Fleece blankets find good homes

Meet Schroeder. He and his friends at the Pet Placement Center of Chattanooga were the recipients of fleece blankets made by members of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild.

Here's Schroeder:

"Wow! Look at all the nice soft blankies the ladies from the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild brought to us."

"Hey guys, com' on check these out... they are really soft..."

"We like to romp and play here at the Pet Placement Center. We especially like when people visit, adopt us and take us home with them."

"... all this romping is making me sleepy..."

"I think I'll snuggle up on my new blankie and take a little snooze."

Additional fleece blankets were donated to RIVER, the Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals. Angie, a technician at RIVER, thanked the guild on behalf of the staff, dogs and cats that will love the blankets and put them to good use.

Thank You from RIVER!

The McKamey Animal Center also received nine dog pillow beds. Guild members made the beds by stuffing flannel pillowcases with scraps of fleece.

Fleece blankets, blue jean totes support community organizations

When everyone lends a helping hand, quick and easy sewing and fiber art projects are always fun and rewarding.

Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild members create tote bags for walkers and fleece blankets to support two community organizations.

Members of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild collaborated on two such projects at the March guild meeting to support local community organizations. Tote bags for walkers were made from blue jeans and lap blankets were made with soft, colorful, easy-care fleece fabrics.

Mary Lou shows options for walker  bags.

Guild member and Team Lead for the guild's Community Service Project, Mary Lou Scohier, researched the needs for a local seniors program (Alexian Brothers PACE) and set out to create a pattern for low-cost, easy-to-make tote bags that could be secured to walkers. Blue jeans, with their sturdy fabric construction and multiple pre-existing pockets seemed a most appropriate choice for the source material.

Old blue jeans in various sizes were collected and brought in by guild members. The legs of the blue jeans were cut off at the hip and the opening sewed closed to create the body of the tote bag. The bottom of the bag was boxed and handles for attaching the bag to a walker were made from the jeans legs.

The body of the walker totes.

A tote bag attached to the walker.

Guild members also revisited a project from a 2009 community service endeavor to create lap blankets from colorful fleece fabric. Instructions for creating these popular two-sided throws can be found at this September 2009 post. This is a no-sew project that is fast and fun to make.

Front and back fabrics are aligned with wrong sides together before cutting fringe.

Fringe is tied to create a soft, cuddly lap blankets.

In about two hours, 11 tote bags and 12 fleece blankets were close to completion. Recipients of the items are the Alexian Brothers PACE program and the Hatch's House of Hope program of the Austin Hatcher Foundation for pediatric cancer.

The guild Show and Tell included a bobbin-buster weaving and hand-knit dog sweaters.

Knitted sampler afghans

Knitting stitch sampler strips was a year-long endeavor for the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild members. At the October guild meeting, the knitted strips—comprised mostly of reversible stitch patterns—were assembled into lap-size afghans for the guild's community service project.

"This was a great project in which all guild members could participate and contribute to our guild community service project," said Guild President, Veronica Hofman Ortega. "The strips could be knitted or crocheted, and it was great opportunity to learn and practice many of the classic reversible stitch patterns." Regardless of skill level, all guild members could contribute to the guild project by choosing from simple to more complex stitch patterns when creating their strips.

Guild members brought in their completed strips.

The knitted strips were laid out in coordinating color groups.

 

Long tails of yarn were left at the beginning or end of each strip for easy seaming. Teams of members sewed the strips together using a ladder stitch. The various lengths of the strips provided an asymmetrical finished edge to these lovingly-made sampler lap blankets.

Show and Tell

The guild members brought in their latest accomplishments for Show and Tell: hand woven shawls in a plain weave pattern; hand spun and hand dyed alpaca yarn; teddy bears made of hand woven fabric made from thread from Scotland; and a Halloween Baltimore album quilt top using a fusible applique method.

Teamwork makes charity work light

The axiom, "Many hands make light work," held true at the September meeting of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild. Between giggles, grins and lively conversation, guild members made the work of creating lap blankets for charity a light—and enjoyable—guild project.

For 2009, the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild chose Partnership for Families, Children and Adults—Chattanooga as a local organization to support as a guild community service project. At the September guild meeting, lap blankets were assembled from fleece and flannel fabrics that were donated by the guild and guild members.

"The lap blankets were quick and easy to make. It was a great project for the guild to do as a group," said Sheri S., Guild Vice President. Within an hour, six blankets were cut and completed. "It's one way we can give back to the community," added Veronica O., Guild President, "and it's heartwarming to do something good for someone else." Instructions for making these lap blankets are below.

Brenda R. and Kay P. "Measure twice and cut once."

Ginny S. (above), Susan D. and Sheri S. (below) measure and cut fringe.

Instructions for Lap Blankets:
Cut two coordinating pieces of fabric (we used fleece and flannel) to the same size. Layer the two pieces on top of each other with the right sides facing out. Cut a 4" x 4" square from each corner, cutting through both layers of fabric. Then, using scissors, a craft knife or rotary cutter, create fringe on all four sides of the blanket. (Be sure to use a cutting mat when using a craft knife or rotary cutter.) Cut fringe between 1" to 1.5" wide by approximately 4" deep. Pairing one "fringe strip" from the top fabric and one "fringe strip" from bottom fabric, tie square knots around the perimeter of the blanket to secure the front and back pieces together. Recommended sizes for the blankets are: 36" x 42" (small) , 42" x 42" (medium), 42" x 48" (large).

Note: this project is more fun to do with a friend!

Mary Lou S. and Leanne D. work together (above) and MJ L. (below) shows a finished lap blanket.