charitable sewing

This is the story of my little lap quilt that ended up across the country, helping people.

I’m sure all sewists can relate to seeing a certain fabric that catches their eye and the excitement of seeing that it’s on clearance! JoAnn’s had Star Trek fabric for $3.00 a yard and I had to buy it. As a 12 year old, I loved Star Trek so I brought it home and there it sat, in my stash, for several years. Then COVID-19 happened and everything shut down, so I used my new-found free time to sew and vowed to use some of my stash. Like many, I made masks, but I also needed to do something creative and fun. I came across the Star Trek fabric and went to work. In a few days I had a nice lap quilt in red and black, quilted with embroidered stars, but it really didn’t fit my decor. I decided to ask my son, Andrew, if any of his friends would like a science fiction quilt. He thought about it and came up with a plan. He wanted to put it up for auction on Twitter for charity.

I really didn’t think anyone would pay much for it, but anything for charity is good. Since the pandemic had caused food insecurity for so many, we chose Philabundance. After five days on Twitter, the winning bid was $125.00 from a young man in California named Josh. I was so happy that the quilt would feed people and make Josh happy.

Then something exciting occurred — Josh and Andrew were contacted by William Shatner. Yes, “the” William Shatner… the REAL CAPTAIN KIRK! Mr. Shatner told Josh he was lucky to get the quilt and wished that he had seen it sooner so that he could have bid on it and put it in his children’s charity auction. Josh was so sweet, he donated the quilt for the auction! I boxed the quilt up and sent it to Mr. Shatner’s company in April of 2020 and included a note about the quilt. And since Josh was so nice, I made him a new Star Trek quilt to replace the donated one.

The pandemic continued and I kept busy, not thinking much about the quilt. In early November, Andrew received the following tweet from Mr. Shatner:

@yoda have you seen the current bid price? Your mother should go into business!

I couldn’t believe it! Now don’t think that I am vain enough to believe that my sewing skills are worth that much. It may have something to do with the fact that the quilt was signed by William Shatner – Captain Kirk himself – on the label.

I was so excited and shared this story with my friend, Dianna Kelly, and she mentioned it at our Sew What group Zoom meeting. I hadn’t followed up on the bidding because I just didn’t think it would go any higher … but then Beverly Betz found this:

Final bid $ 905.00! I am beyond thrilled that my sewing hobby has helped children and provided food for those who are struggling. The takeaway here is a reminder that what we do as sewists is now being looked at in a different light since the pandemic started. Whether it’s quilts, masks, or caps for friends, family or strangers, what we create is making a difference in the world. So to paraphrase Mr. Spock from Star Trek — live long and prosper — and keep sewing.

~Lynda Harrison, ASG Member

When my 40-something son, Todd, invited me to join him on a Mount Kilimanjaro climb, I thought about it, laughed, and then declined. I am too much of a risk, even though others my age and older have done it. When he said he would like a banner of some kind to wave when he reached the summit, I knew I had a job!

Climbing for a purpose

Todd was training and climbing for a purpose… suicide prevention. And yes, he had recently lost a high school classmate. He would pay all his expenses himself and was hoping he could raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It took me a while to realize that their logo is a life preserver. I found the logo on the ASFP web page and copied, enlarged and printed it, and used Steam-a- Seam to trace it and iron it to a piece of nylon ripstop. I wanted it to be lightweight, yet big enough to be a banner. Sewing down the letters was a bit tedious, but he was really excited about it, so that gave me energy. In the meantime, I also sent the ASFP logo to a digitizer and was able to embroider out a couple of patches, which he could put on his jacket, as did his hiking partner. He had invited several people to train with him.

“Since he was raising money for a worthy cause, I started thinking about what else I could do with my trusty sewing machine and years of sewing guild meetings, where we share skills and ideas.”

Aha! Pocket Tissue covers! I have great fun making these and giving them out! I printed out the AFSP logo, using the mailing label size, and June Tailor Colorfast Sew-In Fabric Sheets for Ink Jet Printers. Now I had the logos on cloth! So, I cut them apart and added dark blue batiks around them, in order to make pocket tissue holders (definitely from a Neighborhood Group meeting!!).

Todd Spinney (right) and Judy’s banner at the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro

I also started obsessing about a picture of the mountain… so once again I went to the computer and printed an image out on cloth, added some more grass and some sky from my stash, and made it an outside pocket on a bag which would be big enough to hold the banner.

I made about a dozen tissue holders and mailed them and the new bag to Todd in Massachusetts so he could give them to friends and co-workers who made donations to AFSP.

Time to climb

In the meantime, he was training. Every weekend was devoted to climbing somewhere, and every bite of food was recorded on an app on his phone. He used a special mask that helped him prepare for the altitude sickness that interferes with many climbers. He got his shots. He made his reservations. He chose a plan that took eight days and used a team of guides and porters, who carried the tents and food, prepared the meals and took care of the details. Todd and his partners carried their personal gear. One of his partners made a valiant try at the climb, but when they reached the high altitudes, her asthma made continuing impossible and she turned back (with one of the porters as a guide). Todd texted and even called during the climb (of course at odd hours…) and had brought along a solar-powered charger for his phone. We were able to follow along, and knew which day he would summit (who knew summit is a verb?).

He has since put together a slide show and showed it to us at a celebration party after his return. Lots of pictures of the banner! I’m so glad it is over. And so proud!

~ Judy Spinney, North Jersey Chapter

To Boldly Go Where No Quilt Has Gone Before

Oh, the Places Our Sewing Will Go

Climbing for a purpose

“Since he was raising money for a worthy cause, I started thinking about what else I could do with my trusty sewing machine and years of sewing guild meetings, where we share skills and ideas.”

Time to climb