November is always the most expensive month for me and my sister. Every single bill, whether monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly, hits us. And then there is property tax — which creeps up ever higher every year.
As you probably know, this has been a terrible, terrible year for us. My sister, Ann, was hospitalized three times for heart problems — and after her heart attacks, she just wasn’t tracking (for lack of a better term). I have never before seen her struggle with a quilt pattern that she had clearly had in her head, a pattern that she herself had designed, only to be confused by it, absolutely unable to put the quilt together. Frankly, it was terrifying me to see her this way. Thankfully, she is much better now but this year, we have not been able to produce the amount of quilting work that we have in the past. Not this year.
I’ve not been so well, myself. Unfortunately, I suffer from a rather rare autoimmune issue that, like most autoimmune issues, is made worse by stress. I am now taking a medication that is pretty harsh and it is making life...interesting. I am doing okay but I find I need to pace myself.
Anyway, we are going to need to raise about $4000 — a bit more would be better — before November 15. I didn’t want to put up a call for help until the election was done because that was a lot more important than the problems of individual people.
One thing we have going right now is the Community Quilt for the Tree of Life Synagogue. This is a major project for us, one which should be complete by the summer (Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, as my late mother used to say). It will be several month’s worth of work and will be hand quilted by me. There is about $2585 remaining that we would like to collect to fund this work (some of which will go for materials) — and that amount will go a long way toward meeting our immediate need.
Then there are the Pootie Pads that we make — little aromatherapy quilts for cats and dogs filled with organic catnip (for cats) and lavender and thyme (for dogs). We make lavender pads for people, too — some people find lavender helps soothe stress. We also make some really cute catnip toys (Ann’s designs) that make great holiday gifts for people with cats. The most recent Pootie Pad diary is here — it contains links to buy all these things. You can also find our store at the Pootie Pad website, designed by our friend, linkage.
If you don’t want Pootie Pads but would like to help us, we have a general donation link, too.
If you would like to support our work but don’t have a pet:
GENERAL DONATION TO THE COMMUNITY QUILT PROJECT PAYPAL LINK
Thank you all for your kindness and friendship over time. Ann and I are very, very grateful to this community.