One step closer

It has been my intention since beginning the Inglenook bee with Ms. Annie to create a sewing co-op or a Sew-Op in Woodlawn where members of the community can come and sew. The facility would house around 20 machines that would always be out and available for women to come work on at their leisure. The Sew-Op would provide workshops and classes on quilting and garment-making and eventually would become a sort of cottage-industry sewing factory in Woodlawn. I've been reaching out to all sorts of community leaders as well as writing grants to move this vision along. While we work to have our own home, we've been extremely blessed to find a benefactor in DISCO. The Inglenook bee stopped by yesterday, October 23rd, along with a woman from the quilting class at the YWCA in Woodlawn (a program supported through ArtPlay) and we had our first meeting as Bib & Tucker Sew-Op in our current home at DISCO. It was a wonderful afternoon and we discussed putting together a holiday sale to raise money for our cause. We had so much fun yesterday that we met again today to work on our products for the sale: quilts, aprons, pillows, bags and more. Stay tuned for details on the sale. And what a monumental step we've taken. We have a home, we have a home!

Sharon sewing the sashing onto her squares for her very first quilt.

Sharon's first quilt.

The original three: Ms. Annie, Ms. Carol and Ms. Jearldine (fourth from left) and the "newbie", Sharon (third from left)

It took us no time to get started. We were there for less than a minute before all the materials were out and we were working on our first project.

A teacher at heart: Ms. Carol explains loom knitting to Sharon