Wow. I feel like I haven't written in forever. I guess it has been a while. Added a new friend and contributor, Sharon, so that was awesome. Made some changes to the website, so that was a blessing. I think the website is ready to be promoted. I think all the links work. I'm literally asking for donations at this time. I'm kind of embarrassed to ask for anything. For one, God has always blessed me and I've always managed to provide for myself and others. This is the first time in my life that I've been in a position that I've not had the ability to do as I wish. But, disability has a way of changing the way one lives. Second, the things I'm asking for are SO expensive. I have thought about the things I've given to others over the years, and although I feel I have been generous, it has dawned on me that not everyone is in the position to make such a commitment to our mission. The economy -- the senate, the house of representatives -- everything is up in the air, and so I don't expect much. However, I do believe "ye have not because ye ask not", so I just dedicated part of the webpage for just coming out and asking. I do trust that we will find the right donor at the right machine at the time that God directs. So, I'm not really worried, I'm just more on the anxious side.
Meanwhile, it looks like it will be a while until I see my sister, so I will post her quilt. She is getting married in October. It is my goal to go -- but hubby and I will have to take the motorcycle, so it depends a lot on the weather. I also have a couple of smaller quilts to post. I have about 4 more walker bags to post. No more shopping bags but I did get a request for some "shoulder wraps". I think it's a great idea. The older ladies (and gentlemen -- can't forget my men), just need something to throw over their shoulders so they can stay outside a little longer as the as gets a little chillier during the passing of the year. I toyed around with some ideas, and finally came up with a great design. I added a little deer feed corn (so it doesn't pop), and that adds a little weight and also, they can heat it for a little while in the microwave if they choose. But mostly it gives the weight that is needed.
Now, for the bad news -- my machine has stopped doing decorative stitches -- so I was relegated to using just a straight stitch for over a week. Alas, at this point, even my straight stitch no longer works, so I'm dead in the water without a machine. Yikes! Technically, my machine is 35 years old and is long over due for a tune up (last tune up was in 1995). -- But I did buy the machine 2nd hand. It was $250.00 to have a guy "look it over". If I took it to an authorized service dealer (my first choice) it will be $350.00 just to have it tuned up, and it will be extra to have the machine repaired, if needed (and it does), plus additional for parts and labor. Wow. Having a quality machine is important, but I feel it's very important to take good care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you. So, I don't really feel qualified to try to fix anything myself -- or have just anyone "tinker" with it in hopes to get it to work. Even if I get another machine, I still need this machine as a backup. So, things will be a little tight for a while.
But please don't stop sending fabric and supplies! I have enough stash to keep me busy for a couple of weeks, but when a different machine arrives, or I get my machine fixed, I'll need plenty of stock to fill all the requests and construct a few things to have on hand for those last minute needs. The holidays are coming up, and although these aren't holiday gifts, it is a GREAT time to think of those that are in need.
Speaking of gaining fabric, thank you to my faithful friends who send me such good quality fabrics. My friends from Colorado send gifts that leave me speechless, and our good friend Angie has contributed some great fabrics that will just blow the socks off the recipients. I can't wait to get some of the goodies out to the retirement homes. Just come on, sewing machine!
God provides, and this is all for His glory. In fact, I took advantage of another 99cent sale, and registered GodsGoodGraces.com. Right now, there are only links for my individual pages -- of which the only page that is up is walkertote.com. However, I will eventually use walkertote.com for just the promotion of walkertotes, and QuiltGifter.com for promotions of the quilts (thus separating walkertotes and quilts, and everything else). ChrisandKayWood.com for personal experiences, etc. Interestingly enough, I was approached by a gentleman who told me that WalkerBags.com was for sale. Walkerbags.com would be a much better name for what we do -- however, the asking price is $11,000. HOLY cow. I did explain to him that we are a charity and we are not interested. He looked at walkertote.com and offered us a 20% discount for the domain name. But, the last thing on my mind is a domain name that may be a bit more "convenient". I think that we, together as a team, can promote walkertote.com throughout our individual communities and I am happy with our efforts.
I will encourage you to look over walkertote.com and give me honest feedback. Am I asking too much? Am I not showing enough progress? Is there a good balance? Is our mission well stated? Are there spelling or formatting errors that could be changed? I'm totally open for suggestions. I've never really done anything like this before, so the more input I have, the better off I am.
Love in Christ to all. Please remember you are so important to our success. I can't wait to jump right back in and give right out. If you know of *anyone* in need, let me know. I am behind right now, but as soon as we're functional again, I'll get right on it. I am pretty comfortable sewing six to 8 hours a day, so I go through supplies pretty fast.
Okay, sorry, one more thing. This wouldn't be such a long entry had I not waited so long to write. However, I am working towards this "quilt by the block" theory -- it may allow me to do more without having the expense of sending the quilts out (which is expensive) and if I get the method perfected, then we can take the Kingsized quilter off of our wishlist. What a relief that will be!
-- Kay
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