IBOL - One Week Left

Is your box in the net? Mine will be soon :- )

Depending on when you're reading this you have less than a week left to get a box in the mail for Iraqi Bundles of Love. If you haven't read or heard about this project yet click over here to get the skinny. The boxed bundles need to be postmarked no later than 7 September. Just pop into your local Post Office, pick up a large flat rate Priority Mail box and a customs form (2976-A), then go home and fill 'er up!

Edited to add: Okay, we all just realized that here in the States Labor Day is the 7th. That will affect when you will be able to get your bundle of love to your local post office. Some post offices are apparently open on Saturdays, all will be closed on Labor Day (to the best of my knowledge). The word to the wise is ship it sooner rather than later. You'll be glad you did. :- )

This is the list of goodies Art suggests you put in your bundle (and I quote):

Do send solid colors and simple prints.

America, I know, can be the land of crazy prints. Iraq just isn’t that crazy. Maybe less on the people prints, the animals, the flags, etc. Simple, and solids, are good, but prints work, too.

Do send bulk or big pieces of fabric.

Don’t worry about sending the pieces and parts from that project you started but realize you’ll never get it. Those 8000 one-inch hexagons you cut out 7 years ago? OK, maybe not those, necessarily.

Do send other things, like thread, needles, buttons, beads, etc. Think about anything and everything that someone can use to make something by hand or by machine.

Don’t worry about the kind of scissors, or what size bobbin it’s on. Someone will figure something out. This project is about raw materials. Whatever it is, it’ll get used.

Do look around and see if you have heavier fabrics, too.

Don’t worry about batting.

This isn't just for quilters or seamstresses either. People with yarn stashes are encouraged to contribute YARBOL's (Yarn Bundles of Love!). The yarn you inherited that in your heart of hearts you know you'll never use, an extra pair of needles or crochet hook, a pattern that could be figured out from pictures alone (does such a thing exist?!). Again, think raw materials that a mother could use to make something to keep her children warm and clothed.

Here's a link to how to build your bundle (how to pack your box).

And if you don't feel you can contribute directly to the cause please spread the word so that others can! Give them the URL to the IBOL blog (http://ibol.wordpress.com/) or to my blog. I'll be happy to fill them in on the details or give them the mailing address for their box.

This whole effort sprang out of one soldier's recognizing a need and doing what he could to fulfill it. We're reaching out to the innocent victims of war and violence in a way that will be more effective than any amount of propoganda. We are supporting the work our troops are doing on the ground and in the villages of remote areas of Iraq. They have so little and we have so much.

Retail Therapy

I'm happy to report that my trip to the Post Office to mail my box for IBOL did not have the devastating effect I feared it might. Hurray! I went to bed with a fairly intense headache but felt much improved this morning. I've noticed a pattern to my recoveries and, interestingly enough, retail therapy is usually a part of it. (No surprise, chocolate is too.)

After a trip to toxic places I eat a custard cup of frozen blueberries as soon as I can. This seems to mitigate the severity of any reactions I may have. And frozen berries are more effective than fresh for some reason. It doesn't work every time but it works often enough that I now make sure there's always at least one package of frozen blueberries on hand.


Once I've run the gamut of whatever physical reactions I'm going to have - which may take anywhere from 12 to 48 hours - the next phase involves a slump in my mood. This can be mild or quite severe. As I climb back up to something approaching normal I very often find myself online, shopping. If it's not books, dvd's, or music at Amazon.com I'm checking out the sale categories at eQuilter.com. Most recently I went shopping for sequins in the hopes of finding something I could use on my parrot piece (scroll down about halfway). These came from Cartwright's:

Meanwhile, my LQS is having a sale on their clearance bolts. I stopped in there today on my way home from the food co-op to check it out. Unfortunately the air was pretty bad this time. That made it very challenging for me to make any decisions. But I managed to come home with these pieces anyway. :- )

The stars may become the backing of the "big girl quilt" I'm supposed to be making for my youngest granddaughter. The green was just too good to pass up. The pink and the blue with purple dots are fat quarters that were not on sale. Honestly, if I could afford it I would have a piece of nearly everything in that store!

Sewing!

I finally felt able to spend some time at the sewing machine yesterday. Actually, I think the getting up and down to go to the ironing board to press seams may have been good for my back. It kept me from sitting in one position for too long. All I did was some mindless piecing of scraps. Not really Mile-A-Minute, just crumb piecing. It felt like it took forever to produce these 8 "blocks."


These are all at least 5" in either direction. I haven't decided yet whether I want to make them bigger or trim them down to the same size. I wanted to see whether I could live with monochromatic piecing. Half way through I had to stop and make a couple of birds:

Maybe that's why the blocks took so long!

If you haven't ordered your Iraqi Bundle of Love from Sew, Mama, Sew it's too late. They're all gone. My box is still patiently waiting to be taken to the Post Office. Since I have other unavoidable errands to run today I'll take one of the sons with me and have him do the dirty deed. I'm likely to come home ill anyway but I don't want to be any sicker than I have to be!

Boxes of Bundles

My box for Iraqi Bundles of Love is ready to go to the Post Office.


And at least 70 boxes have already arrived in Iraq:


But there's always room for more! (Art's got permission to use helicopters to take some of the loot into other provinces for distribution!) For those who may want to contribute but don't have a stash to draw from, SewMamaSew has come up with a terrific offer. For a mere $15.00 the folks at Sew Mama Sew will fill a box and ship it on your behalf. That includes filling out the customs form, taking it to the Post Office, and the postage. Sweet! There are only 150 of these boxes available though, so jump over to this page now and place your order.

Here's what they will put in the box:

* 5 yards of new fabric

* 16 sewing needles in a case

* 32 pearlized pins on a wheel

* 1 tomato pincushion

* 1 pair folding scissors

* 1 150 yd spool white thread
*The cost of shipping is included in the price.

It couldn't be any easier. In fact, if I'd known they were going to do this I would have saved myself (or one of my boys anyway) a trip to the Post Office!

Iraqi Bundles of Love

So, as usual, I'm one of the last ones to the party (having been laid up with a bad back and all) but I just have to do my part to help spread the word about a fabulous project I learned about from Quiltdivajulie. It's called Iraqi Bundles of Love and was conceived by thoughtful and caring US citizens currently serving in Iraq.

Because I still can't spend a long time sitting I'm just going to copy and paste some of the more pertinent information directly from Mr. IBOL's blog...

It is intended to be a simple project, requiring little effort and little expenditures from those wishing to participate. It is based upon my assessment that sewing fanatics and quilters and knitters tend to have stashes that far exceed their actual needs, and that sewing fanatics and quilters and knitters are passionate both about sewing / quilting / knitting, and about sharing with others.

The general premise is this. I am in Iraq, and I can get mail through the US Postal System. Willing contributors can send to me a flat-rate box of sewing / quilting supplies, all bundled up. I’d open the box, pull out the fully-contained bundle, and hand it off (with others) to our counterparts in the Iraqi Security Forces (Army and others) or the local police, for them to distribute. The stated intent of this operation is to put sewing and quilting and knitting supplies into the hands of two types of recipients: locals who desperately need such things, and local sewing co-ops who have received grants or loans (typically to purchase sewing machines, rent space, etc).

Here you can find out what to put in the bundle.

And here's the link to how to build a bundle.

To get the address for shipping your box you'll need to go to Iraqi Bundles of Love and leave a comment. But be quick - these boxes have to be shipped by September 7!