Lucile & Fabric Traditions Prints

Lucile has been sewing up a storm at home. She has transitioned from quilts to pillowcases and receiving blankets, and boy, does she work fast! Gregg and I stopped by to pick up her latest batch of 86 pillow cases this weekend.

 She has included a lovely variety of prints, sure to please boys and girls of all ages.

Fabric Traditions of New York's colorful sports prints

In this batch are some of Fabric Traditions' professional sports team prints. While many of the teams represented are not from our area, they are fun and cheerful for sports fans, and we are grateful!

Thank you, Lucile, for your continued dedication to comforting patients at Seattle Children's Hospital, and thank you, Fabric Traditions, for your generous donations of fabric!

Lots of Good News!

We have a great deal of good news to share with you. So much generosity has come to Seattle Children's Hospital through donations to Katie's Comforters Guild!

First of all, Charlotte B. kindly created six quilts and delivered them to Seattle Children's Hospital for our guild. Thank you, Charlotte!

Michelle F. gathered quilts from a variety of sources and delivered them to the hospital with the help of her son, Owen. Michelle is a member of our guild, and both of her sons are junior members. She teaches others to quilt, and shares fabric to help them get started with charitable sewing and giving. We love this family's community involvement and commitment to giving back! Mickie donated quilts from her family, as well as from a young lady named Skyler, and friends Margie, Brenda and Kristin.

Skyler's stack

One of Margie's quilts

Margie's applique work - stunning!

Kristin wrote the following: " I live in Seattle near Children's and quilt weekly with a group of women. I saw a post a couple years ago from Mickie Geri Farris about Katie's Comforter Guild, and love the idea. The quilt this time was a world map and I thought that a kiddo might plan some world travels during their stay."

Thank you, Mickie, Owen, Luke, Margie, Kristin and Skyler! We are so grateful for your help and generosity!

Fabric Traditions has done it again, sending us a box of professional sports team fabric in cotton and flannel. If you would like to make a sports-themed quilt for patients at Seattle Children's Hospital, please let me know and I will find a way to get the fabric to you! Regardless of which teams you might favor, it's possible to make a truly wonderful quilt by combining the fabrics. The only thing they ask in return is that we send photos of what is made with their fabric - a fun request to fulfill! Thank you, Annette S. and Fabric Traditions!

I just received a donation from Angela and her daughter Olivia. They contributed three beautifully-knitted and two lovingly hand-knotted fleece blankets. These will bring comfort and cheer to patients!  Thank you, Angela and Olivia!

Finally, we took a trip to Lucile's house to pick up the latest batch of 56 pillowcases which she made for patients, so they will have a personal touch, rather than hospital linens! Thank you, Lucile - we appreciate you and all that you do!
Katie's Comforters Guild has so much for which to be grateful - and we are! All of our donors and members are treasured and appreciated.

Pillowcases & Receiving Blankets Made with Love by Lucile

We stopped by to visit Lucile, after she called and told us that she had accumulated quite a supply of pillowcases and receiving blankets. She is truly "the Producer!"

Lucile had created, folded, counted and bagged for delivery  
132 pillowcases, 24 receiving blankets and two crocheted blankets. She says (with modesty), "I have to keep busy!" Here is a selection of her latest work:

Lucile, you are doing a wonderful job of keeping busy - and keeping Seattle Children's Hospital's patients supplied with soft, cheerful comfort items.

Thank you - we appreciate you and all you do!

Lucile Donates 38 New Blankets

Gregg and I drove to Port Ludlow to see Lucile last weekend.  There in her living room were 38 new blankets, made with her love and artistry, for Katie's Comforters Guild to deliver to Seattle Children's Hospital.

This batch of blankets are mostly receiving blankets for the tiniest patients. Soft flannel, sewed with sweetly embroidered trim, mixed and matched in color and pattern for interest, fun and cheer. Here are some examples:

We are deeply grateful to Lucile for her continued generosity in donating her time, talent and materials to our guild. We love delivering comfort to patients and their families, and donors like Lucile make it possible!

Thank you, Lucile!

Lucile Creates 13 New Quilts

Dear Lucile has done it again! She has donated 13 new quilts & blankets to Katie's Comforters Guild, sending them with Dawn via Mary to Tracie (our friend who is an R.N. at Seattle Children's Hospital). Look at how cute and cheerful they are:

Tracie will deliver our donations on her way to work, saving us miles and hours of driving time (and expense). This is another example of donating gifts of time and talent to our guild. We are continually grateful to Tracie for her contributions!

Thank you, Lucile, for making these beauties, and thank you, Dawn, Mary and Tracie for helping to get them into the hands of patients!

Lucile, Fabric, Treasurer & the Great Give

Gregg and I had the privilege of a visit with Lucile. She is looking well, and is continuing the sorting of her stash of fabric, re-organizing some of her home - and she still finds time to make blankets for us! Here are two of her latest - one crocheted and one quilted fleece:

We have received the offer of another quilter's stash of fabric. It is all cotton, fills four large 13-gallon bags (1/2 - 3/4 full), and is currently being stored in Kitsap County. If anyone reading this would like to sew for our guild, the fabric is yours for free! If you know someone who fits the bill, please pass the offer along!

There are currently two volunteer opportunities for you with Katie's Comforters Guild:
1. We need a treasurer. This involves receiving and depositing income, writing the occasional check (usually fewer than 5 per year), keeping the bank statements and signing a form for the Guild Association at the end of our fiscal year. If you are interested, please contact me (Karen = president) here, or on facebook.
2. We have been invited to participate in the Kitsap Great Give. This was a success last year - funds were raised which can be used to buy materials, and newspaper coverage helped to let people know about our guild and its mission. We need someone to take on the task of preparing paperwork and fielding all of the social media intake, as well as creating "buzz" on blog and facebook, during the campaign. If you have interested, please contact me (Karen = president) here, or on facebook!

Thank you, Lucile, and thank you, Linda 
 (our current Treasurer, who has served so generously for several years)!

Free Fabric!

Our dear friend and guild member, Lucile, is sorting through her sewing stash, and has offered us 10+ bags of  

FREE QUILTING FABRIC!

 If you - or someone you know - is interested in sewing quilts for Katie's Comforters Guild, please leave a comment here or on our Facebook page, or email me at KARENLBOREN at yahoo dot com.

Lucile Does it Again - 12 Blankets!

We had a chance to visit with Lucile in her home last week, to drop off some of the fleece left over from #AWSL2015 for her to make into blankets, and to pick up some blankets that she had made to donate. Lucile's latest batch included 11 fleece (one here, and the others in the bag), and a beautifully knitted cotton blanket:

Thank you so much for your continuing support and generosity to Katie's Comforters Guild, Lucile! 

We appreciate and love you!

A Generous Heart

Gregg and I stopped by to see Lucile this weekend. She continues to organize her home, organizing, sorting and accomplishing other important tasks which must be done after Noble's passing. We went for a visit, but Lucile's thoughtful generosity never stops; she handed us a bag of five new fleece blankets for Seattle Children's Hospital!

Thank you so much, Lucile!

Lucile & Mickie: 28 New Blankets and Quilts

I went up north to visit Lucile this week. You may recall that her beloved husband, Noble, passed away recently. Lucile has been busy in her home, as well as organizing Noble's workshop. A family of raccoons had made made their nest in the workshop's attic, and had to be dealt with, but none of that stopped our Lucile from donating 10 new fleece blankets! She had them waiting by the front door for me. She is a woman to admire.  
Thank you, Lucile - we are grateful to you!

We received a note on facebook from our friend Michelle Farris, with photographs, letting us know that she and a group of quilters in Seattle and Lynden had made 18 gorgeous new quilts and delivered them to Seattle Children's Hospital for our guild. The photos below were taken by Michelle:




Note the awesome skateboard design in the middle photograph!

Thank you, Michelle, for continuing to inspire and organize quilting groups to wrap patients in comfort! We appreciate you!

Sad News

Katie's Comforters Guild is sad to have to say "goodbye" to a beloved member of our community: Noble Nilsen. Noble has been the devoted husband to our dear Lucile for many decades, and a dedicated supporter of our guild. He has made countless car trips, ferrying fabric, quilts, yarn and blankets between their house and our little town. He has been a supporter of Lucile's love of quilting, and her devotion to our mission, patiently carrying bags of quilts from his car to mine, and warmly welcoming us into their lives.
To get an idea of his character, please read this and this.

We send our deepest, most heartfelt condolences and love to Lucile, Marv, YuMae and all of their family and friends at this difficult time. We'll miss Noble; he will always be in our hearts!

8 Fleece Blankets from Lucile & Noble

I write a great deal about Lucile and Noble here. They have become more than guild members; they are dear to us as friends. They teach us a great deal by the way they live, and give of themselves.

Lucile recently donated a batch of eight fleece blankets. She is not one who is given to complaining, but it is getting harder for her to work on quilts for any length of time now, due to aches and pains. Rather than letting that stop her, Lucile makes blankets from fleece.

The gift of these blankets is all the more incredible because Lucile is caring for Noble in a more intensive way, now that he has been diagnosed with cancer. She is still thinking of patients at Seattle Children's Hospital, providing comfort for them, at the same time as she is taking care of her own patient!

I hope that all of you will join me in sending our dearest, best wishes for comfort (and everything good) to Lucile and Noble.  

We love you, Lucile and Noble! Thank you for everything, including these 8 blankets!

I Love Being Part of the Guild Association

This makes me happy*  
*Look for Katie's Comforter's Guild at 2:50 on the video, and our beloved Lucile Nilsen at 3:08!

We have 6,200 members in 450 guilds. In 2014, the Guild Association raised $11,816,100 for Seattle Children's Hospital! Would you like to be part of this unique organization, which offers a variety of ways to make the world a better place? We'd love to have you join us!

New Fleece from Lucile & Noble

Lucile doesn't let a broken sewing machine stop her from creating warmth for patients at Seattle Children's Hospital. She has a spare machine and a serger, and she likes to keep busy! Here is her most recent donations of eight blankets, embroidered and appliqued with love.

Thank you, Lucile & Noble!

We appreciate you and all that you do (in spite of obstacles)!

32 New Quilts & Blankets and a Gift of Funds

Last week, Lucile and Noble stopped into Poulsbo on their way to run errands. They brought with them 32 new quilts and fleece blankets! The variety of fabric, colors and patterns is a delight.

Lucile has a way of combining fabric which is very creative. Not only does she make her own quilt binding when necessary, she makes quilted blankets special by combining solids with patterns. She also applies this concept to fleece. When we receive donations of solid-colored fleece, Lucile adds fun to the design by sewing solid pieces to patterned fleece, using her sewing machine's decorative stitches, and creating an embroidered border around the edges. You can see what I mean here:

Thank you, Lucile and Noble!

Loyal guild member Ellie Boren does not sew, but is faithful in her financial support of our work; once again, she sent a gift which will help us to purchase fabric and other supplies (such as satin blanket binding and batting) for our guild members who do sew.

Thank you, Ellie & husband Phil!

A Visit to Lucile and Noble

We stopped by Lucile and Noble's house with a batch of material - cotton and fleece - for her to use in making blankets and quilts. We had a nice visit, and I got to see her new sewing machine; wow! That is one modern, "smart" machine! She is already enjoying it.

While we were there, Lucile gave us another 8 fleece blankets and 7 beautiful quilts to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital. Here they are:

We are running low on satin blanket binding, so she has been making her own quilt binding (our supplier has stopped carrying the binding we use, so we are in the process of switching to another supplier). Soon, we will purchase pre-cut satin binding to make things easier for Lucile.

Thank you, Lucile and Noble, for your continuing generosity to Katie's Comforters Guild at Seattle Children's Hospital! Your devotion warms our hearts, and the hearts of so many patients and families!

A Surprise from Kim D. and Good News from Lucile

As I was going through the bags of gorgeous fleece donated by Kim D., I found this treasure,

almost finished, with just a seam open on the binding. I am going to see if Lucile can work her magic on it.

Speaking of Lucile, she has shared good news with us: the sewing machine repair shop - which could not fix Lucile's machine - has replaced it with a newer model! They had given her a new model as a "loaner," which Lucile enjoyed using, and they have now given her the "loaner" to keep, for good. We're rejoicing with her!

Lucile and Noble: Patchwork Fleece

Gregg and I stopped by Lucile and Noble's house to wish them Happy New Year, and to pick up some quilts and blankets she had made for Katie's Comforters Guild.

Lucile has had a lot of trouble with her favorite sewing machine. She takes good care of it, but she also gives it a real workout because she sews so many quilts. It has been in the repair shop for quite some time, and is predicted to be there for a while longer. She has other, older machines to use as backup, and the shop has given her a "loaner," but as any crafter or hobbyist knows, you have your favorite tools and prefer to work with them.

In the absence of her favorite machine, Lucile knows how to improvise. She has taken a variety of fleece squares (which could confound a less dedicated seamstress) and turned them into patchwork blankets.

She also donated two quilts and other blankets in this batch: a total of 15 fleece and two quilts.

Thank you, Lucile and Noble!

I hope your machine is back from the shop soon so that you can enjoy sewing to the fullest.

{If you know of a Bernina machine which someone would like to donate to Lucile for her work, please leave a comment! I'd love to see her have the very best tools available, and that is her favorite brand.}

Lucile and Noble Donate AGAIN!

Lucile and Noble are our most steadfast, regular donors. I have never met a couple in their 90s with more energy, vim and vigor. They are so smart, hardworking and sharp that they inspire me with a fantastic example to follow - if I get to live into my 90s!

I stopped by their house on Monday to deliver the roll of batting which we purchased with Ellie and Phil's donation (see the posting below this one). When I did that, they donated 13 more blankets and quilts - 10 fleece and 3 quilts.

Here are the fleece blankets:

and here are the quilts.

Due to supply issues, we have not been able to help Lucile purchase satin blanket binding, so - ever-resourceful - she is making her own binding out of cotton! Check it out:

Thank you, Lucile and Noble! You are wonderful members of - and friends to - our Guild!

Why We Do It

Over the weekend, we received the most wonderful, affirming letter...

"Hello! I am writing to thank your organization, and specifically Lucille Nilsen (as referenced on my daughter's blanket tag) for the beautiful blanket we received during our stay at Seattle's Children's Hospital. We had a stressful morning in the ER at children's as our 9 month old, Olia struggled to maintain adequate oxygen levels and worked hard to breath as a result of contracting RSV. The decision was made by the team to admit her for observation and to continue to keep her on oxygen until she was more stable. My husband and I were exhausted, stressed, and worried by the time we finally arrived at our room. The first thing that I saw was this sweet blanket all made up for Olia in her hospital crib, just waiting for her. It brought a smile to our faces in an otherwise very stressful and trying time as parents. Olia immediately kicked her legs with excitement when we got her settled onto her colorful and soft blanket. We were fortunate to have a relatively uneventful stay, and only needed to stay for one full day and overnight as they took her off of the oxygen and her conditions made fairly rapid improvement.

"I just want to share our deepest gratitude with you, for all that you did for our family and continue to do all of the other families at Seattle Children's. That blanket, hand made with love and care, provided such comfort to our whole family. It was such a thoughtful touch that made our stressful experience a little bit easier to handle. Here are some pictures of Olia as she began feeling better at the hospital, and one of her sleeping in her portable crib at our parents house, we are visiting for the morning. This blanket will be a part of her entire childhood, a memory of someone who took the time to make our family's experience a little brighter. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. - Laura, Matt, and Olia S."

Included with the letter were these adorable photos of baby Olia with her quilt in the hospital:

and this one, after she was discharged, and doing well:

This letter illustrates why Katie's Comforters Guild exists, and why we do what we do. It also shows the power of comfort in each and every stitch of each and every quilt and blanket. It shows how important every donor and guild member is, and how much good Lucile and Noble do for our guild and the families we serve.

(That quilt is the same one which we picked up from Lucile & Noble just a week ago! You can see it at the top of the stack below.)

Thanks to Laura, Matt and Olia S.

 for permission to post their letter and photos, 

and to Lucile & Noble 

for their wonderful work!