4 DAYS LEFT

UPDATE

As of now I have enough money to purchase 7 sewing machines.  Some of the kids will just have to share until we have the rest of the money.  I made a little over $100 at our rummage sale and I'll be manning a craft station at the Bayshore Chalk Fest in a couple weeks which will bring in another $150.  That will be $250 towards purchasing a storage cabinet for the sewing machines and sewing kits. So in spite of not making all the money I need, I still feel like I'm in a good spot to get things rolling.

 AWESOME THINGS

• My husbands uncle, who is a retired upholsterer, donated a bunch of large rolls of upholstery fabric. Thank you so much Uncle Mike Annen! About half of what I got out of his old workshop will go to the after school program and the other half (not suitable for beginner sewing projects) will go to Milwaukee Youth Theatre for sets and costuming.  
•  An employee from WDS (Wisconsin Drapery Supply) contacted me and they donated tons (TONS!) of trims, tassels, beading, as well as yards and yards of drapery fabric. Thank you Peppy Wisialowski for thinking of me and my program!
• My Aunt, Bonnie Ruecker, sent me a serger. Yes, a real honest to goodness serger. I haven't used it yet because there just hasn't been time but I'm planning on sitting down this August and figuring it all out. Thank you Aunt Bonnie!  
• A complete stranger named Mary Prince contacted me and said "I have a dress form you can have, and maybe some fabric and other misc. stuff as well". I went to her house last week and came home with a car full of goodies. Mary Prince, you are a jewel! Thank you!

THANK YOU TO SOME MORE WONDERFUL DONORS

• Mary Stott. Mary is on the Board of Directors at ABK Weaving Center and was so wonderful as to take over the newsletter for me this year.  
• Jan Falk. Jan is an amazing felt artist. She is currently exhibiting some work at the Wisconsin Quilt Museum in Cedarburg. Hopefully, she will also have a piece in this years Warped Milwaukee. 
• Dawn Hordyk. Dawn has a heart for children. She exudes enthusiasm and encouragement. In a world full of Debbie Downers we need more Dawns. 
• Dave and Lori McDonald. Dave and Lori are the owners of Brilliance Solutions in Milwaukee and are active members of TCC. REPRESENT!
• My Aunt and Uncle, Monty and Carolyn Hall. They are probably biking through some dangerous urban area or bear-infested forest right now. Thank you for your encouragement.  

donated fabric

more donated fabric

 

donated dress form keeping my dress form company for now.

donated trims.

even more donated fabric, patterns and other misc.

That's it for now.  Come visit me at the Chalk Fest on the 17th. I'll be there from 10 to 5.  Not sure what I'm doing yet but it will be something with pleather. If you haven't donated yet, you have 4 days to donate through indiegogo.  After that, you can still donate through the school.  I'll put more information up about that later.  I'll talk to you in a couple weeks!

Update #5: Course Curriculum, Print Your Own Flyer, and 2 New Perks!

Syllabus

I finished my syllabus/curriculum.  It's ambitious.  Probably too ambitious but I think that's ok.  From my experience with these kids, I've come to think that too little is expected of them.  I want them to strive to live up to my expectations rather than me living down to theirs.  They are capable of more.  I believe that.  That being said, I'm going to be very flexible with my teaching.  If I find that they just aren't "getting" something, than we'll spend an extra week or two on it and if they are racing ahead, well, I have a lot of smaller projects up my sleeve.  If you would like to see the syllabus I came up with, click here.

What's Next?

I'm going to get out to the different sewing machine repair places this week and see if they can do anything for me machine wise.  Unless the money comes in, I'll be looking at getting used machines.  Not ideal but better than nothing.

On an awesome note, my husband's Uncle used to run a upholstery shop.  He's retired now and he said I can go in and take what I want from the fabric that is left over.  I don't know what's left that is usable but I'm anxious to find out.  That will be this upcoming weekend.

We are having a neighborhood rummage sale on July 13th and I've decided to put whatever I make from that towards this program.  I keep looking around the house thinking "do I really need that?"  HA!  It's remarkable how much stuff we really don't need at all.

Wednesday I will be having some small posters printed up to put up around town, basically anywhere there are people who might be remotely interested in helping this program out. The poster will be the size of a sheet of paper with tabs you can tear off that will have the web address of the indiegogo campaign. If you know of a place where I definitely need to put one, please send me a message.

More Bribery

So while cleaning out the basement I found some more bribes, not like the first one worked but hey, maybe that's because $100 is just more than what people want to give?  How about a $25 bribe?

For a $25 donation you can receive one of the following:

Leaving Mississippi purse

My Sister and I purse

When you donate, leave a note which one you want and your address.  I'll get it in the mail early next week. 

 

How You Can Help

If you haven't donated, donate.  Please.  I know that money is tight but even $10 would help out a lot. The other thing is that I only have about 30 days left in my campaign and I really, REALLY, need your help to get the word out. Share my blog links on your facebook page and in all your groups. Email it to your great Aunt Mimi the quilter, who complains loudly over the behavior of young people these days.  Or any other person who loves fiber or art or kids, or all three. 

Lastly, remember that poster I'm having printed up this week?  Here is a link so that YOU can print it out at home and take it to your yarn/fabric shop, local coffee house, book club meeting, church, wherever.  I'd very much appreciate it.

Update and Bribe

Donation Update

I do have one donor to recognize from almost 2 weeks ago. My mother-in-law, Lois Baker.  I have to say that no one could ask for a better mom-in-law.  She is an amazing mom, grandma and friend.  I value her advice and encouragement more than she can possibly know.  In short, I say that my MIL could beat up your MIL!

This month I was contacted by a local Arts Organization about sponsoring my after school class.  Very exciting but nothing is concrete yet. Which means, I still need your help.

Donations have, sadly, come to a standstill but I'm hoping that I can maybe spark some more interest from some of you.  I have a bin of unsold items from my etsy store.  One of my absolute favorite items that never sold is this baby quilt.

Special Bonus Perk

Is there a new baby in your life?  The next person to donate $100 will also get this lovely handmade baby quilt.  Make sure to leave a note with the address of where you would like me to send the quilt.  Or if there are two of you who are interested in the quilt for a friend and you each want to give $50, that would work as well. Click here to make a donation of any amount.

33.5" x 40"

100% cotton

Hand and machine stitched. Machine washable.

Studio Update

School has been out for almost 2 weeks now but I have not been idle.  I should have my curriculum for the school year complete by the end of this week and I am busy turning my basement into a work space.  Our basement is not pretty.  It can't be pretty.  Nothing in the world could make it pretty.  BUT I know from experience that when I start working on long involved projects, our house becomes a disaster area.  So I am moving my whole operation into the basement. Within the next couple weeks I need to start making samples of all the projects I will be completing with the students. In a 900 sq. ft. house, that could get ugly.  Besides which, the basement will be nice and cool when we get to those  90 degree days of August.

Last Days

On the last 2 days of school I worked with the kids on making two different types of bracelets.  The first was a real fast and easy woven bracelet using the frame loom and optional wooden beads. The second was a kumihimo bracelet using wooden discs that I had made.  The projects were completely optional but I had a lot of students wanting to create one or the other, which was very cool.  

Students showing off their woven bracelets. 

This student went on to weave a bookmark.  You can see she's wearing her completed bracelet.  I had one student go out and buy a loom! Awesome! 

Two more Thank You's today.  One to Carolyn Brady,  an amazing mixed media artist right here in Wisconsin.  Check out some of her work  here and here.

And the second one goes to Mary Sugiyama. Mary is the on-site fine arts instructor and Assistant Education Director (I hope I got that right) at Walkers Point Center for the Arts.  The WPCA hosts wonderful after school arts programs for kids and week long classes during the summer.  They do more than that but you can read all about it on their site.

Thank you ladies!  I appreciate your support.

With 50 days to go I am still a looooong ways from reaching my goal.  Please consider giving a small donation to get this project up and running and spread the word to anyone, ANYONE. who might be interested in supporting it.  Now that school is over, I will be working on my curriculum and starting to contact businesses.  If you have any suggestions for me send me an email harmoniebaker@sbcglobal.net. 

More Pictures and More Shout Outs!

Yesterday was our last day to work on our group project.  Everyone got done, which means that everyone will be represented in the finished work.  WOOHOO!  I go back next week to teach the kids how to weave some simple bracelets.  It's the end of the year and they need some fun. 

I had some more donations come in yesterday.  So exciting!  I love seeing the number grow.  Firstly I have Punch Manufacturing to thank for a generous donation.  If your company is in need of a Website, logo, print work, design, etc..... this is the company for you.  Thank you Punch!

Marcia Duckens from ABK Weaving Center donated!  Marcia is the Director of the center, which means she's in charge of all the day to day operations.  She's also really cool.  ABK Weaving Center is a non-profit arts organization that works with MPS to teach weaving and other fiber crafts to adults and children in the Milwaukee area. 

Anonymous! I had two anonymous donors yesterday but I know who you are and I like you!  I really like you!  I shall call you Anonymous1 and Anonymous2. 

Other people have written me with offers of material donations so here is a list of things I will be accepting:

Possible Donations

sewing scissors in good condition

seam rippers

unused white or black thread

large cutting mats

tape measures

embroidery needles

embroidery threads

fabric not older than two years and at least a 1/2 yard solid piece (no silk or velvet)

iron

fusible stabilizer

interfacing

cotton batting

$5 or $10 gift cards to Joann Fabrics/Hancock Fabrics/Hobby Lobby/Walmart/Micheals 

magnetic pin cushions

fine/sharp pins 

rotary cutters

24' or 36' quilting rulers

sewing books

snap pliers

metal grommet kit

fabric marking pens/pencils

full skeins of yarn 

your time and expertise: if you live in the Milwaukee area and would be willing to share your particular knowledge with the kids, please let me know. 

*I will not be accepting sewing machines at this time as I want all the kids learning on the same model machine. If I don't make the money I need, than I might have to revisit this.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, to everyone who has written letters of encouragement and help and to those who have so generously donated.  Please, keep passing the word. 

 

Kid's Work and a Shout Out!!

 This masterpiece was created by a 10 year old boy for his mother.  "She loves fruit." is what he told me.  He spent a great deal of time picking out just the right fabrics for each piece.  I'm sure she's going to love it.

Here are a  couple of students working on embroidering the squares that they have woven themselves.  I had them draw out what they wanted to embroider before putting the first stitch in. My job this weekend will be taking these individually created squares and piecing them together to make a larger work.  

The After School Stitch program has received it's first donation! 

Sunny McDaniel!!

Let me say a couple words about Sunny.  Firstly, I've never met her.  She is a H.S. friend of my husbands and a facebook friend of mine.  From the comments she makes and the things she posts I know that I like her.  Secondly, my husband told me he had a crush on her in H.S. but was too shy to ask her out.  Since he has outstanding taste in women, I was already suspicious that she was pretty wonderful.  This just confirmed it.  Thank you Sunny!