Current Needs – August 2023

Below are our current, most pressing needs but, as always, feel free to make whatever you like as we can certainly use it. If you create an item with a specific recipient group in mind, please clearly write that on the back of the tag and feel free to add a personal note of encouragement or simply a “made by” if you want to do so.

Lots of patterns are available on our website at: https://fromtheheartstitchers.org/patterns/. 

If you deliver any items yourself in the Richmond area, please let Deb Abresch know at 804.512.3162 or by email at debabresch@verizon.netloisfth@me.com. In the Fredericksburg/King George area please advise Sally Moore at 540.295.6224.

Fredericksburg

• Shirt protectors
• Neck pillows
• Walker totes
• Wheelchair totes

Richmond

• Baby blankets (all sizes)
• Hats for children and adults (NOTE: Most children can wear a small adult sized hat)
• Soft toys
• Blankets up to 72” long
• Soft hats for chemo
• Soft flannel sewn sleep caps
• Dressed bears
• Fidget items
• Red, white, and blue twin size blankets (48” x 72”)
• Comfort/Izzie dolls
• Project 11 cradles (see below)*

Project 11 (https://www.11withthomas.org/) is a 501 (c) 3 organization that provides comfort to families of stillborn babies. The little swaddles are just a crochet rectangle that are 6.5 to 7” by 11” and the pattern is on our website here. There is a sewn waterproof insert that fits inside the swaddle. They should be made with soft, solid pastel colors. “Project 11” should be denoted on the back of the tag. If you have not had luck meeting the required dimensions by crocheting back and forth, the corner-to-corner crochet method is also acceptable.

*********

Check out the From the Heart website HERE for many patterns for our most needed items this month, broken down by knitting, crochet, and sewing.

From the Heart tags are attached to all completed, ready to be sent out items. Click HERE for tags or you can find them on both the patterns or the members page if you wish to print them yourself.  They must be printed on white card stock, a hole punched in the upper left corner and attached to the items using a bow rather then a knot. Tags are also available at the workshop any time we are open.

---

Project Sizes, Supplies and Ongoing Projects

General Project Sizes

As always anything you want to make we can really use to help fill the bins in the shop and warm the hearts and bodies of those in need. Below is a list of items we can use at any time along with our General Project Sizes list. If the sizes below differ from what is given on “Current Needs” list, please go with what is given on the Current Needs.

Chemo Hats for Guys and Boys

Socks for the Homeless – prefer white, non – Wool socks. Tube socks work well (no heels to deal with!)

Chemo Shawls 30″ x 48″

Chemo Blankets 38″ X 48″

Blankets for Hospice/Palliative Care 27″ x 36″ (No fringe, no tie on’s if wheelchair blankets)

Lap/Wheelchair Blankets Approx. 42″ X 27″

Baby/Childrens Blankets:

• Car seat blankets:                    30″ x 17″ and need to be less bulky than a regular baby blanket
• Security blankets:                    15” square
• Receiving blankets:                 36” square
• Stroller blankets:                     30” x 40”
• Bassinet blankets:                   22” x 25”
• Children’s blankets (for clutching or draggin’) 24″ sq up to 36″ or 40″ & not necessarily square

Bone Marrow Transplant Unit blankets Large and COLORFUL! (Just enough to cover the top of twin bed)

Dialysis blankets: 60″ long.  30-32″ wide.

Home Again (Battered Women and Children’s Shelter) large enough to wrap a small child in cold, drafty house

Chemo Hats Small, medium and large sizes for both adults and children

SPCA rounds or squares 15-18 inches up to 3 feet to fit crates using leftovers of mixed yarn, wool, blends, cotton or acrylics

Squares 12 inches to be stitched together into blankets

Infant Hats, Must be stretchy. Full term newborn needs to fit over a 5″ Styrofoam ball.

Layette Sets Used as “take me home” outfits for newborns.

Bears and Toys: New bears from Dollar stores, dressed with knitted or crocheted outfits. Given to sick, scared or needy children in ER, clinic, oncology, hospice and other areas.

Items for use in Memory Care Units.  Go to our Pattern Page and then click on either Knitted or Crocheted Patterns and, then, “Comfort Items” under the Knitted or Crocheted Patterns list.

*****

If you make a specific item for a specific purpose, please write it on the back of the tag for easy sorting.

From the Heart tags can be found HERE