Sewing up blankets for Chicks with Sticks

Just before Christmas last year I was thinking about things that I could volunteer to do in the community. I looked at a lot of different things such as dog walking for elderly people, helping deliver meals on wheels, providing administrative support for different organisation, and driving people to appointments. There were so many things that I would have been qualified to do and would have loved doing but everything required someone who was really able to guarantee that they would be able to take a person to an appointment, walk their dog or deliver meals. I felt that with my various illnesses I was not able to guarantee that I would always be available when required.
A few weeks after thinking that there really wasn't something that I could do a lady posted a request on a cafe website that I use asking for people to sew knitted squares into blankets.

I felt excited as this was something I could do and it was a way of doing some kind of volunteer work for the community.

I sent an email to the lady offering to sew up the knitted squares into blankets. My offer was accepted and I was given two huge garbage bags full of knitted squares. Some squares are big and some are small. The squares were to be sewn into a size to fit on the top of a single bed.

The lady was a member of a group called 'Chicks with Sticks' which knit blankets and sets of hats, gloves and scarves for homeless people and people in nursing homes. The group meets every week but as I work I haven't been to a meeting yet.

Chicks with Sticks website:
http://www.freewebs.com/chickswithstickseasternsuburbs/index.htm

I've now made four blankets from the larger squares. I tried to sew the squares together but have found that it was easier and neater to crochet the edges together and then crochet around the edge of the blankets to finish them off.

I'm enjoying making the blankets knowing that they will be used by people who need them and am so pleased that I have found some kind of volunteer work that I can do from home.

Putting together the smaller squares will be more of a challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with them.