanyquiltstoolittletime.blogspot.com/ this parcel consisted of a pair of bootees and a hat, 3 packets of pencils and 6 pencil cases, a couple of caps, some FQS for the many and wonderful quilts this lady makes and a few bumbags. These are all sent on to the children of East Timor. These poor kids have very little school supplies, their school is a tin shed with a dirt floor, desks made out of trees and their stools are logs... if you have a look at the blog you will see how little these people have and you just have to feel for them and want to do something to help them out. Any donation, no matter how small will make a difference to these kids.

Thought I should post a pic of the little scarves I make for the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. I haven't sent any since the season ended but I have made 1..lol I will get into making more of these after xmas and hopefully have quite a few ready to send once the season starts up again.

I have still been making things, I have finished another little hat this week and almost finished 2 more big scarves for the kids in Timor and Afghanistan. Must remind myself to take photos of the items I make, I have a shocking habit of forgetting to take photos of the projects I finish. I tend to put them together in a basket ready for posting and then forget to take pics.... I have a couple of pairs of pyjamas to finish off also, just need to do the cuffs and they will go into the finished items basket ready for posting..

I was lucky enough this week to be the recipient of a ruler holder. My son was wanting to do things and as he is handy with wood he is busily making bits and pieces to sell. of course I get to keep all the prototypes.. lol

Well till next time, take care of those you love.

hugs

update of donations

well it has been a little longer than I had planned for updating...life sometimes gets hectic here...lol
Well I sent off a parcel for Cathy's Crafters 4 Charity consisting of an embroidered tablerunner, some scented purse sachets, some bath mitts and some beaded xmas tree decorations. am in the process of making some bookmarks for this charity also.. C4C holds stalls in Melbourne with all money raised going to help The Fred Hollows Foundation.. another great cause.
I have also managed to finish off 3 little xmas premmie hats to add to the collection..
until next time .....
never know I might even get my butt into gear and take some pics... lol

Welcome to blogland!!

Shannon's Army has joined blogland.. go check them out, the link is on the left. They do amazing work for those suffering with cancer.. and are always on the lookout for helpers.. welcome girls to the land of blogs..

Some more Little hats completed

Have had a busy few days here with the start of the cricket season and also my GD 1st birthday party held at our place all happening over the weekend...... but I have managed to finish off another couple of hats and have another one on the needles which I should finish off tonight.. which will bring my tally for the week to 3 hats completed so far...
hopefully I will be able to get pics downloaded off my camera soon and uploaded here soon..

Looking after our local hospitals too

Also I wanted to add to the list of organisations was for anyone wishing to donate to their local hospital. Be it in the way of hats and bootees for newborns, knee blankets for sitting in chairs, slippers or anything else that anybody wants to suggest...
I will list the hospitals also in the sidebar and what has been donated to each..
If anyone can come up with any other suggestions just let me know..

Donations to date...

Okay here is a list of donated items to date... I will be adding this to the side bar and trying to keep it updated..lol if someone wishes to send me items I will add them to which ever organisations tally as well..

Premature hats- donated to John Hunter Hospital NICU, Newcastle thru the Little Wonders group and Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne thru the Featherweight Club. 47 hats and 2 pairs of little bootees.
Homeless and Needy through a local Salvation Army group- 1 cardigan, 3 beanies, 2 towells, 2 washers, 1 blanket.
The Alfred Hospital Foundation, Melbourne - 11 scarves for Alfred Bear. these are sold thru their shop to raise funds.
The Winter Warm Project - 2 beanies. 1 scarf
These are sent items and items waiting to be sent since May '08.. I have items that still are in progress and hope to add to this list by the end of this week..
I am aiming to have at least 5 items finished per week.
On top of all these I donate 2 fqs monthly to a fabulous lady who makes quilts for those less fortunate.. to date she has made over 1500 quilts and going strongly.. she really is one amazing woman.. her blog if anyone is interested in reading is http://sewmanyquiltstoolittletime.blogspot.com/

Once again if anyone would like to help make things or even donate fabric or yarn it would be appreciated immensely.. or if you know of an organisation worthy of listing and donating to just send me the details.

How can you help??

If you find any groups or organisations that I have not listed I would be happy for you to forward the details on to me... and if they respond to my enquiries I will add them to the list.
If you can knit, sew or crochet then you can help by making items of your choice. Also there are a host of other things you can do to help if you do not sew or knit etc.. you can make a donation of wool or fabric that can be made into an item of need.. many organisations would love help with items such as paper, cards, envelopes, etc. anything that helps in the organisation is of benefit......
I have contact details for all the organisations I will be listing and they all acknowledge receipt of the items that are sent to them.. I find that if they take 5 minutes out of their day to email me that items have arrived safely, then they are really there to care about those we are all really trying to help. After all it is nice to know that the people we are making things for are actually receiving them.....
Why I do it this way is because I found a garment I had donated to one organisation was for sale in their 'shop'... I had stated when I first started donating that the items were to be handed over to the people they were made for.. those in real need.. the homeless and the needy...
I have nothing against organisations selling items for money to help the needy but I felt the item I had made and donated would benefit a needy person much more than a "bargain shopper". no offence meant here... and I had requested it be given to someone who normally would never receive a brand new item of clothing for themselves...
another parcel I sent thru the mail with numerous articles of clothing and items for the homeless, to a different organisation, was never acknowledged. I presume it arrived safely at its destination but I will just have to hope that it eventually was handed over to it's intended recipients..... it costs us nothing to send an email but a little time and a touch of effort.... but by acknowledging that items have arrived safely at their destinations does make the sender/donor feel more comfortable to send on future donations... this is just my thoughts though.. and a sign of respect....

The reason behind this blog!!

Well where do I start...lol
I first started donating handmade items to charity a long time ago. Whether it was a quilt or a hat it didn't matter, I still felt I was doing something worthwhile, which I was.. I mainly donated items locally and whenever the needs arose..
My local craft group would hold an evening where we would create items to those in need, sometimes we made little toiletry bags and filled them with toothhbrushes and personal items for kids in orphanges overseas, we would knit or crochet squares and make them into blankets for the elderly in hospices and hospitals, we made quilts for cancer patients, knitted garments for World Vision and so on... but I felt I could do more than the small amount we were doing so I started knitting little hats for premature babies and donating them.... then I misplaced my details for the person I was sending my items to and do you think I could find those details again. Grrrrrrrrr.....
I enquired thru my online patchwork group if anyone had the details I was seeking but no one did. From this I was asked if I could knit premature hats and bootees for a hospital NICU in Newscastle which I gladly agreed to. I sent off the first batch of 35 hats and 1 little pair of bootees and the response back to me was very pleasing... It made me feel I had made a difference in someone's life....
So from there I started thinking what a difference could be made to others in need.. I started searching for other groups who were in need of items..... sadly I found that contact details and addresses for sending items were not readily available... but I did not give up and have spent considerable hours on the internet searching, contacting and waiting for replies...... to my disappointment very few organisations answered my enquiries........... maybe something to think about if you are involved in these organisations........ how much you could be missing out on by simply not following thru with an email no matter how small the pledge...... every little bit helps.......
I read everything I could find on helping others and the different things that were needed... I found there is a great need out there for warm clothing, hats, scarves etc. quilts, blankets and bedding items and also for things we take for granted everyday like personal hygiene items, toiletry items and the list just goes on and on..... the internet certainly makes the world a smaller place but it also opens ones eyes to the poverty that is everywhere.......
The more I read and researched the more my heart strings were pulled...... could you possibly imagine each night as we crawl into our warm beds those poor beings who have no beds, no homes and no blankets or warm clothing to keep them warm and also no food in their bellies......and then try and imagine life for those even less fortunate in countries like afghanistan where their winters are nothing like we could imagine......the harshness of their lives just seems so unfair and it moved me so much to start this blog and see if I can in some small way make a difference to the lives of these people and others around our world.
Could you possibly try and imagine a small child begging on the streets of Afghanistan for money for food, try and imagine the chill that they feel from lack of warm clothes and no food in their bellies........ then imagine the babies and very young who are left in the tents in these harsh winters while their mothers go in search of food...... I pinched this passage from a letter on this website www.winterwarm.org this lady is trying to make a difference to these people...

Children are stood in traffic, hands pulled into their sleeves as an alternative fashion to gloves, their sleeves white with snow. They run, many of them, after cars. Their faces appear at half misty windows, shuddering and begging, “Khyrat Bedeh”, their breath frozen on their lips. Their eyes tell the tale; they have not had breakfast; their skinny faces show clearly that they have had no food for an unknown period. Their torn jackets complain; they cannot protect them from the snow and cruel cold. Snow falls constantly and covers their hair, then slowly dissolves, changes to drops and slides down, freezing again before they hit the ground.

Some people think of snow as an elixir that helps them triumph over the fear of drought, but snow, for all its beauty, makes some people cry. Cry for a father whose children cry for food and a little warmth. Cry for a mother who begs out in the cold to bring food to her children, while her children cry at home for their mother to be with them. Cry for a mother who squeezes her tiny baby under her jacket to keep him warm, but can’t do anything to feed him. She, herself, has not eaten enough, how can she feed her baby?
I can’t cry any more. Help me cry for a family who live not in a protective shelter, but a tent with many holes in it, camped on a wet piece of ground, crying for enough food and dreaming of a little warmth.
Yes, these parents dream too. They are ordinary people and dream as we do. However, we have much more and dream of a better tomorrow. They dream for today. They dream of bread for their children. They dream of a time when their children are not hungry, and are warm. They dream of a time when they can look at each other knowing their children are satisfied.

This is just one example of the sadness in our world today.. there are plenty more around if we just take the time to look and care..
My aim of this blog is to open the eyes of people in blogland and hopefully get some others to help these and the many others out there in need. It only takes one small effort by one person to combine with others small efforts to make a huge difference in their lives... are you willing to make a small effort to achieve a huge difference to someone less fortunate...