Sewing With Nancy

A little bit of sewing can go a long way. Today on Nancy's Corner, you're going to learn about the Million Pillowcase Challenge where these pillowcases are made and donated to causes. We're on the road at Puyallup, Washington at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo to see all about the challenge.

Jennifer Keltner

I'm happy to tell you about the One Million Pillowcase Challenge. We started it about four years ago at American Patchwork and Quilting. Our goal was to really make a difference to charities in local communities. We wanted people to do something they could make at home or make at their local quilt shop and make a difference in their community. So, we suggested to people some different places they could donate. Some of them donate pillowcases to homeless shelters and foster kids, and nursing homes National Guard units, children's hospitals all kinds of different things. So here at the Expo, we're making pillowcases for the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. We've got really fun children's fabrics. And those pillowcases that we're making during this four-day event are going to stay here and be given to kids who are in the hospital. So, it's all done with volunteer sewers here at the show. We tell people we have 100% success rate. You can't fail at this project. It's so easy to do. We use a roll it up method or a "burrito method," some people call it. It involves starting with pre-cut fabric kits we have but we also hand out instructions that people can take home so that they can make their own pillowcases there as well. Once you roll it up put a few pins in it, then take it to the sewing machine you sew one straight stitch seam and then the magic happens, we say. You turn it right side out and the pillowcase band is finished in one easy step. The inside is finished and the outside is finished and there are no raw edges. Then, what most people find exciting is the chance to try out a serger. We sew the L seam along one side and the bottom of the pillowcase on the serger. I tell people it's like an extreme sport. You get to use a machine where a knife is involved and you sew at 1000 stitches a minute. What could be more fun than giving that a whirl? So, when that's done, we tuck in the serger tails and it's finished. We work with different partners that supply the fabric and the sewing machines for the project. It gives people a chance to experiment with machines. Do you know what comes next? No. All right, I'm gonna show you. Everybody who comes here is free to sit and sew with us. The pillowcases we make here stay here. But if you don't have time to sew or you're not at the Expo when we are then you can do this project at home.

If you go to

allpeoplequilt.com millionpillowcases that's where you'll find more information about the challenge. You'll find out shops that are participating for drop-offs. Or, if you want to join the challenge by yourself all we ask is that after you make and donate your pillowcases to the charity of your choice that you add the number you make to our counter. We've passed the half million point and we're more than halfway there. We're super excited to get to a million and show people how much quilters care.

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If you go to

Whoo-hoo! We'd like to sew at least a thousand pillowcases here. It's exciting at the Expo because they also invite people to come and bring pillowcases from home. I know they've collected more than 5,000 so far from the different participants. It's a huge number that are made and donated here over the four-day event. I can share with you a few stories of places that pillowcases have gone. A quilt guild in Nebraska donates to foster kids. They found out that foster kids had to carry their belongings in a trash bag when they moved from house to house. That's just heartbreaking as a quilter. We developed a pillowcase pattern with a drawstring that makes kind of a pajama bag. That guild uses that pattern to donate their pillowcases to foster kids. In some areas, National Guardsmen have to supply their own bedding when they travel overseas so shops will make pillowcases out of patriotic fabrics to send with the National Guardsmen. Or, as we're making them here for kids in the hospital who maybe have a sterile hospital room that doesn't have a lot of color and bright things in it it can really brighten up somebody's day when it goes home with a little boy or girl that is having a difficult time. What I'd like to tell people is that you can make a pillowcase and make a difference. It only takes 15 or 20 minutes to complete one but you can really change somebody's life. Most of us take for granted that we've got plenty of clean pillowcases at home but in a homeless shelter where they're trying to give everybody a pillowcase to sleep on every night, to have fresh pillowcases that they can put on every evening that quilters make and donate, can make a huge difference. So, please join the effort and add to our counter and make a difference in your community for somebody to make a better day by having a fresh pillowcase for themselves. During the Sewing and Stitchery Expo hundreds of pillowcases were made and thousands were donated. These pillowcases were all given to local charities especially children's hospitals. If you'd like to know more about this great area to donate you can go to nancyzieman.com and click on Nancy's Corner to find out more information about the Million Pillowcase Challenge. A special thanks to Amy Barickman for being with us during this two-part series on "Magic Patterns." You can re-watch the program at nancyzieman.com or connect with me on social media, through that site. Thanks again for being with me. Bye for now.