Dozens of fleece blankets sat on a bed in the spare room of Mary Ann Jorgensen’s home. What used to be her daughter’s space is now a holding area for the Bobbin Babes’ creations.
“We don’t stop for lunch,” said Jorgensen. "We barely take a break.”
It was Jorgensen who dubbed her group of sewing buddies "Bobbin Babes." It fits, according to the other women who meet every few weeks to sew together blankets in Jorgensen’s kitchen.
“That’s what makes it fun to come here,” said Janet Hoffnagle. “Not just what we’re doing, but who we’re doing it with.”
The group has been meeting in South Tampa for about six months to sew blankets. They have completed a few dozen in that time. All are donated to The Spring, a shelter in Tampa for domestic violence victims.
“We think about that child that’s going to have this wrapped around their shoulders one day,” said Jorgensen. “We are making memories for children.”
Ellen Demers’ fingers worked feverishly as she sewed together brightly colored fabrics. She sat across from Susan Wonder, who learned to sew as a child.
“When we attach our special little label and do our final fold of it, we always think of the child that this blanket may go to,” said Demers. “It’s almost like a little prayer.”
The Bobbin Babes will deliver 52 blankets to The Spring at the end of September. They say they don’t have a goal for the number of blankets to sew each year. They just want to make as many as possible.
“We are getting speedier,” said Wonder.
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