Blankets, Fabric & Quilt Tops

We have just received two knitted/crocheted blankets from our friends in the Liberty Bay Books knitting group.

Thank you, Bev L. and Liberty Bay Books Knitters!

We also received a donation of fabric and antique quilt tops from Jeanne M.
Thank you, Jeanne M.!
Do you know what this means? More quilts for our (eventual) auction! I am excited to see what our friend Joan M. of Henhouse Quilts does with these "oldies but goodies." When they are finished, I will post photos. Added to the three beautiful antique quilt tops donated by Joan B. (also finished by Joan M.), we will have an exciting variety of quilts to offer at a fundraiser - location, time and date to be determined later.

21 New Beauties from Lucile

Lucile and Noble came down to deliver 21 new quilts, and to take home some of the fabric bounty that was generously given to our guild by Adrienne M. and her family (from her late mother's fabulous collection). Here are Lucile's latest creations:

I love the Beatrix Potter prints.

More Beatrix Potter - so cute!

Thank you, Lucile & Noble!

Fabric Donation from Adrienne M.

Recently, we were given a huge donation of beautiful fabric from Adrienne M. and her family. Adrienne's mother passed away, and left an enormous "stash" of absolutely gorgeous fabric. There was so much fabric that the bags filled the back and the backseat of my SUV!

We are sharing this fabric with our members who sew and make fleece blankets, and they will turn it into comfort for patients at Seattle Children's Hospital. We are so thankful that Adrienne found our guild and contacted us.

Thank you to Adrienne and your entire family!

"Because of Katie" Book Event

On Friday, some of our guild members joined others in the community and attended the book talk and book-signing event for the launch of our president's new work, "Because of Katie." It was held at the  Loft at Latitude 47.7 in downtown Poulsbo, and was sponsored by Liberty Bay Books.

This is the owner of Liberty Bay Books, Suzanne Droppert, with our guild's president, Karen Gerstenberger (Katie's mom).

Liberty Bay Books is a generous supporter of our guild, hosting knitting/reading groups, and serving as a drop-off and pick-up location for blankets and quilts.

Suzanne invited the attendees to knit or crochet squares and take them to the bookstore, where they will be combined with others and made into larger blankets.

Thank you, Suzanne & Liberty Bay Books!

If you'd like to buy a copy of

"Because of Katie,"

stop by Liberty Bay Books,

or click here:

Beautiful New Gifts

We've been given some absolutely beautiful new quilts from Darla R. and Lucile N.

You may recall that we were given fabric from the Friends of Susy. Well, Lucile has already turned some of that fabric into beauty and comfort. Check this out:

Close-up of front and back

Close-up of fabrics

 Aren't those wonderful?

Darla donates her quilts to our secretary, Andrea, who then has her husband deliver them when he comes to work in our area. Look at these gorgeous quilts from Darla:

Close-up of Darla's handiwork. Her topstitching is positively artistic!

Thank you, Lucile & Darla

for your gorgeous quilts!

Thank you, Friends of Susy for the beautiful fabric!

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!