Up Coming Quilting Schedule (with some of my thoughts first)!

Thank you to all of the people who've been contacting me through Katherine Bell's Book Quilting For Peace! Go Katherine! Your book ROCKS! Personally, I want to try to do every project in the book!

Yesterday I was honored to be on a guest speaker's panel for youth interested in Social Justice. I got to share the panel with two other amazing activists (and friends): Mark Allston-Follansbee who is the E.D. of the Somerville Homeless Coaltion, and Laura Openshaw who is a Harvard Law student who advocates for victims of domestic violence and also speaks about the importance of Fair Trade. I got to speak about Love146 and about the Beloved Quilts Project and how we're making quilts for people displaced by violence or poverty and for children being rescued from the sex trade. Afterwards, I got to be in a discussion group with some of the students, and I was so touched by their vulnerability, hope, and willingness to be the change. Go SOCIAL JUSTICE YOUTH!!

One of the kids asked me what I thought the root of all of the problems were. It took me a moment, and some processing, but what I narrowed it down to was this:
1. poverty. 2. Seeing people as "the other" and not seeing all other human beings as ourselves (which might be part of the reasons for #1, and 3. A lack of forgiveness in the world.

Now to the schedule:

Saturday, February 6th, 2010 10:30am-5:30pm

Saturday, March 13th 12:00-4:30 Sew-In with 10:00-12:00 for a Girls Group from Belmont to Make Center Squares

Saturday, April 10th, 12-4:30 Sew-In with 10:00-12:00 for a Women's Artists Group from Belmont to make Center Squares

We're hoping to gather more fleece and other materials for backing the quilts. If you have some, please bring it along with you to back a quilt!

Looking forward to seeing you at the sew-ins!
blessings,
Pascha
questions: paschamg@yahoo.com

Back in the S(e)wing of Things

I'm so happy to announce that the Boston Area Beloved Quilts Group will be meeting again on Saturday, December 12th from 10am-4pm in the Chapel of the Greater Boston Vineyard. Bring your sewing machines & scissors and join us to make quilts for local displaced individuals as well as for children being rescued from human trafficking. Can't wait to see you there!
For Directions: http://www.bostonvineyard.org/contactdirections/#
Also, many thanks to Katherine Bell for including us in her book, Quilting For Peace. I'm getting it for all my quilting family for the holidays. You might want to as well!

BELOVED QUILTS in HAWAII!

I'm so thrilled to announce that we now have a Beloved Quilts: Honolulu sew-in team! Wow! Robyn Morse has started the team out there and they are having there very first sew-in today! I'm so excited! Go Robyn and team!

Our next sew-in is March 14th from 12-6 in the Chapel of the Cambridge Site of the Greater Boston Vineyard. Hope to see you there!
Blessings,
Pascha

Valentines Day Sew-In!!!

Come Sew-In the LOVE!
Valentines Day sew-in! 12-6pm
Chapel of the Greater Boston Vineyard
Directions:
http://www.bostonvineyard.org/contactdirections/cambridge/
No sewing experience required! Free sewing lessons for coming!
Bring your Sewing Machine!
If you'd like, bring a blanket to turn into a beloved quilt!
We accept donations of fabric, thread, sewing machines, money, blankets, and notions!
Spread the love!
Bring your friends who could use to feel some REAL LOVE on Valentines Day!
questions: please email: paschamg@gmail.com

Quilts for Children Rescued from Human Trafficking

Our next beneficiary of quilts will be children living in safe-homes after being rescued from a life of slavery as prostitutes. So, these children aren't exactly homeless- but since they've been trafficked away from their families and lived pretty tough lives in brothels against their will, well, I'm including them as an important group of people who are just the kind of people I want to love with our quilts.

I've been learning more and more about human trafficking and the problem of childhood slavery in our world. It's a pretty big problem that many people feel that they can do nothing about. Well, I think we can do something about it. So, I'm starting small. Our first goal will be to make quilts for all the kids in a given safe home. I am humbled by the thought of making something for the bed of a child who has had the purpose and meaning of bed stripped from them. So, hopefully these meager quilts will communicate to these children that they are safe and they are loved and worth our creative labor and our time.

For more info on human trafficking:
www.love146.org
www.ijm.org
www.worldvision.org
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/


So, if you'd like to join us in redeeming the meaning of bed for these children, please join us at our next sew-in on Valentines Day! Saturday, Feb. 14th, 12-6 in the Chapel of the Greater Boston Vineyard!
Questions: Please email: paschamg@gmail.com

Beloved Quilts in the News on Service Day!

Laura Steinman, one of our faithful Beloved Quilts sew-in participants held a sew-in at her home on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Her sew-in event was covered by Channel 4 News, and was aired on the evening news between footage of Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama. That felt pretty amazing! You can watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mukqvAbVjU


And a numbers update: We have 1 more to give away to hit our "100 quilts given" goal! Wow! We gave 6 away to the Somerville Homeless Coalition last week, and we have 8 quilts started and being worked on by a 4H troop- which brings us to 99!!! So, I believe that we will SOON reach our goal of giving 100 away.

15 more quilts to hit 100!

We're at 85 quilts given away so far!
Let's keep up the fun quilting & giving.
:)

how may quilts?

Unless we're forgetting a donation (which I think I might have missed logging one on the blog because I was having trouble with the Blogger program)
We have given away: 85 quilts so far. So, once we give away 15 more, we'll have hit our goal of making and giving away 100 quilts to local people displaced by violence or poverty.

Still making quilts...still giving them away

Today I had the pleasure of my two young sons helping me hand-deliver 13 more quilts to the Somerville Homeless Coalition. We got to see Mark Alston-Follansbee, their Executive Director who came to our Beloved Quilts Gala in December. He's such a wonderful man doing such great justice work for people. His work is definitely worth supporting. So, you can always go over to http://somervillehomelesscoalition.org/ to learn more ways how you can get involved.

Once we were back in our carseats, my older son asks, "Mom, how do homeless people wash their hands before they eat if they don't have a home or a bathroom or a shelter with a sink?"

Wow. I was tempted to take him out of his carseat, go back into the Somerville Homeless Coalition and give my son the opportunity to ask Mark his question. Except Mark is on a time deadline doing the continual work of grant writing to keep their services running, and I didn't want to put a wrench into his grant writing during his last few hours.

So, I said, "Well, that's why it's a good thing to give a bottle of water to someone asking for handouts because they can use the water to drink or to wash their hands. Or maybe we can start giving out bottles of hand sanitizer."

OK, so that's probably not the world's best answer, but it's what I gave on the fly.

Our next sew-in is scheduled for September 6th from 12-6pm at the Ministry Center of the Cambridge Vineyard. For directions:
http://www.bostonvineyard.org/contactdirections/cambridge/

Gotta Love State Senator Pat Jehlen and her Director of Constituent Affairs, Lauren Sacco!

So I called Senator Jehlen's office today to voice my concern over the budget leaving off the Massachusetts Family Networks and I was received on the phone by Lauren Sacco, Jehlen's Director of Constituent Affairs. Lauren immediately remembered me from when she helped me out in the winter. She helped the Beloved Quilts Project by arranging all of our quilts to be run through the metal detector to catch any pins accidentally left in our quilts before giving them away. This was actually extremely helpful, because it takes a LONG TIME to find a pin in a quilt, and we had A LOT of quilts to run through before giving them away- so it was a HUGE GIFT to us. Anyway, I just mentioned my name on the phone, and Lauren totally remembered me and told me how she and Senator Jehlen keep up with what we're doing. HOW AWESOME IS THAT? I love having a state senator who truly cares about the homeless and truly supports and encourages those who are trying to make a difference with economic disparity! She even gave fabric from her own collection to be used in our quilts.

Anyway, I don't know how many Americans get the genuine pleasure of learning that their state senator truly cares about what they're doing- but I got that gift today. So, three cheers for Pat Jehlen and Lauren Sacco for encouraging this quilting constituent!!

In other news, I had the amazing pleasure of giving one of our quilts to a man in the rain. It was such a profound experience for me. This man was standing on the yellow dividing line on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, asking for money. I was driving and thinking, "darn, I don't think I have anything to give him, and then, WAIT, I HAVE QUILTS IN MY TRUNK!!!" So, I pulled over into a gas station, and opened up our banged up back end of our minivan and gave him a quilt. IT WAS AWESOME! He told me that he just got himself into a house and that he was so excited to have this quilt because his other one is totally tattered and falling apart. He told me he was a Vietnam Vet and looking for a good bible study. I called my church, the Greater Boston Vineyard and asked about small groups and told him about our services downtown, closer to where he lives. He was so grateful and excited about the quilt. This particular quilt was great for a man because it had some green bowling flannel and green and white striped man's shirt material. He loved it! I also felt something deep and profound, like the Spirit of God working through me or something when I looked him straight in the eye and said, "This quilt is for you because you are beloved." It was so deep and humbling and made me cry.

So, if you're quilting with us, and you take one of our quilts to give away, please share your story of giving and we'll put it up here!

Our next sew-in is Saturday, June 7th from 12-6 in the chapel of the Cambridge site of the Greater Boston Vineyard Church at 170 Rindge Ave. in Cambridge.

Hope to see you there! Bring your machines & thread and we'll supply the rest!!!
lots of love,
Pascha

Up-Coming Sew-Ins

Here's the Sew In Schedule! Please come join us make the rest of these quilts! Once we finish these first 100 for local homeless, our next 100 will be for girls and women in aftercare situations after being liberated from slavery/human sex-trafficking. So, come help us make these quilts, and help us connect to individuals and organizations who can really help us make a difference with these blankets of love.

All Sew-Ins are on Saturdays from 12noon-6:00pm in the Chapel of the Greater Boston Vineyard Church, 170 Rindge Ave., Cambridge, MA

2008 Saturdays, 12-6:
April 19th
May 3rd
June 7th
July 12th
August 2nd
September 6th
Future Dates to be posted

2008 Potential Gala Date: Saturday, December 6th

Looking forward to seeing you at the sew-ins!
Blessings to all of you!
Pascha