Nuts about Needlepoint » community service

Is there an Island of Unwanted Projects?

Janet Perry — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:36:38 +0000

Remember how in Rudolph there was an Island of Unwanted Toys?

The toys there were unloved or missing something.

We have unwanted projects too. Maybe it was a class and we learned what we wanted to and never finished the project. Maybe your taste or decor changed. Maybe it’s too late to give that gift.

Whatever the reason we all have projects that have been started but won’t ever be finished.

Marlene asked about what to do with them. Here are some ides:

Do you have stitching friends? Arrange a “needlepoint swap.” Everyone bring 5 items to trade. The hostess should arrange for food and maybe goodie bags to entice people to come. This is like a pot luck, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Are you in a guild chapter? Donate these projects to your guild for a chapter auction. My chapter has funded our education auction with these for decades. Chapters take different tacks with this. Our chapter goes with bargain basement pricing, but other guilds go with higher prices. If you aren’t in a chapter, look for one nearby and ask.

Work with a local shop to have a garage sale. People buy tables, with the money going to charity, and on a given day the sale is held. The shop does some of the marketing so there are plenty of sellers and plenty of buyers.

Sell it in eBay. There are some shops, such as Fireside Stitchery and The World in Stitches, who will sell your items on eBay for a commission. They will take most things (email or call to ask) and have better luck than you would yourself.

Sell it through and independent reseller such as Canvases Begone or Stashing Destashing. From what I see as a buyer, they are more strict about what they take, but I’ve found great bargains in both places. Many stitchers visit their sites.

Donate it to a thrift store. I sometimes see needlepoint at local thrift shops and Northern California has one thrift shop that only has craft items.
Donate it to charity. You might know of a local charity looking for craft items. There are also some organizations that take donations from everywhere. The ANG Yahoo group has a list of these.

If it isn’t a UFO, you have more options for donation. Rittenhouse Needlepoint has a wonderful charitable program for teaching needlepoint. Local youth organizations and schools might welcome yarn and thread. Knitters who knit for charity might love uncut skeins of yarn.

There are enough places to place those unwanted projects that maybe we don’t need an island after all.

Looking for a Chance to Pay It Forward? Try This.

Janet Perry — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:33:52 +0000

Recently there has been lots of discussion on various needlepoint lists about ways to help those in need. It’s mostly focused around helping those struck by disasters.

But, as the saying goes, need never takes a holiday.

That’s why I’m so excited about Rittenhouse Needlepoint’s wonderful charity program. They are doing something about the needs in their community and could use you help.

The shop teaches a free weekly beginners class in needlepoint and provides materials to those in need from the materials donated by people like you and me. I wrote to them and they are hoping to have a website devoted to this up in the next couple of months.
Rittenhouse, a full-service needlepoint shop located in downtown Philadelphia and on the Internet, is working with several area charities, including Project Home, JEVS (Jewish Educational Vocational Services), and Pennsylvania Prison Society (PPS), specifically half way houses of women coming out of prisons

You can read all about it on their Charity page.

If you send items to include all your information so they can provide a receipt that might be used with their tax preparers, although this is not guaranteed.

Their address is:
Rittenhouse Needlepoint
Attn Charity
1737 Chestnut St #201
Philadelphia, PA 19103
They can also contact us for shipping help if it is a large quantity.

Next week I’m going through my stash and sending off a big box to them. Won’t you help too?

Help Japan, Buy Needlepoint

Janet Perry — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:33:07 +0000

Click on picture for details & to purchase

Ever since the earthquake and Tsunami happened in Japan, I’ve been praying for the victims. Japanese art, culture, and food is a big part of our family’s life, thanks largely to my DH’s love of Japanese film and food.

I’ve been hoping that the needlepoint community would come up with something special to help the folks in Japan and now my friend Doreen at Art Needlepoint has.

If you buy any of their Chinese and Japanese canvases, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to disaster relief in Japan.

Click on picture to go to find out more & buy

There’s lots from which to choose. Not only are there needlepoint canvases of traditional Oriental Art, such as the songbird pictured above. You can also find charming

Click on picture to go to find out more & buy

details of kimonos (this is one of my favorites),

Click on picture for details & to purchase

lovely pieces by famous artists like Hiroshige (above),

Click on picture for details & to purchase

works by European artist that are Oriental in theme or composition, as well as (my favorite) canvases of the work of contemporary Japanese artist Aki Sogabe (at the top of the post.

If you love oriental art or have had your eye on one of these canvases, now is a perfect time to buy.

Stitch to Cure Diabetes

Janet Perry — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:28:33 +0000

Originally posted 2007-06-16 11:02:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Sandy Grossman-Morris has launched a wonderful opportunity to do good while stitching.

It’s her Stitch to Cure Diabetes program.

The program benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and they benefit at every step in the challenge. You purchase the canvas “Rufus and the Sunbrella,” (pictured above) from your local shop Sandy donates all her profits to JDRF.

Stitchers sign up and get sponsors to pledge. The shops donate threads and finishing. The pledges go to your local JDRF chapter and the shop finishes the canvas and donates it to the chapter to be used for findraising.

You can get the details on Sandy’s site and there is a list there is the participating shops.

This is a fantastic project and a wonderful way to help this worthy cause.

A Cooperative Needlepoint Project?

Janet Perry — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:18:51 +0000

Something I read recently got me thinking. The idea was that the best way to learn a craft was to teach the basics and then immediately give folks a chance to try it out.

In other words, have them put some stitches into a cooperative project.

It needs to be something large and divided into smaller sections as well so that many people working on small areas won’t matter as much.

A piece which has a focal point and a background divided into squares or a large patchwork design is perfect.

In my case, I want people to try out Bargello, so I’m designing a Bargello patchwork tote. It’s going to fit into this Stirling tote and each patch will be a different Bargello pattern.

I’m planning on stitching either the outline or the first line of each patch.

Then each person can take a few stitches to work on a patch.

There are other ways to use this idea.

Do you own a shop? Use a complex piece like this and ask your customers to buy a square and stitch it for charity. The money you raise from buying squares becomes a donation and the finished piece can go into the charity’s auction. You can even display information about the charity next to the piece. Have a sheet where the names of all stitchers are listed and include that with the finished piece.

This could also work for a guild chapter’s community outreach project.

Are you demonstrating needlepoint for kids at a school or club? Get them all into the act by asking them to add some stitches to a simple project on large mesh canvas.

Anywhere where there is a group of people learning needlepoint, you can do this.