The folks at the Rainbow Plantation Escapee park have a tradition each year they refer to as the Baby Blanket Blitz. Several ladies shop the day after Thanksgiving for hundreds of yards of cloth (at Black Friday discount prices, of course). Then they coordinate more than 100 volunteers in a blur of activity to turn the material into finished blankets for newborn babies. The blankets and hundreds of knit caps are used to complete birthing kits that are delivered to new mothers in Africa.
The assembly line began with tables set up for cutting the raw cloth. Templates on tables (I believe there were five), rotary cutters, straight edges and teams of two to four volunteers made short work of cutting an estimated 50 bolts of cloth into precisely measured rectangles.
Runners took the cut cloth to ironing boards and then to the sewing tables. We counted as many as 24 machines in operation at one time. After the edges were stitched each blanket was carefully inspected, folded and stacked on the finished table.
Joani and I collected the scraps from the cutting tables to keep them clear. Joani's organizing skills were evidenced by the well-organized piles, sorted by color, neatly stored in bins. Linda, one of the main drivers of the blitz, who will use the scraps later for quilting, was extremely impressed and appreciative of her efforts.
Around noon we all took a break for lunch. Larry had Ham and Bean soup and Tortilla soup ready for the workers. He also had grilled cheese and PB&J sandwiches and tea and coffee for all. The timing was good for us since all of the cutting was finished, but some of the folks had to be pulled away from their work for the break!
Many of the residents had been knitting baby caps for the birthing kits yielding this colorful collection of welcome warmth for newborns.
There were two ladies using what I guessed to be vintage Singer sewing machines, although they could have been new machines with a retro look. They kept me too busy to ask either of them about the machines.
After all of the scraps were sorted, Joani got the chance to sew a couple of blankets to round out the day's total of 424 blankets (a new record for their event). By 2:00 the group of hard-working volunteers had restored order to the clubhouse and headed home for a well-earned nap.
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