My girls especially love this service learning project, as do many of their 4H friends. And although it's quite an undertaking for me to organize, I find it's absolutely worth it to see the kids' excitement when it's time to sew the squares together to make the final product. Plus, it's great that the kids' work can help someone in need.
It's a win-win for everyone.
This year we had a super fab response from square-makers, some returning as well as some new (and talented) hands who joined the fun this year.
This outpouring of help translated to 389 squares donated for the kids to sew together six (4 large, 2 baby) afghans.
It was a truly wonderful community effort!
As I've done in previous years, I crocheted borders around each of the donated squares (hence the crochet injury a while back due to the amount of hand work required to get the border job done). There were very few places I went without a crochet hook and squares in my backpack these past few months.
I make these borders to keep things easy for the kids so it's clear to them where to place their stitches. And using yarn to sew the squares that matches the border color hides a multitude of sins, which is great when you have less-experienced hand sewers. Even our group's youngest 5-year-old boy had no trouble sewing his squares.
The trick this year was in the variety of sizes donated (the original request was for 5"x5"), which is not usually a problem because it is expected. When you have 20+ people crocheting or knitting with a variety of yarns and needles/hooks - not to mention our young novice knitters who made some colorful almost-squares - you're bound to have a significant variation in shape and size. But this year's volume of squares, and their range of sizes, required a new approach to piecing together the afghans.
Once I figured out how to make the squares fit together, I took a photo of the layout and created a worksheet for the kids to follow.
Then I organized the squares in to rows and banded each row with an elastic and a label. This part is familiar to the club members because I have done that every year and I know it works well for them. It keeps all the kids - and their squares - organized on sewing day. But the parents and the older kids in particular seemed to like the new chart feature. It helped them visualize the final product and figure out where the larger squares fit in the final product.
Note the labels and elastics on the table. The older girls did a great job staying on task and getting their rows sewn together neatly and efficiently.
Initially I thought I was a bit over-the-top with my chart-making but no one laughed or told me I was crazy at the club meeting. So I've decided to come clean about making them here and have no regrets. Bring on the teasing - I set myself up and I'm ready for it!
The kids (10 total) managed to sew together four afghans in three hours. There was a lot of friendly bantering and laughing going all afternoon so I know everyone was enjoying themselves. And although I thought it was overly ambitious to even attempt that much sewing time from the club, the kids (and parents) did an amazing job to get the afghans together and looking great and securely sewn.
But I admit I am breathing a sigh of relief today even though there's a few finishing touches to be completed (weaving all the yarn ends in and adding a small border around each afghan) before the kids deliver the final products to the food pantry and family shelter.
It was a multi-month project and I'm looking forward to letting my crochet hand rest for a bit before delving in to my next fiber activity.
But when I see a bunch of smiling faces doing something to make a difference in their community, I can't help but agree to do it all again next year.
So to all our crochet/knitting square-making peeps, here's fair warning the kids will be contacting you in the fall to help us again.
Korner Knitters, Isabelle Temm and the White Rock Extension ladies, Hope Lanza and the inmates at Cumberland County Jail, Baxter Library's (youth) Sewing Club, Uschi Carhart, Carole Prokey, Sarah Hamill, Millie Rich DiStasio, Erika Dube, Sheryl Adams, Wendy Brown, Libby Woodhead, Kelli & B. Keliehor, Annette Salvadori, Lisa Graham, Tina Crea, G. Almeida, L. Almeida, Julie Anderson and Nicole Foster. And a special shout-out to Standish Town Hall for donating the space for us to do this project.
Thank you!
The collage above is missing two of the afghans that are still in-the-works. I'll re-post this picture when I get those final details finished.
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