Knitted With Healing Intention

Our kindly neighbor, Nathaniel, of Liberty Bay Books delivered this soft, delicate blanket to me over the weekend. It was made by one of Liberty Books' knitting group.

It arrived in a pretty gift bag, with a tag which says:

"Healing Energy to you from Diane."

What a lovely gift, and what a blessed intention!

The good folks at Liberty Bay Books posted a photo on their facebook page, showing Diane holding the blanket with a copy of my book:

Photo credit: Liberty Bay Books' facebook page

Thank you, Diane, 

and 

Liberty Bay Books' Knitters!

Overdue THANKS!

I've been away on vacation, so this "Thank You" is overdue to  

Lucile and Noble,

who drove down to Poulsbo and donated 35 new quilts and fleece blankets. Here are most of the 35:

 Aren't they beautiful and cozy-looking?

A heartfelt "Thank You" is also due to Lynda F.,

who read about us last year, and recently contacted our guild to offer her stash of quilting fabric and thread, as well as some donated by her sister. She delivered them to me in Poulsbo this week.

We are deeply grateful to Lucile, Noble, Lynda and her sister!

 If you know anyone who has NEW fabric to donate, or time, talent or funds to share with our guild, please contact me here or via email or our facebook page. Our "economy of grace" is a beautiful thing to behold, and in which to take part!

32 New Quilts from Lucile & Noble

Last week, I met Lucile, Noble and Mary (our faithful vice president) for a visit, and to receive 32 new quilts sewn by Lucile. Here are a few examples from among the 32:

Close up of frog print and animal print

A nice variety of color and design

Everyone likes rubber ducks and pink elephants!

These two are special to me, because Lucile came for a visit, taught me what to do, and I sewed the tops. She added the backing, binding and quilting.

A really fun variety of color and fabric, front and back

Thank you, Lucile & Noble!

You are bringing so much joy to the patients and families at Seattle Children's Hospital with these gifts!

Pieces By Polly

Check out this blog posting by Polly C. - she made wonderful, one-of-a-kind quilts for Katie's Comforters Guild, and made a trip all the way from Central Washington to deliver them herself. Thank you so much, Polly!

Guild Newsletter

Here is a link to the latest Seattle Children's Hospital Guild Association Newsletter.

Mystery Solved - Friendship Star Quilters!

I am so grateful to be able to report that the mystery I wrote about HERE has been solved!
The generous donors were part of the Friendship Star Quilters, a group on South 
Whidbey Island. They not only made the seven beautiful quilts pictured below,

they delivered them to Seattle Children's Hospital on behalf of our guild.

When Friendship Star Quilter Peggy saw on our blog that the information had been lost, she contacted me, provided the photo above and solved the mystery. Thank you, Peggy and all of the Friendship Star Quilters!

Thank You, Mary & St. Olaf's Youth Group!

I had a nice visit today from our Vice President, Mary. She came to pick up two quilt tops and some fabric for backing, which she is going to deliver to two kind people who are going to sew them into quilts. We will then be able offer them for sale (along with some others which have been donated) to support our guild's work. We'll let you know when the sale is about to occur.

Mary also brought this news from a youth group in our community: "St. Olaf's [Catholic Church] high school teens had a 'lock-in' last Saturday/Sunday, and quickly tied up 4 fleece blankets for Seattle Children's Hospital and our guild!" Mary then washed, labeled, and prepared them for delivery.

She also bought two more bright, soft, cheerful ready-made blankets to donate.

Thanks a million for this (and all you do), Mary!

A Gift from Gale

Happy New Year! 

Katie's Comforters Guild ended the year 2013 with a lovely gift from Gale at "Gifts by Gale." Her gift to Katie's Comforters Guild was this soft, cozy pink fleece blanket with a very feminine trim detail. It's going to make a patient very, very happy.

Thank you, Gale!

...and thanks to Paige of Bon Cheveux Salon in Poulsbo for picking up the blanket for us! We are truly grateful to our friends and donors!

Can You Help Us Find the Whidbey Island Quilters?

If any of you have Yahoo! email, you may have noticed some changes lately. I am not a fan of the changes, one of which is the appearance of the Inbox. Just yesterday, I received an email from a group on Whidbey Island about a donation of quilts which they intend to make. I received the message while I was away from home, and intended to reply to it today, but when I went to do so, it had disappeared. RATS!

If you are acquainted with, or are a member of that group, will you please let them know that their email message has been lost? I would appreciate it if it can be re-sent, so that we can thank the group properly. I don't want the message to go unanswered! You can reach us at KARENLBOREN at yahoo dot com. Thank you very much!

Lucile and 4,155 Quilts

I went to see Lucile & Noble at their home on Monday. Lucile is still sewing nearly a quilt a day; even though her sewing machines wear out and need service, Lucile simply takes the broken one to the shop and turns to a substitute machine. She works those machines so hard that I think she might need a commercial-grade model!

I asked her how many quilts she has made for charity, and beyond the 1272 she has made for Katie's Comforters Guild, the grand total is 4,155! Let me put that another way: Lucile has made a total of four thousand, one hundred and fifty-five quilts for charity! She keeps careful records in a ledger-book, and she showed it to me; I was flabbergasted.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the manufacturer of her favorite sewing machine (Bernina) would donate their heartiest, most durable quilting machine to Lucile? I think she deserves a sewing machine that works as hard as she does! It would be a great advertisement for Bernina, as well.

Lucile donates a great deal of her own time and resources to making these quilts; while we do our best to provide her with supplies, we aren't able to furnish everything. This means that she and Noble are giving much more than just time and effort; they are also using their own funds to pay for materials. If you multiply 4,155 times the cost of fabric, batting, binding and thread for each quilt, you'll come up with a very large number indeed.

When we talk about her quilting, Lucile often says, "I have to keep busy!" Remember, she is in her 90s - and she started sewing as a very young girl. What a wonderful, inspiring lady she is - and Noble is her greatest supporter and #1 fan.

Here are photos of Lucile and Noble at home with her latest holiday creations.

I took these directly to nurse Tracie's house, so that they could be delivered to Seattle Children's Hospital in time for Christmas and New Year's Day.  
Thank you, Lucile, Noble and Tracie!