Sharing More Photos

This week Dr. Jason Brandt and his son Will went to Haiti with Central Baptist Church and they helped deliver shorts. I have received more photos from that trip and wanted to share them.

Thank you for your support!

In this closing blog, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who provided support of one kind or another. Almost daily, I heard from some of you either via text, e-mail, notes, phone calls or in person giving me encouragement and providing kind words of support. I would not have made it without all of you. Also, there were those of you who provided fabric, thread, elastic, financing, and assistance in the way of cutting, and sewing and of course delivering the shorts to Haiti. I could not leave this project without the mention of your names. I hope I have listed all of you and if I have not, I apologize, and I hope you will let me know and I will gladly add your name to the list.

Fabric was donated by the following folks:

Joanne Nally

Allison Fletcher

Janice Porter

Zella Sisk

Kay Richardson

Mary Coble

Andrea Dunn

Debbie Boyd

Kristin Boyd

Stephanie Harris

Kristi Johnson

Pat Cook

Janie Krennerich

Mary Kay Jones

Maria Jones

Kacey Lieblong

Judy King

Donations Totaling $1025 were given by the following:

Mary Jo Turner

Sandi Pierce

Arleta Moore

Richard and Sandra Lusby

Paula Miles

Janice Kroeter

Sue Haggenmacher

Susan Cathcart,

Charlene Creech

Sherrell Rodgers.

Mike and Sandi Cornish

Maria Jones

Lisa Moore

Jo Wheeler

Sharon Langley

The following people helped by Cutting Shorts:

Linda Walters

Sandi Pierce

Brandon Stevens

Diane Langford

Beth Loveless

Connor McClurkan

Taylor Cornish

The following people helped by Sewing With me at my home:

Allison Fletcher

Murlene Degges

Janice Porter

Mike Cornish

Sandi Cornish

David Cornish

Janet Cornish

The following people helped by Sewing on their own:

Cindy Calhoun

Cissy Lieblong

Debbie Robinson

Shirley Bridger

The following people helped by packing shorts for delivery:

Terri Cobb

Riley Reed

Kristy Reed

Nancy Benton for donating three pieces of luggage to ship the shorts.

Jana Brandt for donating two lockers to ship the shorts.

The following People and organizations have delivered the shorts to Haiti:

Eddie and Lee Cooper

Nate and Joy Miller

Jason and Will Brandt

Terri Cobb

Central Baptist Church

The Churches of Christ International Relief Ministries

A special thanks to my sons, Matthew and Mark and my daughter-in-law Jennifer. Even though they were not here for most of this, they supported me with their words of encouragement, and, it was because of the three of them that this project came to fruition.

A very special thank you to my husband, Russ! He helped me in many ways from providing me with resources to make this project happen, to overlooking when the house went amok and taking me out to dinner when I was just too tired to cook. I love you dearly, Russ. Thank you so much for your love and support over this year.

A final word: It has been a pleasure to work on this project with all of you. It has been a joy from the beginning to watch as each of you embraced it as your own. Some of you I have met for the first time because of this project and I will always cherish that meeting and our common bond. I have truly been blessed by it and by each one of you. Look back at the photos of the children and you will realize, very quickly, that it was all worth it. This group provided a total of 5,743 pairs of shorts, skirts, and onesies to the children of Haiti. I am sure God will bless each and every one of you for taking care of his precious children. I sincerely thank you!!!

Shorts and School Supplies make it to Haiti.

Just wanted to share a couple of photos from Haiti. Jason Brandt and his son Will went to Haiti with the group from Central Baptist Church. They helped hand out shorts and school supplies. Here are a couple of precious photos of children with their skirts and shorts.

Riley Reed, Caitlin Cothern and Mikaela Lucy Provide School Supplies for Haiti

A group of three teenage girls, Riley Reed, Kaitlin Cothern, and Mikaela Lucy, through their school, decided to collect and send school supplies to the children in Haiti. Donations were taken from the students and faculty as well as the youth group that Riley and Caitlin attend. Riley and her mother Kristy sent the school supplies to Haiti, via the same group that took shorts for me, Central Baptist Church. Riley, Kaitlin and Mikaela managed to collect a very large suitcase full of school supplies. The suitcase weighed a whopping 48 pounds!!! I personally have been so impressed with these young ladies that they have given of their time and resources to provide for others that I just had to share it with all of you. Also, Riley and a friend, Rachel Ganong, share a birthday. This year instead of receiving gifts, they asked for donations toward their respective projects. Rachel's donations went to the local animal shelter and of course, Riley's money went to her Haiti project. What a wonderful group of giving young ladies!!! The photos attached are those of Riley, Kristy and me packing to send our items via Central Baptist to Haiti on January 28.

616 pairs of shorts to iron!!!!

During the last two weeks I sewed, I made 616 pairs of shorts. Usually when I sew, I will iron that very day and sort the shorts by size. However, I had so much to do the last two weeks in sewing alone that I did not do the ironing. The photo is a table covered with the 616 pairs of shorts that needed to be ironed. I ironed them last weekend and they have been taken to Central Baptist Church. Central will take the shorts to Haiti this weekend.

Project Complete!!!!

On Monday January 10, I realized that I had only 616 pairs of shorts left to make. I started sewing more each day. I had several days that I made 70 pairs and my high was 71. However, in order to finish on Friday, January 21 I needed to be able to make 95 pairs of shorts in one day. I decided I could and would do just that. I started my day at 7am and finished the last pair at 11:14pm. It was an awesome feeling to know that I had completed this year long task. It actually took me one year and 4 days. Even though I have finished the sewing, I still have to iron 616 pairs of shorts and get them packed to send to Haiti on January 28. They will be going to Haiti via Central Baptist Church. I am so thankful that they will be hand delivering the shorts to those precious children.

Cutting Shorts

Linda Walters is such a dear friend. When I think about our friendship I feel like I have always known her but in reality we have known each other a short 13 years. Linda is a hard working perfectionist. When she approached me in June to cut shorts, I thought she meant only for a short period of time, however, she very quickly told me that she did not want me to have to cut another pair. On Wed. January 19 at 10:13pm I received a text message from Linda saying simply,DONE!!! I laughed and still laugh today because of her very simplistic response. It was as if I had given her a 30 minute chore and she had very quickly and easily finished it. In reality, Linda cut shorts from early June 2010 till January 19, 2011. She cut more than 3000 pairs of shorts in that time and very diligently always made sure I had plenty of cut shorts, and never, not once, did I have to wait on her to cut shorts. Linda's crown in Heaven will surely be so heavy from all the jewels that she won't be able to wear it. Linda, thank you so much for all your work on "OUR" project. God will bless you for all your work.

Hit new high!

Today was a great day. I worked really hard trying to finish this week. I started at 7am and completed the day at 7pm. That 12 hours does include lunch and breaks occasionally. In that time I made 72 pairs of shorts. I feel really encouraged about the week even though I know it will be busy. Linda Walters is still cutting. However, she lacks only about 135 pairs. She has been so precious to help. We are going next week for pedicures and manicures. She has always been a good friend, but as of late I have considered her a major blessing. Thanks Linda for all your hard work.

Error determines new ending date!!!

I managed to make nearly 300 pairs of shorts last week which is more than twice what I normally do in a week. I had hoped that I could be finished in exactly one week. However, I had set my numbers based on finishing on the 18. However, the 18th is one day beyond a year, so I would have had to make 100 pairs a day to finish on time. On thursday, I decided to try to make 100 pairs and started to work at 7am. By 3pm I had 101 pairs of shorts ready to be hemmed and elastic put in the waist, however from that point I still spend about 3 minutes per pair. So, I was looking at another 5 hours to finish the shorts. Well, I saved them till Thursday and decided that there was no way I could finish by midnight on the 17th, so I decided to slow down a little and get done by the end of this week. I have about 340 pairs of shorts left to make and plan to finish these by Saturday and I am sure I will be able to do this, even though it is way more than double what I normally make. So, I will be finished by Saturday, January 22. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New record, barely!!!

Today, I planned to finish a particular color of fabric. I like to work on one color at a time because I have to change out the thread on all my machines with each fabric change and it saves time if I can sew up all of one color before going on to the next. Just so happen the fabric made 71 pairs of shorts. So today I broke yesterdays new high. I couldn't help but laugh when I counted and there were 71 pairs. I made the shorts in about 10 hours. I started sewing at 7:30am and finished at 9pm I had breaks and prepared dinner however, I kept up with my actual sewing time and it was 592 minutes or 9.87hours. That means about 7 pairs of shorts per hour, not bad. Sure am tired, but it feels great to be doing something for someone else.

Help from Sigma Chi!

Over the Christmas break I got a call from Connor McClurkan. His mother and I are friends and I have tutored him in the past. He is in Sigma Chi and was wanting to get in some volunteer hours, so, he came by and cut shorts for 4 hours!!! I just knew he would have blisters from all the cutting, but he didn't. I appreciate Connor for all his hard work and I am thankful for the Sigma Chi fraternity that they encourage their pledges to be involved in their communities by doing charitable work. Thanks Connor!!!!

Broke a record!!!

Today I noticed that I had 9 sewing days till midnight on the 18th and I lack 616 pairs of shorts. Sounds crazy but I realized that I just might pull this thing off in time, if I can make 68 pairs of shorts every day for the next nine days!!!! Well, considering that I average 25 pairs a day that seems nearly impossible, however, I am determined to make my goal. So far, my best day has been 54 pairs in one day. Today, I was determined to make at least 68 pairs and 12 and 1/2 hours later I completed 70 pairs of shorts. It was a long day, but totally worth it!!! I did have breaks and even managed to pack up some of my Christmas Decorations. Now, I am seeing this as a possibility. Now I just lack 546 pairs of shorts. My goal was to finish by the 18th of January, so If I complete this by midnight on the 18, I will consider it a complete success. We'll see how much gumption I've got.

Family Help at Christmas.

Christmas is always the time for visiting and sharing with your family. This year my family came to visit and stayed at my house and much to my surprise and pleasure, they helped me sew. Visiting was my brother David and his wife Janet, my brother Michael and his wife Sandi, and my two nephews Morgan and Taylor, they are my brother Ricky's boys and their mother is Kelly. I didn't even know my brothers could sew, but they do and they did a great job. Their wives helped too as well as a nephew. They took photos and have not mailed them to me yet, but when they do, I will attach them to this blog. Janet and Michael used the sewing machines and David and Michael used the surger My nephew Taylor cut elastic for the waistbands and Sandi did lots and lots of ironing. We all ironed and trimmed and in 4 days, we made 149 pairs of shorts. It was really nice to get a lot done in a short period of time. I really enjoyed visiting with my family and really appreciated the help. Thanks to you for all your help.