Good News, and Plenty of It

We have had a wonderful week here at Katie's Comforters Guild. I have a lot of news to share, so please, get comfortable and I'll fill you in!

We received an email a few weeks back from Carolyn P., letting us know about one of her dear friends named Susy who was a gifted crafter. Sadly, her friend Susy had passed away. Because Susy was such an avid fabric crafter, her friends were helping her widower sort through her fabric - quite a task, when they got into it, because Susy had a stash that filled two vans and a pickup truck!

Susy's husband generously donated this fabric to several charities, and Katie's Comforters Guild is one of them. Last Friday, Carolyn and her husband, Andy, drove to meet me in Poulsbo and make the donation. We arranged it so that they could meet Lucile & Noble at the same time.

Andy, Carolyn, Noble & Lucile meeting for the first time

Since Lucile is our most productive member, it seemed only right that, as she was dropping off 44 quilts and blankets for donation, she should have first pick of the fabric. Some of it went right into Lucile & Noble's car, and some of it came home with me.

There is still plenty of fabric for other guild members, so if you are looking for inspiration, or need some fabric to make more quilts for Seattle Children's Hospital, please get in touch with me through email, phone or by leaving a comment here! This is what I have:

Here is what Lucile found when she & Noble unloaded the boxes she received from Susy's stash:

and here is her first quilt, made from Susy's gifts.

Here are the 44 new quilts and blankets that Lucile delivered to Katie's Comforters Guild on the day of Susy's fabric donation:

Quilts

Fleece blankets

Quilts

In addition to all of that bounty, my sister-in-law, Cheri, has an aunt who is a quilter and knitter. Here are four new blankets and quilts from her aunt Sonia:

It looks as if the individual squares were hand-painted!

Lastly, in guild news, our founder and president, Karen Gerstenberger, has published a book about Katie's journey through pediatric cancer and her family's journey with her, called "Because of Katie." It is now available through createspace and Amazon (clicking those links will take you to the online stores) and it will soon be available in Kindle format, as well as in your local bookstores. Liberty Bay Books is sponsoring a book talk and book-signing at The Loft at Latitude 47.7 in Poulsbo on Friday, March 2 at 6:30 P.M.

HUGE, heartfelt thanks to Susy, her husband Tom, Carolyn, Andy, all of Fritzi's Needlework group who helped to sort the fabric, Lucile, Noble, Chuck, Cheri and Sonia!

Knitted Beauty

Newly-donated knitted blankets arrived this week! Three soft, cozy blankets from Leigh that will be great for cuddling:

 and one extraordinary, playing-card themed blanket from Bev L.:

Can't you just imagine how delighted a kiddo who loves playing card games will be with this one?

I wish I could see his (or her) face when it is given!

Thank you, Leigh M. and Bev L.!

Thanks to Mary, Briana & St. Olaf's Edge Group

Here is a  "thank you" note for 10 blankets donated by the St. Olaf Edge Youth Group during the holiday season. Our members Mary and Briana delivered the blankets to Seattle Children's Hospital before Christmas, so we didn't have a photo of them until now. Junior Guild member Briana led the group in this project - thank you, Briana & Edge Youth Group!

If you look closely, you'll see the shark print blanket (see the posting below) in this batch.

If you know a young person who would like to join our guild, please let them know that we have Junior Guild memberships available!

A Meaningful "Thank You" to our Guild

Yesterday, I received this lovely message on our guild's facebook page from Mickie:

"My 3 year old spent three days at Children's this month, and received a wonderful shark fleece blanket (made by Briana and Mary). He LOVES it. He was so pleased when we were brought to his room to see his bed made up with a fuzzy blanket, and was really excited when the nurse told him he could keep it. He got a monkey blanket when he was admitted last year, and it's one of his favorites to this day! Thank you so much for your work, and please know that you brought a big smile to my toddler!"

How wonderful to know that our blankets are indeed bringing comfort and happiness to patients and families. Thank you for taking the time to write, Mickie, and for making blankets as members of our guild, Mary & Briana!

Fabric and Four New Blankets

We have been blessed by donations of fabric, and four lovely new blankets.

The fabric was donated by Judy O., who I know from our pediatrician's office and from women's soccer (I played long ago). Thank you, Judy!

The four new blankets were donated by Janice O. and Sherry B. I met Sherry and her family years ago through women's soccer and church. Janice O. is the dear nurse who worked with Diane Fuquay, M.D., and pierced Katie's ears for her. Janice reminded me that Katie was so happy about having her ears pierced that she kept announcing from various rooms around the house, "I'm in the kitchen, with pierced ears! I'm in the bathroom, with pierced ears!" I had forgotten that, and loved being reminded of such a happy memory.

Snoopy & Woodstock fleece blanket

Fleece horse-themed blanket and Sock Monkey quilt with plaid binding and backing

Space-themed quilt

 Thank you, Sherry and Janice!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!