Feb. 2 Joining Party

I almost completely forgot to take photos during the joining party!  Unfortunately, that means I didn't get a photo of another volunteer who had joined us but left earlier.  I also missed out on the tables covered with the little granny squares we sorted through.  We joined the smallest ones into groups of 4 to get the 8" blocks needed. 

We had more then 160 squares in total, along with a gorgeous complete crib-sized blanket and the pieces of a raglan style sweater with collar.  I have more photos up in my Blankets 4 Canada flickr set.

Many thanks to the volunteers for coming out!

More about the Joining Party

Just wanted to make a separate post to update in regards to the Joining Party in February.  I was at the Clareview Michaels today, and was amazed at how full the donations box is!  To those who donated all those bags, your generosity is amazing!  Thank you so much!

Normally, the store would be calling the local chapter for pick up at this point, but I believe my manager is planning to hang on to them for the joining party. In talking to Eileen about it, she mentioned that one thing they are running low on is yarn to join the squares, so I wanted to add a quick reminder that yarn is also a welcome donation.  So if you've got some stuff in your stash you don't know what to do with, and you're planning on coming out for the Joining Party, feel free to bring some along!

Hope to see you there!

Blankets For Canada Joining Party

Hello, everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

I wanted to give the folks in Edmonton a heads up to the Blankets for Canada Joining party that I now have booked.  It'll be held on Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Clareview Michael's, from 5 - 7 pm (though we can stay longer if needed).

There have been people asking about what happens with squares and other items donated into the bins at Michael's.  Edmonton has its own chapter of volunteers, so all these donations go directly to them.  If you're interested in donating, here is some more information about the squares and how they're put together. 

In December, I was able to do a photo shoot at Community of Christ Church, at 6919 83 Street Northwest, which has donated facilities for the group to use. On the second and fourth Saturdays, from 10am to about 3 pm, dedicated volunteers get to work!

(I have a set of photos on my flickr pages where all my B4C photos, new and old, can be viewed.  Visit the page to see more detailed photos.)

First, I got to see some of the finished items that were ready to be distributed around Edmonton, wherever the need is greatest.

Here are a few of the quilted versions.

I love the colours in the dinosaur one.  Some child is going to be very happy!

Here are several blankets made using knit blocks, including a spectacular child sized blanket.  Some with a lot of skill donated these squares!

These are made with crochet, including a lovely little baby blanket.

A couple more examples to show off.  I really like how those crocheted blocks were designed!

All of the finished blankets have this label sewn on to them before they are passed on.

After getting these photos, I was given a tour of the facilities.  Along the way, I was told about this group of donations.

These are just part of a very large donation!  A gentleman, recently widowed, was clearing out his late wife's sewing room and donated everything to Blankets 4 Canada - there was about two truckloads of materials donated!!  How incredibly generous of him during what had to be a very difficult time.

Volunteers will go through all of these bags and sort through them and decide how and where they can best be used.  Most of the fabric will likely go to other volunteers to make into quilts.

Next, I was shown a storage room.

In this photo, you can see the bins filled with sorted yarn that will be used to join squares, as well as items to be sorted, finished, etc.

On the top of another shelf are bags of sorted squares.  Each one of these bags is a blanket waiting to be assembled.

Below the bags of squares ready to be assembled is sorted fabric for quilting.

Sometimes, people donate finished items and I was shown a bag of items waiting to be sorted.  It had everything from hats and mittens to a finished child's sweater!

Though Blankets 4 Canada does not work with these items themselves, the volunteers to make sure that donations go to the appropriate places.  As an example, some of it will go to the Edmonton Police Department.  Police officers will be able to have some on hand, if they ever encounter a person living on the streets that's in need of a hat or scarf.  Such donations are always appreciated.

Here are a few more items displayed for me by Eileen, who is the B4C contact person for the Greater Edmonton Chapter.

Yes, there are even socks in the donation pile!  And check out those mittens!  These are one of two pairs of some awesome knitting.  The other pair was an all-over pattern the same as what you can see on the thumb of the pair above.

Next, I got to see one of the rooms being used to sort.

On one table was a bunch of loner squares and unusual shapes and sizes.  Eventually, it will be figured out how to fit them into blankets, like a jigsaw puzzle.

Visit here for the rest of the photos.

There wasn't any joining being done that day I visited.  Instead, it was all about sorting!

For my readers in Edmonton, the B4C chapter is always open to more volunteers to help sort and assemble blankets at the Community of Christ Church.  Here is the contact information link.

For our joining party, we'll be going through whatever is in the donation bin by February.  Last year, Eileen was able to join us and brought along some sorted squares, ready to be assembled, as well.

The joining party is open to anyone, so feel free to drop by!  That date again is Saturday, Feb. 2, starting at 5pm.

I hope to see you there!

Blankets 4 Canada Promo

It's that time of year again!

Join me this Sunday, Nov. 11, at the Clareview Micheals from 1 - 3 pm.  Bring a long hooks or needles and some yarn, and we'll sit and chat while making 8x8 inch squares for Blankets 4 Canada.

A joining party will be organised for the end of January or beginning of February.

Hope to see you there!

And to the wonderful people who have been donating squares throughout the year, you're awesome!  It's always amazing to go past that donation box as see all those bags of squares.  It's been great to see donations of finished blankets and yarn, too!  Thank you so much for all your time and effort.  It's greatly appreciated!

A better picture

I posted a photo of the finished Blankets 4 Canada blanket I'd been working on, using my phone.  Here's a better version. :-)



This is the first time I've ever done a joined blanket.  Any other blankets I've done have been all in one piece, with the exception of a hooded baby blanket that had a triangle added to one corner for the hood. 

These squares were joined by working 1 sc in one square, 1 ch, then 1 sc about a quarter inch down in the second square, while holding them wrong sides together.  For the joining yarn, I happened to have the same type of yarn in matching pale blue and one of the reds that was used in some of the squares, so I alternated between them - I didn't have enough of either to join the entire blanket in one colour.  I was rather pleased to not run out of the red right near the end!

I worked on this in one of the multi-purpose rooms available in the co-op we live in.  A very handy space, with plenty of tables to make spreading out such a project very easy.  The only "down" side was all the interruptions.  We live in a very neighbourly co-op, so whenever people went by the door and saw me, they'd pop in to say hello and chat for a bit. :-D  Enjoyable, but it did make things take a bit longer.

I can live with that. ;-)

Finally!

I finally got to work on this blanket again.  Aside from sewing in ends (which has to wait until I get home, since I forgot my needles), it is now finished and will be delivered tonight.
Whoot!

Almost there

Finishing up the blanket I started at the joining party. Rows are done. Need to join the columns, then finish the edge all around. Should go faster now.

Joining Party

Today was our Blankets 4 Canada joining party at the Clareview Michaels.  Many thanks to those who were able to make it out!



These are the beautifully made squares that were in the bin when I got there - 155 in total.  Donations get picked up on a regular basis for joining by volunteers, so we were a little low.  I am in the process of finding out how many have been donated in the past couple of months.  I'll post it when I have that information. :-)



I spent some time trying to put together squares for an 8 x 6 blanket.  There were a whole bunch made in the same wonderful texture that matched sizes, but not quite enough to make 8 x 6, so a few simple crochet ones that closely matched in size were added to fill in the blanks.  I brought this batch home to finish, and the others were taken to be worked on by volunteers later.



Eileen from Blankets 4 Canada also brought this co-ordinated set of squares to work on.  Some of these were made with glitter yarn!  It's going to look pretty amazing when it's done.



Eileen was just whipping through those rows!!



Laura from the Wandering Woolies Meet Up group was able to spend some time helping out.  Great to see you, Laura!  Thanks. :-D



My daughter, meanwhile, volunteered to sew in loose ends.  She did the tall stack you see on the left, and all but about 6 of the small stack in front of her, in the time we had.  She collected quite the pile of snipped yarn ends by the time she was done! *L*

Thanks for a great evening, Ladies! :-)

Sharing some info

So today was an excellent Get Crafting day!

I started off with a quick trip to the Community of Christ Church, which is at 6919 83 Street Northwest (Edmonton), which is just North of Argyll Rd.  (You can find information about your local chapters here.)  Volunteers for Blankets 4 Canada meet there on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month, unless a church event prevents it.  It's a wonderfully large space, though. so that doesn't happen very often.

I got to talk to Eileen, who took the time to show me the methods they usually use to piece the donated squares together, and give me more information and suggestions.  She was wonderful to chat with, and I wish I could have stayed longer!  I hope to be able to stop by during one of their regular blanket bees. :-)

Along with some practical information, she also passed on some hints and tips.  They happily accept any donations of knit, crochet or quilted squares or strips, yarn and finished blankets (new or gently used).  These tips are suggestions to help make the volunteers' job easier.

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Make 8 x 8 inch squares.  It's handy to make up a template out of cardboard or something similar, so you just need to hold it against the template to measure.  Though all sizes are welcome, having a consistent, somewhat larger size, makes it easier to match squares together, and less time  is spent joining to complete the blankets.  When 4 x 4 inch squares are donated, they get joined into 8 x 8 inch blocks first, then the blocks are joined to make the blankets.  Larger or non-square shapes are a definite challenge for the volunteers to work out into the sizes needed!

Use medium weight (4) acrylic yarn.  There are some really lovely ones available now, that are soft and have a lovely drape.  Aside from being less expensive, they are also easy care and durable.  Don't forget baby yarns, as there is a demand for crib sized and baby blankets, too.

Sew in the ends!  The squares are crocheted together, which means all the ends that get left out need to be sewn in by volunteers before the squares can be joined.  It's a process that can take longer then joining them does (which is why the squares are not sewn together, with rare exceptions).

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If donating fabric, any typical quilting fabric works well, plus felt, which is used as a backing.  If possible, avoid fabrics that fray easily.

If donating used blankets, a general rule of thumb as to whether or not something is suitable for donation is pretty simple; if you would use the blanket yourself, then it is suitable.  Please ensure it is clean and free of pet hair.

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If you wish to donate completed blankets of joined squares, or would like to volunteer to join squares at home, here are some basic sizes, all based on 8 x 8 inch squares.

A crib blanket typically takes 25-30 squares in total (5 squares wide and 6 squares long or 6 x 6).  This size can generally last a child from crib to about age 4.

A single bed sized blanket, which is the most needed size, is typically 6 or 7 squares wide by 8 or 9 squares long.

A double bed sized blanket is about 8 or 9 squares wide by 9 or 10 squares long.

There is also a demand for lap blankets.  When sizing these, consider that they are often used by people in wheelchairs.  For size, something wide enough to tuck around the legs at the thighs and long enough to reach from the hips to the ankles while sitting is good.

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To join squares, volunteer experience has found two crochet methods are the most efficient.  Choose the one that best suits the squares you are joining, or use whatever your preferred method is.

Method one: 

Hold two squares with wrong sides together.  Join yarn at a right hand corner, though both squares.  Chain one.  [1sc, 1ch] across to the opposite corner, working the sc through both squares in the same sc stitch.

This method creates a ridge and a defined front and back.  It's quick, and the squares don't lie quite flat when laid out.  

Method two:

Hold two squares with wrong side together.  Join yarn at right hand corner.  Chain 1.  Work 1 sc into ONE square only, chain 1.  1 Sc into the OTHER square, chain 1.  Continue working to the opposite corner, alternating the sc stitches from one square to the other.  This method takes a bit longer, and the squares lie flat when laid out.

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Whichever method you use, there is a method of joining the squares to blanket size that has been found to be the quickest and most efficient, with the fewest tail ends left to sew in.

Joining sequence.

First decide your size and, if you have a variety of squares, sequence by laying out your squares in a grid and moving them around until you are satisfied.  Once you have them laid out, it's helpful to number them by row and column number by pinning marked pieces of paper onto them, or using low-tack painters tape.  (The tape can be used to help hold squares together when joining, too.)  Row one (R1) is the bottom row, Column one (C1) is the right hand row (unless you're left handed, then the column numbers are reversed).  So the bottom right hand square is R1C1.  The one directly above it would be R2C1, while the one directly to the left would be R1C2.

When you start, you will be joining rows 1 and 2.  Using your joining method of choice, join the R1C1 and R2C1 squares together.  When you complete one side, continue directly to the R1C2 and R2C2 squares, then the R1C3 and R2C3 squares, until you have completed the number of columns that make up your blanket's width.  When complete, you'll have all the squares for rows 1 and 2 joined on one side only.

Next, start joining row 3 squares to row 2 in the same manner, adding new squares to each column as you go along.  Continue in this manner until all the rows are joined.  When complete, all the squares, save the first and last rows, will be joined on 2 sides in rows.

Turn the blanket and join the remaining sides in columns.

Finish by working sc around the entire edge.

Hopefully, I will have photos to demonstrate how this is done after our joining party on Feb. 2.  Until then, I hope my instructions are clear enough!

Michaels and Blankets for Canada

What a terrific afternoon we had today!



I was able to set up a display at a table near the door, happy to use the embroidered and crocheted cloth I inherited as part of the display.  I picked up some variegated yarn to work with and set out 4 of the 5 panels I've done so far, with extra hooks and yarn at the ready.  I was joined by three lovely ladies and would have loved to go longer than the time I was allotted.  We got so busy crocheting and chatting, I completely forgot to try and get the group photo I had planned on!

Remember, 8"x8" panels for Blankets for Canada can be dropped off at any Michaels.  I will be organizing a joining party for the end of Jan/start of Feb at the Clareview branch to help piece the donated squares together into blankets.

Have fun stitching!

Blankets for Canada

Just a quick reminder that Michaels, Discover Knit and Crochet and Blankets for Canada have their event this Sunday, from 1-3pm.  Stop by the Edmonton, Clareview location and join me, making panels for Blankets for Canada.  We'll be using medium (4) weight yarn and 5.00 mm hooks and needles.  I hope to see you there!