4-H girls receive sewing lessons
Nine-year-old Madeline Snell, from the Thompson Falls Mountaineers, works the sewing machine at the Plains United Methodist Church on Thursday. Madeline was making a receiving blanket used for newborn children.
Abby Croft of the Thompson Falls Mountaineers hand sews part of her receiving blanket.
Mariah Naegeli, from Thompson Falls, using her left hand, left, helps Ashley Cardenas, from Plains, with her receiving blanket.
Sarah Naegeli, left, helps Madeline Snell of the Thompson Falls Mountaineers with her receiving blanket.
It seemed like everybody was calling Mariah Naegeli's name on Thursday at the Plains Methodist Church. The Thompson Falls' senior, known for her community service in 4-H, was doing what she does best. She was helping.
It seemed like everybody was calling Mariah Naegeli's name on Thursday at the Plains Methodist Church. The Thompson Falls' senior, known for her community service in 4-H, was doing what she does best. She was helping.
As part of two $700 grants that Naegeli received to assist her in her community service activities, Naegeli was helping younger 4-H girls from Hot Springs, Plains and Thompson Falls fashion receiving blankets.
Naegeli herself has been sewing for most of her life, so she says it was a natural project to add to the list of community service projects for her grant.
"I have been doing it since I was five, so I mean I got the family influence of sewing," says Naegeli. "My project is more helping with the sewing than me sewing myself, so it's kind of fun to help them out."
Instead of sewing a receiving blanket herself, a 29 inch blanket used typically for newborns to keep them warm, Naegeli rushed between all of the preteen sewers helping them navigate through the ins and outs of pins, fabrics and thread routes. The corners were especially a topic that kept cropping up as the girls would call out for Naegeli, waiting for her to come and help them work through catching both pieces of fabric together.
Naegeli also says the pinning was hard as well because the satin binding and knit fabric moves so much that it is hard for the sewers to keep it in place.
After putting together a blanket that takes anywhere from two to two and a half hours to put together, Naegeli says each sewer will choose where to donate their blankets either locally, regionally or out of the country.
Along with donating the money from her grant to the sewing project on Thursday, Naegeli has also donated $250 to her local 4-H archery club for new targets, bows and arrows. She also plans to use it for a photography, flower and welding project.
Community service is quickly becoming a routine for Naegeli who recently made news for winning a state award for community service for her efforts in organizing a food drive at her school.
"In 4-H, you have to do community service, but I kind of went up and beyond that," says Naegeli.
She was awarded the national award through Parade Magazine.
She says that she borrowed the idea from her two older brothers who both held food drives at the school. Her addition to the original idea was to make the food drive a competition between the junior high and elementary students and the staff.
She also received a state 4-H award for community service. The award was given out to works that embodied all the sought for qualities of 4-H.