Successful Sew-in

Another fun and successful sew-in yesterday. The weather outside was cold and rainy, but we were busily sewing. We finished 11 mats and 4 went home with volunteers who had friends or family with Alzheimer's.

Thanks to everyone who came out to help.

Santa's List Correction

We should have been more specific when asking for names for Santa's List of activity mats. These are for individuals in the Austin area only.

If you are wanting a mat outside of the Austin area, you might want to contact your local church or sewing center to see if they would be interested in making the mats using the instructions in earlier posts on this blog.

Santa is Making a List

Make a special Christmas present for a special person. Santa is making a list of people with advanced Alzheimer’s, children with special needs, etc. If you have a person who would like one of our mats or texture books let us know and/or come to a  sew-in and help us make activity aids.

These aids are designed to safely comfort and entertain Alzheimer's patients. Each mat contains a zipper, buttons, a pocket for a family photo, and a variety of textures. They can be used on a table, in a lap, or tied around the patient’s waist as an apron.

Texture books have  pages with a variety of fabric textures and designs.

We will provide supplies, instructions and snacks. You bring your enthusiasm, your machine with standard feet, (walking foot  optional), manual, bobbins, scissors, seam ripper, etc. – or just drop in and help.

Help us make these to donate to local care givers. Our next two scheduled sew-ins are Saturday, November 15th and Saturday, December 13th. Times for both events are 1:00pm-4:00pm. The location is North West Sewing Center at 5448 Burnet Road, No. 1 in Austin, Texas. Phone 512-459-3961 to register.

Sammi's House to Test Activity Mats

We are so delighted that Sammi's House in Austin, Texas, a day program for children with special needs, will be testing our activity mats.

Marcia (on the left) is seen here with Isabel Huerta, founder of the school, and Teri Dee Martin an enthusiastic volunteer. Teachers and therapists at the school will modify the attachments to the mats to meet the needs of their children. Marcia enjoyed a tour of the school and got a warm hug from a young man in a turtle t-shirt.

Thanks to our volunteers we were able to deliver 7 mats and lots of goodies to attach.

Next Austin Sew-in

The next Austin Sew-in for texture books is this Saturday, October 25th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. We will be at Northwest Sewing Center located at 5448 Burnet Road #1.  Call 512-459-3961 to reserve your spot.

Texture books are large squares of textured fabrics (like corduroy, fleece, chenille, etc) sewn together and and strung on shoe strings. They help calm and entertain those with Alzheimers. They also provide tactile and visual stimulation for other individuals.

Come out on and join us making these wonderful items that will be donated to local nursing homes and other facilities working with the elderly and individuals with Alzheimers.

Marcia is Interviewed by Nancy Zieman

Exciting news.  A couple of months ago Marcia was interviewed by Nancy Zieman for an episode of "Nancy's Corner" and it is now available for viewing. It was a great opportunity to get the information out on Activity Mats.

To watch the interview go to: http://video.wpt.org/video/2365346162/

Nancy also posted information (along with some great photos) on her blog at http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/sewing-2/sew-an-alzheimers-activity-mat/.

We want to thank Nancy for helping to get the word out on the activity mats. We know with the exposure from her interview and blog there will be a lot more activity mats making their way to those who can benefit from them.  Thank you Nancy!!

If you make mats for a loved one or have a sew-in, let us know.  Send us your pictures and we will post them to our Blog. Let us know if you have any suggestions for the mats. We welcome your feedback.

New Idea

Unadorned mats are easier to stack and store.

Our sew-ins produce lots of mats that I have to store until I "find them homes". With all the attachments on (beads, stuffed animals, etc.) they seemed to take up quite a bit of room. I couldn't stack them very deep because it could smush the stuffed animals and yarn items.

After a one of our sew-ins we had several mats that did not have the attachments on yet. I found that they were much easier to store and I didn't have to worry about the attachments flattening from being stacked. The mats are designed so that the items are clipped on so they can be removed for cleaning. When I get ready to deliver mats it only takes me a few minutes to get them ready by clipping on the attachments.

Let the recipient select the attachments

Recently I was contacted by a woman from Sammy's House which is "a special place for special children". It is is a not-for-profit agency that provides services for children who are medically fragile and/or developmentally delayed in inclusive learning environments with typically developing peers. She wanted to have a few mats to see how well they would work with the kids. I took a stack of mats and a box of stuffed animals, yarn bundles, squeeze toys, and other attachments. She selected and attached the items she felt would work best with these kids.

So, you might want to try letting recipients "build their own" mats. Let them pick out what they want to attach.