Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Holiday Blanket Bounty

It's time to give thanks to our many donors for their thoughtful generosity. As you know, we are trying to do all we can to fill the hospital's request for blankets with holiday/winter themes. Of course, we are grateful and delighted to accept any theme/design of blanket at any time of year, but there was a special request at this time for blankets for the children who will be inpatient during the holiday season. Our members and friends have come through for the hospital's patients - THANK YOU!

Here are some of the newest donations.
4 quilts from our friend, Karla W.
8 fleece blankets from Karla's friend, Heidi K.
Fleece blankets from our friend, Cami H.

More fleece from Cami H.
How cute are the cat and dog Santa prints?

More fleece from Cami H.
A combination of 8 quilts and fleece blankets from Lucile & Noble
7 fleece blankets from your president (with help finishing the fringes from Cami H.)
Four quilts from Karla.
Eight fleece blankets from Heidi.
Cami donated 13 fleece blankets, and helped me to finish the seven which I donated.
Lucile & Noble donated eight blankets and quilts.
Member Ellie B. donated funds for more materials.

Thank you, friends and guild members, for all that you do to help us bring comfort and joy to patients at Seattle Children's Hospital!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

13 New Blankets from Deb P.

Katie's Comforters Guild has a new friend: Deb P., who has generously made (and delivered today) 13 blankets to Seattle Children's Hospital! Though we've never met in person, Deb took our purpose to heart, and just look at these beauties which she made and delivered:
 There are some "tidings of comfort and joy" for sick children. 
Thank you, Deb!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

What a Great Week!

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving holiday. We have had a wonderful week at Katie's Comforters Guild, and we want to share it with you, in the spirit of Thanksgiving.

I received a phone call from Paige (the manager of Kenneth L. Salon in Poulsbo), telling me that she had shared our information with a group to which she belongs (thank you, Paige!). One of the group members responded by making a donation to our guild. A hearty thank you to Joey G. of Meineke Car Care Center! After Paige gave me Joey's donation, I went directly to JoAnn Fabrics and bought 8 yards of winter-themed fleece with it, to help fill the need for blankets for children who will be admitted to the hospital during the holidays.
I will be working on cutting fringe into these blankets soon.

I also met Lucile and Noble to pick up a delivery of quilts. Lucile had made 5 new quilts, and had finished 8 more (which I had pinned, but was not able to sew, due to time constraints). This was in addition to celebrating her 90th birthday and cooking Thanksgiving dinner for her family. (I hope to be that productive if I ever live to see 90 years of age. Lucile continues to inspire me.)
Thank you, Lucile and Noble!

Lucile's quilts
Winter-themed quilts from me, finished by Lucile
Other quilts from me, finished by Lucile
More quilts from me, finished by Lucile
Quilts from Maribeth, finished by Lucile
 Many thanks to Maribeth Hinderer for donating the beautiful fabrics for the two quilts above. Though she has moved to Kansas, Maribeth is still our vice president and a great moral support to our guild.

We received two more generous donations this week: one from our dear friend, Liz D., in Chicago, and one from our dear cousins Eva and Bob in San Francisco. Thank you, Liz, Eva and Bob for your generous support of our work! We will use the funds to purchase materials and continue our work of bringing comfort to sick children. We could not do this without the help of people like Lucile, Noble, Paige, Joey, Liz, Bob, Eva and Maribeth!
Thank you all!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Holiday Quilts from Shannin

Today, we had the privilege and pleasure of picking up six beautiful holiday-themed quilts from the very talented artist Shannin Strom-Henry. She made each quilt unique, embellishing them with buttons and rickrac that will delight each recipient.
See the rickrac and button details?
Lovely, festive fabrics!
Thank you for this generous
donation, Shannin!
Children who are patients during the holidays will be delighted by your quilts.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Kenneth L. Salon and Spa in Poulsbo

I get my hair cut (my mom and dad, do, too) at Kenneth L. Salon & Spa in Poulsbo. The manager of the salon, Paige, has a generous spirit. She has taken Katie's Comforters Guild to heart, and decided to highlight our guild in a new display in the salon.
It's the first thing you see as you step through the front door. Two blankets (one quilt and one fleece), brochures, photographs, cards - all telling about who we are and why we do what we do - have been given "front and center" status at Kenneth L. Salon & Spa.

Thank you, Katie, for doing such a nice job with the display, and thank you, Paige for your warm and open-hearted welcome at
Kenneth L. Salon & Spa!

Lucile is Turning 90!

Our dear guild member, Lucile N., and her husband, Noble, dropped off
33 new quilts today!
33 new quilts from Lucile & Noble
Close up of one bag of 12...
Close up of another bag of 12...
 
Close up of a bag of 9 quilts
Lucile and Noble pack their quilts so well that I don't like to take them out for photographs, so please take my word for it that these are beautiful.

Lucile has a birthday this month...she is turning 90 years old!
And she sews a quilt a day!

Happy Birthday, Lucile!
We admire and appreciate you VERY much.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Project Teen II

In fiscal 2009, the Guild Association–wide effort Project Teen collected hundreds of items for Children’s young-adult patients and raised more than $10,000 for the purchase of additional items.
Project Teen II launches this year, and we again ask for your help.

Project Teen II supports Seattle Children’s Child Life Department in providing items for teens such as:
- gift cards for chain stores such as Target or bookstores
- iTunes gift cards
- books
- DVD movies (new release, PG-13)
- nail-polish kits
- bath supplies such as bubble bath, lotion
- electronic games (E- or T-rated for Wii, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS),
- journaling supplies (journals, sketchbooks, gel pens, colored pens sets)
- college or professional sports team items (hats, t-shirts, blankets).

You can support Project Teen II by purchasing an item, making a cash donation, organizing a drive in your community or asking guests at your own event to bring items for our teen patients. New items only, please.

Mail items and financial donations to:
Project Teen II
Seattle Children’s Hospital Guild Association
PO Box 5371/S-200
Seattle, WA 98145-5005

Project Teen II concludes at our 2012 annual meeting (April, 2012).
Call Melissa Cardenas at the Guild Association office 206-987-6806 with questions or for more information.

Thank you!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Calling All Guild Members & Friends...

...I made a blanket delivery to Seattle Children's Hospital today, thanks to the generosity of our members and donors! THANK YOU!

While we were delivering the blankets, we saw Jane Humphries, the Guild Association Board member (a.k.a. "The Blanket Lady) who hands out our blankets and quilts to patients. Jane told me that there is a great need for blankets for children who will be in-patient during the holidays and through Christmas (she mentioned the number 100), and she asked if we could help.

Yes, of course we can!

Would you please consider telling at least one friend about this need? If each one of us told one person, and that person either donated funds to purchase materials, made a blanket, or told someone else who would help, we could get to 100 blankets in no time! Please think about what a pleasure it will be to bring comfort and joy to children - especially to those who will be stuck in the hospital over the holidays.

Thank you for your support!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Quilts from Bonnie and Darla

Our guild has recently received donations of quilts with lovely details from two guild members: Bonnie and Darla. Both are gifted quilters whose work you can see here in detail.

Bonnie's quilts:
Airplanes and autumn flowers.
The two nearest blankets are fleece - they fold up into their own pouches - how clever!
The quilting on this one is in "stop sign" shape - octagon - it fits perfectly with the theme.
Some of them are quilted with Katie's initials (KG).
Footballs and helmets - perfect for the season!
Fireflies and a "FROG" label.
Princess fabric, custom-made Katie's Comforters Guild label and FROG label.
I love this flannel design!
Darla's quilts:
A variety of lovely themes.
Teddy bear alphabet.
Look at the piece-work and quilting on this one!
Tropical theme with lovely appliques.
The center of this wildlife-themed quilt is made of beautiful, small squares of bright colors.
This quilt is full of gorgeous details:  hearts, houses, cats and pinwheels.
Thank you, Bonnie and Darla!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Blankets Donated by Bev, Lucile & Noble

Last week we were blessed by a variety of donations: knitted blankets from Bev L. (through our friends at Liberty Bay Books), and quilts and fleece blankets from Lucile & Noble. Take a look at the bounty!
Knitted blankets from Bev, dropped off at Liberty Bay Books
Look at all of these blankets from Lucile - 32 in all!
Don't you love all of the different fabrics and colors?
So much variety of color and theme!
Two different kinds of bears - panda and teddy!
Lucile also sewed and donated 17 bead bags for the children to use in their craft projects in the hospital.
Thank you, Bev, Lucile & Noble!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Quilts on Display at Bargain Boutique!

Remember THIS posting (see below) featuring three fabulous antique quilts? The Bargain Boutique, located at 253 Winslow Way West on Bainbridge Island, which is Seattle Children's Hospital's treasure-trove of a thrift store, is displaying those three quilts all week. Stop by and take a look. See if they might be a blessing to you, your home, or someone you know. We are going to hold an auction and the proceeds will go to Katie's Comforters Guild, to help us purchase more materials for making blankets for patients.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Stitch'N'Bitch

Last Friday, my dear friends Heidi, Cami and Denise came over to take part in a Stitch'n'Bitch at our house. Together, we made 16 fleece blankets (cut fringe into 14 pieces of fleece, and left 2 alone, as they were perfect "as is"). We also pinned 3 quilts for future sewing.

Here are the 16 fleece (there's something for every age, taste and hobby here):
I'm so excited to deliver these to the hospital!
Thank you, Stitch'n'Bitchers,
 for donating your time, talent and materials!