my happy little life

more information

i am so excited about the response to the project! it is going to take me a bit to organize all the emails and get back to everyone, so be patient if you are waiting to help and send things! i'll get there! this morning i've been researching the answers to the questions that have arisen so i don't make mistakes putting these together. here's a clearer breakdown of what i need. i know this is long, but if you are wanting to help please read it all before deciding what you'd like to help with:

FOR THE 31 QUILTS:

• the size of the quilt needs to be just about 45 x 60 inches.
• so that means 2 pieces of good quality flannel or cotton (no other fabric type) 45" wide (that's the width of a normal bolt) by 60" (which is 1 and 2/3 yards). so i need 62 cotton or flannel fabric pieces, 45 x 60 inches. it would be good to purchase 2 pieces together so that they will coordinate.
• i need 31 pieces of bonded poly batting of the same size.
• 3 or 4 ply yarn for tying (i have all of that i need already) or they can be machine quilted.
• all materials can be found at walmart. batting and fabric often goes on sale for great prices at stores like joanns. fabric needs to be new. i know that over president's weekend batting is 50% off there. if it doesn't make sense for you to ship batting, and you won't be putting the quilt together yourself, i will take paypal donations as requested by many of you in emails (more on that below) to purchase a large quantity of batting.
• if you would like to put a whole quilt together rather than donate materials, the sewing guidelines are here. they are specific, especially the tying requirements so look before making!
• i will not put limits on donations for the quilt materials or quilts because they are delivered seperate from the newborn kits and all and as many as we make are needed and will be shipped and used.

FOR THE 31 NEWBORN KITS:

• i called this morning and was disappointed to hear that no matter how gently used the items are, layette gowns, receiving blankets, everything, needs to be brand new (sewn or purchased and never before worn). this requirement is so that they don't have to take time to check each item. they said if you have gently used items they are better utilized by donating to their thrift stores to sell and then they use the money made to purchase new items for the kits. so that makes sense i guess!
• each kit needs to be sealed in a 2 gallon ziploc. so i need 31 - 2 gallon ziplocs storage bags.
• 31 newly purchased or sewn layette gowns. no footed sleepers. accepted sewing pattern found here.
• 31 newly purchased or sewn receiving blankets between 36 and 45 square inches. if they are cotton or flannel they need to be double sided. they can also be single thickness fleece with the edges serged (i can do this on my serger if you find some fleece for a good price). directions for making receiving blankets here.
• 31 pairs booties. they need to be newly purchased or sewn (get the idea yet? :)). they need to be 0-6 month size. they can be knitted or crocheted or sewn from fleece. pattern for sewing from fleece here.
• 124 flatfold diaper flannel diapers- not prefolded or disposable, and must be newly purchased or sewn. about 25 inches square. diaper flannel is different than regular flannel and can also be purchased at walmart of joanns type store. it comes on a bolt at a 27" width. so 2 yards will make 3 diapers. they need to be serged (which i can do).
• 124 diaper safety pins.
• 62 regular sized bars of ivory or other hypo-alergenic soap.

so i am making my checklists and as people email me with what they want to donate i will check off that amount. then i will email the people that said they will get whatever i assign with the remaining needs and check those off. then i will fill in the gaps myself. i will give you my address in the confirmation emails. expect all of this to take me a little while! many people emailed asking if they could just send money because of prohibitive shipping and that would be wonderful too. i promise 1000% of the money will go to the kits. my paypal address is grantmccaleb@gmail.com. put in the message "PROJECT 31" and we'll be good to go. any materials you want to send to me unfinished is fine, i will sew or serge as needed. i can't thank those of you that emailed, and will continue to email me, enough! this project has really turned my getting older into something positive for me. i look forward to my age number getting "bigger" because it means more people to help! thank you thank you thank you!

i'm not sure about deadlines yet. i think i'll just roll with it, as long as it is done before i'm 32 and have to start over, i guess it's all good! i'll just keep you posted.

email: kellymccaleb@hotmail.com

my 31st birthday celebration

lately i have been thinking and feeling and wanting to be more involved in service activities for humanitarian aid. this desire peaked last saturday when i participated in a humanitarian service conference for women in my area. it was amazing what we accomplished in one afternoon, and i was inspired to try and continue to work. luckily, i belong to a church that is committed to world wide service, and relieving suffering wherever possible. because of this, it is super easy and organized for anyone who wants to help to find a way to help. and i want to help. there are projects and programs going on in every developing country of the world: we are working on immunizing, teaching health care and gardening, providing wheelchairs to previously immobile individuals, vision help, disaster relief, and especially, clothing and feeding the world's poor. i am particularly moved to action when i hear stories and see the pictures of babies being born into such poverty as to be brought home from the hospital wrapped in a newspaper. when i think of that and look at the amount of fabric i have, it makes me ill. my goodness, let's get these babies some blankets!

i decided that every year for my birthday i will try and make a few mothers have a better birth-day for their newborns. i live near the lds humanitarian center where all goods and donations are organized, boxed, and dispatched out to the world. the church pairs with philanthropic organizations to meet specific needs. a constant need for orphanages and hospitals in developing countries is newborn kits: a layette gown, booties, cotton diapers and pins, a receiving blanket and ivory soap. quilts are also always needed. i can certainly spare some quilting time if it means a cold and lonely child somewhere will be wrapped up cozy! can you? i would like to deliver one newborn kit and one quilt for each year of my life, every year, and i need your help. so this year, my goal is 31 newborn kits and 31 quilts. next year 32, and so on (the hope being that each year i'll be more organized and have more help...) and i'd love to blow the goal numbers away.

because the service missionaries and humanitarian workers have seen the exact needs and don't like to waste materials or efforts, the accepted donation requirements are very specific. they are very clear that quality is more important than quantity, we want these goods to be new and be items that will last. receiving blankets must be serged and quilts tied with high loft batting. i am willing to do all the sewing work, as well as packaging all the kits. if you want to help, i am looking for donations of soap, flannel fabric, flatfold cotton diapers, batting, booties, well... everything!

if you'd like to get involved please please email me and tell me what you were thinking you'd like to donate, and i'll give you instructions how to get it to me and try to balance out the items. if you are local, i will be having a quilting and packaging day when i've gathered all the supplies i need- email me if you'd like to come assist with that as well. and finally, if you'd really really like to help, link this post on your blog and invite others who might not see this to help, too.

i just imagine myself being a new mother, bringing home my baby in a newspaper, having nothing to diaper or swaddle her in and i get tears in my eyes. then i imagine being able to wash and wrap my baby and cradle her close and keep her warm and it makes me really want to do something, even if it's a small, humble effort. please help me if you can. email: kellymccaleb@hotmail.com.

still working, but here's some happy links + blogs i love

• alela diane's music. found this morning via savilintu, a blog i adore. (i just wish i could read finnish and i'd love it even more).
• more great music: little joy. found via frolic, a yummy blog that inspires me with images like these:

• my friend lauren's new baby is perfect. i love her blog, too. it's called nesting habits (love that) and it's such a happy spot.
• one of my favorite etsy clothing designers has a sweet little blog called lucy and i. i adore this maternity shirt she just made for herself:

have a great weekend!

i turn 31 on sunday. i have big celebration plans for on the blog next week, to distract me from the fact that i am now "in my thirties". ugh.

quilty sneaky peaky

i am fast and furious sewing to have this quilt ready for the love for nie auction. it is taking me forever because i wanted it to be b i g. my thought was love and togetherness- and the plus sign came to mind. i wanted to quilt to be big enough for two and have the theme "me plus you". i didn't want the pluses to be run of the mill, but rather have some personality, so i spent some time figuring a way to make each block one of a kind without to much work and wasting of fabric, and i got it down! i also didn't want to just cut and stitch without planning because i want to offer kits of it, so i needed to make it replicable. phew, i'm finally almost done and so happy with it. here's a look into the beginning process:

first, the color story and graph paper to plan the quilt.

second, gather the fabrics. i'm obsessed with them!

third, make a million of these babies.

i am not allowed to do anything but quilt until it's done...be back soon, i hope!

do as i say, not as i do?

exhibit a) the remains of a typical snack made for cate

exhibit b) the remains of a typical snack made for me

*p.s.- don't get your panties all bunched up, that's, like, several snack times worth of diet coke, ok?

*p.p.s.- don't you love my fruit pedestal?

and *cheerfully* together we can tidy up the place

this is what cate's room looked like two days ago

this is a mama who is fed up and has her "i mean business" kerchief on

this is the mess maker who is experiencing a range of chore-induced emotions

this is the result of two days work (so long because mama made the five year old learn how to organize rather than doing it for her- much harder).

this is the happy girl who is allowed to have friends over to play again

p.s. this is how cate's furniture used to be arranged...which way is better?